Page 35 of Creepy
“Are you sure you don’t want to spend the night with us?”Joey asked me again.“It’s not safe...”
“I’ve survived this long.On my own.”
“Now, Sissy, I didn’t come all this way and find you alive and well to go losing you.”
“I’m armed.I’ll lock the doors...I need to be alone tonight,” I said, clutching the letter from Dillon.
My brother eyeing it agreed, but he added, “One of us will be on guard tonight, will watch out for you, sis.”
“Nice to meet y’all,” I called to the girls as they pulled out of the drive.
My brother’s girlfriend waved, and I wondered if she was the one who wasn’t immune to the virus.That would be a shame since she’s carrying Joey’s child.
Suddenly, the thought hit me.I was going to be an aunt!
When the van was out of sight, I hobbled inside to my couch.I thought about radioing Dillon about Troy but figured that would only start the clock.It was best if Dillon didn’t know I knew about him having Troy.Moreover, I didn’t need to negotiate until I knew Troy was safe.
I turned the blue envelope over in my hands a few times.A bit worn and stained, the letter was not new.It was addressed to this house, to me, although it said, To Creepy with Love, not my name.The return address was nameless, just Dillon’s address written in a different handwriting.More puzzling, the Post Office stamped, Return to Sender on it twice in red.Studying the date, they’d postmarked it two years ago.The date of mine and Dillon’s break up etched in my memory, the postmark preceded our parting by only a couple of weeks.And the letter was returned, twice?Frowning, I examined the handwriting, one unmistakably Dillon’s tiny and precise, addressing it to me as Creepy and the other undoubtedly my Papa’s messy, bubbly letters, writing Dillon’s address in the top left-hand corner, implying my Papa sent it back.
Baffled, I tore the envelope open.The folded white sheet of paper bounced out of it, landing on the floor.I cursed and reached down low to retrieve it.Opening it, I spotted more of Dillon’s small, neat letters.
Too Creepy with Love,
Isn’t that a clever way to get around the vile press?Sissy, I love you, and I know I’ve been a mess, but that ends now.I’m sorry for all this controversy but not for the reason you think.I’m not ashamed of my father and yours.I’m frustrated is all.Angry.Not at them for loving each other and hiding it, but for what their actions could do to us.Every aspect of my life has been given to me or chosen for me except for you.I don’t want to lose you.My family has suggested we postpone our marriage, but I don’t want that.I know they mean well, that the negative attention of my father’s position could bring undue scrutiny onto you and I.Not to mention what it does to my future and my ability to provide for you.But I know that if we lie low for a bit, the vultures will move on to another scandal.I’m headed to Florida to stay with some of my more obscure family until we resolve this matter.I won’t be able to contact you in the meantime.I’m not taking my cell phone so I’m sure by the time you get this letter you will be livid.Please understand.Reporters are tracking me.The last thing I want is the press bothering the love of my life.Can you survive a couple weeks without me?I know I’ll be in hell without you.
Yours xx.
Blinking, I couldn’t process the words.I read it three times until I finally understood Dillon sent this letter before he disappeared two years ago, when he left Louisiana, and I thought he’d left me, too.
Fuck.
Throwing my head back, I studied the ceiling.
So, he didn’t leave me?
Scowling, I wobbled my head.
He loved me and had been hiding from the press?
Double fuck.I didn’t believe that.It was all too much.
My eyes flew to the paper.Why didn’t I receive this before?I stared at the letter like it was a cruel joke.If it weren’t for my Papa’s unmistakable handwriting, I’d suspect some tomfoolery on Dillon’s part.Why did Papa send it back?He would’ve had to have had a good reason.Papa was about the only one who knew about my heartache.I’d slapped on a cheerful face for everyone else but him.And the press had crucified me, made me a laughingstock.
My heart breaking, I double-checked the handwriting.Taking the letter, I limped over to my Papa’s writing desk and pulled open a draw where he kept a handwritten address book.Even though it was the middle of the day, with no overhead lights, the room was grey.Lighting a candle, I compared the handwriting to make sure what I already knew was true.It was my Papa’s.
With too many questions running through my mind, I stuffed the letter back into the envelope.Dillon may not have fabricated the letter, but the thing was evil.I shut it up in the drawer, not wanting to look at it anymore.Just another cruel twist to this timeline, like the virus and the zombies.I drew one knee up into the chair and hugged it to me.Reminded of slipping into insanity while Papa and I watched the national news, and they confirmed the first zombie, I fought off the dreadful reflections.So many times I’d believed I’d essentially died, and this was my hell.Because how could any of this be real?At first, I’d had the others, a town full, Mrs.Dean and my Papa.Then eventually I was the only one left.Too many lonely days ran together as I was the sole resident of Creepy until the Stayers found me.When they presented me to Dillon, of all people, that had been the ultimate cruel joke indeed.
What level of hell was I in now?
My mind fluttered back to the letter.Why would my Papa hide it?To his credit, he didn’t know what it said.Why didn’t Dillon say anything after the tabloids caught him in Florida with another woman and I confronted him and told him it was over?Why didn’t he explain?And why did Dillon suddenly want me to know, now, after all this time?
The wall I’d built around all my feelings for Dillon came crumbling down.A tear trickled down my cheek for what could’ve been if only I’d gotten this letter.
As quick as the sentiments for my ex came rushing in, I grabbed a brick and started stacking.The realization hit me.Dillon could’ve said something if the woman they caught him with in Florida was in reality his kin.I remembered the moment I saw their picture on the front page of the SUN.Recalling how it’d made me feel overwhelmed me, shattering me anew.They had spotted the two of them at some posh country club, by the pool with drinks, laughing.The paper claimed they were lovers.Inside there were more photos and convincing accounts.What was worse, the papers catching Dillon with another woman had seemingly confirmed their negative commentary on me.I was just some country bumpkin nobody who didn’t deserve Dillon after all.In a rage, I had called his landline in Alexandria and left a message.The next day he returned my call, and I let him have it.Who could blame me?There was no denial on his part.He didn’t explain a thing.I said we were over and all he said was that he understood.
Ugh, I didn’t have time for a stroll down memory lane.Taking the bottom of my shirt, I wiped the tears away.After all, our breakup felt like a million years ago.Enough had happened since to fill ten years at least.Once the epidemic started, each day felt like a year.Everything we’d counted on our entire lives was no longer certain.
All that mattered at the moment was Dillon and the Stayers had Troy.A light bulb turned on over my head.Did Dillon want me to know about the letter now because he thought Troy and I were together?Would he seriously stoop so low as to keep this information to himself until it could cause the most harm?
