We’ll Meet Again Someday

The hours ticked by as Riana entered sweeps, listened to music, and cooked up a meal of fried chicken, rice, and veggies. It wasn’t until the sun began setting that she started to feel bored, restless, and a bit down. Blondie’s deteriorating condition didn’t help to brighten her mood either. It seemed he did nothing but sleep these days. Suddenly feeling a touch of cabin fever, she stepped outside into the warm evening, pulling the door shut behind her to keep the room cool. She could ride over to Yolanda’s, but she didn’t like to ride at night. Besides, Yolanda had her hands full with the kids and David. She listened to the sounds around her. She heard a dog barking somewhere toward the left, a loud engine somewhere toward the right. A couple of youngsters raced down the back alley on bikes, yelling about being late for dinner. She strode over to the pool. There was still enough light to illuminate the water’s surface. She didn’t feel like swimming, so she wandered aimlessly around the yard for a while, exploring every nook and cranny, almost as if seeing it for the first time. She eventually found herself by the back door of the house, and without even thinking about it, she reached for the knob. To her surprise, the knob turned. She stopped and looked behind her, as if worried someone might see her, even though she knew they couldn’t. Facing the house again, she took a deep breath and wondered if this was some sort of trap. Maybe some kind of honesty test? Nah. She was pretty sure they’d simply forgotten to lock the door. Shut the door and go back to your cage, she told herself. You have no business snooping around where you don’t belong. But she was the curious type. She knew she could get caught and that serious consequences would be in store for her if she did, but it was almost as if the house bore a giant magnet inside it—an invisible magnet that pulled at her and sucked her inside. Why do you want to bother snooping around like this? she asked herself. Just because I’m bored with nothing better to do, was her answer to herself. After all, I can’t expect to win sweeps every minute of every day, Yolanda’s got her own life, Blondie’s too old to play with, I’m not interested in playing the dating game, so why not make breaking and entering and being a nosy bitch my own personal little adventure tonight? She crossed the threshold and stepped into the kitchen, closing the door behind her. She wouldn’t turn on any lights. She didn’t need to anyway. There was still just enough light to see her way around. Not exactly sure just what it was she was looking for, she began to wander deeper into the house. What did you expect?she silently asked herself. For things to be different in just eight hours? She wound her way through the dining room and into the living room. She stopped and studied the wedding portrait on the wall for a few minutes. Audra didn’t look like the stern and humorless bitch she could be. Her features weren’t as soft as she smiled into the camera, but they weren’t harsh either. By most people’s standards, Audra had been just average-looking and still was—just an ordinary woman with a seemingly ordinary life. “You sure do look better in uniform than a wedding dress, bitch or not,” Riana said aloud. She moved to the foot of the stairs and looked upward, hesitantly. They could come home any minute. Better not do this. But she knew she would. She’d already come this far, so why not go all the way? Up the stairs she went, stopping in James and Audra’s room first. Did she dare go through the drawers to see what naughties they might be hiding? Since daylight was fading fast and she didn’t want to turn on any light to see anything small or detailed, she decided to leave instead. Snooping around for nothing was no reason to get kicked out—or worse. She had no other place to live, and it wasn’t like she could find a deal like this just anywhere. The curiosity simply wasn’t worth the risk after all, and she wanted to pinch herself for bothering to enter the house in the first place. The electric garage door suddenly hummed to life. Shit! Now she wanted to do a whole lot more than just pinch herself as she wondered how Audra’s definition of “late” could mean 7:00 in the evening. Her first instinct was to run downstairs and make a dash for the back door, but she knew she’d never make it in time. The entry door to the garage was too close to the back door, and she was not only upstairs but on the other side of the house as well. As it was, Emma was already making her way into the house below. “I’m going up to my room to call Letitia,” she heard Emma tell her parents. “Just be sure to be bathed by 9:00,” she heard Audra say. “Your father needs to shower tonight so he can take off early in the morning.” “Okay,” Emma called over her shoulder to her mother. She reached the foot of the staircase just as Riana dashed into the spare bedroom. Riana hoped Emma wouldn’t enter the bathroom before she had a chance to hide in the closet, because she might see her if she did, since the bathroom door was directly across from the spare bedroom. Yet, to her relief, Emma went straight to her room next to Audra’s at the front of the house. Once she heard the door close, she gently slid the closet door open and hoped there would be room in it for her to hide. The door began to squeak on its tracks. Forget it. She could hide on the other side of the double bed. There was enough space for her to lie between it and the wall. All she had to do was make sure she didn’t bump the wall or have her feet extending too far past the foot of the bed. The bed had a semi-sheer valance that fell to the floor, allowing her to see the shadowy outline of the legs of anyone who might pass by the room. She tried to calm her pounding heart and relax her breathing, telling herself there was no reason they’d look between the bed and the wall. There was nothing there they could possibly need—no dressers, no closets, nothing. She hoped no one would look for her in the guesthouse, but even if they did and found her gone, they’d never think to look for her in the spare bedroom of their house. No, her worst problem at the moment was figuring out when to try to get out of the house undetected, not whether or not someone would go to the guesthouse. Dusk turned to total darkness as she waited, both bored and anxious. She couldn’t hear much from where she was—just a scattering of bumps and bangs, mostly from Audra and James down below. She heard an occasional burst of laughter from Emma’s room as she spoke to her friend. After what seemed like an eternity, she heard Emma’s door open. Her heartbeat quickened. “I’m taking my bath now,” Emma called down from the top of the stairs. “Okay,” she barely heard Audra call back up. “Oh, can I first go and see if Riana can help me with that song I’ve been having trouble with?” Riana’s heart pounded even quicker. “No, you cannot. You need to get your bath out of the way so Dad can take his shower, as I told you.” Never before was Riana glad for Audra’s determination to keep her separate from her family. About twenty minutes later, Emma emerged from the bathroom, returned to her bedroom, and closed the door behind her. Moist, floral-scented air wafted over to Riana’s hiding place. She yawned, knowing it couldn’t yet be past 9:00 and that she had a long wait ahead of her. In what she guessed to be another twenty minutes, she heard footsteps ascending the stairs. Judging by the quick firmness of them, she assumed them to be Audra’s. Her guess was correct, as she heard a moment later when Audra opened her daughter’s door and started speaking to her. She couldn’t make out what was being said, but it was obvious enough that Audra was lecturing Emma. Then the argument broke out. “What are you going to do if I don’t?” she heard Emma challenge. “Arrest me?” “Just do it now!” Audra shouted. “I’m sick and tired of going through this with you, Emma. Do it now, and then you can do what you want when you’re of age and on your own.” “That time can’t come fast enough!” “Yeah? Well, don’t count on not being sorry at times when it does. You think it’s easy out there on your own? Because you can think again if you do.” “I don’t care! Anything’s gotta be easier than having you getting on me all the time.” “Then do as you’re supposed to, and I won’t get on you so much.” Again, footsteps ascended the stairs, this time slower. “Come on, Emma,” she heard James say. “Do as your mother says.” “But why do I have to go to bed so early on a Saturday night? She wants me in bed by 10:00.” “That’s not that early,” James said. “You still have over half an hour, so why don’t you spend it playing a game or something more constructive rather than arguing?” “Fine,” Emma relented. After all, she knew she wouldn’t be able to change her mother’s mind. “I hope I get to spend the whole summer at Aunt Hayden’s. I really do.” Emma’s door shut hard. James went into the bathroom, and Audra went into the bedroom and turned on the soft lamp by the bed. They couldn’t be much more than twenty feet away, so Riana tried to breathe as quietly as she could, not daring to move for fear of bumping the wall too hard. She lay on her side, back to the wall, eyes watchful through the underside of the bed at the doorway beyond. James showered in what seemed to be half the time it had taken Emma to take her bath. Riana heard him go into the bedroom after his shower, and he and Audra discussed something she couldn’t make out. Then Emma emerged from her room and announced that she was going to bed. Figuring it was now around 10:00, Riana continued to lie there, hoping Audra and James both snored whenever they happened to fall asleep, so she would know when it would be a good time to try to get out of there. Eventually, Audra and James’ voices died off, but their bedroom door remained open, the light on. She assumed that James had fallen asleep but that Audra was still awake reading. She knew she was a reader, for whenever she cleaned their room, there was always a mystery novel on the nightstand by what she figured was her side of the bed. She continued to lie there, still afraid to move and bang into the wall or the frame of the bed, even though the stairwell was between the guestroom and Audra’s. She thought of Amberlyn and little Nick, knowing that Amberlyn would be shocked to know where she was at the moment. She felt her eyelids grow heavier as she vowed not to take such risks in life ever again, then willed herself to stay awake and not miss the opportunity to leave. If she slept right along with everyone else, she would be stuck there all day tomorrow as well! She thought of how Blondie would be up by now, wanting his cheese and attention. I’m sorry, little guy! I’m so sorry you have to be put out by my stupidity! It seemed like hours had passed by the time Audra finally turned out the light. The house was now dark, but unfortunately, Audra never shut the bedroom door. She listened intently for any sounds. She heard blankets rustling as Audra settled comfortably in bed, and although she waited a painful eternity, she never heard any snoring at all—not even the kind of rhythmic breathing associated with being asleep. She knew she could do one of two things. She could either wait until the house was completely empty to make her escape, or she could take a chance and leave now. She decided now was the time to go. Waiting until no one was home would mean having to hold out from peeing for far too long, not to mention the fact that she’d get mighty thirsty and hungry. She slowly pulled herself upright into a sitting position. She hoped to hell the floorboards didn’t creak. Did they creak when she went up and down the stairs on cleaning days? She’d never taken note of these trivial things, which she never expected to matter as much as they did now. It was amazing how such menial things you never paid any attention to could make or break you in the future. Placing her hands on the bed, she slowly pushed herself up to her feet. Once she felt her circulation return to normal, she could do nothing more than hope for the best. She took a slow step forward. Not a sound. She took another, and then another, until she was just about in the doorway of the room, judging by the depth and shapes of the shadows around her. At least her eyes were plenty adjusted to the darkness that enveloped her. She cocked her best ear beyond the room but was unable to hear a sound. Next, she stepped over the threshold and into the hallway. Nothing stirred within the darkness of Audra’s bedroom, which Riana was glad she didn’t have to pass by to reach the stairs. She took a deep breath, heart hammering in her chest. She didn’t know one’s heart could beat so loud and so hard. She was afraid that this alone would give her presence away, but all remained still around her. Riana focused on the stairs. It was now or never. She moved quickly, but not so fast that she became clumsy. She knew that if she was going to get caught, now was probably when it would happen. Yet she floated, the graceful dancer she once had been, down the staircase, through the living room, and into the kitchen. Not even she had been able to hear her footsteps, so she didn’t see how anyone else could have, and the floorboards hadn’t given her away either. She was just a few feet from the back door when she accidentally grazed the corner of the island countertop, sending a stack of papers fluttering to the floor. Damn! How could paper be so loud? She froze, horrified. Did she keep moving, or should she stoop to pick the papers up? Not hearing any movement above her, she opted to recover the fallen papers, hoping she hadn’t missed any. Satisfied that the papers were gathered much as they had been and wouldn’t be noticed, she reached for the knob of the back door. It was locked! She fumbled in the darkness for a rotating lock but found none. As was common with doors with windows, the only way to lock or unlock the door was with a key. A key she didn’t have. She tried to fight the panic that was building within her. Think! Don’t freak out. The front door. She gingerly retraced her steps through the kitchen and entered the living room, where the light was slightly better because of the soft glow of the streetlight outside. The front door was solid. It just had to have a rotating lock. Sounds from above. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she heard someone coughing. Her eyes darted toward the blackened stairwell, although she saw nothing. Praying no one would come downstairs for any reason, she swiftly dashed toward the front door as quietly as she could. Unable to see any detail through the poor lighting, she reached for the knob and felt a rotating lock within its center. She unlocked it and then turned the knob. It wouldn’t budge. Her glorious moment of victory was quickly replaced with dread as she realized that the larger lock above the doorknob might require a key as well. She traced the edge of the door upward with her hand until she felt the lock. To her utter relief, however, it did not need a key. She turned the lock clockwise ever so slowly and quietly, then dropped her hand back down to the knob. Heart jackhammering in suspense, she slowly turned the knob clockwise as well. It turned! She gently eased the door open, along with the screen door, then relocked the lock on the knob. Next, she stepped out and gently closed the door behind her, hoping no one noticed that the other lock was unlocked, and that if they did, they’d blame it on their own carelessness without considering other possibilities. After making sure the screen door didn’t slam shut, she quickly scurried around toward the back of the house, entering the same gate she always used when coming and going from the yard. If anyone questioned her at this point, she could always say that she couldn’t sleep and thought taking a walk would help tire her out. But the house remained wonderfully dark and still as she made her way toward the guesthouse and collapsed on her bed the instant she was inside. It took a good half hour or so for her heartbeat to return to normal. It was then that she noticed that Blondie was dead.