33.
~ Norman was unsure of how much time had passed in this place. He was always tired, took endless naps and never knew what day it was. No one came to see him except the nurse who just stood there with her icy stare, watching while he took the pills in the white paper cup. Dull, tepid tap water to wash it down with.
He was given meals. A simple lunch of a dry sandwich and chips in a brown bag with an order to throw the trash away. He ate the stale bread and the warm cheese only. He drank water from the bathroom sink and fell asleep again. His appetite gone from the mysterious medication he'd been given.
No one talked to him or touched him. He was alone and shut away in this room like a prisoner. He realized vaguely he'd been left to rot here. As if he really had committed some kind of crime that was worthy of being locked away and forgotten about. Prisoners were at least supposed to get a phone call. Allowed to call for help. Norman was ignored when he asked to call home. The nurses not meeting his eyes when he took his medication or when they dropped off the small lunch or took the trash way.
He could do nothing more than stay here and rot. The blankets over his head as sleep pulled him under again. He didn't know if mother would come get him. Any day now she might breeze through the door.
All the doors and windows were locked here and he didn't have the energy to try and force his way out. Sleep took him and he was back home with Mother again. The house was warm and bathed in hues of yellows and soft orange that came through the window. Everything was cozy and safe and Mother smiled warmly at him.
~ Norma didn't like the flush of hormones that caused her skin to look so much younger. She caught her teenaged face looking annoyingly back at her each morning and gasped in slight horror. Her teen years, had been hard and traumatic. They had been the part of her life she had wanted to forget the most. She wanted to pretend her life, her real life, had started when they moved here to White Pine Bay. Or maybe since she'd become closer to Alex? She wasn't sure, but she had desperately wanted to start over and forget that she'd had a difficult past. That she was somehow born the age was now and had nothing bad ever happen to her. A plan that sometimes worked if she lied to herself.
Then she saw that face, that youthful face and messy hair. A combination belonging to a person she hadn't seen in years; had forgotten about almost completely. Yet, her younger self stared cruelly back at her in the mirror each morning as if laughing at her.
'Pregnant again?' the teenager seemed to sneer. 'You never learn, do you?'
Norma looked away from her reflections and promised herself to avoid mirrors from now on.
It had already been a hard week. Alex still hadn't been able to find the jerk who had run her off the road, and to make things worse, her beloved Mercedes was wrecked from the accident. The frame bent to the point that he wheels couldn't turn and the entire car had to be scrapped.
Alex had tried to make things better. He'd taken her car shopping for something that would be more versatile for the future. He'd shown her a very nice SUV with heated seats. Something she'd never thought about; spending her life in the southern part of the country.
Yet, she didn't want the pretty SUV Alex was so anxious to buy. She didn't like the eager car salesman who'd opened the lot by appointments only. She didn't want the same thing every other stuck up soccer mom in this town was driving. She wanted her car back. Her pretty and unique Mercedes that made her feel safe and loved. No matter if the heater never worked very well and she was sure the AC was hopeless to. It was something she'd bought for herself after Sam died and she loved it. She and Norman had taken the scenic route from Arizona to Oregon in that car; with all their belongings in the back seat, stuffed in the trunk and secured on the roof.
The trip had lasted days and Norma had been thankful she and Norman never had many possessions in life. They weren't prone to sentimental objects, and she'd sold all the appliances and furniture from their old home in Arizona, just so they could make such a clean break from their old life. The massive decluttering and purging of everything they owned was something she'd done before, many times. She didn't like to be held back by 'things'. In her mind, 'things' weighted you down and it was best to get rid of them so you could be free. It was part of the reason she and Norman had such few possessions and why she'd wanted a new wardrobe for herself and Norman when they came here. They were going to be new people together. Born out of fire and settled contently and securely in a new home.
Still, her car was a 'thing', and she had loved it like it had been an old friend.
Her feelings hadn't stopped Alex from buying her the SUV though. His argument was that she needed a good vehicle and one that was safer to drive. Something that would be… easier, for them in over the next few years. She knew he was thinking of the baby. Knew his intentions were to provide her with transportation that was ideal for the baby's car seat, transitioning to screaming toddler and then rambunctious child.
The large, beast like thing was highly luxurious to Norma. She'd never had a vehicle so new and so comfortable with heated, leather seats and a built in GPS that connected with her phone. Norma had never been a slave to anything modern, but she could get used to this.
Norma wouldn't have picked it herself. Not the audacious largeness of it, or the fact it was white and stuck out more than anything else in the lot. But Alex had chosen it for her; explaining white was the most visible and easily seen on the road, and that was why utility vehicles were always white. He then listed all the other safety items that Norma just took his word for. The SUV wasn't just a generic flat white, but an iridescent and luminous pearl color. After she'd driven it around a little, she had to agree that he'd done the right thing in buying it. Although she missed her car with the broken heater and non existent AC, having the newer SUV Alex had secured for her felt different. It was another feeling of being looked after by him. One of the countless ways he was always telling her he cared for her. The beautiful diamond ring on their wedding day and all the times he'd made her a priority during the pandemic, these 'things' made her feel far more loved than her old car ever did.
It also didn't hurt that the SUV was much warmer and easier to drive.
~ Nothing in the village was really open. Everything required and appointment to do anything. Norma couldn't even go to the grocery store without making an appointment first; but it was nice to be able to shop again like a normal person. Although there were still strict limitations on items and the shelves lacked in many things Norma had always taken for granted. Often there was no fresh meat, no bread and sometimes no milk. The store inflated their shelves by displaying bags of chips, toilet paper and other bulky items to make things look full. Norma had guessed that when a store looked empty, people would panic buy.
There was nowhere to go and nothing to do anymore. The boredom had set in quickly for everyone, including Norma. There were only so many home projects she could do. So many books she could read, and so many documentaries she could watch.
So it came as a welcomed thing that Alex had, after the hellish ordeal at the motel last night, offered to take her for a drive around town, just to have something to do. It was eerie to see stores closed and the downtown area empty. People were still visiting the beach now that the weather was warmer, but it was much more somber compared to what it had been when Norma first came here.
She'd expected Alex to drive them around town, not to the middle of nowhere.
"It's pretty." she said nodding to the view of the lake.
"Glad you like you like it." he said cooly.
Norma sank back in her seat and enjoyed the steady rush of heat that her new vehicle had no trouble producing. The spring in Oregon was still cool in the mornings and it was nice not to freeze while driving. She always felt safe when Alex drove them anywhere. He was the most cautious driver she'd ever ridden with, and it would be an easy thing to fall asleep as they drove lazily around the single lane road.
"I keep trying to call Pine View." she said suddenly thinking of Norman again.
"Oh?" he asked.
She nodded.
"They tell me he can't have phone calls or he's in a group therapy session. They won't even tell me his doctors name." she explained. She'd spent all day yesterday on the phone with the facility and got nothing for her troubles.
"'l'll call, and talk to someone in charge." he told her.
"They won't give you an answer." she huffed angrily.
He smiled and turned slowly into a tree filled driveway.
"I've got 'Sheriff' in front of my name, Norma, they'll tell me anything." he said.
Norma smiled at that. She liked that he wasn't afraid to abuse his power a little for her.
"What's this?" she asked nodding to the small house that was almost hidden in the woods. It looked like nothing more than a front door and a large bay window.
"I want to show you something." he said innocently.
"Alex?" she questioned when he turned off the engine and hopped quickly out.
He smiled at her and nodded for her to follow.
~ "We're overlooking the lake." he explained. "There's these big windows, a modern kitchen. Plenty of room. Best thing is, it's quite."
Norma wandered around the modern lake house as though she was in a museum of uninteresting art. The place was so barren and lacking in anything homey. It was like a prison cell.
"Who's house is this?" she asked looking out the large floor to ceiling windows that jutted right out over the rocks and to the lake.
"The owners died in Europe of the virus. This was their summer home. County is having trouble tracking down anyone to take the property." he explained.
"So, why are we here?" she asked already suspecting the answer.
"We could be the caretakers here, Norma." he said. "Dylan would come and live here. So would Emma and her dad. There's lots of room."
Norma nodded. Alex had casually mentioned that Emma and her dad had narrowly escaped eviction and she suspected Dylan was paying the rent. She guessed Emma had been the girl her oldest had been sneaking out to see every night. He'd come home smelling of dried flowers and the soft perfume that she knew Emma liked to use. She wished Dylan could talk to her, but she hand't had time to mention the pregnancy to him either. She and Alex barely talked about the baby, and the only time they seemed to acknowledge the presence of their little intruder was at night. Alex becoming possessive and affectionate to her body and holding her fast as though she might escape him. His male ego overtaking all else, and he was proud of the fact they had this budding life growing between them.
"Live here?" she asked skeptically. Her mind rejecting the idea at once. Women like her didn't live in places like this. This million dollar prison cell.
"Why not?" he shrugged. "The house by the motel is getting dangerous, Norma."
She shook her head.
He wasn't lying. The fray at the motel had become a regular thing now and it was scary to have so many people trying to get past the police barricade.
"Just leave my house empty?" she questioned.
"No." he corrected. "Deputies need a place to go to the bathroom. A place to rest, cook things."
"You want cops to live in my house?" she asked in horror.
"It will help keep the peace." he told her. "Dylan and I will be there everyday."
"Alex… we can't baby proof this house." she waved at the large windows. "A toddler is going to run into this, fall… those stairs going to the lake… it's not safe."
"We can make it safe." he assured her. "It won't be forever. Think of it like a small vacation from the motel."
She sighed, feeling cranky.
"In the summer, it will be very nice." he promised. That wide and enticing smile coming back on his face. She'd never known him to smile before the pandemic and it was always nice to see him do so now.
"Alex…" she sighed.
"It's safe here." he said coldly. The stoic Sheriff having returned now and making the final decision. "What happened at the motel last night, it can't keep happening, Norma. We're moving here where it's safe."
Norma wanted to say something, but she looked away from him and back at the view of the lake. She had no doubt it would be beautiful here during summer. She could picture herself with the baby down by the dock, getting some fresh air and sunshine.
She blinked and she was back in the chilly world of an Oregon spring trying desperately to escape the hard winter.
"Okay." she whispered.
Sorry it took so long to update. I live in the part of Texas that was badly effected by the winter storms. We had awful rolling blackouts, water pressure was low and we were under a boil water order that was lifted today. We did much better than some people. We were able to get food and stay warm, but it was uncomfortable for us. ERCOT needs to be held accountable and fuck you, Ted Cruz for leaving us.