Page 2 of Closely Guarded
Lenny though…he didn’t take my polite decline for another date nearly as well as the others. It started innocently enough. He would call or text me a lot, ask me out again and I’d politely decline. He would accept, but jokingly say how he’d have to try again later. After that, he never left me alone. He was always calling or texting, then it was leaving notes in my school locker. He even got a note into my locker in the girls’ locker room.
I thought it would be fine once he graduated. I’d be going into my senior year and he would be off to college or a job or find something else to focus on, something that wasn’t me. That’s not what happened. If anything, it got so much worse.
He was calling and texting me multiple times a day, asking why I was ignoring him, why I wouldn’t talk to him. It got so bad that I changed my phone number and told everyone that I had been getting a lot of wrong numbers.
One day, just a few weeks before my high school graduation, Lenny came to my family’s house. When my mother casually asked who he was, he lied and told her that he was in a class with me.
He left when she told him that I was at the library. But the only reason that he left was so that he could go to the library himself and try to talk to me. That’s the day that I decided to move out as soon as I graduated. I was scared that he would keep showing up at the house. He didn’t threaten my parents or anything like that, but… I just got such a bad feeling about the whole situation.
Maybe I should have called the police, but I didn’t have anything to really tell them about. Technically, I don’t know if Lenny’s done anything that can be considered illegal. Besides, this isn’t something that I want my family to find out about, especially my brother. If Zach finds out, he’ll probably leave the Air Force and move back home to watch over me.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my big brother. I admire him so much for choosing to serve our country. He just sometimes seems to forget that I’m not a baby or young child who needs constant supervision and protection from the world.
If I tell him that I’m in trouble, that I really may need some help… well. I know I should tell him, but I want to be able to deal with this myself. I want to feel like I can handle this, that I’m independent and strong enough on my own.
But wanting something and it actually happening are two different things.
The sight of a blueberry scone scented candle on my doormat is proof enough of that.
What really gets me this time is that the candle is lit. I live on the second floor and this apartment is very cheap, so there’s no outside security or code that you need to get into the main building. I hadn’t thought that would be a problem.
It wasn’t like I advertised my move or told anyone, really. I don’t know how Lenny found out, but about a week after I had settled into my new apartment, he started leaving gifts outside my door and calling again. He’d found out that I like baking back when we were in high school, so I think he’s trying to win me over by giving me things that he thinks I would like. The gifts he left are these scented candles.
He’s never actually lit one before though.
They are always in scents like mango twist, cinnamon apple pie, berry and basil. Thankfully, the smell is never the same as what the genuine ingredient or food smells like—the smells are all overlaid by the cloy of heavy wax and artificial chemical preservative. They’re always different brands and colors and sizes. And they’re not cheap either.
That’s one of the things that makes me especially nervous about Lenny, wondering how he has the money for this and the time to leave these “gifts” at my door and call me. Doesn’t he have to work? Wouldn’t someone at his job be upset that he was constantly on the phone?
I quickly crouch down to blow it out and glance around the fall. The smoke detector is down the way, but what if I wasn’t home? The candle could have triggered the alarms and scared everyone. Or worse, what if it got knocked over? It’s small enough, the blue glass jar blending into the grey carpeting—a neighbor could accidentally trip over it and a fire could break out.
When I go to pick the candle up, it’s not very hot at all and there isn’t a lot of melted wax floating around at the wick. That means that it must have been lit very recently; the glass the candle is poured into isn’t hot either. Lenny was here very recently, at my home… with a lighter.
I almost drop the candle in my haste to get back inside my apartment and deadbolt the door. I slide the chain for good measure and shakily set the candle in the sink. I’ll throw it out in a public trash can on my way over to my parent’s house this afternoon.
They’re having a big get together at the house in honor of Zach coming home from the Air Force for a little while. He arrived home a couple of days ago and we got to meet up for breakfast at the café where I work. That had an added bonus: He got to try some of the baked goods I’ve been experimenting with.
The owner of the café is a sweet older woman who lets me offer the deserts and breads that I bake as specials. I typically use the café kitchen and she allows for me to keep half of the profits from the goods that I make and sell. It’s a very generous arrangement, as I also get to know what the customers think of what I’ve made. So far, all of the reviews that I’ve received have been positive. That makes me so happy—I hope to have my own bakery or café one day, and knowing that people like what I bake tells me that I’m doing something right, that one day, I could really make a career out of doing what I love.
I couldn’t quite tell what Zach thought of the coffee cake that I made. He was happy to eat it but didn’t say much either way as to whether or not he actually liked it. He made some joke about the Air Force never feeding him enough, but I remember him being like that when we were kids, too.
My brother will eat just about anything. I was so happy to see him safe and sound that I didn’t even complain! The last time he was home was over a year ago, and that was just for a couple of days on a holiday. This time, he’ll be home for several weeks! He’s stayed in contact with me and our parents, but video-chatting, emails, texts—none of that is the same as getting to hug my big brother.
I know that I had the perfect chance to tell him about Lenny, but I didn’t. This whole thing will wrap up on its own. He’ll lose interest in me and I can go back not looking over my shoulder all the time. Things will be okay. They have to be.
Chapter 3- Nick
Whoever decided that beer, barbeque, and apple pie was the classic representation of an American family’s summer was a genius. It really is.
Zach and I are home on leave, so his folks decide to throw a get together. They invited friends, coworkers, family neighbors—if Zach or I were on good terms with them, they were here. Seeing everyone again is great, even if we both have to field a lot of questions. Me more so than Zach—it seems like the word has gotten around that the government is sending me off to school on a continued education leave.
I’m grateful for it. As a fresh faced kid heading off to basic training with my best friend at my side, I was so foolish. I thought that being in the military would be a huge adventure. As I’ve matured, it has become an honor and a privilege to serve.
“Adventure” isn’t the right word to use at all to describe what happens on missions or in the field though. In my time in the Air Force, I’ve seen guys get so hurt—and I wanted to help, but I didn’t know how to do that. Sure, I could help the injured get to safety and it was seen as something incredibly brave, but that never felt like doing enough.
It was a field medic who told me that I’d be good in the medical field, whether it be as a medic like them or as a full blown doctor. I approached my commanding officer, who took me to our supervisors and a few months later, I was enrolled in school with plans for rigorous medical training.
That’s not until the fall though. So for now, I get to sit back, shoot the shit with people I haven’t gotten to see in years, and eat some awesome food. What they serve on base is nowhere near as bad as the movies make it out to be, but nothing beats home-made rolls, fresh from the oven.