Page 47 of Resist Me Not
“Trey,” she calls me out on my teasing, because I am teasing.
I think Mother assumes I am lonely with my life on the road and no long-term relationships in my past. She has always been keen to see me taken care of when I’m not here for her to do it, but it seems I may have been waiting for someone I could take care of instead. Mother rarely lets me take care of her, and if I ever pry into her love life, I am swiftly shut down. That’s a road she has no interest in going down again, and one I never thought I’d go very far down either.
“Come on, who is this new lad or lass?” she presses. “Or as per usual, do I not get to hear about my son’s love life?”
“I don’t like to tell you about passing fancies, Mother. Why get you attached to the idea of someone you’ll never meet. But this one, well… he’s a doctor.”
“Oh?” She leans further over the island in anticipation to hear more.
Her smirking interest is infectious. I find myself wanting to share with her everything I’ve learned about Walker. I’ve never been excited to tell her about someone I was dating before. I only realize how long I must have rambled on when I glance over at the microwave clock and notice twenty minutes have gone by.
Mother is staring at me.
“What?”
“Sounds like this is already someone worthy of me meeting. I believe you just gushed.”
“I do not gush.”
“You don’t. But you did.”
I open my mouth to protest again but realize she is right. “Maybe because… Walker is worth gushing over.” Thinking of him prompts me to check my phone. I didn’t feel it vibrate in my pocket but he messaged me only a few minutes ago.
Walker: The detective knows you’re a person of interest, but he doesn’t have any evidence. I didn’t tell him anything. I was tempted, but I didn’t.
Trey: You didn’t show him the picture?
Walker: You knew I took it?
Trey: I trusted you. Thank you for choosing me again, Walker. I miss my good boy already.
Walker: I miss you too.
Walker: Daddy.
“Trey…” Mother’s singsong voice draws me up from my phone. “I have never seen you smile like that. This doctor must be something really special.”
“He is.” I pocket my phone again. Mother deserves my full attention. I can give it to Walker again soon enough. “I am planning on returning to see him after my next assignment.”
“Good.” She finally comes around the island to sit on the stool beside me. “I like seeing this side of you. There’s a… softness. I think you’re smitten. Infatuation can be like that, easing away your troubles and rounding out your sharp edges. Just be sure he isn’t hiding anything too jagged himself.” It is only on the end of the phrase that a touch of old—very old and buried deep—pain surfaces in the tone of her voice. A little echo of memories long past of her jagged ex who had needed to be rounded out with blunt trauma to the head.
Oh, Mother. This time, the jagged one is me, but I aim my sharpness at those deserving. “Don’t worry,” I tell her, reaching over to place my hand atop hers. I know the experience with Father is why she wants me with someone who can take care of me, and in a way Walker is by keeping my secret. “More than anyone I have ever met, Walker feels like someone worthy of taking a chance on.”
“Then I’m glad,” she says, brightening again and shifting in her stool to better face me. “Now, tell me more about him.”
I do. Not everything, obviously. But enough to make me miss my good boy even more.
Trey: Still missing your Daddy?
Walker: More than I thought I would. When are you coming back into town?
Trey: I’m guessing three more days. I still have things to take care of here.
Like the awful stay-at-home nurse I discovered the day after I arrived in my new city, who is neglecting and stealing from her elderly patient. I am an equal opportunity killer, after all, and she deserves what I have planned for her. This one will be a bit trickier than usual, because I need to be sure someone discovers the patient before he is left alone for too long, and he will be left alone. I can’t very well kill her inside the house with him there. He doesn’t appear to have any family, or none close by, and terrible as the nurse is, she is the only thing keeping him fed and medicated. When she doesn’t eat his food and take his meds for herself.
Nasty parents and partners are the worst, but these types of caregivers can be just as loathsome.
The place I am staying at isn’t near the man’s home, but several points of interest are, making it not odd at all for passersby to see me with my camera on its tripod, taking photos. There is a view right past the man’s house of a giant rocking chair.
