Chapter 10

It was late March and we were starting to feel a little spring in the air. The insurance company sent a check for the fire damage. I wanted the carriage house rebuilt in its original style and that cost me extra. I replaced my old car with a new hybrid, and that cost extra too so I wound up spending almost twenty grand over and above the insurance settlement. The good news was that the hundred and eighty days had expired on the cashier's check, so all the money I'd committed for the house minus closing costs was deposited back into my account. I now owned the pace free and clear!

Annie and I just grew closer and closer. Even Daisy Jefferson had to admit we made a great couple, even though it still distressed her that Annie refused to move on to where she belonged. I kind of thought the same thing in the back of my mind, but I could hardly bare the thought of her not being there when I got home. I just felt so much more free and open when I was in her presence.

I'd never been an especially talkative guy, and my shyness around women was legend, but Annie had the ability to get me to open up and talk about events in my life that were buried in deep, dark places. I suppose everybody has secrets they don't care to share, but talking to somebody like Annie who wasn't quite real in the normal sense made it feel safe.

I've never had any moral qualms about our relationship. Hell, how could it be wrong? Whoever and whatever Annie is, the bond between us is purely and simply one of love. The sex is fantastic, our shared love is warm and comforting, our home is as much a home as if it were filled with kids and puppy dogs. Sometimes I wonder if I'm imagining the whole thing, and that one day Annie will pop out of existence, never to reappear. Well, if that turns out to be the case, at least I can say it was a beautiful dream and not a nightmare. I wouldn't mind being lost in that fantasy forever.

But the arrival of spring wasn't all daffodils and sunshine. First it was Daisy who passed away. I was heartbroken, but Annie didn't view it the way I did. In fact, it was her she who told me Daisy was dead. Apparently her 'essence' dropped by to let us know before she dispersed into whatever form or non-form dead people's 'essences' disperse into. She told Annie she was 'Goin' home t' Jesus'. I couldn't buy it, but Daisy did and that's all that matters, I guess.

Jennie's death came hot on the heels of Daisy's, and it was far more dramatic.

Somehow she managed to just walk away from the psych hospital where she'd been committed. It says a lot about our gun laws that she was able to walk into a pawn shop and buy a .38 snub-nose revolver plus a box of ammunition before she came after Annie and me.

I'd just arrived back home from Daisy's funeral and parked my new car in my new garage. As I approached the back door of the house, she stepped out from behind a juniper and pointed the gun at me.

"Hello, Stevie. I'm just here to finish up a little business. Shall we step inside?"

I was scared, of course, but I was pissed at the same time. "Do you have any idea what the fuck you're doing, Jennie?"

"Sure I do, Stevie. You treated me like shit, and now I'm getting even. I don't see anything crazy about that. Is your girl friend at home?"

I knew Annie was my best chance. "Look, you just leave her out of this! You've got no quarrel with her because she's done you no harm!"

Jennie seemed perfectly relaxed, like she knew exactly what she was doing and had no interest in discussing it further. She waved the gun at the door and said, "Let's go say 'Hi', shall we?"

I edged up the steps and opened the screen door. As soon as I was inside, I yelled, "Annie, whatever you do, don't come down stairs!" I had no idea what she'd come up with, but I had to have a little faith in her resourcefulness.

Jennie gave me a shove in the back and followed me into the kitchen. "Shut the fuck up, you asshole!"

She motioned for me to head down the hallway toward the parlor. She looked around as we moved through the house and said, "You did a nice job on the decorating. It's a shame we won't be able to share it."

She followed me into the parlor, and there sat Annie looking as innocent as a lamb in her 50's attire.

"What's all this about, Steven? Is this the friend you told me about?"

Jennie gawked at her and burst out laughing. "Jesus, Stevie, she's just a girl! You never told me you were a pedophile. Why you naughty, naughty boy!"

Still smiling, Annie stood and walked toward us, not even looking at the gun. "You must be Jennie. My name's Annie and it's so nice to meet you."