7. Invasion
Invasion
Lola Hopkins
My phone was charging upstairs while I sat downstairs with a glass of sparkling water — my pregnant replacement for Pinot Grigio — and my landline in hand.
Tonight was the night I planned to call Anna-Mae and tell her the truth about my pregnancy.
She could tell something was up with me, but I was reluctant to share the truth with her.
Anna-Mae knew about Mark, but I didn’t think she’d approve of me having his child.
There was so much I hadn’t told her, including the fact that Mark and I had just fallen together naturally.
Just like my sister, I’d always held the assumption that romance was sparked.
Between us, it had been a subtle, fiery glow that had grown stronger the better we’d gotten to know each other.
Now, there was a steady fire between us.
The only thing we had to overcome was Rose, Mark’s ex-wife. That was another thing I knew Anna-Mae wouldn’t approve of.
But I called her anyways. Because she was my sister. And she deserved to know the secret that I’d been hiding for weeks and weeks. Anna-Mae picked up in only three rings.
“It’s about time. You’ve been screening my calls for weeks Dolores.”
I hated when Anna-Mae used my full name. It made me feel older and the last thing I wanted to feel was older, especially considering the fact that I was soon to be a new mother.
“Please, you know I prefer to be called Lola.”
Anna-Mae chuckled, “Alright Lola. What is it that made you finally decide to pick up the phone?”
“Ready to talk.”
“Work stress?”
“Sort of.”
“KC is over at my place helping me out with the kids.”
“Hubby not home?”
“Business trip to Los Angeles.”
“Great.”
“I’ll put her on afterwards,” Anna-Mae continued, “So, what’s been going on?”
I thought about the baby in my belly and then froze. I wasn’t sure I wanted her to know anymore.
“I… I’ve been feeling a bout of baby fever lately I guess.”
“Uh oh,” Anna-Mae chuckled, “How does Mister Mark feel about that?”
I paused.
“Lola?” She pressed.
“Well… Mark is a parent you know.”
“Really?” Anna-Mae laughed.
I didn’t understand what was so funny, and my commitment to telling Anna-Mae about my pregnancy was dwindling quickly.
She continued, “Well don’t you worry about baby fever. Babies are great but… Enjoy your freedom while you can. You can have a baby any time. Look at Janet Jackson. Mother at 50.”
“I don’t want to wait ’til I’m fifty,” I replied.
Anna-Mae sighed, “You aren’t pregnant, are you?”
“No!” I spat back, “Why would you think that?”
Anna-Mae chuckled, “Alright, alright. You’re the one talking about wanting babies out of the blue. That’s not like you Lola. You’re the one who’s all about her career.”
“Right.”
“And KC is the lesbian sister,” Anna-Mae said with a laugh.
“She just walked into the room?”
“Yes. I’ll put her on.”
And just like that, I lost my change to tell Anna-Mae the truth.
At least not tonight. It shouldn’t have been such a terrifying process to me.
Anna-Mae had supported me through a lot, including my breakup with Darius.
But opening up to her about this felt scary, especially considering her opinion of Mark was clear: He was a player that I should get rid of as soon as I got the chance.
KC picked up the phone from Anna-Mae and greeted me in her gravelly, low-pitched voice.
“Sis, what’s good?” She said.
“Hey girl, how you doing?”
KC sighed, “Tiring myself out playing with Annie’s brats.”
I heard Anna-Mae smack our sister in the background. KC grunted, tried to hit her back and then returned her attention to me.
“How are things going with Dee?”
“Dee? They’re going good. She’s trying to take me camping up in Vermont this weekend but I don’t know about all that.”
“Camping?” I couldn’t help but chuckle at the idea of my urbanite sister camping in Vermont.
She really would do anything for Dee, her partner of eight years.
“I’m trying to find a way out of it.”
“Well I hope you’re successful,” I chuckled.
KC grunted, “Doubt it. I got Dee to go to a Kanye concert last month and she hated it. Thought she was going to kill me.”
“A Kanye concert?”
KC was a music producer, so I guess it made sense. But I couldn’t imagine her earthy, outdoorsy partner at a Kanye concert any more easily than I could imagine KC in the woods. It was true that opposites attracted.
“Don’t worry about me and Dee,” KC interrupted, “What’s going on? Annie’s right, you sound weird.”
“I don’t sound weird!”
“Yes you do. Plus you haven’t called in ten weeks.”
“It hasn’t been ten weeks!”
“It’s felt like it!” I heard Anna-Mae pipe up in the background.
“I promise you guys, nothing is going on.”
“We’re not stupid you know…” KC said.
The pressure was on.
“Fine! Fine! I’ll tell you but you two promise not to judge.”
“Judge? You really think I’d judge? C’mon Lola. When I was first coming out to —,” She started.
Then there was silence.
“Hello? KC?”
More silence. It didn’t sound like static or anything. The line was just… dead.
“KC?” I called again.
Nothing. That’s funny…
I wrinkled my nose and then checked the phone twice. It was plugged in and everything should have been going perfectly.
I picked up the line again.
“Hello?”
Still nothing. I dropped the phone down and felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Calm down…
I tried to talk myself out of jumping straight to fear.
There was no reason to believe this was anything other than a simple glitch.
I walked to my fridge and poured myself a glass of water, figuring that the phone line would come back on in a few minutes, and I could finally tell my sister that I was pregnant.
I walked around downstairs and picked up all the phone lines when they didn’t come back on within a few minutes.
Strange. I picked up my remote and tried to turn my TV on.
It came on, but there was static, as if the cable lines had been cut.
With my phone and cable decommissioned, I was starting to worry.
One of the downsides of living alone was susceptibility to the slightest noise…
I peered outside one of my windows but saw no one.
I knew my doors were locked, so I was safe.
Just scared. I walked upstairs and pulled my cellphone off the charger, hoping I could call back and just spit out my news.
With my cellphone in hand, I walked back downstairs.
When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I froze.
Look up. Look up. Look up.
A nagging voice in the back o f my mind was starting to sound more like a scream. I looked up and nearly dropped the phone in my hand. Rose was standing outside of my window. Yes, Mark’s ex-wife. She didn’t notice me see her. She walked to my front door and started to pound on it.
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
“HELLO?” She called out.
I was frozen. The lump in my throat was the size of a meteor.
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
I stood still, hand trembling as I tried to pick up my phone.
“I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE. I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE YOU SLUT.”
I took one step backwards up the stairs and of course, landed on the creakiest step.
SQUEEAAAAAAAAAK.
She heard it. She fell silent for a moment. I took another step up the stairs.
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
“OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THE DOOR!”
My heart was racing and I felt a thin layer of sweat instantly form on my brow. My fight or flight response finally kicked in. I fled up the stairs. I heard her banging get louder… and louder.
My God, she’s trying to break down my door.
I ran into my bedroom and locked the door and then I ran into my closet and shut the door again. My hands were trembling so much I could barely unlock my phone. I gasped for breath, trying to steady my breathing. I called Mark.
“MARK!” I screamed into the phone.
“Lola? What’s going on?”
“Rose… She’s at… She’s at my house. She’s banging on the door. Please. Call the cops. Come… I’m scared… She’s armed.”
“Rose?”
“Yes… Hurry up Mark! I’m really scared.”
I hung up. I couldn’t take it any more. A loud blow from downstairs let me know that Rose had likely succeeded in breaking down my door.
I would have called the cops myself after Mark, but I was too scared to make a sound.
I could imagine her, armed, roaming downstairs, trying to figure out where I was hiding.
She could find me… Hell, she would find me.
And if the cops didn’t get there in time, I was certain she would kill me.
She’d broken down my door and I huddled inside my closet, clutching my knees. I heard more crashes from downstairs. My body shivered like a leaf as I prayed that either Mark or the cops would get here. I heard a loud whoop and a scream from downstairs and then the thudding of her footsteps.
It wouldn’t take her long to figure out where I’d hidden.
I tried to contemplate dropping off my balcony, but it was a two story fall and the ground beneath it wasn’t exactly comfortable.
I didn’t think I’d make it without injuring myself.
As I weighed the pros and cons of running to my balcony and leaping off, I began to hear the stairs creak.
She was getting closer.
“LOLA!” She called, “LOLA! I just want to talk!”
She slurred her words and I realized she was drunk. If she wasn’t armed, I would have been able to push her over, but armed that made her more dangerous. I squeezed my eyes shut and began to pray silently — for forgiveness, for survival, for everything.
She was still climbing the steps, going quite slowly. By my estimation she was as drunk as a skunk. I heard her feet thud loudly as she landed on the top step.
“LOLAAAAAAA!”
“Oh fuck…” I heard her mumble.
I heard a thud that sounded like she’d fallen to the ground. Or dropped something. I refused to move a muscle (or I couldn’t). I peered out of the slats in the closet and noticed bright lights outside my house. I prayed that it was Mark and not just a neighbor turning around in my driveway.
The thudding of her footsteps started up again. This time, it sounded like she was headed back downstairs. Perhaps someone really was here…