A Rose By Any Other Name Ch. 06

ALL CHARACTERS ARE ADULTS




Rose slammed the bathroom door in Buddy's face, and locked it. Then she opened the linen closet door, and sat of the floor in front of it, pressed her weight against the door, and cried. "He may force the first door open but not both," she reasoned. The closet door hinges were on the same side of the room as the bathroom door handle and lock. Her cell phone was in her purse in the kitchen, and she didn't hear it ring.

Jack shut his phone's case. "She's prolly in the bathroom," he guessed.

"Open the fucking door, bitch!" Buddy said.

"Go away! Please stop bothering me!" She replied.

Buddy got the door unlocked with little effort. Bathroom doors are easy to open. But he didn't have enough ass to push two doors open at the same time, and one woman out of the way. All she had to do was stay where she was and the closet door couldn't shut. Buddy could get in if he broke the hinges off the bathroom door, and that was his plan.

Buddy braced his back against the wall opposite the door and stomped the door with both feet; about the time Jack fell on him like a house dropped from Kansas.

"Jack!" Rose called out.

"Stay in the bathroom," Jack replied. "Here's the deal, pally, get up and go away, just walk out the door, and if I ever see you around Rose or Melissa or my home, they'll never find you. Am I clear?" Buddy stood up. "Go," Jack said as he lugged Buddy to the front door by the collar.

Buddy keyed the Cadillac and the Willys-Jeep on his way to his car.

"Rose, come on out," Jack said.

"He's gone?" She asked, wiping her eyes.

"He better be," Jack replied as he assessed the damage to the door.

"Why doesn't he just leave me alone?" She wondered.

"I warned him, and I mean what I say," Jack replied, holding her close. "No witnesses." Then he examined the damage to the door. "I'll pick up a new door tomorrow."

"Want some tea?" She asked.

"Sure," he replied.

"I can make coffee," she offered.

"Tea's fine," he replied. "You're pretty clever with the door trick. I'm impressed."

"I don't know where that came from," she replied.

"It was effective!"

"I wish he would leave me alone, it's like he hangs on with one fist, and beats with the other," she sipped her tea.

"Let's take a cruise," Jack suggested.

"I can't leave Melissa here alone," she replied.

"And it doesn't buy enough time," he said. "Buddy needs like a year in jail. And that ain't gonna happen in this county."

Rose stood behind Jack pressing her tits against his back; he felt her place her hands on his ribs, then slide her hands up to his chest and down his abs to his belt. "Think he'll ever leave us alone?" She whispered in his ear as she eased the shirt-tail out of his pants and pushed her hands inside the waistband of his briefs, and down.

"You got me," he said.

"I need a bath," she whispered.

"Later," he said, reaching behind to feel her ass while she groped him and kissed his neck.

-----

Later, Jack lay on her bed beside Rose. "I haven't so frightened in many years," she said.

"Wanna talk about it?" He asked.

"Wanna hear it?" She replied.

"Sure," he said.

"Do you remember when I mentioned my neighbor?" She looked at Jack.

"No," he stared back at her.

"I'll swear I told you. Maybe I told the story to someone else," she said. "I get confused. Lost at sea!"

"I recall you mentioned a boy I remind you of, but you didn't go into any details. So tell me the story already!" He insisted.

"It was so many years ago. I went to the beach with the boy who lived next door to me. I was fifteen, I think, he was a little older. Anyway we went strolling by the water and the wind blew my straw hat off my head. It floated away. So I got excited and screamed for him to get it. He went after it and drowned. I don't remember much of what happened after that. I think I was in shock for a long time." She said. "His mom had a bad time and blamed me because of my silly straw hat."

"Was he special?" Jack asked.

"I had his baby later," she said.

"What happened to the baby?" he asked.

"I put the baby up for adoption," she said.

"Didn't his folks want the baby?" He asked.

"No," she replied.

"What was your boyfriend's name?" Jack asked.

"Scott," she replied. "I think it's time for a bath!" Rose got out of bed and went in her bedroom bath. Jack dozed off once she ran the water and started splashing in the tub.

"Come join me!" She called for him. He awoke and swung his legs over the side of the bed, went in the bathroom, and stepped in the tub.

"I've been thinking," he said.

Rose turned around, and handed him her wash cloth. "Wash my back, please," she said. "And what are you thinking?"

"We need a vacation," Jack said.

"I don't want to leave Melissa here alone," she said.

"She can go with us," he said.

"She's in school," Rose reminded him.

"She can withdraw for a while," Jack argued.

"She won't do it," Rose said. "And how long is a while?"

"We need to put some space between us and your crazy friend," he said. " A few months may do the trick."

"Where are you planning to take us?" She wondered.

"I have a secluded lodge along the coast, between Tampa and Tallahassee," he said.

"You mean bugs and snakes and heat?" She asked.

"Not this time of year," he said. "Weather oughta be perfect, and the bugs and beasts will be hibernating. It is a bit far from town, though."

"I hope the birds and bees stay up for us!" She said. "How far to civilization?"

"Forty miles to real town but maybe ten to the closest town with a gas station," he said.

"And what do we do for, how long did you say we'll be there?" She asked.

"Till May, about six months," he replied. "The house sits above a spring, no neighbors to speak of, the Gulf is close, and a mall is only forty minutes away."

"What about our homes!" She fretted.

"I'll get a real estate company to handle security and yard work and repairs, they can fix the door, too" he said. "But we better plan on bringing the frozen stuff along; it's a 6 hour drive so the time shouldn't be a risk."

"Crimonie! I'll be packing forever for this!" She winced.

"Naaah. Pack a few essentials, and you can shop when we get there," he suggested.

"Or tan bear hides for loin cloths and moccasins," she said.

"You'd look good in leather," he said.

"How soon can we go?" She asked.

"Is a couple of days too soon?" He replied. "Pack some clothes tomorrow, and the meat the next day. I gotta rent a tow trailer for the Jeep. I'll do that Tuesday."

"So, what? We leave Wednesday morning?" She guessed.

"Midnight. And get there at dawn Wednesday," he replied.

Jack saw the key scratch but didn't give a shit about the one on the old Jeep, he cared about the scratch on the Caddy. But even it was just an inconvenience easily repaired. "It can wait," he thought.

Melissa dropped her classes with a smile, and they left for Florida at midnight two days later, following I-95 to I-10 to I-75 to State Road 26 at Gainesville, where they stopped for breakfast. Then forty more miles to the Suwannee River and the lodge. At Trenton Jack filled the Cadillac with gas, and tossed more bags of ice in the coolers. They'd need the bagged ice till the refrigerator caught up with them.

The lodge was back in the woods, close to Fanning Springs State Park, about a half mile up the river from the US 19 bridge. The 160 acre site was a farm with a log cabin on the river till the 30s. Afterwards the fields filled with live-oaks, and hickories and magnolias sprouted along the river and creek that flowed into the river from the spring.

The previous owner built a stilt house with a wood deck around the spring. The layout was a smaller copy of Jack's oceanside home. That is, a veranda went around the outside of the lower floor, and kitchen, dining, living room, guest bedroom, and guest bath filled the inside. The upper floor included a master bedroom, bath, closets, and adjoining library. Jack had a small dock built at the river.

Buddy hired a private eye firm to locate Rose, and knew where she was almost before she got there. The post office spilled the beans. The PIs then located the lodge for him, and Google did the rest. He drove to Fanning Springs, got a motel room, and rented a boat for some reconnaissance along the river. He didn't sweat missing school, Mom had it under control, even from her hospital bed.

Wednesday night Buddy decided to do some prowling, launched his boat, and went up-river to the dock. It was after midnight and the Moon had set over the Gulf when he arrived. He tied the boat to the dock, switched ON his flashlight, and melted into the woods. He found the lodge after about thirty minutes of stumbling over roots and vines and saw palmettos.

The palmettos cut his clothing and flesh when he walked through them. Jack was awake and heard him, especially when Buddy fell on his face into a patch of palmetto fronds, but assumed the din came from raccoons scavenging in the dark and barking at each other. Buddy arrived at the lodge before dawn, and crept around till he stepped on a rake propped against a wall, and knocked it down when he stepped on the tines. Jack got up, picked up his pistol, and went outside to investigate.

Buddy fled to the woods when he heard the door open. Jack heard the thrashing and followed the noise. Buddy got lost and crossed over the creek by mistake. Jack heard the splashing and went toward it.

Buddy halted then ran back toward the creek. The first crossing hadn't been deep, knee-high, and he jumped in when he came to the creek the second time. Jack heard it, and Buddy heard someone coming his way. Buddy then waded down-stream till he stepped into a soft mire of sand. His feet became stuck, and he struggled harder till he was stuck fast, up to his knees. Jack thought he was following a hungry black bear, and soon became weary of it. He fired two shot into the air, to enhance the bear's fear, and went home.

Buddy had watched enough jungle adventures with quicksand to panic from the thought of his immediate peril and imminent demise. But that's not how it usually plays out. People don't generally die from suffocation, and vanish forever beneath the sand. What they do is stay stuck and die from heatstroke or dehydration or animal attack. Struggling simply makes escape harder as your energy loosens the sand allowing more water to get around the sand particles and hold you firmer.

And stuck Buddy stayed till Jack found him.

Jack came along about noon, to check the dock, and saw Buddy mired in the creek. Jack squatted and looked at him, "I guess you're the bear I chased last night. You know, you gotta be the stupidest damn human I ever met."

"Get me out," Buddy demanded.

"Fuck you," Jack replied, and left to check the dock.

At the dock he saw the boat and untied it to drift away, then walked back to see Buddy. "Looks like you fucked yourself this time," he said.

"Get me out!" Buddy demanded.

"I don't think so, no one knows you're here, I didn't put you there, and you can kiss my ass. The hogs'll eat what's left of you, end of problem. I gotta go."

"Come back here, asshole, and get me out!" Buddy shouted. Jack flipped him a bird and walked back to the house through the jungle.

"What was that I heard in the woods?" Rose asked. "Sounded like a jungle bird or something."

"A peacock," Jack replied. "Somebody's peacock got loose and wandered over here."

After Buddy's rental boat found its way home the concession operator called the local sheriff who called Sheriff Wilford Swilley up in Georgia. The private eye people gave Buddy away, and Swilley put a bug up the sheriff's ass down in Florida.

The sheriff sent bloodhounds looking for Buddy, and found him mired in the creek with a load of shit in his pants. They then pulled him out of the mud, cleaned him up at the Trenton jail, and laundered his soiled clothes before sending him on his way. The sheriff figured the jail treatment was the least problematic for everyone.

Jim Coleman was the sheriff's name, and he paid a visit to Jack and Rose. "I usta come out here swimming when the Ledbetter's lived here. I s'pose you seen what's left of the old cabin. It had four bedrooms and the center portion was split into a kitchen and living room, with a fireplace between them. So tell me about your friend we pulled outta the mud." Coleman reminded Rose of the old man who played on Walker: Texas Ranger.

"Buddy's an old admirer of mine who ended our friendship then became upset when I met Jack, a few days ago he broke into my home, and Jack suggested we come here for a while, till Buddy's passion cooled," Rose said.

"He told us Mister Grant chased him to the woods with a pistol, and forced him in to the creek," Coleman said.

"This morning, around three o'clock I heard a commotion outside, and went to investigate with my gun. Something knocked over a rake, and I assumed it was a hungry bear or coon. I followed it through the woods for a ways, fired a couple of shots into the air to encourage its departure, and came home," Jack said.

"Sheriff Swilley says Buddy's a real nice fella," Coleman said.

"And I'm a nice fella, too, sheriff," Jack said.

To be continued.