Chapter 91

Chapter 91
Trying to rein in my emotions, I turned onto the blacktop that winded by the new neighborhood. I was raging and I knew it. Was my responses over the top? I don’t know. That bothered me.

Noticing Betty was low on fuel, I stopped at the gas station by the highway. While the tank filled, I shut off my phone. Just in case that was how VD was tracking me. Once she was filled up, I got up on the highway. To block out everything, I turned up the music. The wind blew made my ponytail dance as my hand windsurfed out the window. I had no destination in mind. Just drove on autopilot.

I didn’t know how long I drove before I finally looked around. Smiling, I took the next exit. The ramp dumped me onto a curvy one lane each way road. Old tall trees lined it. Eagles soared through the air. I could smell honeysuckle in the air as well as water. My soul started to settle as I felt this place settle into my bones.

I pulled Betty into the cove that used to be hidden. Now it had a parking lot and the portapotty had been replaced with a brown brick bathroom. That would have been useful when we partied here as teens. Thankfully the lot was empty.

I figured most people went to the new lake. It was fancier with nicer facilities I had been told. I parked Betty in a spot. Taking the time, I put up her top. Then taped a box in place of the driver’s side window that had been broken. Then locked her doors.

I walked to a table where I could see the water. The only sound was the cry of birds and my lighter flickering to life. I took a long much needed drag as my smoke began to glow in the fading sun.

I’d sat in this spot so many times as a teen. Not this exact table. It was the green metal mesh tables they put everywhere these days. Back in the day it had been a wooden picnic table that had all of our names carved in it. I smiled as I thought about the good times that had been had here. When my smoke was finished, I disposed of the butt in the designated container.

Instead of heading towards the water, I turned for the now clearly marked path that led into the woods. While it was nice not to be slapped in the face by branches, it was odd to walk on a clean gravel path.

I walked for about fifteen minutes until I saw the tree marked with the party symbol. Delighted, I laughed that it was still there. Granted it was a good fifteen feet higher than it used to be, but it was still there. I ducked under some branches to follow the party route. It was a Friday night, so I hoped this wasn’t still the go to party spot. Drunk teens were not what I wanted to deal with.

Twenty more minutes of walking found me in the old party spot. It appeared to be abandoned. There was no litter around or any other sign that it had been used recently. The fire circle that used to sit in the middle of the clearing was gone. As were all the fallen branches that we used for benches. Tree litter and saplings now filled the space.

Shrugging, I headed for the weeping willow that grew on the far side of the previous clearing. Swiping the drooping limps out of the way, I ducked underneath. It had grown a lot in the intervening years. I settled on the box piece I had grabbed out of Betty. From the bag from the gas station, I pulled out a rum cooler and a candy bar.

As a teen, I had been under this tree so many times. Sometimes drunk, sometimes not. Smiling I thought about the times I wasn’t alone under here. Chuckling I was thankful the tree couldn’t talk. There is a few encounters under I didn’t want anyone to know about. Oh Boone’s Farm. Nothing could lead to stupid decisions faster. I snickered except Arbor Mist.

I laughed until I cried. I lit up again and calmed down as I smoked. Using the empty can as an ashtray. Safety first! Willow trees were flammable. Ask me how I know.

“What is wrong with me?” I asked the tree. Sighing sadly, I leaned my head on its trunk. Tears were threatening to fall again. I hate crying. It’s a useless function of the body. Why was I reacting like this? Vincent was right, I needed those cameras. Even if Markus wasn’t trying to pull something. I was a single woman that the town knew had just inherited an estate. I was a target. So why was I so mad?

I thought about what I had shouted at VD. It had been raw emotions pouring out of me. Control. I did have issues with that. Fenton had tried to control every aspect of my life. How I wore my hair. What I wore. What job I held. Even how we decorated the apartment that I paid most of.

VD wasn’t Fenton. I knew that. He was Pop’s friend. He was just trying to be a good friend to me now. Yeah, he went a little over the top in his protectiveness but, it came from a good place. I could sense that. Given his job he had probably seen how things like this could turn tragic.

I frowned. But that doesn’t excuse the camera in my room. Perhaps I should give him the benefit of the doubt and find out if he had actually authorized that or if it was an error.

Matza balls! Do I owe him an apology? Grumbling, I dropped my smoke into the can. Listened for it to sizzle as it went out in the last drops of the drink. I popped open another can. Nah, he didn’t need an apology. He had still done me wrong in other ways.

“You know it’s dangerous to smoke under a weeping willow, right?” A male voice called from outside the willow canopy.