Page 6 of Loco

I didn’t have any pets of my own, but only because I was gone from home so much of the time that didn’t think it would be fair to leave a pet alone for so long. If I were ever to make an exception, it would be for Helen Lapino’s demon cat, Owen. A little yellow feline that had been hit so many times by cars that he walked with a permanent limp, had half a tail, and was missing an ear. My heart broke every time I had to see his little scarred face, but I absolutely loved that crazy animal, and I’d made it clear to Helen that if she ever decided to give him up that I wanted him.

Helen could barely take care of him, which was why she paid me to go over three times a week to clean his litter boxes, water fountain, and to give him his meds for a skin condition. She was able to manage giving him a can of food every morning, and all the love he could handle. At least she was trying to give him a good life.

I smiled as I pulled up to the curb to her small house located in an old, established part of town. The houses were very close together, a few of them run down. The yards were brown, most likely because of the mature trees that grew everywhere, preventing the sun from getting through. Wind chimes and hanging plants adorned almost every front porch.

I’d been going to Helen’s home for almost a year and had noticed that most of her neighbors were elderly like her. Her job was my last one for the day, mostly because she liked to chit-chat and I didn’t want her to feel as if I were rushing to get out of there. I contributed her chattiness to the loneliness that came with living alone. I knew that she had family, but I’d never met any of them. If they came around, it wasn’t while I was there.

Today appeared that it was going to be different. There was a car in her driveway, an old, blue Toyota that had seen better days. I wondered who it belonged to as I walked up to her front door. If I’d had to guess, I’d have said that it was one of her grandchildren’s. From our conversations I knew that she had two granddaughters and one grandson. She spoke fondly of the girls, but her grandson was a source of disappointment to her. According to Helen, Russ was a lazy high school dropout who managed to acquire things without working for them. She suspected that he belonged to a street gang involved in illegal activities.

As I raised my hand to knock on the door, I heard yelling coming from inside the house. I paused to listen, frowning when I realized that someone was screaming obscenities at Helen. I could barely make out her weak replies, but the man’s voice came through loud and clear.

“You owe me, old lady! You’re always giving money and shit to Sheryl and Joanne and I want my share! I need it!”

Well, that comment made it clear who Helen’s visitor was. I knew her granddaughter’s names were Sheryl and Joanne, so I assumed that Russ was the asshole who was screaming at her. She responded, but again it was too low for me to make out.

“Excuses!” I heard the man snarl, and then a loud crash caused me to step back from the door. “If I have to, I’ll tear this fucking place apart!” came the next threat. “I need money now!”

For the first time I heard Helen cry out. Fear for her made me yank the screen door open and reach for the doorknob. Screw knocking for admittance. I found the door unlocked, and didn’t hesitate to step inside her home. I scanned the main room of the house, her living room, but no one was there.

“No, Russ!” I heard the fear in Helen’s weak voice.

I had no idea what I was going to do, but I followed the sounds to the back of the house where I knew the bedrooms were located. Halfway there I decided to announce myself. “Hello? Helen, are you here?” Her bedroom was at the end of the hallway and I halted at the doorway, feigning ignorance. “Oh, I’m sorry. I knocked, but I guess you didn’t hear me.”

I quickly assessed the situation and was enraged to see the elderly woman on the floor with tears in her eyes. A man was standing over her in a threatening stance. He was a small man, and he didn’t look healthy. His clothes were wrinkled and stained. He looked desperate. I searched for a resemblance, but if he was her grandson, he looked very different than he did in her pictures.

“Who the fuck are you?” he snarled, his thin face pinched and his eyes bloodshot.

I rushed over to Helen. “Are you crazy?” I snapped at him as I helped her to her feet. “Did he hit you?” I asked her with concern. I could feel her frail frame trembling as I helped her to the recliner next to her bed.

“I’m okay, dear. Russ—”

“I asked you a fucking question, bitch!”

So he was her grandson. I swung around to him. I knew his type, the kind who picked on the weak and talked big to make himself appear bigger and stronger than he was. I also knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt me if he was willing to hurt his own grandmother. The difference was that I was younger and stronger and not afraid to fight back.

“And I don’t have to answer you! Shame on you for hurting your own grandmother! Now get out before I call the police!”

The flicker in his eyes revealed that he was surprised that I knew who he was.

“Millie is the lady I told you about, Russ.” I hated the fear that I heard in her voice. “She takes care of Owen for me.”

“Shut it, old woman!” he snapped at her, not taking his eyes off me.

I pressed my lips and dug out my phone from my back pocket. I was done with the jerk. But before I could press any buttons, Russ stepped forward and knocked the phone out of my hand.

“Oh, no you don’t!”

I pushed him back and bent to retrieve my phone. The next thing I knew his hand was in my hair as he pulled me up and away, slamming me into the dresser.

“Russ, no!” Helen cried out.

I glared at Russ, ignoring the pain in my hip when it connected with the corner of the dresser. “It takes a big man to knock defenseless women around doesn’t it, Russ?”

He ignored my scathing comment. “The old bitch owes me!”

For the first time I noticed how dilated his pupils were, suggesting that he was high on something. “She’s always giving my sisters money and I want my share! I need it!” He shot his grandmother a hateful glare of resentment. “I know you have some laying around here.”

I met Helen’s eyes. She looked so sad and disappointed. Broken. In spite of that, I could see that she still loved her grandson. I knew that she was financially comfortable and could probably afford to give her grandson some money, but she was also smart. She probably knew that if she gave in to him now, he’d never leave her alone.