Then, tears pricked my eyes. Not because of the two idiots. Because of my arm.
I went to the back door and opened it, using my free hand to dab at my eyes. Then I clenched my teeth together to keep from crying out as I walked to the bench in my garden and collapsed onto it. Feeling ridiculous, I tried to wipe away every tear before it could fall. I should be able to handle this, all of this, so why was it so hard?
“Karma.”
I jumped a little at the sound and looked around, but no one was there.
“Karma.”
I looked toward the sound, then slowly picked out the shape of a toad sitting by the edge of the little pond in my backyard. I was shaking for some reason. Maybe because my ex and his new lover were digging through my garage. Maybe because I was pretty sure I would pass out from the pain before I could make it to Urgent Care. Or maybe because I could swear the toad kept saying the word “karma,” but I couldn’t be sure.
Sometime later, the door to the backyard opened. I didn’t bother turning around; I just kept staring at the toad. They came and stood in front of me, blocking my view of the toad, and I slowly looked up. I was shocked by just how pleased they both looked with themselves. And for the first time it really hit me that after betraying me, after leaving me after twenty years of marriage, neither of these people felt the least bit remorseful.
They were just terrible people.
I didn’t know what I was about to do, but suddenly something caught the light. I stood slowly to find that she, this bitch child who was banging my piece of shit husband, was wearing my mother’s necklace. The locket with her image inside, and easily the most important thing I own.
“My mother’s locket.” Horror rose inside me. Pure shock that they could possibly be this cruel.
My ex shrugged. “I own everything in this house anyway.”
The fuck he did.
Anger like nothing I’d ever felt in my life coursed through me. Breathing hard, I tried to calm myself, but it was as if white hot fire filled my lungs and the air warmed around me like the moment before a volcanic explosion. I even imagined the ground starting to shake. It had to be in my head, but it was all I could do to keep from clawing at this bitch with my good hand. I couldn’t attack her, though, because if she fought back I’d pass out from the pain in my arm.
Lifting my good hand I pointed at them both. “Karma’s going to get you!” And I knew I sounded a little crazy, but then the toad on the ground croaked again, and I said the first thing that came to mind. “You—you’re both freaking toads!”
From one blink of the eye to the next, they were gone.
I stood, confused, when I heard a croak and slowly lowered my eyes. There, where they were standing, were two toads, and their clothes beneath them in piles. And one of the toads had my mother’s necklace lying over it.
Slowly, I knelt down and picked up the locket.
The toads gave me sad croaks as I blinked back down at them, and my legs shook as I slowly stood back up.Did I just turn them into toads?That was not possible. This was like the old lady and the car. I was having some kind of breakdown. I was losing my mind.
I needed to get out of here. I raced inside and ignored the messy living room. Going to my room, I used one hand to pick out a shirt, pants, and a bra, and I dressed one-handed, finally giving in to the pain and screaming when I had to get my arm into the shirt. Then, fully dressed, I grabbed my keys and headed out the front door.
There, parked in my driveway, was my ex’s car.
My heart raced. I moved through the backyard like I was in a nightmare. The toads weren’t on the piles of clothes anymore, but I knelt down and found my ex’s wallet and keys in the pants.
If this was some sort of breakdown, it was a good one.
And if I really just turned them into toads, I needed to hide the evidence. I’d seen way too many detective shows. If they turned up missing, I was the first person anyone would look into. And if the police found their clothes and car here, I was in trouble.
I didn’t know what I was doing when I grabbed their stuff with my good hand and ran back out front, but I threw their clothes into the passenger seat and put the keys in the ignition. The back seats were full of my ex’s stuff, and I saw my jewelry box on the floor.
Gritting my teeth, I put the car in reverse and pulled out of my driveway. I was going to toss the clothes in a random dumpster, then leave the car at his new apartment complex. When I was done, I’d take a cab to the hospital near me and get my shoulder fixed.
Oh, and I was going to take back my jewelry box.
After that, I had no idea. But I had to figure out what the heck was going on.
And get out of town until I got a grip. Fortunately for me, I knew just where I was going to go.
Home.
3
