33. Helen

You'll pay for everything you did to me.

Not only you but your daughter Mitzie.

Everyone will soon know the truth,

Throw yourself off a roof.

You had to bribe a man to stay with you.

Now, your judgment day is due.

"Who is this?" I looked around the inside of the car because it sounded as if the voice was coming from right beside me. The stupid lyric, poem, or whatever kept playing over and over again, with a weird maniacal laugh at the end of each loop.

"Who is it, dammit?" I smacked the steering wheel, and fleas like dust took flight, coming from all directions. I tried shooing them away with my hands like I'd been doing since the day before, but it hardly made a difference.

There was no one here with me as I peered out the dirty windshield and windows of my car to see where that voice was coming from. Then I paid attention to the words and for some reason, I felt a shiver run down my spine as a feeling of impending doom sent coils of fear through me.

"Bribe a man? What man?" I made a sound like a whimper as I looked around fearfully one more time. If I didn't know better, I would swear someone was messing with me.

I needed the restroom in the worst way but was afraid I wouldn't make it in time. I looked around the car for something to use to empty my bladder but found nothing. The parking lot, this corner of it anyway, wasn't that crowded, so I was sure I would get away with it.

One of those damn fleas buzzed by my ear while another one landed on the dashboard. I smashed it beneath my hand and felt a sense of joy that I got it. The fever I'd been fighting all night seemed to be getting worse, and my head was pounding like a staccato of drums in my temples.

I drove by the house before coming here to see if maybe I could sneak inside to get some medicine for the blinding headache and chills, but it was cordoned off, and that nosy ass neighbor from across the street was sitting out on her front porch having her morning coffee before the cock even crowed.

There was no way I was getting out of the car with her sitting there, and I cursed myself for not thinking ahead before leaving the house yesterday. But how was I to know that things would turn out like this? I thought I would be in a cool hotel room by now, waiting for my husband to come rescue me.

I was all set to give him an earful for leaving me like this, but now that was the least of my worries. I'd given up trying to reach him sometime last night, and that was about the time I realized that he had to be ignoring me because he should be back home by now, which meant he'd either turned his phone off or blocked me.

I'd convinced myself these past few days that it had to be the distance and the fact that he was out of the country. Even though that didn't make sense, I needed to believe that because the alternative did not bear thinking.

I've never felt so miserable in my life, and what's worse, I can't seem to remember anything. Who to call, where to go, nothing. Just a week ago, the world was at my fingertips, but now, I don't even have enough money to buy a candy bar.

It doesn't make sense for my credit cards to be canceled, and now the fools claimed that since I didn't have an address, there was no way of sending me new ones. That's because I was dumb enough to tell them the truth about the house, or was I just confused?

I'd been sitting here trying to figure out why my gas meter was almost empty when I could've sworn I had almost a full tank. I hadn't done much driving yesterday since I felt sick as a dog, and the place I had found to sleep last night wasn't that far.

I scratched my chest and sides before pulling down the visor to see what the hell was going on. My chest was covered in a rash that had spread and was only getting worse.

It looks like I had brought some of those fleas with me, and there were even more today than they were yesterday. I tried opening the windows to get them all out, but most of them seemed happy to stay.

As if my day wasn't horrible enough, that damn ditty kept playing from somewhere, striking fear in me each time I heard it. The words didn't make any sense and I couldn't place the voice, but now was not the time to think about that. I needed to find a bathroom quick, but looking across the parking lot, the entrance to the store seemed miles away.

Just as I was about to open the door and make a run for it, I felt a sting on my thigh under my skirt, and in reflex, my bladder just decided to open up the floodgates, and I sat there wetting myself.

It was so incongruous that I gazed off for a moment. The release in my full bladder brought much relief, but that was quickly followed by the worst itch yet. My urine had run down into the bug bites on my butt and the backs of my legs, among other places, and the itch was enough to drive me crazy.

The more I scratched, the more I needed to. I could feel my skin tearing beneath my nails as I dug them into my flesh to ease that abominable itch. My phone, which, thank mercy, I was able to charge in the car, went off, and I snatched it up like a lifeline.

There were lots of notifications when I turned it on, and I followed the first one that popped up. It was the local community forum, a place I spent lots of time getting the latest gossip and keeping up with what was going on in my own backyard.

When I first saw my name mentioned in the comments, I thought that maybe my friends had noticed that I was gone and were looking for me. I took a quick glance in the mirror to take stock of my appearance, then looked away quickly.

I look a mess. My face was red and blotchy, my hair hadn't been combed, and I had the most horrendous morning breath. I should've saved some of those mints yesterday, but I was so hungry, and they were all I had. Even if I saw someone I knew, how could I face them looking like this?

I started reading through the words on the screen in between bouts of dizziness and felt the punch to the gut. Who the hell is this Rhoda person? I don't think I know anyone by that name. And yet, this person seemed to know a lot about me and was spreading it around in the worst place possible.

Everyone visits this site even though they try to pretend not to. Only lowlifes actually comment there, but I knew for a fact that all of the women in my circle read and discuss the things we find here on a weekly basis. Which means they're going to see this as well.

There was mention of me and Corbin's relationship and how it began. Now, people were speculating about me as if I was a nobody and not the wife of one of the county's most prestigious citizens.

I read some of the comments, and they made my stomach curdle. People were laughing at me, some saying how much they hated and never liked nor trusted me. That Rhoda person was in the comments as well, fanning the flames, but who was she? And how did she know these things?

Oh no, was he back? There was only one person who knew about my attempt to hire a hitman, and that was the man himself. That bastard had stolen my money and disappeared more than fifteen years ago.

But why would he out himself? No, this had to be someone else, but who? Who did he talk to? I have to have my name removed from this vile page, but I didn't have the first clue how to go about doing that.

There were already hundreds, if not thousands, of comments, not to mention views. If the women from the country club saw this that would be the end of me. All my years of hard work would be down the drain.

I'd spent the last fifteen years cultivating my image. No one knew the real story behind me and Corbin getting together because I had told them a story of my own making. That we had met and fallen in love.

I'd painted a picture of Gigi that was not very flattering, and over time, people had started to believe me, especially when she turned herself into a recluse. That's probably the only thing that saved her back then, the fact that she had disappeared and withdrawn from society. Otherwise, I would've used more of Corbin's money to hire someone else, someone more trustworthy this time, to get rid of her and her welp.

I hadn't even thought of that in years, so why was it being brought up now of all times? I scratched and read as fast as I could while my body shook, as it wracked with fever. And that headache became blinding the longer I looked at the screen.

I was thirsty, hot, and itchy, but I dared not turn on the air conditioner because of the low gas tank. I dropped the driver's seat back and closed my eyes, just for a second, just until the pain went away.

I must've drifted off because the next thing I knew, the sun was high in the sky, and there was a police officer tapping against my window. "Yes, sir?"

"Ma'am, let me see your ID." I reached into my purse that was on the passenger seat and passed it to him.

He looked it over before giving it back to me.

Ma'am, you can't stay here. You see that." He pointed to a sign that said customers only.

"It's a parking lot."

"Yes, I know, but someone called it in. They said that you have been parked here for two days. Ma'am, are you living in your car?"

"What? No." Just then, a swarm of fleas flew out, and some landed on him, making him jump back and swear.

"Ma'am, step out of the car, better yet, roll up the window." He pulled out his walkie-talkie as I rolled up the window, and I turned the key in the ignition and started the car up.

It looked like he was motioning me to stop, but I ignored him. I needed to get the hell out of there. The car wouldn't move. From the sounds and feel of it, there was no air in my tires. How could this be?

I was stuck, scared, and alone. Where the hell was Corbin? That stupid poem came on again, and I wanted to scream, but I was afraid to open my mouth because the memory of those fleas flying in not once but twice prevented me.

I heard sirens as a fire truck pulled into the lot behind me and the cop who walked over to talk to them as they jumped down. I watched as they erected a tent right there in the parking lot before he came back to my window and ordered me out of the car.

I looked around to see if I saw anyone I knew as there was a crowd gathering, and I stepped out of the car, forgetting that I had wet myself and there was a large wet stain on the back of my skirt. Even I could smell the stench of pee, so I was sure they could as well.

I was led into the tent, where I was hosed down like an animal. "Ma'am, we're going to have to tow your car; it's infested with fleas." They were acting like it was the plague. I tried arguing but it was no use. Apparently, fleas don't only affect me but everybody in the damn country.

The tow truck showed up not much later, and I was given a bill for the tow. "But I didn't order this."

"Those are the rules, ma'am." I started to argue, but then everything went black, and I passed out.