7 Days to Halloween
The first thing that Mazie noted was the green shag carpet which dated back beyond Mazie's birth. Although it was in mint condition - no pun intended - it had probably seen better days and was well past an update. The air smelled like fresh baked cookies and moth balls, an unpleasant mixture that reminded her of nursing homes and death. Somewhere in the house, a grandfather clock chimed the announcement of a new hour which caused Mazie and Christian to glance at their phones and watches.
As perfect strangers to this unknown part of town, Mazie and Christian stalled in the foyer, awaiting instruction for their shoes and belongings. Their kind and over exuberant hostess ditched them when the alarm sounded to remove the cookies from the oven. Thankfully, their solitude provided them with a private moment to case the house.
The second thing that Mazie noticed was the lack of a television. In this day and age, almost everyone owned a television, even the elderly. Although they wandered out of town to the countryside of Oregon, she didn't expect to pick up on so many signs of exclusion. In addition to the lack of live entertainment, the absence of books, magazines, and newspapers triggered another red flag. In fact, the space was so immaculately clean that it seemed like no one even lived there.
The clanging in the kitchen made Mazie jump and Christian laid his hand on her shoulder to steady her. He moved thoughtfully, taking into considering the bruises that hindered his movements. He suffered from high doses of pain meds so Mazie drove them out to this location. Christian slumbered peacefully beside her, relaxing with the assistance of seat warmers. She watched him carefully, and when he wasn't looking, she studied the cuts and bruises on his face. Still, not an ounce of his handsomeness diminished underneath the marred skin. Indeed, he was more ruggedly attractive than ever.
"I'm coming! Sorry!" The woman creating all the noise in the kitchen resurfaced at the entrance to the foyer where the green shag carpet met the gold tile floor. "May I take your coats?"
Mazie was about to agree when Christian declined. "That's okay. We won't be staying long. So she isn't here?" He asked, rocking back on his heels.
The elderly woman, Ms. McCormick of the dearly departed Mr. Eli McCormick, sadly shook her head. "No, deary. Mary Ann had prior engagements. Did she know you were coming to visit?" Assuming they would follow, Ms. McCormick scuffled along to the sitting room with brown suede sofas in immaculate condition for being about forty years old give or take a decade. In the seating area, her shaky hands fumbled with a lamp on a glass side table, and eventually she grabbed hold of the nozzle and twisted it, flooding the room with unnatural yellow light.
Lying through his teeth, Christian sat across from the older woman in a leather armchair. "We thought we mentioned it, but maybe we forgot. That's our fault. We're sorry for intruding."
Her lips pulled back in a neat smile to reveal pristine white dentures. "Not a problem. You know Mary Ann from school?"
"Yes," Mazie answered. "I have a few classes with her. We've connected lately on mutual interests."
"And how do you know my granddaughter?" Ms. McCormick aimed the question at Christian.
Smiling sweetly, Christian reached over and weaved his hand around Mazie's and laid their interlocked appendages in her lap. "Anything my girlfriend cares about, I care about."
Practically giggling like a small schoolgirl, Ms. McCormick swatted the air, batting away Christian's charm. "Oh, you. That's so sweet. I love to see young love. You know it's hard to come across genuine love nowadays. I can see how you look at her. It seems you share something real."
Laughing awkwardly at her honest approach to their relationship, Mazie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Christian imperceptibly squeezed her fingers to soothe her frazzled nerves from all the fibbing. "That's us. So....genuine. I told Christian that I was worried about Mary Ann considering all she's been through. He agreed that we should try to check on her and offer her a shoulder to lean on in this difficult time."
Laying a hand on her heart, Ms. McCormick blinked away the tears that rimmed her eyes. "How incredibly thoughtful. Mary Ann is so blessed to be making better friends at school. It's so considerate of you to stop by. I'm sorry again that she isn't here."
Sharing a glance, Christian returned his attention to Ms. McCormick and smiled. "Not a problem." Actually, they sort of hit the jackpot. Mary Ann was gone and her caretaker, her grandmother, was home all alone and willing to spill the details of Mary Ann's current situation. It was a blessing in disguise. Ms. McCormick didn't even question how they found her address - in the file - which took a weight off of their shoulders. "You said....better...friends?" She inquired, leaning in inquisitively.
Ms. McCormick nodded slowly, peering off into the distance. "She's had such a hard time. All her life, Mary Ann has only had her mother. It's hard enough growing up with only one parent, but she's always struggled to make friends." That was an understatement. Mary Ann had no friends, until she buddied up with Demi following the catastrophe that flipped her life upside down. "I only heard from her cousin - " A cousin? They didn't know anything about a cousin. " - that Mary Ann started hanging out with an interesting crowd. She believed that Mary Ann wasn't making good choices with these people."
"That's very interesting. I'm not sure who that cousin is referring to. Were they bad influences?" Mazie asked, playing dumb.
Ms. McCormick flitted her gaze back and forth between Mazie and Christian. Upon their arrival, her eyes widened hugely at the sight of the cuts and bruises on Christian's face. The worst part was the blackened swollen eye which warranted a lot of stares from the intense dark color and puffy skin. Just looking at it made her own eyes hurt. Thankfully, Ms. McCormick had enough class and couth not to bring it up. Settling her attention on Mazie, Mary Ann's grandmother leaned forward to whisper sensitively, "Well....this girl had a drug problem from what her cousin said. That just doesn't seem like the sort of influence Mary Ann needs at this time!"
To play the role of the advocate, Christian painted a concerned expression on his face. "Wow, you're right. That doesn't sound good!"
Yet, they knew exactly who Ms. McCormick referred to and the friend group that accepted Mary Ann. "Tell us....how is Mary Ann handling...things?" Mazie inquired carefully, hoping she didn't overstep an unseen boundary that would cause Ms. McCormick to clam up.
Immediately, Ms. McCormick straightened her spine and lifted her chin. If Mazie wasn't mistaken, she noticed a somewhat pompous air about her that flourished out of nowhere. "Mary Ann is just fine. She's a good girl and she's trying very hard to move on with her life."
"It must be very difficult considering she doesn't seem to have many answers from the police," Christian spurred her on, hoping she would continue talking about it.
Ms. McCormick hummed and flicked a nonexistent piece of lint off of her grey slacks. "The police have been worthless thus far. I haven't any hopes they will solve my Meredith's case. I've completely given up hope that they will locate her. When Meredith is ready to come home, she will come home. I don't know what happened that would make such a strong, confident, intelligent woman run away, but she must have a very good reason."
"Was Mary Ann close with her mother?" Mazie asked, recalling what the two of them read in the police file when she reported her mother missing. According to the file, they were like sisters rather than mother and daughter. She wondered if her grandmother would report the same closeness.
She sighed and hung her head. However, she squared her shoulders until the muscles in her back held her body completely rigid with self-restraint. "They were practically inseparable," she mumbled, not looking them in the eyes. Mazie thought she might say more. Instead, she clammed up and pressed her lips together to stop speaking.
When Ms. McCormick wasn't paying attention, Christian tossed Mazie a confused glance. "If you don't mind my asking, why do you think she ran away? How do you know....something bad didn't happen to her."
Mazie quickly added, "Not to be insensitive. We're just curious is all."
Finding her smile again, Ms. McCormick inflated her chest with a deep breath. For a moment, she considered both of them with bright blue eyes behind long fake eyelashes that did little to diminish or draw the attention away from the many wrinkles crinkling her face around her eyes, forehead, and mouth. "No one would ever dare hurt my daughter. She may seem like a susceptible woman, being a single mother and living alone, but she would never let anyone come close to hurting her or her daughter."
Mazie nodded along, seeming to understand. In her head, however, she questioned exactly what Ms. McCormick meant by that. Good people couldn't necessarily stop bad things from happening to them. Bad people didn't consider the goodness of those they hurt before they committed a crime. "I see," was all she could manage.
Clasping his hands together, Christian leaned forward and propped up his elbows on his knees. "We understand. We're sincerely sorry you're going through this difficult time."
Working up the courage to ask her question, Ms. McCormick open and closed her mouth several times before she leaned in again. "It...is very unfortunate. But now that I've been blessed with your company which I did not foresee occurring, I do have a question that I hope you can answer for me."
Both Mazie and Christian nodded, urging her to ask.
"What do people say about Mary Ann and her situation at school?"
Thrown off by her question, Mazie bowed her head and kept her mouth shut, hoping Christian would know that Mazie wasn't going to speak on this matter. For this occasion, she couldn't discern whether it was best to be honest or to lie through her teeth about the lack of support for Mary Ann at school.
Clearing his throat, Christian awkwardly scratched behind his hear. "Well...the friends that Mary Ann has stay close to her. And she goes to counseling, you know, with the high school counselor." Ms. McCormick listened very intently. "Most people aren't sure how to act around her. I think that they....we...all feel that we aren't sure if Mary Ann wants to talk about it or if she wants our support. Obviously, Mazie and I have stepped up and decided we can't sit idly by anymore. As time keeps passing with no sign of Miss McCormick, we know that it can get even harder for Mary Ann. No matter how she feels, we want to be a support system for her."
Such a good answer. Pride swelled in Mazie's chest. She couldn't have conjured up a lie that sounded half as good. Ms. McCormick must have felt similar feelings to Mazie because she batted her eyes as if she were blinking away tears; however, Mazie didn't notice any moisture collecting in the corners of her eyes.
"It is terribly hard to feel abandoned by your mother," Ms. McCormick said quietly. Her gaze found the clock in the corner of the room. She watched the second hand tick steadily. It seemed to steady her. "I can't imagine why my Meredith would impulsively desert her only daughter. When she comes home, I know we will have so many questions for her. Maybe she just needed a break."
For a month? Unlikely.
The fact that no one was considering that something criminal happened to Meredith was a blaring red flag that Mazie couldn't ignore.
An itch that she couldn't overlook started in her hips and grew over her entire body until she felt like her body was on fire with an indescribable grievous irritation. "We don't want to take up anymore of your time, Ms. McCormick. We've so enjoyed getting to sit down with you. We can head out soon, but I was just wondering if I could use your bathroom?" She asked, standing to her feet so that Ms. McCormick could not deny her request.
"Of course. Down the hall to your left."