Political Science 101

Chapter Forty-Four

THE INNER turmoil within Ana's mind was constantly crashing like waves on the shore of a rocky beach, blown in by the choppy waters of a cloudy, windy, and cold storm.

As she drove alone down the long and lonesome highway leading to her aunt's secluded home in the upper-class St. Louis suburb of Ladue, her heart felt as though it was being pulled in two opposing directions between the family to whom she owed so much and the man she never meant to fall in love with, but did.

But onward she drove, west, into the setting sun, lightly squinting at the dark orange orb as it settled behind a bank of clouds on the horizon. She quietly flooded herself with rhetorical questions which she had no intention of answering, and could not answer, even if she had a sufficient answer. But regardless, her mind kept a pace which far exceeded that of the car in which she traveled, the life in which she lived, and the farce which she created.

Her car slowed as she approached the lavish suburban estate of her aunt and deceased uncle and she casually and cautiously drove up the long ominous driveway. Ever since Ana was a little girl, she'd always hated coming here. It always reminded her of what a haunted mansion looked like before it was haunted.

She came to a stop in the large circular driveway in front of the house, parked, and sat. She listened to the silence in her car for a minute, then took out her cell phone and looked again at the text message. Come over. Tonight. We need to talk, the text message said. She examined every letter of every word and every space in between; she read it in every possible context and possible tone-of-voice, trying to decipher the possible meaning.

Ana's aunt took care of her, financially. But in reality, Ana feared her aunt because of how much influence she had over so many people, including Ana herself. Over the years, her aunt had talked her into compromising her morals in numerous ways, but recently, she'd gone far beyond anything with which she was comfortable or could control.

Giving up on her attempt to decode these mysterious seven words, Ana got out of her car and made her way to the gaudy front door of the dark and intimidating house of her very well-to-do aunt. It was a large and comparatively nice house, but was not aesthetically inviting. Though the lawn was kept, there was no garden, no fountain, no trees; only tall shrubs which were trimmed with the sole purpose of maintaining privacy. Ana lost count of the Keep Out and No Soliciting signs leading up to the house.

The house itself was a gray brick mansion; not an old house, but meant to have an older look, like a newly rich man trying to pass himself as "old money."

As Ana stepped to the front door, it swung open as though it was on a switch. A sardonic female voice spoke from within.

"You're early, for once in your life."

"Thanks," Ana replied, "It's good to see you too, Aunt Lenore."