Ruby turned on the stove and pulled her long blonde hair back into a ponytail. She never liked cooking with her hair down. No matter how irrational it was, she had a fear of her hair catching on fire. Carefully rolling up the sleeves on her sweater, so those didn’t catch on fire as well, she peered into the living room where Zak was quietly playing with his plastic animals and dump truck. His little 4 year old face was stern as he softly talked to his animals and carefully placed them into the dump truck in a neat row. Ruby smiled at his puzzling mind and went back into the kitchen. She grabbed a box of colored wagon wheels pasta off the shelf and waited for the water to boil.
Small feet, almost like the soft padded paws of a dog, plodded into the kitchen.
“Mommy, there’s a car coming down the driveway! Is it Uncle Ben?” He grabbed her belt and looked at her with electrified eyes
Ruby frowned “No…I don’t think so….” She walked around to the living room window. Driving down the long driveway was a black Mercedes. “Shit.” She quickly spun around so as not to be visible from the outside. She edged away and quickly made her way back to the kitchen. In one fluid movement she shut off the stove and crouched down in the corner of the kitchen behind the island and pulled Zak close.
“Mommy who-“
“Shh! You need to be quiet now ok?” she whispered.
Zak smiled and giggled.“Is it Uncle Ben? Are we playing hide and go seek?” He bounced up and down on her lap.
“Shh! Mommy needs you to be quiet right-“ A sudden sharp knock at the door cut her off. Ruby brought Zak close to her as the knocking grew louder and more impatient. Zak whimpered into her shoulder.
“It’s ok.” She ran her fingers through the loose curls he got from his father.
The knocking stopped and all that could be heard was the muffled voices of two men and a large envelope being shoved through the bottom of the door. It slid across the hardwood floor menacingly. Ruby strained to hear what the men were saying.
“I know she is. I made sure.” One man flustered.
“Then keep a close eye on the house” commanded the other.
Car doors slammed and the engine started up as the black Mercedes made its way out of the driveway. Ruby set Zak beside her.
“I want you to sit here ok?”
Zak brought his knees up to his chest. “ok”
Ruby crawled towards the front door on her hands and knees to where the envelope lay on the floor. She sat on the floor and opened up the envelope and found a letter attached to newspaper clippings and photos. Zak got on all fours and started to crawl towards her, growling softly.
Ruby glanced through the letter and flipped through some of the clippings and photo. She started to stuff them back into the envelope when Zak rushed towards her crying “woof woof!” He growled and grabbed hold of one of the photos.
“Zak stop that! Don’t!” She tried to snatch it away but he already had it.
“The wolf caught the Elk!” He cried as he held the photo up triumphantly. His eyes quickly scanned over his prize. His face squinted and he cocked his head sideways. “Is this a picture of you ?”
Ruby grabbed the photo and shoved it back into the envelope with the others. “Zak I need you to listen to me ok? We’re going to go on a trip. Can you go pick out some toys you want to bring?”
“Yay yay yay!” Zak ran into the living room and started stacking his animals into a plastic container in neat little rows. “We’re going on a trip!” Ruby's chest grew tight as he whispered excitedly into each of the animals fixed ears. “We’re going on a trip!”
Ruby threw the envelope on the kitchen table and pulled a small key from her pocket. She walked towards the basement door and unlocked it. Her hand shaking, she slowly opened the door.
So....yeah.
~AM
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