Mary shut down her computer in frustration and headed downstairs to get herself dinner before heading out to the Xenon to meet up with Emily and Anthony. She’d been looking forward to Em’s homemade macaroni and cheese, complete with extra breading on top, all day.

Mary: “I’m not really seeing this. You’re not really sitting in my kitchen eating my macaroni and cheese.”

Mary: “Why the hell are you here? And more importantly, why haven’t I driven the blunt end of a broom handle through your heart?”
Jacob: “My dead parents came home tonight and we were out of cereal. As for your second question, I believe it has something to do with your loyalty to Emily.”
Mary: “I don’t think I like you very much.”
Jacob: “Why should you?”

Mary opened her mouth to respond, but found she didn’t have much to say after all. With a resigned sigh, she sat down across from her neighbor.

Mary: “OK, I bite. Your dead parents came home? Are they zombies?”
Jacob: “No.”

Mary: “OK, then. Are you positive they were really dead in the first place?”
Jacob: “Possibly.”

Mary: “You’re absolutely infuriating! You know that, right?”
Jacob: “Am I?”
Mary: “You know, when someone talks to you, it’s OK to respond with more than one or two words.”
Jacob: “I know.”

Mary closed her eyes and took four deep breaths before continuing.

Mary: “What on earth gives you even the slightest notion that it’s OK for you to just walk into our house and start eating our food?”
Jacob: “Emily.”
Mary: “She told you to eat my mac and cheese?”
Jacob: “She said if I ever needed anything…”
Mary: “I don’t believe for a second you think she meant that literally.”

The boy responded by eating the last forkful of cheesy pasta; partly, Mary suspected, to hide a guilty grin.

Mary: “I really don’t like you.”

Mary got up from the table, intending to find something else to eat, when there was a knock at the front door. With a resigned sigh, she left the kitchen and opened the front door on a well-dressed couple. She fleetingly wondered how they’d stumbled into this part of town.

Mary: “Yes? Can I help you?”
Carl: “I’m so sorry to disturb you, but we’re looking for our son Jacob. He didn’t happen to wander over here by any chance, did he?”
Mary: “You’re his parents?”
Lenore: “Yes. I’m afraid we may have overwhelmed him a bit earlier. He can get confused sometimes…”
Carl: “He didn’t take his truck, and we saw your lights were on so we thought we’d check here first.”

Mary eyeballed the couple suspiciously. They didn’t look particularly dead to her, and they certainly didn’t smell dead.

Mary: “He’s here. He’s back in the kitchen, and you’re welcome to him.”
Lenore: “We’re very sorry if he caused you any trouble.”

Mary gave a look that she hope quite clearly conveyed her irritation at their wandering son before leading the way back into the kitchen.

Jacob was at the sink rinsing out the Tupperwear he’d eaten straight out of, staring vacantly out the back window. He turned slowly when he heard them enter, but said nothing.

Lenore: “Jakie, sweetheart, we’re so sorry we startled you before.”
Carl: “We want you to come home with us, back to our house over on Cascadia.”
Jacob: “They sold that house after the accident.”
Lenore: “No, it was just rented out while we were away.”
Jacob: “The money from the sale is in a trust fund I get when I turn twenty-one.”

Mary didn’t miss the concerned look that passed between the couple, and something told her Jacob had seen it as well.

Lenore: “Your father and I are staying with Aunt Lois tonight. Maybe tomorrow morning you’d like to come with us to see the house again?”
Jacob: “I can’t.”
Carl: “If you have other plans, we can wait until the afternoon.”
Lenore: “Come back to Aunt Lois’s with us…”

Mary made no effort to hide her exasperation as she left the kitchen and went to get ready. She planned to write out a complaint letter to the locksmith who’d sold her several of the locks on the backdoor – clearly they weren’t doing what they were supposed to.

The local news was on the television in the living room, and she found herself glaring hatefully at an image of Andrew Stone smiling his huge friendly smile at a group of onlookers. When the newscaster announced that his latest opponent had lost five points in the polls, Mary’s hateful glare turned into a full-blown scowl.

Andy: “I’m running for mayor because I honestly love this city. It’s a place of unbelievable beauty and opportunity with wonderful citizens. It would be the absolute privilege of my lifetime to be able to work for you…”

She very nearly threw a lamp through the television to rid herself of Stone’s smarmy grin, but stopped herself just in time as she realized she wouldn’t be able to afford to replace the lamp, let alone the TV. Only marginally calmer, she reached over and used the remote left sitting on the couch.

Mary: “Bastard. Maybe I should run for mayor and kick your stupid ass.”