Chapter Three- Bad Day
A/N- Thanks again for reading. You guys mean a lot to me!
I was sat in the shabby living room flicking through the local newspaper. There really wasn't anything else to do while I waited for Robert. I was sat on the worn black leather sofa that was older than I cared to remember. My eyes darted to the window. I was overly aware that it could rain any second and I really didn't want that to happen.
Damnit, Robby you had best get here before the weather turns!
Maybe I should've phoned Uncle Jay to let him know where I was so he wasn't caught up thinking that I had either gotten lost or squished by one of those semi's on the freeway. I dismissed the thought almost instantly knowing that he'd just close the diner and rush down here. Not that he could actually do anything. He'd just watch and talk to the neighbours about the damn birds, about how big they must've been or that they're mutated 'cause of all the pollution, blah, blah, blah.
After a few minutes I sensed a truck pull up at the bottom of the drive and park up next to my own car. I pulled myself up and off of the sofa before walking up to the door before he had even managed to knock. I opened it while his fist was still in the air. He smiled at me. I smiled back taking a moment to take him all in.
He was tall, shaven and his dark hair was cut close to his scalp and he was dressed in a pair of worn jeans and a button up shirt that had definitely seen better days. It was blue and the colour was starting to fade. Then I saw the patchwork of scars on the left side of his face. They started at eye level and worked their way down his face, neck and disappeared below the line of his shirt. I gulped as I remembered how he'd gotten them. I brushed the thoughts away afraid that they would darken my mood like they always did.
"Thanks for doing this," I told him as I walked out to join him on to the porch leaving the door open behind me and shading my eyes against the bright sun.
He shrugged, "it's nothin'."
I walked off of the porch and down onto the dying grass. He followed me and looked at the broken slate tiles lying scattered across the yard then stared up at the roof where the hole was gaping like an open mouth.
He whistled.
"Yeah," was all that I could say as we both looked up at the newly installed skylight.
"If you wanted an extra window all you had to do was pick up the phone," he gave me a cheeky smile.
"Huh. It's a much better job than you could do," I winked at him.
For a second our eyes caught and no one spoke.
After the awkward moment had passed he licked his lips, "I guess I better get the ladder then."
I went and sat on the bottom step of the porch and watched him thoughtfully. Sometimes I couldn't help but wonder how things could be different. I mean maybe we would have kids by now or maybe we would have our own house. Heck, we might've moved out of this town.
Then I reminded myself there wasn't point in wondering about that because it didn't happen and never would. So I wasn't going to waste my thoughts on it.
Think about something useful...
I looked up and saw he was over by his white pickup truck that was older than I dared to think. There was rust around the doors, hood and trunk. I thought it was about time he got a new one. He wouldn't though. This truck was his baby. He'd never trade her in for a younger, more economic model. He picked up his silver ladder that was resting in the back of the truck and carried it up the yard. He was well built and more than capable of lifting it.
I sighed and looked down the street. The houses themselves were all two storey and wooden. Some were painted white and others pale green depending on their owners particular tastes.
No one was out which was strange for a warm September day. The kids were in school of course but there was always an old couple or a young mom walking up or down the quiet street. It was never this quiet.
A few of the houses had their windows open and their curtains drawn apart but I didn't see any figures walking around inside them. But I guessed there was a sale on at the mall up in Pueblo or something. By now Robby had set up his ladder against the front of the house and was nearly at the roof.
He had climbed up and assessed the damage and yelled down his conclusions to me, "whoa, these things were really nailed down, looks like something ripped 'em off, something strong...you hear anythin' up here when they fell?"
I paused for a moment and wondered if I had imagined the scratching sounds and wondered if I should tell him about the text and other weird shit. I thought better of it, "I heard birds."
He scoffed loudly, "there's no way that any bird did this!"
"Big birds?" I asked hopefully and an image of that character from Sesame Street or whatever flashed in my mind.
"Naw, even they'd be too small to rip those tiles off," he told me honestly.
"Then what did?" I shook my head and sighed, "I'm gonna get some juice, you want some?"
"Yeah, sure," he was too busy working on the roof and I left him to it.
I walked to the kitchen and poured out two large glasses of orange juice and placed the carton back into the fridge so it wouldn't go off in the heat. I put a couple of ice cubes in each one and went back out onto the porch.
"It's down here!" I shouted up to him and sat back down.
"Aww, can't ya bring it up here?" he pleaded with a laugh knowing that there was very little chance that I was going to join him on the roof.
I sipped gently at my own, "nope, you have to work for it."
"You cruel woman," he told me sternly and I giggled silently to myself, "You don't think kids could've done this do?"
Then he must've seen something interesting, his voice drifted off and I heard very little movement up there.
"What is it?" I called up to him.
For a few moments I didn't get a reply.
"Rob?" I called again while walking out into the middle of the yard so I could get a good view of him. He was sprawled out on the roof and had his head in the hole. He was concentrating on something that I couldn't see.
I heard his voice but he didn't turn to look down at me, "you gotta flash light in the house?"
"Oh. Sure," I was confused but I still walked into the house and rummaged around in the toolbox that I kept under the sink. When my hand closed around the shaft of the light I pointed the bulb at my face and flicked it on and off a couple of times to check it worked. It blinded me for a few seconds then black dots danced in front of my eyes.
"Well that definitely works," I murmured to myself and made a mental note to not to that ever again unless I wanted to end up blind.
I heard a blood curdling scream and a crash at the front of the house. I couldn't see anything from where I was.
"What the...?" I stood up and realisation kicked in. Something had happened to Rob. He was hurt. I ran to the front door.
When I got there the scene before me was surreal, the ladder and everything was perfectly intact but it was Rob. He was...
"Oh god!"
I took a deep breath and looked again to make sure it had really happened. He was lying on his back in the middle of the overgrown grass, his legs were facing outwards at the joints, and his neck was bent in an awkward position. His caring and soulful brown eyes were now staring at me glazed over and all signs of life had left him. He'd fallen!
I felt the sobs starting to rise in my throat, "no, no, no! You stupid, stupid sonofabitch!"
I stood there for a moment longer then ran back into the house and grabbed the phone nearly ripping it off the wall because of the hurry and panic that I was in. I dialled 911 while tears were running freely down my face.
"Hello, do you require ambulance, fire-"
I cut the woman off, "An ambulance!"
"What seems to be the problem?" another woman said steadily, she was bored. I guessed there really weren't that many reasons for needing an ambulance in a town like this.
My voice started to break up, "my friend he. He's."
"Okay, just take your time," she tried to sooth me and I picked up on the real concern in her voice, "what's your name?"
"Roxanne Scavo and," I paused and took a deep breath, "it's my friend Robert Hollins. He was fixing my roof and fell!"
There was a shocked pause on the other end of the line, they rarely had any deaths in this area, "is he breathing?"
I shook my head and cried pathetically, "no, no, I don't think so. His neck's bent and twisted funny!"
They continued to talk to me as the ambulance and police arrived, the woman on the other end of the line kept me company as I waited.
"Are you okay?" she asked me as i heard the distant sirens getting closer and closer.
My voice was feeble, "yeah, I was in the house when it happened."
I sniffed and ran my hands through my dark chocolate coloured hair. That's when I saw it. There was a dark figure stood in the doorway that led outside.
"Well that's something then, I'm sure your friend is fine," the woman babbled on trying to make me feel better.
My own voice was caught in my throat. I wanted to scream. Oh hell, I wanted to scream until my throat was bleeding. The figure was male and in shadow. I couldn't make out any other details as he was facing me. He stayed where he was. His head was hung low and his coat was blowing about around him. When he raised it I saw he had brilliant blue eyes. I dropped the phone and held his gaze for a few moments. It hit the floor and made me blink. When I opened my eyes he was gone.
I gulped and clumsily knelt down and picked up the phone. It had been the same pair of eyes that I'd seen in the car. He was following me! But why was he following me? Was I going insane?
I had to be.
The woman's voice was getting more frantic, "Roxanne, Are you there? Roxanne?"
"Yeah, I'm here," I swallowed, "I'm here."
An ambulance pulled up out front with three marked police cars. All of their sirens were blaring out and it actually hurt my ears to be anywhere close to them. My eyes were no better with the blue flashing lights.
A kind looking police man ran into the house and found me. He was blonde haired and had light grey eyes. He had led me out onto the porch.
I sat down and couldn't take my eyes away from the two glasses of orange juice that were still sitting on the porch. The ice had barely melted in the sun since it had happened.
I gulped and listened to him and the words he was speaking, "so Robert Hollins fell?"
I nodded, "Yeah. He fell."
He was making notes on his little pad of paper, "you said he was fixing your roof, correct?"
"Yeah," I nodded again. It felt like I was in a trance and nothing around me was really real, "some kids or crows or something knocked the tiles off and I called him so he'd fix it. I shouldn't have called him."
I placed my head in my hands. Today really wasn't a good day, in fact it might even be the worst day of my entire life and that was saying something.
-M-
The police chief had come a little while later and I had to give him my official statement. Robby's body had been bagged up and had been taken off to the morgue or funeral home. I guessed that the medical examiner in the city would wanna take a look at him just to be sure because his death was a tad suspicious. His family had been told of his death and I stayed on that porch for the rest of the day.
I thought about his mother. The woman had been like my own Mom through most of my life. She was close to fifty but you wouldn't think it if you saw her. She was dark haired just like
Robby had been and had honey coloured eyes that could never judge or scowl at anyone even if they were holding a gun to her forehead. She didn't deserve to lose her son.
Then his sisters came to my mind. There had been three of them all younger than their brother. Sarah was the smart one who had gone to medical school on a scholarship and was currently cramming for her major. I wondered if the school would allow her to do it another time.
Then there had been Karolyn who was the pretty one. She could pass as Marilyn Monroe. She had won a couple of beauty competitions in her time and was now working as a beautician in the local salon.
That left Jennifer although she hadn't done brilliantly in school and wasn't as beautiful as her sister, she had determination and was very stubborn. She was still travelling around the states with a couple close friends. I wondered when she'd get the call.
I gulped again and rubbed my tired eyes. A couple of the neighbours came and sat with me for a while and others brought cake or stew or leftovers. I told them to just leave the food on the table in the kitchen. The police and ambulance service were still hanging around.
At one point the kind officer came and sat with me in the afternoon sun, "you got anyone I can call?"
I shook my head, "no, I can look after myself but thank you."
I watched the crowd gather and the police do their work. A few of them even went up the ladder to see how easily he would've fallen.
