Crooked Smile (WINNER of the MJFA'S 2017)

Chapter 14 - Why Are You Here?

Marilyn didn't linger. There was no point in it. Also, she had better things to do, such as her homework and getting some rest. This might be the last night she would spend with Michael before he went back to his normal life without her. She wanted to be ready.

She didn't see the car coming. She heard it. Maybe one block and a half down the street from school, the loud noise of an engine made her turn. It was coming straight at her. As if it were to run right off the street and onto the sidewalk. Where she stood. She wasn't even scared as she faced the radiator grille. There was no time for fear. Dropping her History book and folder she had still been carrying from her last class, she took a step back. It was pointless. She wouldn't stand a chance. A young mother in a front yard screamed.

The car didn't run off the street. At the last moment, the driver yanked the steering wheel around. The vehicle grazed the curb with a screeching sound, sending a gush of dirty water in Marilyn's direction, spilling it over her book and folder on the ground, her sandals, legs and the lower part of her dress. Then the car quickly gained speed as it drove away. Peter leaned out of the back window to check the result, and cursed at having largely missed her. The young mother quickly ushered her two children inside and closed the door.

For a moment, Marilyn stood there in shock, watching the car go. Then she thought of her History book.
"No, no, no, no, no!" she whispered, as she collected it from the ground. Her notes would dry, and she could still use them, even if they were a bit dirty, but the book belonged to the school, and she had to return it by the end of the year. On top of that, the teacher was extremely picky about the books. For the lack of anything else, Marilyn tried to dry it with the hem of her dress, that was dirty anyway, but the cut edges had already started to warp at the top.

While she was still crouching on the ground trying desperately to get as much water and dirt off the book as possible, other cars of other students started to pass by.
"Hoo-hoo! What'ya doin', Edmond?" someone yelled, honking the horn, "Havin' a picnic in the street?" and Marilyn became aware, that it was only a matter of time until someone else would think her a perfect aim and splash another round of water over her. So she picked up her folder, too, and still dabbing the book with her dress, quickly continued on her way.

The first thing she did when she got home, was to lay her notes and the book out to dry, then she took a shower before having a closer look at her dress. Although Thomas - it had been his car - hadn't managed to splash water all over her, the lower part was still dirty and the dress needed to be washed. And as she had a few other things that needed to be washed, too, she decided she might as well do it right away and hang them out to dry as long as the sun was still up.

While the machine washed, Marilyn slept. She had set an alarm to wake her again after an hour and a half, and when it went off, she was so groggy from sleep, that she had to drag herself out of bed. Eyes half closed she crawled to the washing machine to retrieve her laundry.

Next to the door that led from the kitchen to the garage was a second one that led outside to the pool next to the house and to the back yard beyond. The basket with her laundry under one arm, Marilyn headed past the pool towards the garden. She was still feeling drowsy and not really paying attention to anything, when suddenly something caught her foot. The basket with her laundry went flying, and Marilyn met painfully with the tiled ground.

Sitting on the floor and holding her throbbing ankle, she looked around for the cause of her fall. One of the tiles that covered the pool area was elevated, maybe by some tree root or whatever else could cause such things. Marilyn cursed it. She cursed the tile and the trees and Thomas and Peter - and Brian, too, while she was at it.

The basket with her laundry in lay turned over a few feet away, and two of her tops were swimming in the pool. On all fours, she struggled to fish them out and almost fell in herself. What a cursed day this was! There was no doubt that the tops needed rinsing, and as the rest of her laundry was dusty from being spilled out on the ground, Marilyn decided to put all of it back in the washer for an extra rinse before hanging it to dry.