(This is part 2, part 1 is here.)
[Trigger Warning] Depiction of Animal Being Carved, Some Gore
The sun soon dawned on the land, sending golden light flowing over the hills and grass. The morning dew glistened from the tickling rays of sunshine as a gentle wind blew through the hills and softly kissed our home. I looked at Isabelle and Theo for a moment and then looked out of the front window over to the Anderson’s home. Maggie was outside, smoking, and holding something, I couldn’t quite tell what it was. It looked like a piece of paper. She looked up and noticed me staring, then stood up and paused letting a puff of smoke out of her mouth. I jumped, turned away and acted like I hadn’t noticed she was crossing the road to speak with me. A gentle knock on our front door soon followed.
I opened the creaky door, “Maggie, hi,” I started, “I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to–”
“Look,” she held out the paper, her face wet with tears and her eyes darkened from lack of sleep. “He left me,” she weeped. The sun also made the streaks of tears glisten. I stepped out onto the porch with her, closing the door behind me to give the kids a quiet place to sleep, and took the paper, unfolding it and began reading:
Mag-pie
I love you with my whole being, this is true.
But I also love someone else, unfortunately.
I cannot stay, and I wish you could understand.
I love her deeply, and need to find myself.
I am so sorry.
I hope you never see me again.
Greg
I looked from the note to Maggie, who was flicking her cigarette and sniffling, staring into nothingness at the edge of my porch. “Maggie, I-I’m so sorry.” Is all I could muster.
“What did you do?” She quizzed, her gaze into the boards of my porch unchanging. “When Mary left, what did you do?”
Tears welled in my eyes, what does she mean ‘what did I do’? Nothing. I am a complete shell of a human. She took me with her. I did nothing except what I had to: “Took care of Theo and Belle.” I replied, looking to the green hills. I folded the note up, and patted it against my fingers, then wiped a fallen tear from my face. “Sometimes you just have to do things.” Is all I could manage to say without completely breaking.
“The sheriff called this morn’. They said he registered a new address four states away. Then I went outside to smoke an’ found this note.” She flicked the cigarette again, gently taking the note from my hand. “This is his writin’. He left.” She confirmed. “The case–the sheriff said the case is closed. He ain’t missin’, he ain’t dead. He’s just gone. He ain’t wanna be found. I guess I can’t complain much, though. I did the cheatin’,” she reflected as she sat on the edge of the porch, the wood creaking beneath her. “And the divorcin’,” she sighed, “but I wasn’t sure yet if I wanted to sign the papers. I had only suggested it.” She rubbed her thigh nervously, taking a deep drag from her cigarette then flicking the butt onto the street. “I wanted to try again. Try to have another baby, maybe we woulda fallen back in love,”
“Or maybe you wouldn’t have,” I said, sitting beside her. “Mary left because I thought the same. I thought another baby would bring us closer, we could learn about each other again and it would be fine. Then one day, after we moved here, she told me she never wanted to be a mom. She left later after I thought we were okay. In fact,” I paused, tilting my head, “she actually left a note, too. But I shredded it. She said she was sorry for her behavior and sorry she never wanted to be a mom. That she was transported to ‘hillbilly hell’ and was miserable.She left everything behind, even her own kids.”
“What do you tell Theodore?” She kicked in the air, watching the grass swish as a gentle breeze rolled over the land.
“I just tell him that mom loves him very much, and she had to leave for her own self,” I replied. It’s true. “You know, six year-olds are pretty smart. I think Gracie would understand, too.”
Maggie nodded and stood, sighing. “Thanks, Ben,” she crumbled the note in her fist, making her way back to her home. I sat for a moment, watching her throw away the crumpled note into her garbage can, remembering how it felt to be left in the middle of the night with little warning. When I saw her close her front door behind her, I got up and went inside my own home.
As Friday approached, gossip around town about Greg and Maggie slowly dissipated. I was dreading the weekend dinner with Alex as, at the last minute, he changed the location to Lakeside with Ken and Laura.
“They’ve just been havin’ a hard time with Greg leavin’ and Maggie bein’ heartbroken, they want to do somethin’ fun.”
I gave him a questioning look, “What do they have to do with Greg and Maggie?”
“Well,” he kissed his daughter on the head, then she grabbed Theo’s hand and they ran off to the playground at school together. “They were real close, Ken and Laura watched Gracie when Mags and Greg needed time away. They became sorta like godparents to Gracie. So the news of Greg cheatin’ on cheatin’ Maggie threw them for a spin,” he added.
“O-kay…” I was still confused, but maybe this community is tighter than I expected. “So, takes a village is what you’re saying?”
Alex chuckled, “takes a village,” he replied. “See you at 6 p.m. Saturday?”
“6 p.m.,” I nodded, when really everything inside of me was screaming no.
As I approached my home, I saw Maggie sitting outside again. She was pissed, throwing all of Greg’s things into the garbage. I pulled over in front of my house and made my way across the street. “Hey, what are you doing?”
“He’s not comin’ back, I don’t want his shit in my house.” She mumbled with another cigarette in her mouth, heaving bags of clothes into the bin.
“Fair enough,” I helped her shove the last bag into the trash can, placed the lid on it then carried it to the edge of the road for the garbage worker to pick up tomorrow.
“Ben, you ever feel like these damn hills have ears and mouths?”
I brushed my hands off on my pants, furrowing my brow.
“Everyone heard about Greg leavin’, I only told you about the note. And yet, everyone knows the day that I first read the note,” She looked at me suspiciously, then continued, “but as far as I reckon, you ain’t got friends here. It took you two weeks after you moved in to talk to me, your only neighbor, and let’s be honest: Alex ain’t nobody’s friend.”
“I didn’t tell anyone about the note, Margaret,” I retorted, offended that she had accused me of spreading gossip, “that’s a sentimental issue that we both share in this podunk town. I don’t talk to anybody but you about that shit,” I started to walk back to my home.
“Ben,” she snapped, “you ever hear shit at night.” I froze and turned back.
“The screamin’. I been a country girl all my life. I know what them lions sound like, last night was different. Otherwise why else would you be sleepin’ in your living room with them kids?”
I stared at her and finally broke my silence, “Maggie, we live in between hills. Which means the acoustics bounce around very well, obviously it was a lion hunting.” I tried not to think about the figure in my field.
“These hills have mouths and tell us things, things that you ain’t normally hear in your city parts,” she flicked the cigarette to the floor and stomped it, a last bit of smoke seeping from beneath her shoe. She pointed at me with her index and middle finger, “Never say I ain’t warned you.” She stood there with her arms crossed, watching me walk away back to my home and pick Isabelle in her carrier up off the porch. I glanced back at her as she continued to stare, then closed my door.
Saturday finally rolls around and I call out to Theo to ask if he’s ready to go to Ken and Laura’s farm. He darts past me to the car and jumps in, waiting to buckle Isabelle in as he liked to do. I pack the carrier into the car after buckling my baby’s carrier to the seat and kiss both of my kids. When I stand and turn, Maggie is standing next to me making me jump. I refrain from yelping and close the car door.
“Jesus Christ, Maggie, you almost gave me a heart attack,” I rubbed my chest.
“If Ken and Laura know anything about Greg, will you please ask them and tell me what they say?” Her eyes were sunken in and she looked gaunt.
“Have you eaten, Maggie?” I looked at her clothes, she had been wearing the same ones for over a week now, and she reeked of a cigarette smell. “Do you want to come with us to the barbeque?” I offered, even though I wasn’t exactly told I was allowed to bring a third plus 1. Her eyes widened and she reluctantly agreed, changed clothes and joined us.
When we arrived at the Lakeside farm, we were greeted by Laura and Stella who were outside talking about crops. Laura was shocked to see Margaret join us, but was excited to have another person for dinner. Theodore sprinted out of the car to greet Stella, and they ran into the farmhouse to play. I picked up Isabelle in her carrier and walked with Maggie and Laura into the home as well. The place was heavily decorated with trophies of deer and other game.
“Dad! A skunk!” Theo pointed at the taxidermied creature then chased Stella in a game of tag. “Be careful buddy! Running outside only!” I emphasized. I placed the carrier on the table and Laura, with my permission, picked her up.
“Laura,” Maggie quietly said. “Did…did he ever say anythin’?”
Laura looked slightly disappointed while rocking Isabelle, who cooed and held onto a chunk of Laura’s grayish-blonde hair. Laura and Ken were an older couple in their late fifties compared to most other townfolk who were in their twenties or thirties, most with kids. “No,” she said briefly. “Just that he wanted to make marriage work an’ you were cheatin’.”
“Well, he cheated, too, and left her so I think we can all move past that,” I interjected, uncomfortable from the tension. “Everyone’s human, right?” Maggie gave me a faint smile as a ‘thank you’.
“I deserve it, though. That’s okay.” She looked back to Laura.
“Where’s Ken?” I adjusted the collar of my flannel shirt. Hadn’t quite gotten used to these types of shirts yet, but I wanted to blend in as best as I could.
“Carvin’. The barbeque pit is hot with slow-roasted veggies, though, if yer wantin’ to graze.” She looked at me, and noticed my confused look, “he and Alex went huntin’ this week to bring back a meal for this weekend. Now he’s just carvin’ the body. Yer kid likes meat?” I nodded. “Don’t worry, it was a fast death, city-boy.” Maggie chuckled lightly.
As Laura handed the baby over to Maggie with my permission, I decided I was also going to greet Ken and see if I could help in any way. Maybe the sooner I delve into this lifestyle, the quicker I will get used to it. “Mee cawsa es sue cawsa,” Laura called to me from the kitchen. Yikes. Country accented Spanish will be chalked up to one of the worst things I have ever heard. Nonetheless, I explored a bit while Maggie rocked Isabelle in her carrier. She had not shed a single tear since she arrived and seemed to be perfectly content in just singing to the baby. I noticed a door that had a sign which read:
[MAN CAVE: All great meals start somewhere]
surrounded by a crude forest and deer silhouette.
I thought to myself, Oh I could help out! And went to open the door, but noticed it was locked. Eh, whatever, maybe Ken is just out somewhere. I walked around some more and examined their photos on the walls of family members and family trees, farm animals, various hunting and fishing trophies, and pets owned over the years. “Yep. Don’t own dogs no more, don’t got no sheep.” Ken said from behind me, wiping his hands of deep red blood onto a handkerchief. “And they’re loud.” He laughed, the kind of full belly laugh that seemed to be reminiscing.
“Hey, did you need any help carving?” I turned to look at Ken, a tall broad man. He was older, but one of the strongest men in the town. His was brunette with some gray peppering the sides. He seemed sweaty, and there were scratches on his face and arms. He even had a deep gash on his cheek under his eye, “Woah, are you alright?”
“Yep.” He breathed in deeply, “gettin’ old. Can’t hunt in the dark woods anymore,” he started chuckling again, “old eyes an’ all. Got a good size buck with Alex, went to go retrieve it and didn’t even see the ridge of the hill I was. Fell right down on into the warsh.” Alex came out of the man-cave area and I noticed it seemed to be a basement.
“Old man thinks he can do everythin’ himself still,” Alex joked, walking past us. His hands, too, were blood stained but mostly clean. It worried me about what kind of gruesome scene I was going to see down there; I don’t think I was ready to see a deer like that. Ken and Alex walked away, joking about Ken’s mishap, leaving me at the door. I checked the knob, this time it was unlocked. No time like the present, I thought as I opened the door and descended into the basement.
It wasn’t dim, but it wasn’t exactly bright either. I held onto the railing as I walked down the steps, my heart starting to pound against my sternum. I was trying to keep a calm manner, but was getting more and more nervous with every step I took down into the basement. I saw a small trickle of blood in front of me, rolling into a floor drain. I froze in place, hearing something wet and thick plop to the ground. I turned the corner to see a table with a deer carcass on it, carved open and gutted. The skin was peeled away and completely gone, what I can only imagine was sent off to become another trophy. The scene was ghastly, to say the least, and I sprinted to what looked like a trashcan nearby and proceeded to vomit everything in my stomach.
After my retching subsided I stood again, wiping my mouth on my sleeve, avoiding the bloodied corpse on the table. I looked around, the place seemed like a butcher’s shop. Ken had lined this place from top to bottom with the best quality things, it definitely explained why most folks bought meat cuts through him rather than the local market’s deli.
I noticed there was a freezer area and went to open it to see what kind of meats were stored in it, but couldn’t get it open.
“Freezer’s locked.” Ken made his presence known and I nearly flew a foot in the air, suddenly realizing I was never given permission to come down here. “Wanna watch and learn how to carve?” He offered suspiciously.
“I-I wanted to see if I could do it.” I said, like a guilty toddler being scolded. “I can’t.”
“Alright, get on out, It’s gonna get messy. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with bein’ curious,” he smiled at me as he tied on his apron. I ran up the stairs, avoiding looking at the table as I passed it, and nearly bumped into Alex, who’s eyes had widened in shock. I apologized before he could ask any questions, and I heard Ken tell Alex that I was just a city boy being curious as I sprinted up the stairs. I shut the door behind me and put my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.
“Yer tellin’ me you ain’t never seen a carved deer?” Maggie giggled, bouncing little Isabelle on her lap. I could hear Theo and Stella screaming and laughing outside; the environment was so much warmer than it was downstairs. Something about that freezer seemed sinister.
“You could have warned me,” I looked at her accusingly.
“Funner this way,” she smiled.
I felt my heart lighten, maybe even flutter, when she smiled at me.
After some time we all sat at the dinner table, exchanging stories and commending the chefs of their hard work. The deer was actually quite delicious–I had never had anything like it before. I, of course, was also the butt of many jokes for coming from a city. The kids finished their dinner hastily so they could play outside once more before the sun set over the green hills.
The tone slowly got darker, and after some time, shifted to Greg. Maggie was quiet, pushing a pea around her plate. I noticed her reclusiveness and injected myself into the conversation.
“You know, my ex-wife never wanted to be a mom.” The table fell silent, even Laura and Alex stopped eating and stared at me. “Yep,” I said, cutting a piece of meat and popping it into my mouth and started chewing, “everybody’s got problems. Now it’s just me, Theo and Belle.” I swallowed the piece of meat, why was I talking about this so nonchalantly with these people? Maggie shouldn’t be blamed for being human.
“You’re a good guy, Ben,” Maggie added, “We all fuck up sometimes, you didn’t deserve that. And Greg didn’t deserve what I did neither.” She continued to be the martyr for the town. I glanced at everyone else, who sat uncomfortably, until Laura smiled.
“I cheated on Ken once,” everyone but Ken gasped. He chuckled with a full mouth of food. “Yeppers! I was a lil’ 20-something year old and I was testin’ everything. Guys, gals, not once but five times. Ken was what I decided on around 25.” She waited for the table to absorb it all, and we all broke the tension with laughter. I think I was laughing harder than anyone there, tears were streaming down my face from the laughing. I hadn’t laughed this hard since we were back in the city. “All things come to an end, and even we all gotta die sometime,” Ken added. I slowly stopped laughing after that. Something reminded me about the freezer. I continued eating in silence, the rest of the table talked to each other.
After dinner, Maggie and Stella cleaned the dining room and kitchen while Ken and Alex went outside to smoke. I’m not much of a smoker so I watched over Isabelle. At the back of my head, the thought of the freezer kept scratching at my sanity. Maggie came back to relieve me of Isabelle duty, “I just can’t keep away!” she exclaimed in her baby voice towards her. This is it, this is my chance, I thought. I smiled and gave Isabelle over to Maggie, “gotta run to the little boy’s room. City stomachs aren’t used to good home cooked meals,” I laughed and made my way towards the bathroom, then turned the corner to the basement door and snuck down into it again, being as quiet as possible.
The basement stairs creaked and groaned but I, thankfully, compensated by walking slower to mimic when the wind causes the house to creak. I finally reached the now barren table, which was cleaned very pristinely–not a drop of blood in sight. I looked at the freezer, and just as I remembered, there didn’t seem to be a lock anywhere on it. I made my way over to the large walk-in freezer, my knees beginning to tremble. I reached out to the cool chrome handle, pulling towards me.
There was a bit of resistance as the door was still suctioned, but eventually I opened it. I saw three carcasses hung up, their blood drained, though I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking at. It took a moment for my brain to register what I saw, but when I did I fell backwards. Before me, on the hooks, were a deer, a man and woman. I sat there, a hand over my mouth, trying desperately not to make noise. I heard the creaking of boards above me. Shit, they’re back from being outside. I tried to make out any discernible details from the bodies, recognizing a tattoo on the upper bicep of the male who was missing a leg, and then I saw it. The scar above Mary’s knee when she had to get stitches from a dog attack. Mary was missing both of her arms. All the appendages were cut cleanly, except the deer was still intact minus the pelt. Tears flowed from my eyes and I stood there, trembling. They didn’t leave us, they were killed… Did we eat them?! Thoughts raced through my head and I snapped out of it when I heard Ken and Alex’s muffled voices above me upstairs. The creaking of the old boards of the farmhouse warned me of their presence. Fuck, how do I get out of here?!
(final part here.)