The next morning, Kaelyn and Caroline were at the Doctor's office.
"Hello Miss Bollak. I'm Dr. Gallahager. How may I help you?" A male doctor greeted the pair at the front desk. He led them down a hall and into a door.
There wasn't much. Just a sink, a few doctor necessities and a picture of a woman walking down the beach.
"Well, obviously, you can see my grandmother is old. And I think she's suffering from something. But I don't know what. I assume Alzheimer's, but I don't want to make that statement myself."
"Well, why do you think this?" Dr. Gallahager asked, jotting notes.
"Well, I went upstairs yesterday to call my grandma down for dinner. I go up, and she thinks I'm Victoria- My mother. I correct her and she ignores her fault."
"I see. How old are you, Ms…."
"Caroline, just call me Caroline."
"Alright, Caroline. How old are you?"
"I'm 89, and still awake," she answered, proud and happy.
"What do you feel about this whole issue?"
"Well, I admit my age is catching up to me, but I still have years before Alzheimer's hits hard. I'd rather wait it out like normal." She was stubborn, very stubborn.
"Well, today, most don't let Alzheimer's act naturally. What if I were to issue you some medication, and come in for a check up in six months, or sooner, if there is an emergency?" The doctor suggested, trying to hurry up the two as fast as possible. His schedule was busy and would rather get home early, than late.
"I think," started Kaelyn. "that that would work."
"You, Caroline?"
"Oh whatever, who knows, maybe this is the only way to live to one hundred." Caroline replied, sounding mad.
"Well, if you go to the pharmacy, give them this, and they'll get you the correct medicine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to tend to." Dr. Gallahager left, handing them a note with a prescription on it.
"Beema, come on. Let's go."
"Oh, alright. Get these blasted pills and let's get home." Caroline snapped.
"Make sure you take these once every day," said the pharmacist.
Kaelyn accepted the two big bottles of pills. She paid for them and went to the car.
She had earlier driven Caroline home and then went out to the pharmacy for the pills.
She drove back to her grandmother's little white house.
"Beema, you need to take one with every dinner. And that's it." Kaelyn instructed.
"I haven't forgiven you for taking me to the doctors."
"You'll live."
"Hmmph."
Caroline sat down with a grilled cheese sandwich, fried in butter. It was lunchtime, and later, they were going downtown San Fran.
After lunch, the pair drove ten minutes to a popular street. They window-shopped for little trinkets, or odd clothes.
They saw many people. Some, were Mexican or Chinese; some, were tourists. And some, like themselves, belonged in San Francisco.
They walked into a foreign clothing store. They found all assortments of Indian clothing, and jewelry. They didn't buy much, except for the one tiny statuette of a rose. It was made of glass, and had red petals, and a clear stem.
She unwrapped the tiny rose and placed it on the mantle. Roses were a favorite for her. Ever since she was old enough to remember, roses had been the one thing she loved above all things. There was a beauty that they spoke aloud, and she loved learning it.
-------
Caine Acerbi sat in the tree, stalking a wild turkey. He had two wild turkey prizes in his collection of stuffed animals, yet he wanted more. Turkeys were an amazing thing to boast about; they were impossible to catch, since they had eyesight as well as a human, and in color.
The turkey strutted around the tree, and now lay in perfect sight for the bullet. Caine pulled the trigger- BAM!
The echo of the gunshot reverberated off the trees. A young male turkey lay dead at the base of a tree.
Caine climbed down from the tree stand. He walked to the turkey and started to clean it up, gutting it. He picked the animal up and brought it to his Ford truck.
He drove to the butcher's and deposited the turkey.
Arriving to his house, which was decorated in animals, stuffed and mounted, he laid his gun in his gun rack and strode to the bedroom to change in relaxing clothes, rather than the hunting clothes he was in presently.
He checked the calendar in the kitchen and groaned. A week till school started. He hated school. He hated his job. The only good thing was Kaelyn Bollak. He went to her college and when he ran into her, he thought she was so pretty, he got a job where she worked. He planned to marry her. Except, she wasn't like most girls, which only made it more worth the prize for her.
He was three years senior to her, which is how he got the supervisor job.
He sat down at the big brown oak table and kicked his feet up on it. "How to get Kaelyn to fall for me." he thought. For three years now, he hadn't succeeded. But her beauty was worth the trouble. Last year, he tried boasting about his hunting. The year before his strength. And the year before that, just flirting and hitting on her. No tactics worked. Maybe this year, he'll be nice. Nah, too hard. Maybe she's not looking for marriage. Maybe just a companionship.
But if worse comes to worse, he'll ask a girl he teaches for company. You know, bribe them with an A for the rest of the year for a bit of company. Works sometimes.
Yea, he'll try that. Companionship. Not marriage. She already turned him down the first year. HUMILIATING.
Anyway, he'd better look at the curriculum. The only thing keeping him doing a good job was Kaelyn. He couldn't bear to lose such a beautiful trophy.
The curriculum consisted of boring topics. Who cares about electricity or lasers or gravity or vectors? No one. So why study them? Oh well. At least he'd be near Kaelyn.
Bollak. What kind of name is Bollak? At least with him, she'd be Kaelyn Acerbi. Much nicer.
He got up from the table and went to the computer in the other room.
He pulled up an email page and sent an email stating:
Hey sexy. Glad another school year is starting. I can't wait
to see you again. I figured we could be companions, since you obviously don't want marriage. That's fine. I can live. See you at school sweet cheeks! smooch
Caine Acerbi.
He clicked 'Send' and it was sent.
He then headed for the shower.
-------
A few days later, he hadn't heard from Kaelyn. He decided to go to her house and check it out; see if she simply ignored him.
When he was at her house, he saw nothing. Lights were out, and doors were locked. He checked under the mat, where he saw a key. He unlocked the door and walked in.
There were a few pieces of furniture, but mostly, it was empty. Yet she had a lot of books on a bookshelf. There was a little kitchen and a small table with two chairs.
In the bedroom, there was a desk with a computer on it.
In other rooms, there were boxes, while in different rooms, she had stuff that belonged to someone else in it. Like little statues and a naval helmet.
A beau?
He walked down the stairs and into a room with couches. The living room. There was a TV and little table to store the phone on.
Turning around, he saw headlights across the road. The car stopped. He ignored it.
-------
"Bye Beema! I'll miss you!" Kaelyn said, hugging the aging woman.
"Visit for Christmas and Thanksgiving, and other holidays." She replied.
"Beema, you know I always do. Take care." She broke the hug and walked to the car. Getting in, she heard, "yes, and you take care of yourself too."
She nodded and closed the door.
Two hours and ten minutes later, she was in front of her house. She stopped to back in, then remembered she needed gas for the next day, so she kept driving on.
When she was back at her house, she backed in and parked the car. She strode to the front door, and unlocked it with the key under the mat.
She opened the door and-That's odd. There was a light coming from the living room. She thought she hadn't left any lights on.
She walked in and saw a man looking at stuff. She screamed.
He whipped around in fear, and she saw it was Caine Acerbi and relaxed-a bit.
"What are you doing in my house?" She hissed, guardedly.
"Oh, uhh." He couldn't think of anything. "Does it matter? -"
"YES IT MATTERS!" she bellowed.
"Listen to me. Because now I've got you all to myself." And he strode forward quickly and seized her arms.
She breathed in through her nose quickly in fear. Behind her back though, she had turned her cell phone on and dialed 9-1-1. The police had probably answered by now.
"Caine, get off of me!" She struggled.
"Why?"
"What!" she whispered.
"Why? Why should I get off of you?" He looked so pleased with himself, it was sickening.
"Because you're violating my privacy. I'm charging you with breaking and entering without permission. I'll charge you for rape too if you don't get off me. The police are listening to this right now. I called them. Now, GET OFF!" Kaelyn said, breaking his grip.
"You BITCH!" Caine hollered. He reached behind her and grabbed the cell. He slammed it shut and stared hungrily at her. He started walking to her, when red and blue lights flashed up the driveway, sirens wailing loudly.
Four cars pulled up, and four men jumped out of two cars, and ran in the house, where they saw Caine Acerbi loosen and stare at the cops in shock. Then the instinct to run kicked in. He ran, but, being in a house, there was no where to run. The cops quickly caught up to him and tackled him, while the other cops were around Kaelyn, calming her down, and helping her with a drink of water.
The four cops busy with Caine wrestled him and slapped handcuffs on him.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used in court against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one you will be assigned one in your defense."
Caine looked murderously at Kaelyn, who smugly looked back.
This was Kaelyn's most favorite day:
The day Caine Acerbi, the energizer raping bunny, gets arrested.