46.
~ Norma had almost forgotten how active a toddler could be. As soon as Lulu was dressed and ready for breakfast, there began a never ending game of 'run away from mommy!'. Alex and Dylan had put up strategic baby gates to restrict access to the stairs and living room, leaving the now disused dinning room as Lulu's general play area. The problem was, at almost two and a half, the child could run fast and hide in places Norma couldn't easily get at.
"Come out of there." Norma called patiently peering under the table to see her daughter's excited face. She had small baby teeth smiling and her cheeks were pink from running hysterically from room to room.
"You're not going to have breakfast." Norma lightly threatened.
Lulu giggled in delight at the idea she was somehow 'safe' from her mother while under the table. The rules of her 'run away from mommy' game deemed certain places were totally immune from grown ups and you just had to get there before you were caught.
"I guess Lulu does't want her cereal." Norma said in a sing song voice.
Lulu giggled again.
"Lulu wants to take a nap maybe?" Norma asked the kitchen in general.
"No!" Lulu screamed in her ear piercing cry.
"Alright, then come out and get in your chair!" Norma said happy that negations were still open.
"I want Daddy!" Lulu screamed irrationally.
"Eat your breakfast first." Norma said calmly.
"No!" Lulu screamed and giggled.
That was enough for Norma. Negations had failed.
Lulu was watching her mothers legs and feet. The worn blue Keds shoes with white laces, and didn't see her mother's hands dive under the table to pull her out. She screamed at the sudden invasion and unfairness of it all. Mommy wasn't supposed to be able to catch her once she was under the table. Under the tables, under the beds and in her place house, were all out of bounds for grownups.
"NO!" She shrieked in protest at her mother easily lifting her up and sitting her neatly in her high chair.
"That's enough." Norma said cooly sliding down her high chair tray and Lulu felt all the injustice of being captured fade away at the sight of her blue cereal bowl.
Mommy made her hot cereal with peaches from one of her glass basement jars. The fruit tasting sweet and the syrup would stick to her fingers. The weather was cold out and Lulu liked the feeling of eating hot things and fruit that tasted sweet.
She smiled at mommy in appreciation and willingly took hold of the blue spoon that matched her blue bowl. Mommy taking the time to pour milk in a matching blue cup, and now everything was as it should be.
The morning was calm and nice and she could eat her breakfast. As soon as she had eaten, she could run away from mommy again, but it was comforting to eat good food and be inside with mommy.
"What was all the ruckus?" Alex was asking and Norma was slightly annoyed he'd come into the kitchen. Lulu was always distracted by her father, and him being in the kitchen while she was trying to eat breakfast, would make it harder for the child to finish.
"Daddy!" Lulu cried loudly as though she hadn't seen him in years as opposed to barely half an hour ago.
"Eat your cereal." Norma said trying to redirect the toddler back to her meal.
But Lulu's focus was wherever Alex was. Her large brown eyes trained greedily on him as though he was the most wonderful thing in the world.
"Eat your breakfast, honey." Alex said calmly pouring himself a cup of coffee while Lulu just kept all her attention on him alone.
"Last day at the office." Norma said putting Lulu's bib back on and trying to get her back to eating.
Alex hadn't liked to talk about it or even think too much about what had happened that November. The narrowly lost election, and that he would be greeting the new Sheriff and showing him around today.
J.R. Flint wasn't the thing of monsters. He was Alex's age, although looked much older, and was experienced. He'd actually commended Romero and the former mayor for the quarantine saying to the local papers that:
'There were no easy answers during difficult times, and the leaders here did what they felt was needed to save lives.'.
Something Alex had appreciated. The issue was the smugness and smear campaign that Bob Paris had run against him. Mayor Paris had made a small fortune by getting elected and opening up the port to various forms of trafficking. A thing Alex, no longer the law, was powerless to stop and the new Sheriff Flint refused to even acknowledge. To the citizens of White Pine Bay, Mayor Paris was a great leader. One who put their personal interests first and to hell with anyone else. He spoke rhetoric that reminded Alex of propaganda speeches given by communist and fascists leaders. 'Here is the enemy and if you listen to this enemy, your'e not a true patriot and your life and freedom will be taken away.'
The notion the Sheriff Flint didn't seem to see what Bob Paris was, was bad. But the fact he didn't care either way, was somehow worse.
"I'll be glad to have you here full time." Norma sighed. "I need the help with the motel. Dylan wants to start ground work on that camp sight. You know he's been talking about that since the motel reopened."
"Yeah." Alex said darkly and sat next to his daughter. The little one looking at him drinking coffee and mimicked him by drinking her milk.
"We'll have to lay that ground work for the campgrounds and I've got about a thousand chores for you to do around the house." Norma went on. She'd decided long ago, even before it was clear Alex would loose the election, that she had to keep him busy and out of any depression that might find him if he did nothing.
"I thought this was supposed to be a vacation till I decided what to do." Alex said glumly.
"We're still running a family owned business." Norma reminded him. "I really could use your help. Emma can't come to the office as much now that she's in school full-time and Dylan is working about ten jobs all over the place. I need you to be my handyman, Alex."
"I know." He said quickly and took Lulu's blue spoon and started to feed her.
"She can feed herself." Norma reminded him quickly.
Ever since she was a newborn, Lulu seemed to just do everything better for her father. From finishing her food, to going to bed; it was easier if he was there. He was like the magic potion for all her troubles. Norma hated to think how hard it would be to try and handle her daughter without Alex's involvement.
"Besides, we have that dinner with your friends in Portland." Norma reminded him. "They haven't even met Lulu yet. We need to socialize more."
Alex smiled as his daughter quickly finished her breakfast and looked at him. Happy for all the attention.
"That'll be nice." He admitted, but didn't feel excited about it. It would be good to have some down time to finally catch up on neglected friendships. He'd put all these things on hold for more than two decades while he was so involved in his work. He'd devoted too much to a job that didn't love him back and sometimes he felt he had little to show from all the sacrifice.
The work schedule had robbed him of a social life, relationships and had almost given him a serious drinking problem along with a general suspicion of everyone. It had, however given him a decent pension and health insurance for him and his family for life. So many decades invested with the county had granted him those investments that would protect them now that he wasn't welcomed in the office anymore.
"It's going to be fine." Norma said gently. "You'll always be Sheriff to me."
Alex smiled and helped Lulu clean her sticky hands and face. The toddlers suddenly becoming combative.
"I know." He said glumly. "Might as well get this day over with."
No sooner had he stood up to leave than Lulu let out a terrific ear pricing shriek. She didn't want Alex to leave and seeing him head for the door for work always caused a minor meltdown.
"Oh!" Norma scolded over her irrational cries. "You are my daughter alright!"
But Norma was smiling as she picked Lulu up and neatly placed her on her feet as soon as Alex had safely closed and locked the kitchen door behind him.
"Daddy!" Lulu screamed and was only distracted by the pink flying unicorn Norma kept for just such emergencies.
"Take pony!" Norma directed and Lulu's attention was diverted momentarily at seeing her favorite toy that was so often hidden and then used to cleverly pacify her as needed.
"Pony!" Lulu cried miserably.
Pony reminded her of the playhouse in the dinning room and all her other toys she could play with now and mommy closing the baby gates until nap time.
~ The weather in Oregon was cold. Colder than Caleb expected it to be. He'd been watching and waiting in the woods. Seeing his sister, Norma Louise, taking out the garbage and rushing down to the small motel from time to time.
She lived in that big beautiful house. He'd never seen such a house that wasn't in a movie. There were improvements to the building since he'd tried to come here last time. When there were police barricading the entrance into the small town just off the highway.
Now. No one was there. That policeman, the cop who'd told him to leave over three years ago, had just left for the day. He always left as soon as the sun was up. He wore a leather coat over his police uniform, and he drove a police SUV.
Norma Louise was living with a cop? Were they involved? Was it his house and she was just living with him? No. Caleb somehow knew it wasn't the man's house alone. Not with the large decorative planters that were neatly arranged on each of the concert stairs landings. The house looked well maintained as did the nearby motel. Nothing seedy about the motel at all and he was sure it was expensive to stay at. They were a small cluster of cabins all painted a crisp, friendly yellow. The house was painted a soft yellow as if it didn't want to be noticed. But the careful landscaping of new trees and richly potted plants meant the whole place would bloom with audacious flowers as soon as spring arrived.
Norma would dart from the motel to the house and back again all day. Caleb kept track of it. Noticing how quickly she moved and was always checking her phone. She'd never been like this before. She looked so different now. Her light hair swept up in a messy bun. She wore jeans and a flannel shirt, but she looked… more expensive, then Caleb had ever known her to be. As though she was comfortable buying nice things and living in this nice house.
Caleb wondered about her while he camped further into the remote woods away from the house. He would wander closer at the times he knew that police boyfriend of hers would leave. Those times, he would come closer and see things. See Norma in the kitchen window. See her dash down to that motel to help a guest and dash back.
Those were the times he would come closer. When he would test the basement doors and find they were old and could be pried open.
He'd been careful. Careful on these invasions into Norma's house. He'd looked for security cameras. Norma's cop boyfriend had put them up, but they seemed mostly focused on the motel and back door. Places he could easily avoid.
The basement was not as cold as the outdoors and it was cluttered with old things from the house. They were covered in plastic sheets and looked like ghosts in the dim light of the early morning.
Caleb sat there, on an old sofa, and waited. Hearing everything upstairs. Norma Louise walking around made creaking sounds and he was sure he heard the TV on at one point, music and loud shouts.
He saw her canned fruit collection. All of them neatly arranged with her perfect, girlish script on nice labels.
He heard the front door shut and briefly saw her rush down to the motel.
Caleb climbed the basement stairs to the house. The house was warm and smelled nice. Norma was cooking something in the kitchen. He crept out into the hallway and saw how pretty the house was. How expensive and new the furniture looked.
He was distracted by the brightly colored toys in the other room. By the sturdy baby gates blocking off the finely decorated living room.
He didn't register the small child playing quietly in the large room beside the stairs. She was standing in front of the baby gate, holding a flying unicorn and looking at him with large brown eyes. Her black hair already messy from play.
"Hello." She said brightly.
"Hello." Caleb said.
She handed him the pink flying unicorn horse she'd been holding.
"It's Pony." She informed him.
"Thank you." Caleb said and left her there in her playroom to go upstairs.
The little girl didn't seem upset. She went back to her play as though it were nothing. Caleb wandered up the stairs, climbing over another baby gate wisely secured at the top of the sitars to match the one at the foot, and peered into the bedrooms. The little girls room was littered with pink toys and stuffed animals. Clearly she wanted for nothing. He and Norma never had so many toys together in all their childhood.
Norma's bedroom was adjacent and he wandered into it, putting the pink flying unicorn on the bed. He opened her wardrobe closet and saw her brightly colored summer dresses. Dresses that looked made just for her. Dresses he wanted to see her in.
He felt ashamed of the erection he was starting to feel at the idea of her dressed like this. He pulled free a blue and white dress. Wanting to feel her inside of it.
He heard the front door slam and heard purposeful footsteps marching into the house. Norma always walked like that though. Always more of a march.
She was talking to the child. She had a child? Did she have that child with that cop?
Caleb ducked into a nearby room, still holding her dress and waited.
He was accustomed to waiting. Waiting in the dark and making no noise. He could hear Norma moving around the house, but she didn't come upstairs. He realized he'd left the toy pony the child had given him on the bed. Norma would see it there and know something was wrong.
She never came upstairs though. She was always busy and as soon as he heard the front door shut, the house so old he could hear everything, he crept downstairs again.
The little girl was sleeping on a little cot in her playroom. Her face pink and her hair even more tasseled. Norma had gone down to the motel again and would be back soon.
He saw now, in the darkened room, that Norma had set up a screen with a camera on it. A fancy kind of baby monitor so she could watch the child from her phone.
All the rich people had phones like that. Rich people had homes like this and looked like Norma did now.
Caleb was still holding her dress. He placed the child's pink horse with wings back in he playroom. Careful to avoid the view of the camera that would give him away. He didn't want to go into the playroom. Her toys were all nice and looked like they cost a lot of money. She was loved and well cared for. He didn't want to see her. She had nothing to do with him or Norma.
He couldn't help what he did next though; all the little things he took from the house. The framed picture of his sister and a young man in a sweater. Her arms wrapped affectionately around him. His brown hair looking too long, but they were both smiling.
He took the sweater that was in the kitchen. A thing that was obviously his sister's and kept that blue and white summer dress clinched tightly in his hands. He stole these items. He wanted them. Wanted her smell and to feel her.
He didn't care at all about the small child left alone in this big empty house. Her mother returning any second all while keeping an electronic eye on her.
He stole away into the basement and waited there in the dim light for her to come back, which she did as soon as he'd secured the door. He waited for a few hours until she left again. Her errands back and forth to the motel never seemed to end as she checked in guests and came right back to the small little girl. A little girl who was now screaming and crying for something.
When the child was quiet, she left again and he stole away from the house and snuck back into the woods. To the sad camp he'd made for himself.
He kept Norma's pretty dress and sweater in his sleeping bag. He folded the picture of her with the shaggy looking young man so he could only see her smiling face. She'd gotten prettier with age. He only remembered her as a sixteen year old girl. A creature too afraid to even speak sometimes. Now she looked so happy and like a rich person. Maybe that cop made good money. Or her little motel made good money. When had she become rich?
He wanted to cry at the idea she didn't need him. That she would hate him when all he'd ever done was try to protect her.
He could feel that shameful arousal prick violently at his body. Thoughts of his sister in the sleeping bag with him. Her nice, slender body keeping him warm and that soft perfume that clung to her clothes making him hunger deeply for her.
"Norma Louise." Caleb moaned into her sweater.