24. Myer
M yer~
“I can’t see anything,” Calista complained. “Maybe we should move to the guest room.”
We were currently trying to peak out of the kitchen window that faced the street, but the angled view was mostly of the street and the houses on our side. We could barely make out Louise’s mailbox and the police car, but we couldn’t see them speaking with her.
“Can you actually see her house from there?”
“Not sure,” she mumbled. “I rarely go in there, and so I can’t remember the exact view. It’s been ages since I’ve hung up the blinds in there.”
I looked down at her. “Well, there’s only one way to find out.”
Calista shot me a quick look before she raced towards her guest room, me hot on her heels.
Now, were we acting like children? Yes, we were.
Did we care? Not at all. Besides, I didn’t see how Louise deserved any consideration from us at this point.
Plus, it didn’t matter if I believed in curses or not.
What mattered was that Louise believed in them, so her intent was pretty fucking dastardly.
As soon as we entered Calista’s guest room, she pulled the blinds up, and we could see directly across the street, the police standing on Louise’s doorstep, though we couldn’t see Louise herself. She was hidden by the little alcove that’d been built into all of the houses on the block.
“What do you think they’re saying to her?”
“Well, the trick to getting information is usually staying quiet while the other person spoke, so they probably told her that they had a complaint against her and then asked for her side of the story,” I guessed. “Though I’m not really sure.”
“Shouldn’t they come back here and tell us?” she asked.
“You would think,” I replied, not seeing why they wouldn’t.
“Why couldn’t you live somewhere else?” she muttered.
“What?” I laughed.
“If you lived somewhere else, then I could move with you, and then we’d be rid of Louise for good,” she reasoned.
“Baby, if I lived somewhere else, then we never would have met,” I pointed out.
“You don’t know that,” she replied stubbornly. “We could have met at the grocery store or somewhere like that.”
Before I could say anything to that, Officers Nolan and Hatcher were turning to leave Louise’s, so I reached over to drop the blinds, then grabbed Calista’s hand to drag her with me to the living room.
Now, while I was pretty sure that they hadn’t seen us peeking through the blinds, I wanted us sitting down casually, giving the appropriate amount of time that it’d take us to answer the door.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re chilling.
“Why?”
“Just wait a bit,” I told her. “We don’t want to seem too eager when they come to the door.”
“Because you’re sure that they’re going to come back?”
I shrugged. “We’ll give them five minutes, and if they don’t, then I’ll start on dinner.”
Just then, the doorbell rang, and Calista’s eyes widened. “Why do I feel nervous?”
“Because we’re dealing with a crazy person,” I reminded her as I stood up from the couch. “C’mon, let’s go see what they have to say.”
Once we opened the door, Officer Nolan immediately started speaking. “Well, we’ve spoken to her, and...well, she’s quite the character.”
“What did she say?” I asked before Calista could.
“Well, we told her that we got a complaint about trespassing, and when she denied it, we informed her that there was security footage of both her visits to Ms. Glenn’s home, along with footage of her at your mailbox,” Officer Nolan answered.
“Did you also point out that lying is against the teachings of The Bible?” Calista blurted. “In fact, it’s the nineth Commandment; Thall shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
Officer Hatcher’s mouth open, closed, then opened again before saying, “Uh, well...no, we didn’t remind her of that.
In fact, it was kind of hard to get a word in edgewise once she started rambling about how she wasn’t trespassing, but instead was doing The Lord’s work to rid the neighborhood of the evil that has recently descended upon all these good people. ”
“You didn’t buy it, did you?’ Calista gasped.
Officer Nolan shot her a look. “No, Ms. Glenn, we didn’t.
Once she was finished with all of the reasons why this world would be better off without the two of you, we reminded her that the current laws of the land superseded The Bible’s teaching, as religion was an option in America, however, following the law wasn’t. ”
“Ooh, I bet she hated that,” Calista said, her feistiness coming out again.
“Despite what she believes or what she said, we assured her that she’d be arrested if she ever stepped foot on your property again, and we also included Mr. Justus in that warning.”
“Much appreciated,” I told them.
“What did she say to that?” Calista asked.
“She said that...well, now that the gates have been opened, she didn’t need direct contact with you anymore to serve the greater good,” Officer Nolan drawled out.
“Which means that she’s going to continue to put hexes on us?” Calista squawked.
“Ms. Glenn, I’m going to tell you the same thing that we told her,” Officer Hatcher remarked sternly. “We can only enforce the current laws of the land. Therefore, as magic has no legal validity to it, we cannot arrest her for putting hexes on you from the privacy of her own home.”
“That’s bullshit,” Calista grumbled. “I mean, they’re threats, aren’t they?”
Before Calista could get us in trouble, I said, “Again, thank you for all your help in this matter. We really appreciate it.”
Officer Hatcher didn’t look like he believed me. “Look, if you’re really concerned, get that restraining order.”
After pulling my hand from her mouth, Calista asked, “Are you guys still going to talk with Jury Patton?”
“Yes, we are,” Officer Nolan answered. “While we don’t have any real evidence of any wrongdoing on his part, Ms. Mackrell’s...uhm, unwavering dedication to him is enough to make us go speak with him.”
“Thank you,” Calista replied, relieved. “We appreciate it.”
Giving us both a tight nod, Officer Nolan said, “If we find anything significant to your complaint, then we’ll be in contact. If not, then call us if you need us again.”
Without another word, the officers left, and I shut the door, locking it for good measure. “Well, that seemed rather anticlimactic.”
“Officer Hatcher’s a dick,” she announced, making me laugh.
“He leaves a lot to be desired, that’s for sure,” I agreed. “Now, are you okay with me getting comfortable in your kitchen or do you prefer that we go to my house.”
Calista scowled as she sat at the kitchen island. “You’re offering to cook, why in the hell would I mind you being in my kitchen?”
I shrugged. “Some people can be territorial about their personal space.”
“Which I totally understand,” she replied. “However, you’re supposed to be my boyfriend, and you’re offering to cook me dinner, so you’re fine. Plus, you’ve had your face between my legs, and that’s as personal as someone’s space can get.”
I froze, looking back at her. “Did you really just say that?”
“Well, it’s true,” she harrumphed.
Moving on from that conversation, I asked, “What’s your favorite food?”
“All of it,” she answered.
“You’re killing me, baby,” I said, looking back at her. “Okay, what would you like to eat for dinner? Or what’s Harvey’s favorite food?”
“What can you make that’s good?” she countered, and it was clear that the kitchen duties now belonged to me since Calista was no help, and Harvey hadn’t moved from his spot during all this.
“Okay, you’re getting a burger and homemade fries,” I told her. “Do you have what we need for that, or do I need to go back to my place?”
“What am I? A savage?” she huffed. “Who doesn’t have stuff to make hamburgers?”
“All vegans and vegetarians,” I automatically answered.
“Not now that they have that fake meat,” she countered, and I had nothing for that.
Twenty minutes later, dinner was served, and the comfortable silence as we ate was kind of unreal, but it was also very, very perfect.