Page 14 of The Neighbor
“No, that’s okay. I guess I was just decompressing after all that happened today. I wonder what’s happening in the Meyers home tonight,” I say as I glance over at Jared and Suzanne’s dark house.
Caroline sighs. “He snuck out a few hours ago. I saw him walk between the houses. He was heading over toward the street where Sara lives.”
Her observations intrigue me. How is it I didn’t notice Jared sneaking out earlier?
“Oh, yeah? I guess Suzanne’s not in the mood for talking then.”
I suspected that she wasn’t in the mood for anything with her husband from the moment she lunged at his girlfriend. She probably took a few shots at Jared before he ran away. Serves him right for pulling such a stupid move bringing his mistress to the neighborhood party. He had to know his wife wouldn’t appreciate that.
Caroline huffs her disgust at my comment. “I wouldn’t be in the mood if I were her either. It’s bad enough he’s been stepping out on her, but to invite his girlfriend to hang out with all of us knowing Suzanne was going to end up coming home and seeing that is just heartless. Whatever she’s going to do to him he’s got it coming in spades.”
Even though I know she’s serious, I can’t help but smile as I say, “A woman with a taste of vengeance. How very Kill Bill of you.”
She rolls her eyes and shrugs. “I’d prefer to be thought of as a Boudicca, personally.”
“Boudicca?” The word sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.
Tilting her chin up, Caroline says, “Iceni warrior queen who took out her vengeance on the Romans after they enslaved her people. Killed thousands of Romans.”
“Hmmm. Hell truly does hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
After she leans back on her palms, Caroline smiles and says, “Jared better hope his wife doesn’t have a taste for vengeance of any style, Kill Bill or Boudicca or any other kind.”
I imagine Suzanne picking up some medieval sword and running her husband through. She’s pretty strident on a normal day. What she might be like as a woman scorned God only knows. But I suspect she has other plans for him.
“Ten to one she takes the legal route and crushes him through those means.”
That seems to please Caroline and her desire to see Jared punished. With a smile, she says, “Good. I hope she gets everything she can from him and more. I’m just happy they don’t have any kids.”
I don’t comment on that since I don’t understand why anyone would want to have kids. She doesn’t need to know that, though. I want to get to know her, and the surest way to put up a roadblock to that is to announce I don’t like children. In my experience, very few women want to hear that, even the ones who aren’t crazy about kids themselves.
We fall into an easy silence as I watch the oranges and purples of the sunset spread across the sky. It’s been a long day, but I have to say this ending makes me happy I’m right here seeing the beauty the world has to offer. I never cease to wonder at how gorgeous nature can be.
And how grotesque human nature often is.
When the sun finally disappears behind the mountains in the distance, I look over at Caroline. Now seems as good a time as any to begin probing for information.
“So was your old neighborhood as exciting as this one?” I ask, punctuating my question with a chuckle to make it seem like I’m not planning to ask her far more about her life before she arrived here.
Caroline thinks about it for a moment and then tilts her head left and then right. “In some ways, yes, but I’d have to say no, overall.”
“So you had the clumsy cheating spouse episode of The Housewives of Suburban Philly where you lived before? Oh, that’s right. You’re from Maryland, right?”
A slow smile spreads across her face. “How do you know that?”
I can’t stop my smirk as I answer, “Nothing stays secret here for long. I told Kimmy my name is Adam today, and ten minutes later when I came out to the party, everyone already knew it. As I said, nothing stays buried here. I think Tim might have mentioned you came from Maryland.”
None of that makes her happy as the smile slides from her face, so I quickly joke, “Between Tim and Kimmy, they give the FBI and the CIA a run for their money.”
That makes her smile return, so I add, “I didn’t mean to pry. Sorry if I did.”
I mean none of that. I want to pry. I want to open Caroline up with a slice down the middle of her body and peel back the layers to find out the truth about who she truly is. However, I know people, and from what I’m reading from her right now, she feels like her privacy has been violated, so I’m hoping an apology will smooth things over.
She waves her hand and gives me another smile, but it’s forced as she says, “It’s fine. I guess I just don’t remember telling either one of them anything about where I came from. I’m usually pretty careful about sharing details with strangers.”
Sure I’ll never get anywhere with her if I don’t do something right now, I figure it’s a good time to make her laugh, so I say, “Strangers? Kimmy would crumble like a week-old coffee cake if she heard you call her that. I bet she’d be happier to be called something truly horrible like a murderer than the dreaded stranger.”
Caroline’s eyes open wide at my attempt at a joke. “You don’t like her, do you?”