Page 21 of Jake

“He’s probably just been living on that ugly couch and eating out all the time. He never could do a thing without me.” Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He could do a lot more around the house than she could. “I cannot wait to get back home. Jake will have learned his lesson by now.”

She remembered one time when she’d been having her hair done, coming home and finding him in the kitchen baking a cake of all things. When she’d confronted him about it, telling him that it wasn’t going to be good because it wasn’t bought, he’d told her it was for his grandma. It was her birthday or something.

“Grandma loves strawberry cake. And I told her I’d make one.” Carol watched him as he spread the buttery icing all over the thing. “You don’t have to eat any of it if you don’t want. But I will. It’s my favorite cake. What’s yours?”

“Store bought. Not this.... Why on earth are you bothering with that old bat anyway? She’s not even nice to me, Jake. You should just cut her out of your life so that I can be happy.” He just stared at her. “She’s going to die soon anyway. If you cut her out now, you won’t have to think about anything but me.”

“I love her.” She told him it was a wasted emotion to love someone as mean as her. “Grandma isn’t mean to me.”

“So you’re implying that it’s all me? That I’ve somehow caused her to dislike me?” Jake didn’t say anything, but continued to ice the fucking cake. “Jake, I have never done a damned thing to the old bitch. She’s just not nice.”

“You are forever mean to everyone.” Carol asked him why he’d say something like that. “Because it’s true. We don’t have a staff because I can’t afford to pay the type of people that would be willing to work with you. You are even somewhat bitchy to me.”

Her anger, always so close to the edge, had her lashing out. Knocking the cake to the floor and hearing the bowl break made her feel wonderfully good. And when Jake looked at her, she could see his own anger and she was empowered by it. But all he did was get down on his knees and start to clean the mess up. She thought, right then, she hated Jake as much as she did anyone that had crossed her.

After that, it had been a game for her to see just how far she could push him. It never worked. He would just walk away from her, no matter what she said or did to him. And it had made her madder still that he’d not beg her to forgive him. So she’d left him, leaving him alone in the big house to see how he liked not having her around.

Frowning, she pulled up in front of her house. There were moving vans there, as well as large men who looked like they stank. She got out of her car and approached the one that looked the cleanest. Didn’t men know that to smell was an abomination to mankind? She thought about giving him lessons on what was proper attire, too, when he turned and looked at her.

“I want to know what you think you’re doing at my house.” The guy just stared at her and she wondered if he was retarded. “I said, what are you doing to my house? I haven’t given you permission to move things in here.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know who you are. We’re working with Mr. Stout and Mr. Winslow.” She told him Jake Winslow was her husband. “Oh. Well, I’m not sure then. We went to a place on Main, picked these things up, and were told to bring them here.”

“I want you to stop taking this shit into my house, right now.” The man didn’t move to do as she told him. “Are you stupid as well as ugly? I said to stop taking things into my house. I have a set way things are to be put and standards that are high. None of these things are what I would put in a doghouse, much less my house. Now, have them take it all out.”

Instead of doing as she wanted, he pulled out his phone. After pressing a few buttons, none of which she could see, he walked away from her. Just turned his back on her and walked away. No one did that to her, not anyone. But just before she reached out and snatched his neck, he held out his phone to her. He said it was her ex-husband.

“He’s not my ex, damn it. I want you to stop saying that.” Taking the phone from him, she growled low when she heard the laughter. People had better start being nice to her or she was going to have to make a few calls herself. “Jake. I don’t care for what you think you’re doing to my house. Who is this Stout person, and why would I want his things in my home? I have lovely things on order.” He laughed harder. “You’re beginning to piss me off.”

“Really, because I thought you already were. When you killed your mother.” Good, her first thought was, her mother was no longer a problem. “Your dad is dead as well, in the event that you’re wondering. He killed Belinda then himself yesterday.”

“Why would he do that? Christ, now what am I supposed to do? I thought he’d be thrilled that she was gone. Stupid man. Well, at least I’ll inherit the money finally. Now I really can order all the things I wanted. But we have to clear up this problem with you moving someone’s things into my home, Jake. I don’t think you understand style at all.” He didn’t say anything and she assumed he was thinking of ways to make it up to her. “I need for you to reinstate all my credit cards now. We’ll have plenty of money to cover my spending, what with my parents gone. Also, you’ll need to write down some names for me. I want you to take them for all they have. People have been really mean to me today.”

“Did you not hear me? Your parents are both dead. Murder/suicide. They’re dead.” She waited for him to get to the point. Apparently he thought he’d made it.

“Jake, they’re gone. I knew it was going to have to happen eventually. I mean, they were old and all. They just saved me the trouble of having to find a nursing home for them both. Really, this is much better.” The men were still unloading the truck. “You should really talk to the man here. He has it in his head that he needs to finish this job and I want him to stop. Also, I’d very much like for you to come home. We have a lot of things to talk about. First of which is my credit cards and how you’re going to make all this up to me.”

“I’m not going to do any of those things. You and I? We’re done.” She started to tell him they’d be done when she said so, but he cut her off. “Those men are going to do their job, and you’re going to leave them alone or so help me, Carol, I will have you arrested. Which, by the way, you might be anyway.”

“For what?” He said that she’d beaten her mother to death. “No, you said that she was killed by my daddy. I had nothing to do with that. Besides, who really cares if she’s dead or not? Not me. I’m thrilled to know that she won’t be around to nitpick every little thing I do.”

The line went dead and she threw it away from her. She was sick of this, people, especially Jake, acting as if she wasn’t important to them. Damn it, she was married to him. He seemed to have forgotten that along the way.

Finding the man who she’d first spoken to, she told him to stop taking things into the house.

“I’m not going to do that. And don’t think I don’t know what you did with my phone there. Mr. Winslow, he’s a good man, and you’re shitting on his day.” She asked him how this was her fault. “You’re not married to him. Or won’t be. You left that man in a lurch. You did the leaving, not him.”

“Whatever.” Since she couldn’t get him to do as she wanted, Carol decided it was time that she did things on her own. Going into the back of the big truck, she was pissed because it was empty. Jake had done that, distracted her so that he could sneak in this other crap.

As she made her way to the house, she thought of all the color she was going to add just to the living room. The walls would be an eggshell so as not to distract from the color of the vibrant key lime color of the couch. The pillows would be a flush color, with bright spots of other colors. Even as she was thinking of the throws she’d have specially made for the room, two men stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

“I live here.” Neither of them moved. “Look, guys, I’m not in the best of moods right now. But if you don’t get the fuck out of my way, I’m going to hurt you both. And then call the police. This is my fucking home.”

“Not according to the man we just spoke to.” She asked him who that might be. “Jake Winslow. He said to keep you from the house and to hold you down on the ground if need be.”

“You most certainly will not. This is my home and I want you to get out of my way.” She was getting really sick of this shit. “I swear to Christ; I’m going to own you when my husband is done with you. Get out of my way.”

They backed her up. Carol was so mad when she found herself on the sidewalk in front of the house that she screamed at the top of her lungs. Several of the neighbors came out, most of whom had had nothing to do with her since she moved in. Glaring at them didn’t make them scurry into their homes either. Carol was pissed. Then she heard the sirens.

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