I opened the gate, just off from the driveway. The picket fence was nice, and I liked the white, but would unquestionably be changing the color of the house. I walked up the small porch and unlocked the door, the door to my new home. “Wow,” I said out loud to no one. The living room was open and led to the small dining area. I walked across the hardwood floor to the other side. I loved the French doors that led to a nice deck, although it was further away from the beach than I had hoped. I turned back to the bright yellow walls on every wall that I could see. The kitchen wasn’t bad and had updated, modern appliances, but the bright yellow paint was already giving me a migraine. The countertops were a dark gray color. I thought that they were some kind of fake marble, but I could work with that.
I walked toward the side of the house and peeked in the bathroom. I was pleasantly surprised. I was happy to see the rather large claw foot tub, and was gratified to see that the walls were a pleasant neutral, olive green color. I liked that room, and it only needed a good cleaning. I opened the first bedroom door and thought it would make a nice office. It was small but had a reasonable size window overlooking the ocean. I could even live with the light blue walls. The next room was bigger, but nothing like I was used to in Indiana. I smiled to myself when I remembered that I was from Indiana and not Las Vegas. It too had a marvelous view, overlooking pine trees and also the Atlantic Ocean. The walls were a soft, subtle gray, and I loved it. One less thing to do. I noticed how rocky the yard seemed to be, and then it dawned me. I would have to mow and take care of the yard myself. At least there was a small shed to keep a lawn mower. Lawnmower? I didn’t know how to buy a lawnmower. Where do you even buy those things?
Okay so maybe I didn’t think this through all that well. I had no bed. Where was I supposed to sleep? The only furniture left in the house was a table and four chairs.
The table was one of those round plastic outdoor tables with a hole running through the middle of it for an umbrella. The four plastic chairs didn’t even match. One was green, one was white, and two were brown. No couch either, this was just brilliant. I had the money, and I had planned on buying new everything. That part I was looking forward to, however, it didn’t help much at seven o’clock on a Thursday night. Food! I had no food either. I was so tired. I honestly didn’t want to go back into town, although it would have taken me a full three minutes to drive. I decided to unload my car and at least get a much needed hot shower. No. I wouldn’t be doing that either. Well I could, but I had no soap, no shampoo, no wash cloth, and not even a towel to dry on. I didn’t even have a blanket to cover up with, let alone lie on.
I unloaded what clothes that I had. Nothing was mine, not even the clothes that I was wearing. Ms. K had made me change them and put on the ones that she had gotten for me. I didn’t even take any of the expensive items from Drew. Ms. K told me not to, afraid that if I pawned them, they might be traced, and that was a chance that I wasn’t willing to take. I didn’t even get the one framed picture of my Grandma Joyce, the only person who had ever cared about me or my wellbeing. The pictures of my life after Drew could have gone up in flames, and I wouldn’t have cared.
After I had my clothes carried to the room that I would call mine, I dragged myself back out to the car. I remembered seeing a Dollar General Store back in town.
At least I could get a pillow, and a couple of blankets to sleep on. I desperately wanted some bathroom supplies, and I supposed that I should go to the grocery store.
I went to the Dollar store first, that was my first mistake. By the time I had bought two hundred and twelve dollars’ worth of supplies, enough to get me through until I could go shopping the next day, the grocery store had closed. I bought a coffee pot and had no coffee for the next morning. My new adventurous beginning was not in accordance with how my mind had played it out… at all.
What was I supposed to eat now? I hadn’t had anything since around noon, wanting to put the miles behind me, and just get there already. Get there, to an ugly blue house that was close to the beach, if you could get down the mountain. Get there to a house without a bed or food. Get there to a house that I had to wear my sunglasses inside because the bright yellow paint hurt my eyes.
I unloaded my new belongings. I didn’t put anything away in the bathroom. It seriously needed a good scrubbing. Why didn’t I buy cleaning supplies at the dollar store? At least I could have disinfected the tub. I used the cheap strawberries, and cream shampoo and a new washcloth to clean the tub, and then filled it with hot sudsy water. It felt sensational, and the tension that had begun to build again started to evaporate. I tried to think about my new life and making the house my home, but my mind kept drifting back to Drew. It had been four days now since I had vanished from his life. I wondered about his reaction when he realized that I had disappeared. What went through his mind when he dialed my cellphone? I didn’t even know where it was. I wondered if anyone would answer it. I knew he was probably beyond irate, and I was sure that a few things had gotten broke during his discovery.