Revengeance

Thursday, July 25th, 5:58 pm

The third call goes once again straight to voice-mail, my palm slams against the steering wheel at the same time. "Dammit, pick up!" I yell into the car, tossing my phone in the backseat. Leaving a message is pointless. There are two waiting from the previous calls. Pulling into a parking space, I run my fingers underneath my eyes and try to cover any evidence. After the cars parked, I close my eyes, resting my head on the back of the seat. Questions race my thoughts, one keeps coming back, one I can't answer nor should anyone.

I begin to reach across the console to grab the bag I keep in my car when I hear the crinkle sound from the envelope. I pick it up and run my finger over the name while memories collide to the present.

"Shoot!" I release an exasperated lungful of air.

"Cat-Cat, why don't you take a break and get some lemonade for us?" Daddy asks, cutting off the lawnmower. He pulls his favorite team cap off to wipe his head, his attention directly on me.

"No, daddy. I can do this." I pull myself up watching the man I idolize with his hands on the brown leather belt holding up his khakis. His eyes squint in the golden sunlight with our cottage-style home behind him. He moves his weight back and forth on each leg, reining in any endeavor to help. Wiping his forehead again - a characteristic I've learned he does when he's uncomfortable with a situation - he gives in allowing me to conquer the skill.

"Okay sweetheart. I'll have Momma get us some lemonade." He goes to walk up the steps of our porch suddenly stopping to turn back to me. The bright light illuminates the prominent lines surrounding his eyes. Poor daddy must have a lot on his mind. "Promise me you'll take it easy. You don't have to learn it all in one day."

"Yes, sir. I know daddy." I watch him ascend the stairs and fade into the house just as Camillo emerges.

"Hey Cat! You finally gonna learn to ride that thing or just stand there?" I narrow my eyes at my little twerp of a brother. Cutting my eyes away, I pick up the frustrating aluminum, swing my leg over and line the handlebars perpendicular to the cement underneath. 'I can do this,' I chant to myself while Cam continues his usual annoying verbiage I've decided to ignore like always. Brothers!

Placing my foot on one pedal, I take my other foot off the ground and begin to rotate the wheels, trying to steady the direction of the handlebars drifting them from left to right and right to left. The bike becomes too much to control. I throw my foot down but not before I lose my balance and fall onto the rough ground in an "Oomph."

"Ha, ha! Look, this is how you do it Cat." Camillo speeds past, circling around and then stops to give me his hand to pull me back up.

"You okay sweetheart?" daddy's concern calls from the porch.

"Yes, sir." I hear him mumble something, but my concentration is too focused on the maddening piece of aluminum I need to master to understand what he's saying.

The steps I've repeated so many times over the last hour, encourage my determination to get it this time. I pedal faster. "Oh my goodness. Look! Look, Cam, I'm doing it!" I exclaim. Mommy and Daddy cheered loudly, with pride in their voice, from behind. Camillo childishly murmurs, "It's about time."

Taking the next driveway, I join Cam on the road. The bike wobbles a little, but I quickly gain control. Yes, I did it! I learned to ride a bike. "Dude, you need to learn to take your time conquering stuff like this Cat. You don't have to master everything immediately." I take my eyes off the asphalt in front of me to sneer at Cam who's attempting new tricks he only learned last week. Anything athletic comes naturally to him even if I was born twelve-minutes earlier. It irritates me. A quick look at my parents out of the corner of my eye, my balance is jolted from the uneven ground. It brings back my focus. I proceed into the driveway. Thankful for not falling, my heart warms at the pride beaming off my parents. Daddy's arm is around Momma's shoulders, embracing her affectionately. I can't help but gleaming as both exhibit proud smiles.

Suddenly, a silhouetted shadow moves behind them. A sinking feeling overcomes my senses, turning my stomach to lead. With my heartbeat racing, I fall onto our lawn while the silhouette reveals itself in the sun's rays.

Those hard eyes.

That goatee.

I gasp.

One side of his lip curls upward as he stalks closer to momma and daddy. He brings a knife to his lips to shush me.

"No!" I shout, jumping with a start, crumpling the envelope more. Air cannot fill my lungs fast enough, and that's when I jump again from tapping on the glass. Whipping my head in the direction of the sound, my chest moves up and down in rhythm with my accelerated heartbeat, and my hand moves slightly to grab the heavy object. Perspiration beads along the sides of my face while condensation masks the windows. I roll it down a few inches, "Is that you, Mer?" a voice states rather than asks.

I continue to roll it down and find Fredrich, a nice man who I usually see behind the counter flipping through his favorite gossip magazines with a concerned look. "Hey," I sigh heavily and grab my bag.

"Are you Okay?"

"Yeah, just a bad day at work," I lie, laboriously shaking the fear from my voice. I open the door, stash the envelope where my phone hid moments earlier, and grab my bag. Fredrich's hands are holding the door open. Such the gentleman.

"We weren't expecting you this evening," he says closing my car door.

Nervous laughter escapes my lips as I hike my bag over my shoulder, "Uh, yeah," my voice dies off concentrating on locking the car — the beep echoed through the night air. We walk the fifty yards to the entrance, and I bid farewell to Fredrich after he held the facilities door open for me. The freak-out from earlier threatens to surface, causing me to be nervous to say more to the friendly guy. I feel bad, but there's something bigger I've got to figure out.