“Ugghh,” my brain began to feel like mush from all of this thinking. I needed to take my ass to bed and sleep for a couple of hours. By then, Buddha would be back. I was looking forward to seeing him, because I was angry when he left. I understood what Victoria said to me, and I was grown enough to admit that she was right.
As I parked my car, it sounded like something rolled around in my trunk. I made a face as I looked in the rearview mirror. That’s strange; I never put anything in there. Deciding to check and see what it was, I climbed out of my car. Just as I closed the door, my phone began to ring. I smiled when I saw it was Mia. I could use the welcome distraction.
“Hey girl,” I said, walking up the steps toward the front door. I got ready to deal with a very hyper Lotus. As I opened the door and braced myself, I made a face because there was no Lotus. What was also odd was that the front door was unlocked. I was certain I locked it when Buddha and I left this morning.
“Hey, what’s up?” Mia said.
“That’s strange,” I mumbled, looking around the living room, but Lotus was nowhere to be found.
“What’s strange?” Mia asked.
“I can’t find Lotus?” I told her, walking around the entire house and not seeing her anywhere.
“Did she run away?” Mia asked as I stopped walking around and nibbled on my acrylic nail on my index finger.
“I’m not sure, but the front door was unlocked. I’m pretty sure I locked it this morning,” I plopped down on the bed, sighing loudly. “I think I need to sleep for about half an hour. As soon as I wake up, I’ll hit you right back and search the compound for Lotus. Maybe she got out and made her way to the pig farm.” I kicked my shoes off as I spoke, getting ready to lie down.
“Ok, but call me right back,” Mia said.
“Yeah, I will. I need to talk to you about something,” I knew I was forbidden to speak about this family, but I needed to tell Mia that I suspected Sofia was hiding something when it came to Rocki.
“No problem, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah, bye,” I replied and lay down on the bed. Releasing a contented sigh, I closed my eyes and went right to sleep.
*****
I opened my eyes slowly and realized the entire room was in complete darkness.
“Oh shit,” I said, sitting upright. Picking up my phone next to me, I checked the time to see that I had been asleep for a little over two hours, and the sun had already set.
“Oh shit,” I said again, realizing that because I overslept, I didn’t go searching for Lotus. Getting up from the bed, I slipped my feet inside a pair of shoes so I could walk around outside to find Lotus. Buddha would kill my ass if I somehow forgot tosecure the door from this morning, and Lotus somehow got out. With my phone in hand, I opened the front door, praying that she would be waiting patiently on the porch to be let inside after her little outdoor escapade, but she wasn’t there.
“Shit!” I said, looking around the yard for any sign of her. I really began to get worried. I looked at my vehicle and thought the best thing to do would be to drive back to the main house to ask Sofia and Victoria for their help. Running back inside, I got the key fob and raced to my vehicle. It was only then that I remembered the noise in the trunk; I hadn’t checked it.
I was so caught up talking to Mia that I’d forgotten to open the trunk. Unlocking the door, I started the engine and then walked to the back of the car. Pressing the button, I stepped back as the trunk opened automatically.
I released a gut-wrenching scream at what I saw inside. Covering my mouth, I took a step back, falling to the floor without meaning to. Quickly, I regained my composure and got up. I shook my head repeatedly as I looked at two dead bodies. One was an animal’s body, which was Lotus, and the other a human body, which was Lorenzo’s.
“Oh my God, oh my God! Oh my God,” I cried uncontrollably; tears obscured my vision, I could not believe what I was seeing. Lorenzo had a single hole in the middle of his forehead, indicating he had been shot at close range.
“Oh, Lotus,” I whimpered, feeling my heart break into a million pieces. Who would do something like this? I had no idea, but I knew one person who would. My phone was still in my hand, so I dialed Buddha’s number. He should have been home by now, according to Victoria, so maybe he was on his way.
I muttered a string of curse words when his phone rang out, until it took me straight to voicemail. I tried a second time,and he finally answered on the third ring. Only the voice on the other end was not Buddha’s.
“Hello?” an unfamiliar voice said. A perplexed expression formed on my face.
“Who is this?” I asked the strange man on the other end.
“Ma’am, what is your relation to the owner of this phone? This is Officer Pitts,” my heart began racing in my chest quickly until I felt as though I couldn’t breathe.
“He’s my husband. Is everything alright?” I asked, holding my breath.
“I’m afraid not…”
As the officer on the other end related everything to me, my entire body felt as though it suddenly weighed 500 pounds. I can’t remember everything in detail, but I do know I began running. I ran and ran until my chest hurt. I ran, leaving the bodies of Lorenzo and Lotus behind.
I ran despite the tears that trickled down my face, and snot dripped from my nose. I ran until I got to Sofia’s house and burst through her open front door. It seemed as though I was having an out-of-body experience as I walked aimlessly around Sofia’s house looking for her. Her dog wasn’t vicious and didn’t try to maul me as I walked past him. Finally, I could hear her singing,row your boatto Rocki.
