Kayli Unknown

Chapter 6 - Back Roads

Lisa lived about twenty miles north in Niagara. The town was on the Wisconsin side of the Menominee River. On the Michigan side were forests and hills. On the Wisconsin side, the town of five or six hundred followed Highway 141. A series of tree lined streets filled with older houses branched off to the left of the highway. The main feature of the town, and its initial reason for existence, was a large paper mill along the river. Abandoned decades earlier, it also served as the cornerstone for the town business district, which also had been largely abandoned.

"Why here?" Kat looked out at the river as Lisa drove through town. The river was about a hundred yards wide and had enough current to prevent more than minor freezing along the shore.

"Cheap rent."

"Wisconsin is full of places with cheap rent."

"Just across the river is Iron Mountain. There are jobs there. I used to work a couple places. Besides, when all my old friends would brag about how they had moved out of the UP, I could say I did too. I lived in Wisconsin."

"I grew up in Madison. Most of my old friends brag about moving out to the coast."

"Your old friends are more ambitious than mine."

Lisa took a side street about in the middle of town. Old homes. A bit bigger than average. Maybe homes for the mill foremen, back when there had been mill foremen. She parked on the street and they climbed the walk to the front door. One door, three doorbells. The house had been broken into apartments. Lisa unlocked the front door, then led the way up the stairs to another locked door - her apartment.

Whoever had repurposed the house had made the usual choices. There had been two bedrooms and a small bathroom upstairs. The small bathroom and one of the bedrooms were unchanged. The second bedroom had become a combination kitchenette and sitting area. Lisa gave a quick tour. Kat worked hard trying to think of something nice to say. She found a window with a view of the river and commented on that, and complimented one of the pictures on the wall of the "living room." Lisa wasn't having it.

"Kat, I'm not blind. I can see the place is horrid. Beige walls, industrial carpet, dark stained woodwork with a century's dirt and scratches, kitchen cabinets that must have been recycled from a trailer park. The place sucks. But it was close to work, and cheap. Let's just pack up a few of my things and get out of here."

She led the way into her bedroom, and into a very different atmosphere. Two large windows faced south. Newer draperies were on each. Good quality. Yellow. Sunshine yellow. The spread on her bed matched, as did the covers on her pillows. Large, watercolor landscapes graced two walls. They appeared to be originals. The closet doors at one end of the room had been painted with white enamel. The bed and dresser matched. The room was bright, fresh, and inviting.

"I take it this is where you spend your time."

"The living room and kitchenette were so bad, I didn't think I would ever have the energy and time to make them right. This room I could fix. I needed one place in the world where I could go and feel good. This was it."

The two women were standing just inside the door, looking across the bed at the windows.

"You did a good job with it, Lisa." Kat put an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"There was a time..." Lisa paused, then pointed toward the windows. "Those windows face south. There was a time I needed that. I needed sun, and yellow curtains. Cost me over fifty dollars, but worth ten times that."

"The room has a good feel." They stood together. Silent. Lisa slowly turned more toward Kat, an arm now around Kat's shoulders. Her face close.