Can't Get Much Worse - Chapter 4

The Great Substack Story Challenge - II

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Can't Get Much Worse - Chapter 4

The day that everything changed started out pretty normal. I was taking a walk with Kate. She’d met me in the park so we could stroll a bit before going back toward her office to meet up with the guys. Personally, I wished we were getting lunch just the two of us. Eric’s indifference for me was never fun, and Arnold … well, things were complicated with Arnold.

Kate entered my life at a time when I didn’t have many friends. I think that’s why I accepted her overtures, despite the fact that she was utterly self-absorbed. I met her through her daughter, Dawn. I used to clean at the dance academy where she took lessons. Kate and Eric were notoriously late to pick Dawn up, so I started taking my 15 minute break after Dawn’s lesson. I sat and chatted with her. She had a lot to say. She was lonely, and I could relate. When Eric picked her up, he acted like I wasn’t even there. When Kate did, she shot me a sheepish grin. Eventually, she asked if I’d like to get a coffee. After Kate and I started hanging out, Dawn clammed up. That was a shame. Still, I’d been able to impress upon Kate the importance of showing up on time. She’d in turn badgered Eric until he was better about it, too.

A rough-looking man lurched close to us. He smelled like piss. Bear, my Pomapoo, went nuts yipping as I covered my nose.

“Got any change?” the man wheezed. Kate relied on her old standby of pretending she was too absorbed in her phone to have noticed him. For once, this didn’t go well for her. The man smacked it, and it smashed to the ground.

“What the?” Kate asked, then took a deep breath. That was unlike her. Usually she’d threaten to call the cops.

“You better leave right now, or I’m calling the cops,” I heard myself say, a hard edge to my voice that wasn’t normally there. Instead of laughing in my face, the guy turned and ran off.

Kate picked up her phone and, after poking it, announced in a small voice, “At least it still works.”

I rolled my eyes and kept walking. My favorite thing about hanging out with Kate was listening to her rip on everything and everyone around her. I found it amusing. Which is why I was so annoyed at this dumb silver lining challenge. It definitely wasn’t because I was hormonal.

So far, being pregnant was not my favorite.

Too late to back out now, I thought. You’ve committed. Just another eight months, right? That’s not so long.

I hadn’t expected Nichole to change her mind about me surrogating for her. I’d made the initial offer three years ago. She was my truest friend, which is why I’d made the offer without hesitation when I found out she was infertile. She’d turned me down at the time. But a few months ago, she’d asked if that was still an option, now that I was dating.

I understand the concern. What guy wants to be along for the ride of pregnancy when the baby isn’t his? What Nichole didn’t know was that I’d already decided Arnold wasn’t my happily ever after. I was still with him for two reasons: for Kate, and for shared living expenses. He didn’t make decisions about my body. So I didn’t ask him. Now there was going to be a hard out for our relationship. I wasn’t looking forward to the fallout with Kate when it came to light. The expenses would be fine, though, because Nichole would help me out in exchange for services rendered.

A truck belched toxic fumes at us, and I groaned as my stomach threatened to betray me. Again. Bear yipped at me. He alone knew about the barfing I’d been hiding from everyone.

Kate, who’d shaken off the melancholy from the encounter with the drifter, took a comically-deep breath and said, “It’s the smell of people working hard and earning for their family.”

She was taking this challenge way too far. I bickered with her for a while, trying to get her to admit how silly it was. Of course I couldn’t change her mind. Once she’d decided to do something, she stuck with it. Like staying married to someone she doesn’t understand, and who doesn’t understand her. It’s not the choice I would make for myself.

Bear, picking up on my anxiety, skittered side to side. He tripped up some guy, who fell into Kate, who fell into me. I managed not to faceplant, but my purse went flying, scattering things all across the sidewalk. I grabbed everything I could as fast as I could. Please don’t let her see—

It was too late. Kate was holding the pregnancy test I’d stupidly kept with me and not mailed already. It was supposed to be a memento for Nichole.

“Oh my god, Lauren! Congratulations!”

I can’t have this conversation right now, I thought. “It’s not Arnold’s. Please don’t say anything.”

“Drop a contact?” Eric’s mocking voice asked.

I turned and looked, and there they were. Eric was holding a bag stuffed with fast-food Mexican, the smell of which threatened to overwhelm me. Arnold held out a hand to help me up. His other hand held a giant fountain drink that he was seemingly trying to inhale in one pull. I used to think English guys were reserved and classy, I thought as I got up on my own.

That’s when I saw her. Dawn. She was trying to be sneaky, clearly, watching us half-concealed behind a stranger. Isn’t she supposed to be in school? I thought, my eyebrows shooting up. She saw me looking and ducked out of sight.

I realized by his body language Eric had seen the test in Kate’s hand. Arnold turned away, so I took my opportunity. I grabbed Kate’s hand, shooting her a meaningful look. The knowledge my life was about to explode, along with the smell of hot beans and cheese, had my gorge rising. Bear started yapping a lot.

Eric threw the bag of food down, bursting the wrapping of several burritos, releasing even more of the smell. I lost it—lost hold of Bear’s leash as I bent over and spewed. I heard the squeal of burning rubber and was sure Bear had run into traffic. I wiped my mouth and dashed after him without even thinking.

That’s when a car fully flipped over, right next to me. I froze. I almost just died. Kate grabbed Bear, and four masked men clambered out of the car. One of them shed his mask. Drew.

Suddenly Arnold was hugging me, crushing me to his chest, gibbering about how I was okay. That snapped me out of it.

“Too tight,” I gasped.

There were gunshots, and all the still-masked men went down. I struggled, trying to get away and get down. Then Kate, supposedly my friend, hurled Bear into the sky. I found my strength. I yanked myself free and shouted, “Bear!”

One of the guards from the bank where I clean—Toby? with the hero complex?—ran forward, tucking his gun away, and caught Bear, dropping into a superhero pose. Honestly, it was probably the ultimate moment of his life.

Until his life ended with a bullet to the brain.

I stared at Toby’s corpse while Bear ran to me, whimpering. I picked him up out of habit. I was numb. “Arnold?” I called. I needed someone to steady me. I had just connected the dots on what was happening around us. The car full of masked men speeding away from the bank, and Toby coming after them…

You see, before Nichole’s offer, I didn’t have the money to support myself. I’d worked minimum wage jobs for years, trying to be frugal to save money and go back to school. When I moved into Arnold’s place and no longer had to pay separate rent, I’d decided I had enough to start taking classes again. I have a head for numbers, so I was studying cyber security. That’s what’s in demand.

I’d kept cleaning, though, because I’d learned my lesson with my ex. Don’t quit your job for a man. I’d even taken a higher paying position, cleaning the bank at night.

I don’t know if it was my excellent grades in cybersecurity or my getting a job at the bank that got me flagged for recruitment. Probably both of them, in concert. Lucky me.

All I know is, some guy offered me more than I’d make in five years to do something for him. Disable security for the back door to the bank as well as six specific lock boxes, on a specific day, and put a mark on said boxes that would shine under blacklight. It was insane, I know. Like I’d been inducted into a spy movie. I looked up the maximum fine for the crime, and said he’d need to pay me that much, plus $20K. After a moment’s silence, he said okay. Half now, half when it was done.

I didn’t believe him at first, but the money appeared in my car, while it was locked. I still don’t know how he did that. Suffice it to say, I did not want to anger someone with mysterious abilities and seemingly endless cash on hand. I did as I’d been instructed, touching each disabled box with a thin layer of liquid laundry detergent. Yesterday.

And now Toby was dead in front of me. It’s all my fault.

I cast around. Arnold was nowhere to be seen. Kate looked catatonic, Eric nearby. I winced at the sight of her—my fault—and turned away. I walked, stumbling at first, then picking up speed, in the direction of Arnold’s place. I couldn’t stay after this. I would pack and leave. The next chapter of my life, which I’d resisted starting quite yet, had arrived with a bang.

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[To be continued next Thursday on The Novelleist]

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Text (c) 2023 by Lorelei Jonason.

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