Amish Jedi: In a City Far, Far Away

Episode 4.2 ~ Mr. Wickham

On my way back to the apartment, I stop at the alley hoping to vent to Martin but he's not there so I head to my next best option—Leah. She makes us each hot drinks and joins me on the sofa by the window. As we wait for our cocoa and tea to cool, I recount my morning with Teddy and then lead up to Sarah.

"She's awful." Leah sips her tea as she gazes out the window. "But I don't get why she's so worried."

"Thanks."

"No, I mean, Jason hasn't broken up with her yet—and he's had plenty reason to. What makes her see you as such a threat?"

I think back to Megs's explanation of why Sarah saw her as a threat. I have no history with Jason, he doesn't much care for my exterior, and he's made it clear I am too messed up to love—a view shared by many. Except him. He always loved me, until my messed-up-ness got in the way. I clutch the warm mug close to my chest and the hole in me sears.

"Have you seen Martin?" I ask, hoping to change the subject even though I was the one who brought Jason up in the first place.

"Martin's never around on Halloween." Leah stirs her tea. "Lily, his wife, she was murdered fifteen years ago today."

I lower my mug. "What?"

Leah sets her cup on the wide windowsill. "Lily had taken Megs out trick-or-treating. Megs was only five. They had finished and were on their way home when a man came up behind them with a gun. Megs doesn't remember exactly how it happened, but her mom told her to run, she did, and then the gun went off. He shot her in the head and fled the scene, they never found him. When police arrived, Megs was covered in blood holding onto her mom."

My mouth gapes. A fly could soar in and I would not notice. "How... how awful..."

Leah grimaces. "Martin arrived after Lily was in the body bag. He was half-drunk from what I understand. Megs was taken to her grandparents where she's lived up until two years ago when she moved into the apartment upstairs. Martin sold the house and has been living on the streets ever since. Megs doesn't like to talk about it, but I'm sure she'd want you to know."

"I don't blame her."

A long few minutes pass between us, both sipping on our drinks and staring out at the growing line of customers. Eventually, Leah stands up. "I'd better get back to work."

"Me too."

Leah pours my drink into a to-go cup and says she'll see me at the party later.

A numbness overtakes my body as I climb the stairs. I thought I had life hard. Both of my parents are still alive. I have four younger sisters. And I've never held the corpse of someone I love—though people I love have died, one in a horrific way I can't stop picturing in my head. Splayed out on the concrete, bloodied and broken.

Stop. Don't remember him like that, I tell myself as I struggle to get my key in the lock, my hands trembling. Eventually, I manage it, keeping my mind focused on today's todo list. Writing, business emails, and then dressing for the party. That is what I have to do and dwelling on the past won't help me accomplish those things.

Needing to distract myself, I reverse the order of writing and business, answering all my emails and forwarding orders to my parents' fax machine which is next to the phone in the barn. This takes a good hour, then I reheat my cocoa in a pot on the stove, pour it back in the to-go cup, and head out onto the fire escape with my yellow notebook.

Over the past two months, I've meandered around Anya's four-book saga, cherry-picking scenes at leisure to pen out, but with the new information about Lily fresh in my mind, I realize it is time to start. I scribble the title on the top margin, then "Chapter 1" and start with the first line.