“What are you doing here?” I ask.
Keith is dressed for work in his gray suit. He bought that suit about a year ago, and it’s already too tight. “I had a dentist appointment,” he says. “But I’m heading to the office now.”
“Oh.” I listlessly scoop ice cream into my mouth. “Okay.”
“Watch the ice cream, Julie. You don’t want to weigh five-hundred pounds.”
I shoot him a look. “Or else what?”
He shrugs. “Or else maybe I get myself a new wife.”
I toss the metal spoon on the table. Ice cream splatters all over the marble counter. “That sounds like a great idea. We’re through.”
Keith’s eyes widen. “Hey, don’t get all bitchy. I didn’t mean it.”
“Well, I do.” I put the lid back on the ice cream and shove it in the freezer. I shut the door with a slam. “I’m done here. I don’t want to be married to you anymore.”
“Come on, Julie.” He frowns at me. “Look, I’m sorry. You can go back to eating whatever you want and doing whatever you want and spending my money whenever you want.”
I grit my teeth. “You’re making this really easy for me. So thank you.”
“Julie…”
“When you come home tonight, the boys and I will be gone.” I raise my eyebrows at him. “Not that you would even notice.”
“Right. And how are you going to pay for all the things you like without me?”
“I’m going back to work.” As the words come out of my mouth, it feels so good. I can’t believe I didn’t do this ages ago. I miss my job so much. “And also, there’s alimony.”
I can’t wait to take Keith to the cleaners. I know every single woman he was unfaithful to me with.
Keith’s face darkens and he takes a step closer to me. “Does this have to do with Riley Hanrahan?”
I freeze. “What?”
“I saw his name on your phone last night.” He narrows his eyes. “Are you messing around with that guy again?”
“Absolutely not.” I plant my fists on my hips. “This has nothing to do with anyone else. This is about you and me. I don’t want to be married to you anymore.”
A muscle twitches in Keith’s jaw. He stares at me, his face turning pink, then red, then almost purple. I wonder if he’s going to try to hit me. Well, let him try. I’ve got years of kickboxing under my belt while he gets out of breath walking up the steps to the second floor of our house.
“Fine,” he snaps at me. “Do whatever you want. It’ll be good to be rid of you.”
With those words, Keith turns around and storms out of the house. I hear his BMW revving to life outside, and then he zooms off. And he’s gone.
Despite everything, I feel wonderful. I didn’t realize how much I hated my life with that man until I called it quits. It’s like a horrible weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
I’m free. Thank God I’m free. And I’m getting the hell out of Long Island.
I race up the stairs to our bedroom. I yank my large brown suitcase out of the closet, and I start packing. I’ll have to stay with my parents for a little while, until I figure out the shelter and job situation. But I don’t want to live here another minute. The boys will be upset at first, but they’ll get used to the idea. It’s not like they saw Keith much anyway. It’s better for them if I’m happy. And I’m not happy here. I haven’t been happy for a long time.
As I’m throwing shirts and pants in the bag, my eyes are drawn to the window. Maria’s master bedroom is right across from ours. Close enough that I could almost reach out and touch her if I had extremely long arms. Well, it’s at least within throwing distance. A few times, they left their blinds open, and I got an eyeful of Sean walking around with his shirt off.
There’s somebody in the bedroom now. But it’s not Maria and it’s not Sean.
It’s April.
I stand there, staring out my bedroom window. April is in Maria’s bedroom. What is she doing in their bedroom?
I step to the side so she doesn’t see me and let the curtains fall closed. I peek between the curtains to get a closer look.
April is searching through the bedroom furiously. She’s yanking open drawers and sifting through them. At one point, she looks in the closet. She’s desperate to find something.
Oh my God, I bet she’s looking for Maria’s burner phone.
I walk over to the drawer by my nightstand. I reach behind a couple of books and pull out my little flip phone. This is what she’s looking for. But she won’t find it in Maria’s bedroom.
Fine. Let her look.
I peek through the curtains again. April is still searching the room. She won’t be there for long though. She’ll have to head to the school soon to pick up Bobby. When I see Maria I’ll have to warn her.
Except my eyes are drawn to movement at the front of the house. It’s Maria. She’s unlocking the front door.
No no no no…
I feel a surge of panic as Maria steps inside her house. I’ve got to warn her that April is in there. I don’t know what April is capable of. No, actually, that’s not true. I know exactly what April is capable of. This isn’t going to end well.
But I left my phone downstairs. All I’ve got up here is my flip phone and that doesn’t have Maria’s number plugged in. The only number I’ve got is…
April.
My hands are shaking as I type on the screen:
I know you are inside the house, April.
There. That should frighten her off.
I peek through the curtains again. I see April freeze. She feels around in her pocket and pulls her phone out of the purse on her shoulder. Her eyes widen as she reads my message.
She puts her phone back in her purse. I watch her sifting through the purse for a few seconds, and I wonder what she’s doing. And then I see her pull something out of her purse.
It’s a knife.
Oh God.
I’ve got to do something.
I consider calling 911, but it seems like by the time I get through to the police and explain the whole thing to them, and tell them how urgent it is, it will be too late. So instead of the police, I click on Riley’s number.
He answers after one ring. “Jules? What’s going on?”
“April is at my neighbor’s house,” I manage. “She’s upstairs in the bedroom with a knife. I… I think she thinks my neighbor knows something and is going to turn her in.”
“Got it. I’ll be right there.”
I stare across the way, into Maria’s window. April is still standing there with the knife. Any second, Maria will go upstairs. “How long?”
“With the sirens? Maybe… ten minutes.”
“No. Somebody has to come right now.” I squeeze the phone until my fingers tingle. “Right this minute.”
“Okay. I’ll get a squad car to go.”
I try to look in the windows downstairs, to see if Maria is still on the first floor. I don’t see her. “I’ve got to go over there.”
“Jules, no.” I hear the siren going on the other line. He must’ve gotten on the road. “Don’t go over there—it’s too dangerous. I’m getting a squad car to go. Don’t move. We will take care of this.”