8.
~ Norma ate a few of the strawberries, crackers and grapes that were in the grocery bag Alex had given her before realizing she needed another nap. It was crazy how just a simple walk had exhausted her. Her body had taken a beating from her illness and she could hardly believe how fragile she felt. Almost like an old woman who tired quickly.
She stripped off the summer dress she had worn and found and old T-shirt with a faded picture of Garfield the cat to change into. It was a shirt that she had worn a lot during her heavier days and that now fit her too loosely around the stomach, hips and breasts. It was sentimental though; this shirt she practically lived in because she never ventured outside sometimes. Maybe she should just throw it out, but it was a grim reminder of where she'd come from. Of what she'd once been. You couldn't move forward if you kept looking back, but how could you plan for your future if you didn't embrace your past?
Her new body still felt alien to her after the weight loss. She wasn't used to the feeling of an actual waist and feeling of firmness to her body. She wasn't used to the idea of feeling attractive and wondered is Deputy Romero might find her body desirable.
Men had always looked away from her before. Her frumpy clothes with her layers that hid everything. Her long brown hair that fell over her shoulders and her large glasses. Only here, in this new place had she seemed to shed clothing off. Her clothing peeling off her and she stepped out of them with a new skin.
She hadn't had much time to see if other men noticed her or not. But she gathered from the way Alex looked at her the first time he saw her, he liked the way she wore that blue dress. A dress she would never wear before, but things were different now. She was different and she didn't mind if he looked at her.
She normally undressed and redressed as quickly as possible. Her weight always making her hide in shame for a long time until she finally confronted it and called it by its' ugly name.
Now, she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Standing there with nothing but nude colored panties on and wondering if she looked good. If someone like Alex might like the way she looked naked. Might want to see her naked.
She turned and glanced behind her at her back and buttocks. At the curve of her hips and waist and firmness of her breasts when she turned back. Her body was nothing at all like it had been before. A wide stomach that had protruded all around till she had no waist at all. Just a disgusting ring of fat that mocked her at every angle.
Now, she felt better. She felt stronger from the inside out and she could see her body reflecting that. She was slender, but she was tone. She certainly wasn't going to be on the cover of Playboy or of any fitness magazine, but she could live with this new body. This new body was strong and could last her for a long time.
She shifted her weight to one side and gave her reflection a slightly seductive look. Angling her hips and arching her back so her breasts looked larger.
She let out a laugh at the ridiculousness of it and pulled on her old Garfield T-Shirt. Her body hidden under the comfortable, heavy weighted cotton and it was impossible to tell if she was thin or not now under Garfield's faded bemused expression.
No, Alex probably didn't care about her body at all. Not when he could get any girl he wanted. It hardly mattered anyway. She wasn't interested in him. No matter how adorable he looked when she caught him in that family room with Dylan.
She felt a warm sensation inside her at the thought of Alex entertaining her son like that. It was the sort of thing a father and son would do. Something Sam never did with Dylan. He never made that kind of time with Dylan or with Norman even. Never made the time to talk to him or share stories or give them anything to admire or look up to.
Then to see her little boy dressed up like a pretend solider; it had made her heart ache with an unknown happiness.
'Just go take your nap and stop thinking about him.' ordered the dragon.
Norma, feeling like a child sent to bed without supper wanted to pout a little, but fell asleep quickly again; the day already proving too much.
~ Alex had kept himself busy on his day off. Even during the summer months with the high tourist traffic, he had too many days off from work. He knew why. Of course he knew why. His father had been the Sheriff here not too long ago and was now serving prison time upstate for fraud and murder.
As a result, no one trusted deputy Alex Romero. The former Sheriff Romero's only child who happened to be a deputy in the same town his father had served. So, Alex got the sifts no one wanted and severely reduced hours once a week to even out the budget. It was why he couldn't afford an apartment and why he'd considered leaving the department and White Pine Bay all together.
It had been a difficult year after his father's arrest and the DEA investigating everyone.
Still, he'd come off unscathed and many people in town thought that was unfair. As for Alex, he just wanted to live his life. He wanted to make his own way and get out from under his father's shadow. A tough climb to be sure, but it could be done.
It had been a series of lucky breaks to house sit and take care of these properties while the owners were away. At least he didn't have to worry about a place to live anymore. He lived in luxury and could devote his paycheck to savings and basic living expenses.
Still, it was a lonely existence. One of the stricter rules of his work here was no house guests and no parties. So, he felt a little like Jack Torrance at the 'Overlook Hotel' most days. Alex knew it was breaking the rules to bring the Deeds woman and her son here to Nick Fords mansion, but they had nowhere to go and she was still too weak to really care for herself. She looked ready to pass out on their short walk back to the cottage just now.
It was irresponsible for the doctor to discharge her from the hospital with no real plan in place to care for her. If Alex hadn't seen to her car being towed to the house here, it might have been impounded. Not to mention the fact her son might have been in the system and that would have become a messy ordeal no one needed.
It seemed careless that she was released so soon when she was obviously so weak. Simply because the city was concerned she might sue and they hoped she might leave town before considering it.
Alex thought it was a good idea to sue the city. They were making millions off of the sell of that land right now and none of it would have happened if she hand't gotten sick. She was still sick in fact. Too sick to be left alone with just a ten year old boy to look after her.
Alex was worried about her. She'd lost more weight and her color was still off. She didn't sparkle as brightly as she had when they first met. That brightness he'd noticed about her seemed faded a little and he was worried it wouldn't come back.
"So, $20 and you pick up all the sticks around the front lawn and back lawn." Alex explained placing a large garden hat over John head and handing him a big work bucket.
"Why do we have to pick up all the sticks? Why can't you just mow over them?" he asked looking excitedly at the professional riding lawnmower Alex would use later.
"Because, they might damage the blade and it's expensive to fix that." he said. "After I mow, you can trim the weeds back."
John nodded excitedly. He was eager to earn some cash of his own as all kids were at that age.
"Front and back. Put them all in a big pile. Make sure you don't miss any." Alex warned and sent him racing off to collect the wayward sticks.
It would take him a while. Nick Ford's front lawn was massive with shade trees that were a century old. It had taken Alex all day last week to landscape the entire lawn. He mowed once a week because it was easier in the long run, and would make the property looked like someone was always there.
Under normal circumstances, Ford had a team of specialists who came once a week to beautify the property, but since he was in Scotland for the summer with his girlfriend and daughter Blair, simple maintenance would do.
Alex watched John collect small sticks into his work bucket for a little while. The child looking like he was on an Easter Egg hunt and would be at it for a while.
The house had felt a little better now that company was in it. Some of the tension had eased out of the walls. The sounds of laughter in the family room had chased away the feeling that this was an unpleasant place to live in.
Alex closed up the large front doors and checked the pristine parlor on the off chance it showed signs of disturbance. No one ever went in there as it was a 'show off room' with it's antiques, grand piano and high end oil paintings.
The echo of the house was creepy in the grand hallway with all the marble and stone statues of naked Greek goddess. Nick Ford had a thing for naked Greek women in any form. He put them in almost every room and the more time Alex spent alone in this house, the more and more he was learning to appreciate Greek mythology.
His favorite by far was a frighteningly, beautiful painting of Andromeda chined naked to a rock and about to be devoured by a sea creature unless Perseus arrived in time to save her. Which, in this painting, the hero Perseus didn't seem to make any appearance.
The fair maiden didn't look afraid of the monster or her fate however. Instead she stood and faced the beast, her bare chest thrust out fearlessly and her body a riot of tone muscle. It was as if she meant to fight the hideous monster and her being chained to a rock with no clothes on hardly mattered at all.
It was a complete contrast to the story Alex had always heard of Andromeda and the Kraken. One of a helpless, weeping princess who was about to be sacrificed to a sea creature and who was rescued by Perseus. This painting of Andromeda hardly needed saving and looked furiously down at her would be killer. Her nudity more like battle armor than something to be ashamed of.
It was a strange and curious painting. One that seemed out of place in Nick Ford's home. A man who, in Alex's opinion, had little respect for women.
The painting of this fearless Andromeda was in Nick Ford's office where Alex went to now. It was where he kept the computer that was available to use. Alex didn't have his own computer. Didn't see the need for one since he could use one at work and there was always the internet cafe in town.
He could still see John picking up sticks into his bucket from the office window. They would dump them into a bush pile when he was done and have a bond fire at the end of the summer.
For now, he turned on Nick Ford's desktop computer and glanced at the painting above the office bar while he waited for it to warm up and search for an internet connection.
"Hello, Andromeda, dear." he said feeling slight discomfort in his pants at her unapologetic nudity and salty glare at the sea monster. What he wouldn't give to be Perseus at that moment. Although, that particular Andromeda probably wouldn't need saving and might slap him in the face for his troubles.
'That's alright.' he thought with some amusement. 'Whatever she needs to do. We can work out the details later.'
He shook his head at the wild, intrusive idea of being slapped by this wild, naked warrior woman so unfortunately chained to a rock when she should be free.
It had felt like forever since he'd had a really satisfying sexual partner. Someone who he could do more than just cuddle with. He would be the first to admit he didn't mind the occasional flare of physical abuse inflicted on him. It showed passion and he could never get enough of that. It gave him something to try and tame. A nice girl who was perfectly acceptable in public but not at all a lady in his bed was all he ever wanted, and he couldn't believe it was so hard to find.
He'd dated and been with women around town who got their expectations of him up far too quickly. All too soon things had moved from going out to coffee to meeting the girl's parents and then Alex could feel that panic of a trap being closed in.
The sex with these women was never good enough. They were never enough to satisfy him or fill him with content. They were never secure enough in themselves to give back to him.
They could never be like Andromeda over there.
Alex looked away from the painting. It wasn't a good idea to think about fantasy women who could never be real. These savage women were occasionally nice to dream about, but they were long extinct. Replaced by suburban soccer moms who worried about calories, got bikini waxing and picked up Starbucks coffee on the way to PTA meetings and all while hiding a drinking problem.
There were no more warrior women left.
Alex started his internet search and was glad he wasn't doing this at work. He didn't want to leave a trail. Looking up a name could be traced back to him on his work computer.
Norma Bates had seemed like such and old fashioned name. One belonging to an old lady maybe; grandmother's name, or someone's great aunt. Why Vicki would want to kill an old woman was beyond him. Although he was sure this Norma Bates person was just a co-worker who had annoyed her or was rude. He was sure Norma Bates, a fussy, skinny old woman with 50 cats in an old house with an effeminate son who lived in her basement was alive and well.
Right away, a news story jumped on the screen and he knew this Norma Bates was the one he was looking for. It was from an Arizona newspaper. Barely two weeks ago now and someone named Sam Bates had reported his wife Norma missing.
Alex blinked and looked at the grainy, fuzzy picture of Norma Bates.
She was overweight and wearing dark sunglasses. Her long brown hair and layers of clothing obscuring her body. The distinctive impression of Garfield the cat on her shirt, his face looking unimpressed, was the only thing Alex could recognize. It was impossible to tell anything else about her by the picture. Couldn't they have provided a better picture?
He read how Norma Bates simply vanished without a trace on June 22nd along with her ten year old son Dylan.
This gave Alex pause and he looked out the office window again. John was still picking up sticks. Engrossed in his work.
Alex went back to reading the facts of the missing mother and son. The missing boy Dylan had a broken arm and there was another child, a six year old son left in the care of his grandmother.
Alex looked at the photograph of Norma Bates again. Things clicking into place a little to easily. Did Vicki kill this poor woman? Did she kill Norma Bates and kidnap her son? Was she capable of that? Why would she do such a thing?
Looking over the story it was clear the police suspected Sam Bates of Norma and Dylan's murder even though no bodies were found. An arrest looked emanate.
Alex wished he'd never looked at the first few lines of that diary. Never saw the names. Now, it was like he couldn't unseen it. Now it was like he couldn't look at Vicki the same way anymore. That bright smile, her contented happiness when she saw her son was safe. It was all an act.
Alex turned off the computer and went to check on John.
So I know it's odd to us that Alex wouldn't have had a computer and an internet cafe would have been a thing. But this is set in 2001. Not EVERYONE had their own PC back then at home if they had access to one at work, the library or whatever.
