Chapter 9

BRIAN

I’m parked in my car, hidden next to a bush. I’m barely able to see the driveway Lynn disappeared into half an hour ago.

Suddenly, Lynn’s car emerges, and she’s alone. I duck down as she drives past. Once she’s gone, I sit up and watch her taillights vanish into the distance. I turn the ignition.

My headlights illuminate the dark driveway. The wind starts to pick up, causing the branches to sway. Then the wind intensifies, snapping branches off and hurling them in front of my car.

Gravel from the driveway pelts the windshield. I roll up the windows as leaves and rocks start to invade the car. Bigger branches and limbs are breaking off and littering the driveway.

I reach the end of the driveway and am greeted by a beautiful late afternoon with a cloudless sky. I glance in my rearview mirror. The trees are still again.

“What the fuck?”

A house comes into view. As I approach, I see Chelsea sitting on a swing. She stops swinging and stands up. I park the car and step out.

“What are you doing here, Brian?” Chelsea’s voice is tinged with anger.

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“How did you find me?” she demands.

“Your friends wouldn’t tell me where you were, so I followed Lynn. My hunch was right,” I reply, keeping my voice steady.

“I don’t want to talk to you, Brian!”

Her anger is rising. She’s wearing a bathrobe that’s starting to come undone.

~I think she’s naked underneath.~

“You need to leave, Brian!”

“Baby, just wait. I can explain.”

“If you tell me it’s not what I think one more time, I swear I’ll hit you with this bottle,” she threatens, brandishing it.

“Calm down, honey,” I try to soothe her. Damn, she’s sexy when she’s mad.

“Don’t tell me to calm down, and don’t call me baby.”

I start to approach the porch.

“Brian, stop! It’s over. You fucked up. You chose a nineteen-year-old with a tight pussy over me. I can’t forgive that. You cheated on me,” she says, tears streaming down her face.

“Maybe we need a break so you can clear your head.” I pull her ring from my pocket. “I’ll keep this safe until you’re ready to come back.”

“You’re fucking insane!”

“Why can’t you forgive me? It was the only time I cheated on you. If you cheated on me, I’d forgive you.”

She scoffs. “Even if I forgive you, how do I know you won’t do it again?”

I try to respond, but she raises her hand.

“I’m not done,” she says, taking a swig from her bottle. “The house we were going to live in has a giant crack in the foundation. Even if I forgive you, that crack will always be there.

“You can patch it, paint over it, even hide it. But that crack will always be there. It’ll always remind me that you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants.

“The trust is gone. See this house?” she asks, pointing to it. “It’s one hundred and twenty years old with no cracks in the foundation. And it’s going to stay that way.” She finishes her beer and tightens her bathrobe.

“I’m not giving up on us,” I say, trying to convince her I can change.

“You’re delusional if you think I’ll change my mind and go back to you.”

“But I can change,” I plead.

“This,” she says, pointing to the porch, “is my new beginning. And you’re not part of it.”

“You can’t say that. I still love you.”

“I loved you two days ago when we made love. But the next day, something special happened to me. When I came home to tell you, you had found something better. And it wasn’t me,” she says, hands on her hips.

“What about starting a family?”

“You ruined that for me. Why don’t you get Bunny pregnant? Then you can have your precious family in your new house. I want no part of it.”

More tears roll down her cheeks.

“You need to leave,” she says.

I watch her open the screen door and go inside.

“I’m not giving up on us. We’re meant to be.”

I stand there, hoping she’ll come back out. But she doesn’t. I get back in my car and start it up. I buckle my seat belt and reverse.

The driveway is quiet. No wind, no leaves swirling around. I reach the end of the driveway and turn right.

Suddenly, the car accelerates on its own. My foot isn’t on the gas pedal. I try to brake, but it’s not slowing down. The RPMs are in the red as I hurtle towards a massive oak tree.

My seat belt unlatches as I collide with the tree.