“Are you okay?” I ask. He isn’t, but it might help for him to talk about the emotions he has bottled up inside.
He nods and rakes a hand through his hair.
I wrap a hand around the back of his neck and get to work kneading away the tension. He doesn’t even react.
Thankfully, no protesters are gathered outside the house when we arrive. The people who still believe in his guilt might return once they discover he’s in town, but we don’t plan on staying for long.
As we walk the short distance to the door, I take his hand and hold it tight. We don’t look left or right. The neighbors can gawk at us, but we won’t pay them any attention. I pretend they all don’t exist, that it’s just Alex and me in our imperfect little world.
Our front yard is a mess. We step over soda cans, candy wrappers, and scrunched-up pieces of newspaper articles.
Inside the house, I still don’t feel safe. And sadness has sucked the warmth from the air around us to make it only a house and no longer a home.
I won’t miss the place. Later down the road, each time I think of it, I’ll also remember the people camped out outside, waiting to attack me physically and emotionally. My heart will start racing with fear all over again. The body never forgets trauma.
Once I fill a suitcase with our personal stuff, Alex heads to the basement to see if there’s anything else we’d like to take with us. What he finds fills a box.
The movers arrive as we’re about to pull away from the house. We’ve also hired a cleaning service to clean up the mess both outside and inside.
When the house is empty and back to its original state, Alex will arrange for the keys to be dropped off at the landlord’s office. Since we did not notify them in advance about our move, we will have to pay an early termination fee in order to exit the lease agreement, but Alex doesn’t seem to be worried about it.
With his mother back in his life, all his worries about money seem to be gone.
Before leaving town, I ask Alex to stop by the Curl & Lock. He tries to talk me out of it, but I insist.
Before I get a chance to enter, Delores steps out, meeting me outside the door. She’s not the same woman I used to know, and her gray eyes have grown hard.
“Hi,” I say, shifting from one foot to the other. I can’t believe it used to be so easy to talk to her. Now I kind of wish I didn’t come.
She gives a curt nod and inclines her head slightly. She’s waiting for me to start the conversation.
“Did you hear the news? Alex is innocent. They let him go.”
“I see that.” She glances over my shoulder at the car. “I heard you left town.”
“We came back to pick up some things.”
“I see. Well, goodbye then, Viola.” She glances behind her. “I should get back to work.” She turns to leave, but before she disappears inside, I call her name.
“I thought we were friends,” I say past the lump in my throat. “I thought—I thought you would be happy for me.”
She watches me for a long time, then sighs. “I’m sorry,” she says simply and goes inside, leaving me standing on the doorstep.
Sometimes we think we know someone, but we really don’t. All too often we’re all just familiar strangers.
We’re making the right decision moving out of town. This chapter is shut.
Ashamed and upset, I make my way back to the car, back to the one person I can count on.
“Are you okay?” Alex asks when I get into the car.
“No.” I give a bitter laugh. “Not really.” Why lie when he can see the pain and disappointment written all over my face?
“Did Delores say something to upset you?”
“It’s not what she said. It’s what she didn’t say.”
He starts the car and waits until we’re driving out of town to talk again. “She thinks I’m guilty, doesn’t she?”
