Page 17 of Hide and Sneak
Besides, why do I care what she thinks anyway?
“Are we tossing everything?” Amos asks, as I pull open the shed door.
“We can make a pile to keep or donate if there’s anything useful but it looks like mostly trash.” With all the paper in sight, I’m surprised this place didn’t go up in flames along with the house.
“Good news!” He reaches inside the door and holds up a grimy item. “You don’t have to buy a toilet brush.”
“Gross. I’m glad we brought gloves.”
It takes us an hour to put a dent in the piles and so far, everything has gone into the dumpster. Stacks of moldy old mass market paperbacks, rotting bags of clothes and blankets, and for some mystifying reason, hundreds of empty potato chip canisters.
We spend a lot of time laughing and joking over the random items. “I’m glad you came or I would’ve been here half the night,” I remark, chucking out half of an old bicycle.
“I told you I’d help. Besides, Lila is in a mood and I’m in no hurry to go back.”
“She said she had a bad week. Any idea what happened?”
“She got suspended from work for something. Leave it to her to be mad about getting to lay around for two weeks.”
That wasn’t something I expected to hear. “Really? What did she do?”
“I don’t know. Broke some policy. I wasn’t really listening. Mandy was texting me. Let’s get this done because I’m supposed to meet her later.”
I’m intrigued. What could Lila have done?
We get back to work, pulling out furniture. It’s far beyond repair. A large, sagging cardboard box withBroken Glassscrawled across it takes both of us to maneuver. I open it and he laughs when we see it’s piled high with shards. “Well, it delivers what it promises,” I chuckle as we heave it into the dumpster.
When we’ve nearly reached the back wall, Amos exclaims, “Lila had a dollhouse identical to this one.” He drags the sizeable toy outside. “She loved that thing. I broke it when she was nine and I still don’t think she’s forgiven me.”
“Wait,” I call, before he can dispose of it. It isn’t in bad shape. Nothing some cleaning and maybe some paint couldn’t fix. “Set it in the donate pile. I’ll try to clean it up.”
The next thing he finds is a plastic tote that holds the tiny furniture that goes with it. When I put that alongside thedollhouse, he shakes his head. “It’s not worth anything. I doubt the thrift stores will want it. Just toss it.”
“We’ll see. Let’s get those tools out, and we’ll call it a day.” There was a workbench built into the back wall of the shed that I’m excited to restore, and quite a few tools still lying on it. At least there was something useful in that mess.
Amos chugs his water while I walk over to the cargo trailer to put the tools inside. As I’m locking it back up, the only thought in my head is a shower and a cold beer, until I’m dive bombed by a red monster.
Of all wasps, these red bastards are up there with yellow jackets on the fuck-you-up scale. They don’t only sting once, but keep coming at you, chasing you. While they also send warning signals out for all their little friends to attack.
It stings me in my face and before I realize what got me, I swat at it, and it nails me again. The sharp pain quickly turns to a burning sensation. Curses spill out of me, and I dart back toward the truck.
“Wasps!” I call out, and Amos takes off too, beating me back to the truck by a second or two.
My eye is pouring water by the time we’re safely inside. “Oh shit. Did it get you in the eye? You’ll need the emergency room,” Amos says, studying my face.
“No, under it, I think. Twice. I’m alright.” It hurts, but I’m not allergic or anything. I’ve been stung before. “There’s a nest on the trailer. I’ll have to bring some foaming spray back.”
Amos stares at me with concern. “Your face is really swelling up. Do you want me to drive?”
“No, I’m good.”
I’m not good. My face is on fire, and by the time we get back to the trailer my left eye is swollen shut. We walk inside to find the kitchen full of women. Lila and Holly sit perched atthe kitchen bar while Maren, Cara, and two older women I don’t know sit at the table.
Lila’s eyebrows leap up at the sight of me. “Whoa. Were you talking when you should’ve been listening?”
“I was already attacked by one tiny demon so put your pitchfork down, Mini. It was a wasp.”
“Call me that again, and I’ll swell up your other eye.” Despite her words, she gets up to grab an icepack out of the freezer and hands it to me.
