My trip home back to Metairie couldn't have been more suspenseful, I didn't have a cell phone and I'd known after 3 or 4 times Trent hadn't called anymore and he was highly upet, pacing and likely way drunker than I was. I couldn't get Troy out of my mind and as I saw lightning separate the sky an intense sensation went through me, a rush of euphoric dread took over, what the fuck had I just done. Perhaps I was undisciplined, I hadn't cared when I left home, I had had a plan. The shame suddenly consumed me, I had risked something inestimable. I visualized Troy's face, doting his impeccable ability to seductively gain control. I prayed Trent wouldn't find out but I had a theory to prove. He would likely file for divorce, prove me incompetent to raise my children and demand sole custody, worst case. I'd known about the Plan B pill, I would swallow one just in case, shit, maybe even two. I went from self hate to self pity, I was so dysfunctional and had been since seeing the girl in the vault. I wanted to drive to the end of the earth and not come back. I knew I needed to get away, the sounds of the children's cries would annoy me to the point of no return, I'd thought Mississippi had been a good idea for them, especially Ryella. When I returned home, Trenton dismissed them to their rooms, and laid the baby in her crib he'd handmade I knew it would be a long night. He skipped the sarcasm, it frightened me. My intent had been to kill Troy, I remembered Christy saying the orgasmic pleasure upon their departure was so mystifying, she said she'd searched for equal pleasure and hadn't encountered it until Veronica.
I stood beside the front door trying to maintain my balance to remove my shoes, he approached me and began to rip my clothes, the stench of his liquor overwhelmed my own. I bashfully pushed him away and greeted him as if I'd only gone to the supermarket and had recently texted and said "on my way"! His face reminded me of Pam's pit bull, I begged him to stop. I knew he demanded no explanation, he never did. I held on to my dress, I didn't have panties on. He sniffed my shoulder and stared waiting for my eyes to lie, I looked away. I too could smell Polo Red. I prepared myself for punishment but why would he want seconds, without release it would be damnation. I wondered if he loved me, he wanted me to know his secrets, right? As he had mine? He squeezed my face, and kissed my lips before biting the bottom. The tears burned, I prayed he would let go, he just kept biting until I thought I would pass out from the pain. I knew he was angry, Emily cried, he released me. His dick had grown down his leg. Had he known? "Go shower, I'll be in soon," he said. "I need to tend to my baby," I said.
He headed toward the room and lifted Emily to calm her before picking up her oxygen. It wouldn't have been smart to go to the shower, he displayed a look I could not manage, was it hurt instead of anger? I loved my husband but I refused for him to manipulate me, he was an 11, a true 11. My children argued, I separated them before heading to the bathroom with my clothes ripped trying to hold them around my waist, my thighs were sore with a pleasurable pain I could not embrace. His rhythm had been so elusive, he was quintessential in his class. I played with the thought of me having that effect on him likewise, certainly not.
My husband was becoming ominously distant but it didn't seem his love had subsided any, and I still loved him undeniably. I obeyed and got inside of the shower, he soon joined me. I thought I would faint as I'd seen his silhouette through the shower door. I yet tried to figure his mood, he could be so silent. I stood underneath the showerhead and flinched when he put his hands on my waist. I felt his mouth on my neck momentarily, he then picked up the body wash and squeezed it on my back before picking up a loofa. I knew I shouldn't have given Troy one last hug, I smelled like him all over again, the steam seemed to have intensified the aroma. From how Trent washed my neck with his hand from behind I knew Troy was detrimental to my health, but how the fuck had Trent known? Had he only assumed I had fucked someone? He hadn't said much. He breathed hard against my body while telling me to open my legs, I tensed when he reached between my thighs. I became teary eyed, how could I have been so stupid?
Something told me he knew and if he knew then how did they know? Because if he knew then he sent him. He enjoyed playing suspenseful games. As he washed my body I prepared for an excuse to not have sex, but it seemed as if he wanted to enter me anally. The children were home, they were my assurance. It was Saturday morning at 9 a.m. I'd walked in the door still inebriated from the night before and he hadn't mentioned it? After washing my body he lifted the shower head and rinsed me off, a sigh of relief overwhelmed me when he slid open the shower door. My heart pounded and I had developed an excruciating migraine. At that moment I'd known the only way out of this was death, whether it be him or me. I loved him dearly but love was deadly, "Why are u so nervous? I know its been stressful Hazel, the shed and all but it's like after u found her I've been reliving it all over again. Im glad u returned, I thought u had left me. Things will change, I promise," he said before closing the shower door.
He was a slick muthafucka, I hadn't bought it. He couldn't set me up I knew his secrets, and when it was all said and done I concluded Twan had planned to get in that vault, get the money and go to the police. I just wondered if he knew Trenton knew the body was inside. I needed to know if Trenton saw Granddad put her inside also, if so they were together and that explained the fued.
I'd practically known she was yet inside, and it was as if I had become infatuated with her, I would see the girl on the picture and I left him inside of the shed that day, he had said he removed the remains and buried them and then returned to get some of the contents, they were in the garage. He was still counting the money recovered to determine the value, a lot of it was old so it was worth more than face value. That was all fine, but what hadn't set well with me was the fact that I never had given him the code. I unlocked it and left the premises, he hadn't wanted me to see.
It drove me crazy. I was about to lose it and I had asked Kim several times not to cook with fucking onions! "Meesa Mya Say You Onion in Ebryting." I just had to get back to the Orchard, but knew somehow Trenton always knew of my whereabouts, he would know I went. The thoughts haunted me. I knew when he went to the gym I could leave, only I had to take Kim's car and be back soon after he returned. He would be too relieved to see I had come back to even be upset. The voices would not go away, I had developed a bond with that girl, she was so much like me. A number 11, born on September 2nd. I wondered if Trenton could tell, I wanted to know what kind of sick muthafucka Granddad was anyways! I would dig up that whole orchard to find out about them, my children had their blood and the ones who didn't my sick ass husband had FED IT TO THEM! How could I not lose my mind and fuck the whole world! I just had to know, I could not trust him!
The day prior I'd heard the UPS truck, he answered the door and recognized the man, they talked about Grambling. It was the perfect time. I hadn't known Troy's phone number but I wanted to know if Trent knew him. I was intending to go to his contacts but when I opened the screen I saw the name "Makil". I pushed send to hear, "What's good T?" I think I began to gasp for air as I hung up the phone and deleted the call. He called right back, I panicked. I could hear the door chime, he was on his way back in. I heard him ascending the stairs as the IPhone tone echoed in the master bedroom. "Oh, your phone was ringing. Where were u?" I asked. The contact name was displayed across the screen as he picked up the device, he sat it back down, "Oh, it's just Lawrence, I'll call him back." Fucking Liar!
At that moment I knew I had married a conniving muthafucka, he had no idea what he had done.
He handed me the replacement phone that had arrived, and I tried with every fiber of my being to maintain my composure, I wanted to kill him! "Why do u look so aggressive Hun? Everything ok?"
"I suddenly don't feel well."
"Get checked."
He kissed me before exiting the room. Makil? I instantly powered on the new phone and activated it. I knew Troy had to be popular socially, but hadn't known how to search for him. Trent knew him! Maybe it was a coincidence but she had called him Makil! I decided to go to the detailed call log and retrieve the last number that called his phone. I dialed, he answered.
"Do u want to explain?" I asked the familiar voice on the other end. I could hear a woman's voice in the background, "Who's that?"
"Bill collectors," he replied before hanging up. I could have exploded!
I waited until the garage lowered, removed Kim's keys from the key ring, got in her car and headed toward the freeway, I needed to know. After an hour Trenton hadn't called, I hoped he also had a therapist session. I arrived at the Orchard around sundown, I only wanted to lay eyes inside of the vault and I would leave. I unlocked the door and went inside, I looked at the spot Tobias had laid in and felt an eerie chill consume the space. I entered the code and on the first try the door gave me access. I stepped onto the narrow step and climbed to the second one preparing to support the door and fully open it, but as I had the old step gave out and I slipped. The door slammed shut. I screamed as I fell to the bottom. I was not prepared for what I saw! He had lied about removing the body as I felt he had, the corpse yet laid inside but had been rearranged, there was no trace of flesh. Bugs and other insects scurried in the light casted by the flashlight. I managed to climb back up but could not open the door. The skeletal remains of the young girl were so terrifying, I had to have been near a heart attack. I tried to relax but it was impossible and I knew I had no phone service! The bottom step had broken, but as I looked at it it seemed to have been damaged deliberately. I screamed and yelled, I knew seasonal workers would be on the Orchard until sundown and perhaps one had stayed late, after crying and screaming inside of the big metal box for what seemed like an hour I realized I was doomed. I would end up like the corpse. I had not known the man I had married and yet hadn't understood why he had pursued me, he had to have a motive.
The air inside was limited it was smoldering hot, as I shone the flashlight I saw something, there was a photo upside down in the dirt. I picked it up and the face I saw first was one that had been so precious once, but now he was gone. They were close once upon a time, all three. There were photos strewn along with other sentiments, and the money was gone but the body remained and had been rearranged. I tried to get out, I couldn't. If no one came I would die, I accepted it, and just maybe I deserved it.
I don't know how many days had passed when the vault door opened, I was dehydrated, naked and barely alive but had proof.