Finding Eve Ch. 01

The small 3 bedroom house on Caywood Street was a wreck. An overturned lamp and family pictures lay broken on the living room floor. A busted dining chair from her Grandmothers dining set was now in 3 pieces in the kitchen surrounded by the remnants of drinking glasses, scattered into shards of un-repairable glass. Eve sat in the hallway and surveyed the damage, and carefully planned her next move. She played out all of the possibilities in her head until she finally decided which course of action to take. Eve carefully picked herself up off of the floor, and made every effort not to injure herself more, she calmly swept her hair out of her face and began to walk the rest of the house. She set her plan in motion. When she was finally satisfied with her progress, she grabbed her keys, locked the front door and started her SUV. Eve knew where she was going and what she had to do now. She slowly merged left onto the entrance of the freeway and headed north.

The old lake house always gave her some comfort. It was in poor shape, but so was Eve. She had hoped to be able to fix the place up and one day retire. Eve turned the key in the lock and walked across the old hardwood floor, it creaked a welcome sound as she made her way to the breaker box to turn the electricity on. Only 2 lamps were in the old house and the soft glow they produced was calming to Eve. She rinsed out the coffee pot that was covered in a layer of dust and found some coffee in the back of the cabinet. No need to worry about staying up late tonight, she thought to herself. This was just a waiting game now. She poured herself a cup of coffee and as she stirred the sugar and powdered creamer she noticed that it was almost midnight. Most of the people in the sleepy lakeside town were retirees and had long gone to bed. She told herself she would wait until 2 before she would make her next move.

Behind the towels in the bathroom cabinet was a small hole cut into a piece of sheetrock where he had hidden several items. Sometimes he hid money, other times it was guns or drugs. Eve carefully pried the sheetrock away and removed an old metal band-aid box and replaced the makeshift door. Making herself comfortable on the couch she opened the box and found what she was looking for. Two joints that were vacuum sealed in plastic. His "emergency stash" as he liked to joke about it. Eve reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled her lighter out and tore at the plastic with her teeth. She lit up one of the joints and placed the other back in the can. Not much else to do but to get this over with, she thought to herself as she watched the hands of the clock move through a smoky haze.

When the clock struck 2, Eve was far into relaxation and thought twice about what she was about to do. She felt as if she had no choice now. This was her only option. Everything would be back to normal in a few days and it had to be done. Eve grabbed her keys and went back out to her explorer, she left the headlights off as she drove the 2 miles to Mr. Wilton's farm. Mr. Wilton had passed away last month and his son had started renovating the old hog farm. The Explorer eased up the driveway and turned towards the hog pen, where 5 large hungry boars had been left neglected and hungry by their new owner. Eve wrestled the large blanket out of the back of her SUV. Second guessing not her actions now, but her choice in men. Making a silent joke to herself to pick a shorter, skinnier one the next time. She heaved the blanket, contents and all into the pen and watched as the hogs came to investigate. When she was satisfied that the pigs liked her offering she lit the other joint and waited until they had finished their meal.

Once back at the lake house, Eve rinsed out the old tub and let the water run for a few minutes allowing the rust to make its way out of the pipes. She sank into the deep tub and thought about her children and her future. All of the opportunities that would be open to her now. As long as the lake could keep her secret.