Protector (5 page)

***

The rest of the weekend goes by in a blur.  She didn’t leave her apartment once.  Both her mom and Peggy called a few times, but she was in no mood to talk to anyone, opting to keep the conversations as short as possible or just not answering the phone all together. 

By Sunday evening
Anna drove the two-hour drive from her hometown in Pamlico County to check on her for herself.  Anna still has a key from when she stayed with Anna-Marie after Dylan died, so she let herself in.  Anna finds Anna-Marie in a ball on the couch, staring blankly at the TV. 

“
Anna-Marie, honey, are you okay?” Anna calls from beside the couch.

Startled,
Anna-Marie lifts her head up and looks over the side of the couch, “Mama?  What are you doing here?”

Ann
a moves from beside the couch to in front of it to get a better look at her only child.

The
shocked look on her mother’s face says it all.  “I’m fine, really.  I’m just tired.  You didn’t have to come all this way just to check on me.” 

Ann
a walks over and sits beside her.

“Well
, you didn’t sound so fine on the phone yesterday and you sure don’t look fine now.”

“Mama
, I told you, I’m just tired.” 

“You look like it.  Are you sleeping?”

“Yeah, I get some sleep when I can.”

Anna
-Marie loves her mom, but she really does overreact. 

Ann
a stares at her beautiful daughter, who is now sitting up on the couch in her faded old sweats.  The dark circles encase her once glistening green eyes and her matted hair is up in its usual loose ponytail making it obvious of the despair she is in. 

“Okay
!  Well, since I’m here and it’s too late to plan dinner, why don’t we go out to eat?  I’m starved and we can catch up some.”

“Mama, I really don’t feel like it.”

“Anna-Marie, I’ve come all this way just to make sure your okay and I know you think you’re fine, but I’ve known you your whole life and know that you are far from it-”

“Mama
, really, I’m fine-”

“I’m not done yet.  I understand that this has been very hard on you.  We all loved Dylan, but you c
annot go on like this and I have a funny feeling you know it, too.  I will respect you and let you to continue to work your way through this on your own because you have always had excellent judgment.  But eventually you have to pull yourself out of this.  Now that being said, I just drove two hours and I’m hungry.  I’d very much like for you to get out of those filthy clothes and out of this sad apartment and go out to dinner with me.”

If she only knew what I’ve done, I think she would totally change her mind about praising my excellent judgment
,
Anna-Marie thinks to herself.

***

“Dinner was good, mama.  Thanks for making me go out.”

It would probably hurt her mom’s feelings if she knew how out of place
Anna-Marie felt all evening amongst the living.

“You’re welcome honey
.  It was my pleasure, even if I almost had to hogtie you to get you to go.  You didn’t really eat much though.  You kinda just pushed the food around your plate.”

“I guess I wasn’t that hungry.”

Anna goes and sits on the couch while Anna-Marie goes to the kitchen for a bottle of wine.

“Hey
, mama, do you want a glass?” She asks her as she shakes the bottle of wine in her direction.

“Sure
, why not.  I’m not going anywhere tonight.”

“I should have known that
,” Anna-Marie says under her breath.

“Here you go
,” Anna-Marie says as she hands Anna her glass of white wine and sits beside her on the couch.  They sit in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts while sipping their wine.

“Man, it has been a long time since I went out.  I feel like I am totally out of practice.”
Anna-Marie says.

“You’ll get it back, don’t worry
, honey.  It’ll be like riding a bike.”

“So, is there anything new in the County?”
Anna-Marie asks, referring to the county she grew up in.

Her mom starts laughing
.  “Actually, yes, there is.  Would you believe, we actually got a second stop light in Bayboro?  It’s in front of the Courthouse.  Oh, and the four lane is almost finished.  It has been going on for so long I had wondered on many occasions if it was even going to be done during my lifetime.” 

“Wow, really?  That kinda sucks.  I always liked describing to people how small my county is.”

Her mother looks at her confused.

“You know, so small there’s only one stop light in the whole county.”

This time they both start laughing. 

It makes
Anna-Marie sad to think of the county she loves so much growing so quickly.  It was one of the few coastal counties left untouched by the big bustling outside world, with many unblemished coastal towns.  With new development going on, its apparent outsiders have discovered the tiny piece of heaven.

“Well, I don’t know how many tickets have been given for running the stupid thing.  I got pulled over myself a couple of weeks ago.  I just went right on through, completely forgetting about it.  Thank the lord it was Edgar that pulled me.  Bless his soul
!  He let me off with a warning.  I felt so embarrassed.”

Anna
-Marie looks away when Edgar is mentioned.  He was Dylan’s other best friend since they were all in middle school, having bonded through football throughout their middle school and high school years.

“And how is Edgar?”

“He’s good.  He asked about you.  I told him you were getting by.”

“He hasn’t been down to visit since the funeral.”

“Well, honey, it has been a hard year on everyone.  You know him and Stacy got married a couple months back, don’t you?” 

Anna
-Marie shifts her head to look at the fancy white paper stuck to her refrigerator, “Yeah, I got the invitation.”

“You should come home sometime for a visit.  I’m sure Patrice would love to see you.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

As much as she misses it,
Anna-Marie can’t even fathom going back to that place.  There isn’t an inch of that county that doesn’t hold a memory of a time of a different life.  As much as it hurts her, being around Dylan’s mom, Patrice, now would be too painful.  Patrice is far too much of a reminder of the son that looks so much like her, with the same penetrating sea-green eyes and dark chocolate hair falling into spiral tendrils down her back.  It’s the same as the rest of natives of her small Caribbean island that she originated from.

Anna
-Marie hasn’t seen Patrice since the funeral either.  Patrice calls her from time to time, but most of the time Anna-Marie doesn’t pick up.   

“Well, I hate to cut it short, but I am so beat.  Do you mind if I go to bed now?” 
Anna says cutting into Anna-Marie’s thoughts.

“Not at all mama
.  I think I will, too.  You can have my room.”

“You’re still not sleeping in there?”

“No, I can’t, which is fine because I bought a new bed and everything for the spare room.”

“Oh.”

“Hey mama, thanks for coming.  Despite the first part of the evening, I’m really glad you’re here.”

“That’s what mamas are for
, dear.  I love you.”

“Love you
, too, mama.”

Ann
a gives Anna-Marie a tight hug and they each go to their rooms, her mom to the master suite and Anna-Marie to the spare bedroom.

Anna
-Marie lies in bed and stares at the darkened walls like she normally does.  She really does feel better tonight.  Having her mom there makes her feel like a kid again, safe and innocent, without a care in the world, only if for one night.

4

Anna left early the next morning to get back home to Anna-Marie’s dad.  Anna-Marie was both happy and sad to see her go.  Anna may not be her biological mother, but she is the only mom Anna-Marie has ever known, or wanted to know.  Anna-Marie can’t imagine another mother loving her as much as she knows her mom always has.  It is such a shame her parents didn’t have another child to spread the love around. 

Anna-Marie had taken Peggy’s advice and has stayed home all week.  It seems to be easier to write her articles sitting on her couch in her pajamas, while pigging out on take out and sipping wine all week.  Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of such an awesome offer?  She makes a mental note to look into doing some freelance work in the future when things aren’t so hectic. 

On second thought, at this rate I may start to get fat.
  She thinks to herself as she looks around at all of the empty, or half eaten, takeout boxes.

Her mood has been so sad and morbid these past few months.  She can’t seem to shake the depression from Dylan’s death.  All of her articles keep turning out so dismal.  It has been hard to focus on her work and write anything upbeat
, as well as meet her deadlines.

I really do need to work on that if I want to stay employed
,
she thinks to herself.  Peggy may be her best friend, but Peggy is her boss and she has a boss to answer to as well and Marvin isn’t as easygoing as Peggy is.

The days go by uneventful for the most part
and she finds herself working a lot more efficiently; that is until midweek.  By Wednesday morning reports are all over the news lines.  There has been another animal attack.  That makes three fatal animal attacks that have been reported, including Dylan’s death.  Anna-Marie almost chokes on her coffee when she opens up the company-wide e-mail from work. 

“On Tuesday night, a young single mother of two was on her way to the babysitter’s house to pick up her kids after leaving work at a local restaurant, but never showed up.  She left work around nine o’clock.  No one recalled seeing her between the restaurant and the sitter’s house.  In the late hours of Wednesday morning her mutilated body was found a few blocks from the restaurant.”

“Oh my goodness, that’s so sad.”  Anna-Marie begins to cry for the loss of this stranger.  The mother of two small children who will never be able to tuck them in bed and kiss them goodnight ever again.  It’s just so tragic, Anna-Marie knows first hand.  This tragedy will no doubt affect everyone who knew and cared about this woman.  Life is so unfair sometimes.

***

Before she knows it Friday has finally arrived.  Her usual glee for the day has faltered, because this Friday is different.  All week Anna-Marie has tried, but failed, to forget about that creepy man she encountered the last time she was at the cemetery. 

She has been pacing in her
living room while battling bouts of anxiety all day, as she tries to decide what to do. 

“It’s Friday
dammit!  I have to go!” Anna-Marie yells at herself.  “Oh, but what if he is still there?”

She stops pacing as a chill runs down her back with the thought of that night.  She sits back down on the couch and begins to cry. 

“Screw it!” She yells and stands back up.  “Who cares if he’s there?  It’s light out and I’m sure there will be other people there.  Surely he wouldn’t assault me again, not in public.”  Before she can think about it anymore, she grabs her purse and rushes out of the door.

Once Anna-Marie arrives to visit Dylan, she scans the grounds before she gets out of the car.  She notices a few people in various states of mourning, scattered around the cemetery.  She parks her car as close as she can to Dylan’s grave for an easy get away if need be.

“Okay
Anna-Marie, the coast is clear.  You can do this.”

She takes a deep breath and heads to Dylan’s grave. 

“Hey, Dylan!  How was your week?” Anna-Marie says in a rush.  She pauses as if she’s waiting for an answer that she knows will never come. “Mine has been miserable.  Honestly, I don’t know what happened last week,” she says nervously.

She continues to observe the grounds, paying close attention to every little sound.  She feels so exposed standing here in the open. 
She sits down on the ground in front of Dylan’s headstone.  It’s kind of disturbing to her to think that she is probably sitting on his head.  She laughs out loud hysterically at the thought.