Sue (16 page)

“About what?”

“Well, I’ve already put them
through hell, and the things that have been happening have them scared. I hate
that my situation might put them in danger. It’s my problem and I’m the one who
has to deal with it, not them. Besides, I like having my own place.” Sue looked
into Melvin’s eyes. “I would really appreciate it if they didn’t find out about
the letter tonight. If Will doesn’t hear about it then they won’t either.”

“He’s my boss, Sue. I can’t keep
things from him. Besides, it’s just not right.”

“Please, Melvin.” Sue gave him an
imploring look.

“I don’t know,” he hedged. “I’m not
sure it’s a good idea to keep him in the dark about...”

The sound of a knock interrupted
them. Sue started to rise. “There’s our pizza.”

“Let me get it.” Melvin stood and
moved toward the door. He peered out the curtain before undoing the lock and
turning the knob. “Come on in.”

A young man in a red jacket stepped
inside and pulled their order out of an insulated carrying bag. “That’ll be
$18.50.”

Sue dug in her purse, but Melvin
already had his wallet out.

“No,” she protested. “I invited
you. I’ll pay.”

“I have it right here, Sue.”

“That’s not fair. How about we
split it?” She held out a ten dollar bill.

“Works for me.”
Melvin counted out some cash, took the bill from Sue, and carefully added a tip.
He handed over the cash and took the pizza.

The pizza delivery man stared from
Sue to Melvin before speaking. “Hey, you’re Sue, right? Do you remember me?”

She looked closer and recognized
Joyce’s favorite tutoring student.
“Jeremiah?”

“Yeah!
I
knew you were back in town, but haven’t seen you around school.” He gave her a
wide smile.
A very friendly smile.
“Wow, you’re
looking good. I like the new hairstyle.” He winked. “Why don’t you give me a
call sometime, eh?”

His attention was unsettling. Sue
was taken aback. “Call you? Why?”

“I don’t know.” He flung his hair
back with a cocky toss of his head, a movement that reminded Sue of Zeke.
“Maybe we could hang out.”

“I don’t think so.” She backed up.

“Oh, I see. That your new boyfriend
there?” Jeremiah gestured toward Melvin.

Melvin handed the pizza to Sue and
stepped forward. “I’m her friend.”

“Well, if you’re just friends, then
no problem, right? How about I come back when I get off work? Send your buddy home.
I’ll bring over a six-pack and we can get loose and have a little fun, just you
and me. What do you say, Sue?”

“She said no.” Melvin reached out
and took the cash from Jeremiah’s hands.

“What the hell are you doing?”
Jeremiah tried to grab the money but Melvin pulled away from his reach.

“I’m taking back the tip, that’s
what I’m doing.” Melvin slowly counted the bills back into Jeremiah’s hand.
“There’s the eighteen.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out some change,
placing it coin by coin on top of the cash. “And there’s the fifty. Now, get
out of here and don’t come back. Got that?”

Jeremiah looked at Melvin in
disbelief. “Fuck you, asshole!” He got up into Melvin’s face, chest puffed out
and eyes blazing. “Give me back my goddamn tip!”

Melvin stepped deliberately closer
until the two were nearly touching. He was only slightly taller than Jeremiah,
but managed somehow to look down on him. The tension in the air was palpable.
“If you want it, take it.”

“Don’t hurt him,” Sue cried, unsure
to whom she was even speaking.

Neither man paid her the slightest
attention. Their eyes were locked in a battle of wills and the air crackled
with animosity. Jeremiah looked away first. Backing off slightly, he rolled his
shoulders and affected an air of nonchalance. “You know what? I’m going to let
this slide. But I tell you, dude, if I wasn’t working...”

“Don’t let that stop you,” Melvin
said softly, fists ready at his side.

Jeremiah made a dismissive motion
with his hand and turned to go. “Hell with you both.”

Melvin slammed the door after him
and locked it. He turned to Sue. “Let’s eat.”

Sue was trembling. “Let’s eat?
That’s all you’re going to say?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know. Aren’t you shook up
or anything?” Her hands were unsteady as she placed the box on the coffee table
and sank onto the sofa.

“Not really. He was a jerk; I had
to put him in his place.” Melvin sat beside Sue and opened the pizza container.
“
Man, that
smells good.”

Sue grabbed Melvin’s hand to get
his attention. “Melvin, I don’t know how you can be so calm; I hate
confrontations. You haven’t even reached for your inhaler.”

“My inhaler?
You know about that?” He blushed slightly.

“Yeah, well, I know you have one.
I’ve seen you pull it out before.”

“Oh.” He looked away for a moment.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to
embarrass you.”

“The inhaler, it’s just...”

“No, don’t explain. Forget I even
brought it up.” She squeezed his hand lightly. “What I really want to say is
thank you. I appreciate you standing up for me like that.”

He looked into her eyes for a
moment and then smiled shyly. “You’re welcome, Sue. It was my pleasure.”

“Don’t you even want to know who
that guy is?”

“Sure.
If you
want to tell me.”

“It’s someone my friend, Joyce,
tutors. He’s never given me a second glance until tonight. I don’t understand
it.” But deep inside, Sue did understand. Joyce had to have told him how Sue
had gone off with
Zeke,
a guy Joyce figured was
practically a stranger to Sue. Jeremiah probably took that to mean Sue was
easy.

“Well, I say we need to keep an eye
out for him.”

“You think he might be the one
sending me letters?”

“Don’t know, but I wouldn’t write
him off.”

Sue got up and went to the kitchen
to get some sodas. She returned and handed one to Melvin, opened hers, and placed
it on the table. “Let’s eat. We can talk about all this somber stuff later.”

“Sounds good to
me.”

Sue turned on the television,
slipped a movie into the DVD player, and sat back down beside Melvin. They ate
in companionable silence while they watched the show.

After the show ended, Melvin
stretched and rose. He helped Sue carry the empty pizza box and pop cans to the
kitchen. Sue watched as he inspected the back door to assure it was locked.
Then he peeked through the blind at the patio and yard beyond.

“Something out
there?”
She kept her voice casual, but there was an undertone of worry.

“No.” He smoothed down his hair.
“Everything looks normal, but it doesn’t hurt to check.”

She rinsed her hands at the sink
and kept her eyes on Melvin as she dried them off. It was a speculative look,
as if she were assessing something. “Melvin, can I trust you?” She itched to
tell him about her internet searches and show him the file, especially now that
one of the missing women had turned up murdered.

“Sure.” He looked thoughtful. “I
guess, I mean. Trust me in what way?”

“Can I trust you to keep a secret?”

He balked a bit. “I’d like to say
yes, Sue, but it depends on what the secret is. I couldn’t keep something to
myself if I thought it might endanger someone or if it’s something that might
get you, or me, in trouble in any way.”

Sue gave an exasperated sigh. “Why
do you have to be that way?”

“What way?”

“So, so...straight-arrow, so damned
proper.” She tossed the towel on the counter and put her hands on her hips.

“I’m just giving you an honest
answer.”

“What you
should
have said
was ‘yes, of course you can trust me’. That’s what most people would say.
But no, not you.
You have to get all precise. You’re like a
Boy Scout or something.”

Melvin looked surprised. “I
was
a Boy Scout. Is that a bad thing?”

“It is when I need a person to back
me up, no matter what.
Someone who’s on my side, right or
wrong.”

“I
am
on your side.” He
rubbed his forehead as if soothing a headache. “I like you, Sue. I like you a
lot. Right now, we’re with each other mainly because of a lunatic stalker.
However, I’d like to think that once he’s caught and out of the picture, we’ll
still spend time together. I don’t know how you feel.” He dropped his hand to
his side and gazed at her, eyes earnest. “But, here’s the thing. If I’m not
honest with you now, how will you ever be able to believe anything I say later?
If there is a later, that is.”

Sue’s annoyance vanished. “You’re
right, of course, and I understand. I really do.” Her shoulders dropped a little.
“It’s just who you are, I guess.”

Melvin let her last comment slide.
“I have an idea. Why don’t you try me anyway? Give me a chance. You should know
by now I’m not going to let you down, at least not without a really good
reason. I wouldn’t share your confidences with anyone, unless I absolutely had
to. So, what is it?”

Sue hesitated, undecided. Her
secrets had been used against her before, by Zeke, and she still stung from the
underhanded way he’d gained her trust and then turned her words around and used
them to take her apart. Melvin wouldn’t do that with her revelations, but he
might divulge them in an attempt to stop her if he thought it would be in her
best interests. No, she couldn’t yet bring him in on her activities and plans.
But she had to tell him something now. Finally, she settled on a mild
deception. “I just wanted to say that Zeke used to like exploring abandoned
buildings.”

“That’s not a secret.”

“I know. But the secret part is
that I’ve been doing online research of derelict buildings and such.
Thought it might come in handy someday.”

“I was expecting something a little
more earth-shattering,” Melvin said with a wry smile.

“I know, but the detective did tell
me to leave it alone and let the police handle it. So, you know, I’ve kept it to
myself. I wouldn’t want you to tell anyone I’m doing it.”

“You don’t have to worry about
that. I won’t tell a soul unless you start running off on your own to check
them out.” He smiled to show he was kidding and then looked at his watch. “We
need to decide the arrangements for tonight. I don’t like the idea of you being
alone here.”

“Me either,” Sue replied frankly.
“Do you want to stay? You can sleep on the couch.”

“I’ll do that. And I have an early
class tomorrow; I could follow you to work.”

“Great. I’ll just get you some
blankets and a pillow.” She stopped in the kitchen doorway. “But we shouldn’t
make a habit of it. Okay?”

Melvin approached her. “Listen, I
have a thought here. If Zeke, or whoever, is watching your place, then he knows
I’m here. He’s not going to try anything.”

You don’t know Zeke
, Sue
thought. But she held her silence, encouraging him to continue.

“I think we ought to set a trap for
this freak. Tomorrow’s Friday and it would be the perfect time to do it. What
do you think?”

“Keep talking.”

“I’ll come over like normal and
we’ll spend the evening together. Then, around bedtime, I’ll pretend to leave.
But I’ll just park a few blocks away and walk back. I can keep an eye on the
place for a while and see if anything happens. That nice big hedge out front
would make a perfect hiding place.” He grinned broadly. “He won’t know what hit
him.”

“You want to come back and freeze
your butt off just so you can play spy?”

Melvin looked crestfallen. “Not
just that, Sue. I want to catch the guy.” He brightened. “Anyway, I have
night-vision goggles. I love using those things.”

She chuckled.
“Can’t
blame you for that.
Okay, it’s a deal.”

“I don’t even have a toothbrush
here.” His smile was self-effacing, boyish.

She felt a small ripple in her
belly, the flutter of a butterfly. It wasn’t like the heated body rushes she’d
had with Zeke, but it felt good. She’d have to watch herself. “I’ve got a new
one you can have.
Still in the package.”

Later, after she’d done her
requisite internet searches and was settled in bed, Sue thought of Melvin, on
the sofa, on the other side of her bedroom door and down the short hall. It
would be easy to stroll out there, slip out of her
nightie
,
and crawl under the covers beside him. He’d respond; she knew he would. And
maybe that great cold loneliness inside her would be dispelled, if only for a
brief time. Maybe he could fill the need that clawed its way around her heart.
She threw back her blanket and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Then
she paused. No. It would just mess things up. Anyway, he wasn’t Zeke. His touch
would be different. His body was different. The way he smelled, the way he
spoke. It was all different. It would be like drinking lemonade when you
thirsted for wine.

Then she recalled with disgust
those times Zeke had put her with other men, the look of lust on his face, his
shameful participation.
I compare him to wine? I’m so screwed up.

She glanced at the door as she slid
her feet into slippers, but instead of going to Melvin she went to her desk and
pulled out her journal. Opening the cover, she picked up a blue ballpoint.
Straining to get the entry worded just right, she poured out her perverse
longings and conflicted emotions onto the pages.

For every pleasant memory of Zeke
she recorded, she forced herself to document a contrasting negative
recollection. She needed this sort of balance to keep her tortured mind from
tricking her. Hate boiled inside her, but she couldn’t identify its chief
target: herself or Zeke.