Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 57897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
There was still power, running water, and internet from when she was there, but it certainly needed to be cleaned out. He told me he would arrange for a dumpster to be delivered and for someone to check to make sure everything was still in working order. The actual cleaning up, however, was my job.
The dumpster was there. And one little light glowed above the steps leading to the front door of the trailer, confirming there was still electricity. It was apparently safe and ready to be occupied. But there was no doubt I had a big job ahead of me.
I parked and turned off the car. Jason pulled up beside me and rolled down his driver’s window. Before he could even say anything, I could see the surprise in his expression.
6
JASON
It was a dump.
I really didn’t like using that word—it sounded so judgmental—but I didn’t have another one that fit. The only word that seemed to accurately describe the sight I was seeing was “dump.” A literal dump.
The yard was chock-full of old stuff. Cars that looked like they hadn’t been driven in twenty or more years, rusted and with vines growing all around the wheels and into the hood. Junk was everywhere. Bicycles that looked like they hadn’t been touched in decades, random flooring tiles, metal racks, and poles. Chicken wire in spools. One section seemed to consist entirely of knickknacks whose sole purpose seemed to be to face east toward the sunrise.
It was the yard of someone who didn’t throw many things away, although, for all the things that were there, none of it seemed particularly dirty. Stuff was outside, sure, and the yard was full of it, but it all seemed to be cared for. As if someone would regularly come out and clean them off, arrange them so they looked a certain way. The cars, while they were covered in vines and rusted, were parked neatly on one side. The rest of the junk seemed to be arranged in little piles in an order that I couldn’t quite understand the purpose of.
The trailer that sat on the property looked well-kept as well and slightly less junky looking. I shut the engine off and rolled down the window, looking out at Beth Ann. She was still sitting in her driver’s seat, looking apprehensive and overwhelmed. I didn’t blame her. She came expecting a property with a bunch of trees. Not this.
I looked back at the trailer again. It was probably inhabitable. There was a light on over the door, and I could see where a septic tank was buried just behind and to the side of the trailer. There was a giant dumpster off to the side of the property, which immediately made me wonder how in the hell it got delivered. Someone earned their pay that day, for sure.
“This it?” I asked.
Beth Ann just nodded, her eyes still locked on the front door of the trailer. She had the look of a woman who was really dreading going inside but knowing that she had no other option.
“The lawyer said it was a bit cluttered,” she said.
“Ah. He lied,” I said.
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m noticing. This isn’t clutter. This is hoarding. Like those TV shows where they find dead animals under the sofa.”
“Hey, you watch those too?” I asked. She turned to me briefly, and I realized now probably wasn’t the time to go over TV show habits. “It doesn’t look that bad. I don’t think there’s any dead animals.”
“One can only hope.”
“Probably better inside,” I said.
“He said it was all old clutter,” she said. “My aunt who lived here probably just kept all her sister’s stuff when she passed and filled up this place with it.”
“Are you going to be okay?”
She hesitated, looking back at me and then at the trailer. I could see she was feeling very apprehensive about going inside. Or even getting out of her car.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Would you mind… hanging out here for a minute? Just in case I go inside and realize I need to get into town and find a hotel?”
“Sure,” I said, “I’ll wait right here.”
Nodding, she shut off the engine to her car, and I shut off the truck’s. Gingerly, she got out of her car, stretching for a second. The way her shorts clung to her tight ass was spectacular.
I cleared my throat and looked away. When I looked back, she was walking toward the front door, shoulders thrown back, and her head held high. She was putting on a brave face. I suddenly felt nervous for her.
Opening my door and shutting it behind me got her attention, and she looked over her shoulder at me. Her hair cascaded over her shoulder, and I was again struck by her beauty. I smiled, and a small, nervous grin stretched across one side of her face before she turned back around. I leaned against the hood of my truck and waited. If nothing else, this was entertainment.