The Vain Curse by Ryan Morgan Miller

Author:Ryan Morgan Miller [Miller, Ryan Morgan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2023-07-12T23:00:00+00:00

17

It was evening, and I was standing outside of Serena Dayton’s house in Connecticut. A few hours had passed since I snuck out of Take a Cakewalk on the Wild Side. During the interval, I had bought a change of clothes since mine had been wet from garbage juice, liquid from a water bottle, and sweat—in that order. Now though, I was pacing back and forth in Serena’s walkway, rehearsing in my head the confrontation I was about to have with my client.

How did she know Sadie Marie? Why was she so…familiar with this evil, kidnapping baker in a photograph on Ms. Olivierri’s desk? Did she get a good deal on all these solar lights that were next to the entrance path in her front yard?

The dim blue lights emanating from them were tasteful, illuminating the landscaping in front of her split-level house. The shrubs were well-trimmed, neatly planted in speckled white stones behind a brick barrier. I supposed this was what realtors meant by curb-appeal.

That said, I never understood why anyone would live in a house in the suburbs. Why would you when you could give all your money to a landlord who, instead of fixing the leaking ceiling above your bed, spent his time making his own wine in a bucket down in the basement of your apartment? That was the big city hustle-bustle that you just couldn’t get in the suburbs. That was atmosphere.

I rang the doorbell.

“Coming,” someone shouted from inside. A moment later, Serena opened the door. “Tra—Mr. Spence? What are you doing here?”

I was glad it was her. This was the third house I rang the doorbell at, and the first homeowner was quite irate about being interrupted during their dinner. I tried explaining that it wasn’t my fault that all the houses on this street looked the same. They shot back that I should pay attention to the address numbers on the houses and mailboxes. The second time was simply because I got distracted by all the fireflies and was wondering where I could get a mason jar to catch them.

I was about to reply to Serena when she said, “No, it doesn’t matter. I’ve had a long day, including seeing you this morning. I need you to leave. Whatever it is that you want can wait.”

From behind her, a voice called out, “Honey? Who is it?”

And then Sadie Marie appeared in the doorway.

She and I said, at the same time, “What are you doing here?”

“Jinx. You owe me a Coke,” I said.

“Mr. Spence, why are you here? And why have you been stalking my wife all day?”

“Your wife?” That would explain the picture I found in Take a Cakewalk on the Wild Side. It also put Sadie Marie’s voicemail to Ellie in a new context: taking her out may not have been a sinister threat, but a friendly invitation instead.

Still, the hushed whisper of the voicemail played in my head. Why would a friend call and leave such a quiet voicemail? Especially one that seemed so angry in the beginning.

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