The Face Behind The Mask

20

Kelsey rumbled down the stairs, snatched the car keys from the side table, and jogged toward the garage. Skyden got up from her chair in the dining room. "Where are you going?"

"I need new shoes." She said it like it was common knowledge, like everyone in Pittsburgh was asking "When is Kelsey gonna get new shoes?"

Skyden cocked her head. "You can't order your shoes online?"

"Amazon doesn't have my size," Kelsey said, "I called Jenkins. They have the shoes I want in my size. Plus, I just thought it would be nice to change it up and actually get out of the house for a minute."

"Give me the keys," said Skyden. "I'll drive."

"I know how to drive a car."

Skyden gave her a bitter smile. "You want to drive? Fine. But I'm coming with you. Let me get my sweater." She went to the closet, took her sweater from the clothes hook, and fed her arms into the sleeves.

She followed her daughter into the garage. They got into the Volvo, Skyden in the passenger seat. Kelsey backed the Volvo out of the garage and closed the garage door with the remote. The late afternoon sky was fading to gray as they began their journey to the shoe store.

A yawn caught Skyden by surprise. She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes. She pulled down the visor and checked herself in the vanity mirror. "You could've given me a minute to brush my hair and put on some makeup."

"Mom, you look fine."

She wiped mascara smudges from her cheeks. "Didn't you just get new shoes?" Skyden asked.

"Running shoes. I need tennis shoes. The tread is totally worn down. I'm slipping on the court."

Skyden paused for a moment and then said, "Don't you still have those pink ones?"

"What pink ones?"

"The Skechers. The ones that light up."

Kelsey cracked up. "Oh, my God! Mom!"

"They were your favorites."

"The sad part is," she said with an embarrassed laugh, "I probably still have them in my closet somewhere." Skyden laughed. When her eyes drifted to the mirror, she noticed a dark sedan following them.

"I was such a dork." Kelsey caught her breath.

"Those were the days," said Skyden. She kept her eyes on the mirror when Kelsey made the turn. The dark sedan broke free of the stream of headlights and followed.

Jenkins Shoes was located in the same small strip mall as Skyden's Yoga Gym. She lost track of the car when Kelsey pulled into a parking spot. Women with rolled yoga mats under their arms walked past, heading for the gym.

"Let's go," said Skyden, on alert for the dark car.

They entered the shoe store and immediately drew the attention of a clerk behind the counter. Kelsey and her mother were accustomed to drawing attention. It was hard to miss them.

"What can I do for you ladies?" he asked, a dreamy smile on his face.

"I called about the CG1s," Kelsey said.

"That was me you talked to. Size 7, right?" She nodded. "I set them aside for you." He pulled a pair of shoes from the bottom shelf.

She tried them on, wearing a euphoric grin. "Oh, my God!" she said as she slid her foot inside the coveted Coco Gauff shoe.

"You like them?" the salesman said, fairly swooning.

"They're awesome." She laced them tighter and bounced on her toes while her mother stole glances through the front window out into the parking lot. She didn't see the car and the shadows stretching across the pavement made visibility more difficult.

Skyden handed her card to the salesman and concluded the transaction. She expected the shoes would be expensive and they were.

As the salesman took his time bagging up the shoes, she felt her pulse rate ticking upward. It was a short walk from the store to her parked Volvo and within twenty minutes she and Kelsey would be pulling into the garage at home. She needed to calm down.

Skyden felt uneasy like she just couldn't get settled and she carried it with her through the front door and out into the parking lot. Gushing with teenage exuberance, Kelsey chattered about her new shoes and how they were going to raise her game and what a lucky break to find them in her size at her neighborhood shoe store. With her smile fixed in place, Skyden nodded and focused on closing the distance to her Volvo.

Kelsey thumbed the keyfob and the car responded with flashing lights and the familiar Beep, Beep.

"Skyden!" came a voice and a split second later the sensation of someone behind her grabbing her arm. She spun around pulling out of Grayson's grasp.

"You scared the hell out of me," she said. He reeked of vodka. "You're drunk."

He dismissed her with a wave of his bandaged hand. "No, I'm not." Everything about him said otherwise, his heavy eyelids, his doughy complexion, his unsteady posture.

"Kelsey, get in the car." Kelsey held her ground, protective of her mother. Never taking her eyes off Grayson, Skyden said, "Kelsey, get in the car." She slipped into the driver's seat.

"Listen, Skyden." He reached for her arm again.

"Get your hands off of me!" She was scared but wouldn't let him see it. She tightened her jaw in an act of defiance.

He retreated and leaned against a parked car, his knees spongey. "My life is falling apart." He hung his head, eyes cast downward. "Everything's totally fucked up."

Kelsey started the Volvo. The parking lot had suddenly gone still, deserted. Skyden looked over toward the shoe store, hoping a customer would emerge and make their way into the parking lot. Maybe a couple of women from the yoga studio. Where was everyone?

"I got no family." His voice was so soft, nearly a whisper. "I'm gonna lose my job. I know it."

"You need to stop following me." She gave him a hard look. "Do you understand me?"

"I'm gonna drive a hundred miles an hour into a wall. What do I have to live for?"

She wasn't buying into his game and wouldn't be manipulated by his shameless attempt. "You shouldn't be driving," she said in a controlled, steady voice. "Call an Uber."

"I'm gonna do it." He barked it out, raising his voice. "I swear I will."

"If you get in your car, I'm calling the cops."

He took a breath and then leaned forward, briefly losing his balance. "Can you drive me to my hotel?" He sounded like a little lost kid.

"No. My daughter and I are going home. Call an Uber before you hurt somebody."

He pointed at her. "It's gonna be your fault, Skyden." She got into the Volvo. "I'm gonna do it and it's gonna be on you."

Before Kelsey hit the gas pedal, Grayson lunged at the car. "You don't even care. You don't. You cold-hearted bitch!"

Kelsey swung the car out of the parking space and toward the parking lot exit. Skyden watched Grayson in the mirror. He teetered toward the sidewalk and plopped down on the curb, his head in his hands.

"Mom," said Kelsey. "You should definitely call the cops."