Audelia in August

The August sun felt warm on Audelia’s skin as she laid comfortably on his pontoon. The river waves rocked the boat gently, peacefully, while a  90’s pop playlist streamed from the speakers. At the other end of the boat, James recast his line and took a sip of his beer. Audelia looked at him and smiled. He caught her eye and began dancing to the music making her laugh. He put down his rod, and moved toward her. She sat up, and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply. Then, nose to nose, he looked into her eyes and whispered, “I love you more than anything.”

“I love you too, babe. So much,” and she meant it, more than she ever had before. It had been six months since they had met and every time they were together they spent hours talking, laughing, and making love. She had never been in a relationship this easy.

“What time do you have to pick up your kids?” he asked, checking his watch. 

“Around four,” she answered with her arms around his shoulders. His skin was warm from the sun and the scents of sunscreen and river filled the space between them.

“We should probably get back to the landing soon then,” he said. 

She agreed, but she didn’t want this day with him to end. Together, on the river, they were at ease, like two high school kids without responsibilities. 

He drove the boat back to the landing, singing and dancing the entire time. The wind whipped through her sun streaked hair, tangling it in knots that would take gobs of conditioner to release. He pulled the boat up to the dock at the public water access, and began tying the boat to the dock while she bagged up their snacks and drinks.

When he was done tying up the boat, he kissed her forehead gently and stepped onto the dock to get his Jeep and boat trailer. Every time they used the boat, she attempted to help him get it onto the trailer, but she had no idea what she was doing. It didn’t take him long to realize this, and he had told her she didn’t have to help. She grabbed the towels, bags, and coolers from the boat and pulled everything to her car in the parking lot.

 He pulled his Jeep, boat following behind, up to her car in the parking lot. He put the Jeep in park, and got out to tell her goodbye. He squeezed her tight, picking her up off the ground, just the way she liked–a classic Hollywood movie goodbye. “Bye, honey,” he said in her ear. He planted her back on the ground, kissed her lips and said, “Let me know when you get home.”

She got in her car, buzzing with happiness. She had only made it a few blocks before his name popped up on her phone. He was texting her already. A smile involuntarily spread across her face. She continued driving a few more blocks and stopped at a red light. She opened the message, expecting loving words. Instead she saw, “What color car does your ex drive?”

She took off her sunglasses and looked at the message again. She couldn’t be seeing this correctly. She put her sunglasses back on, but suddenly, it was too dark to wear them. Light gray clouds that seemed to appear from nowhere blocked out the sun. She messaged him back, “Dark gray. Why?” She continued driving to pick up her kids from their playdate, anxiously waiting for his response. But it didn’t come. 

The clouds darkened in the sky, yet only ten minutes ago the sun reddened her cheeks. Minnesota was contemptible like that; she could bless you with a perfect day only to be cursed later, sometimes unpredictably, with a biblical level storm. 

She checked her phone again. Nothing. 

She picked up her kids before the rain began, but by the time they got home, the clouds couldn’t contain their tears any longer. Heavy drops fell on the ground creating puddles in her uneven lawn. 

The kids ran into the house and planted themselves firmly on the couch to watch TV as the rain grew heavier. Audelia checked her phone again, growing more uneasy by the second. What was going on? Why was he asking about her ex? Why wasn’t he answering now? “Let me know when you get home,” echoed in her head. She texted him, “Home safe!” in hopes he would respond with his usual, “Good, I’m glad you made it back safely, honey.” But he didn’t. 

She sat down in between her children, who cuddled up close to her, on the couch. Together, they watched old cartoons for an hour while the rain outside the window showed no signs of stopping. 

Finally her phone rang. “Hello,” she sang, trying to pretend that she hadn’t been anxiously waiting for him to reach out.

“Did you tell your ex you were going to be out on the river with me today?” he asked, forgoing a greeting of any kind. Thunder rumbled in the background. Audelia could hear it outside her window and echoing through the phone line. 

“No?” she answered. She didn’t talk to her ex unless absolutely necessary for the kids. They had divorced nearly eight months ago and in that time her ex had relentlessly sent her harassing messages threatening to out her for things she hadn’t done. In turn, she had decided to completely shut him out. 

“He pulled up at the water access right after you left. That’s why I asked you what color car he drove,” he explained. James’s usual carefree tone was absent. 

“Oh?” she didn’t know what this meant, but she knew it wasn’t good. Another cloud rumbled with thunder; it sounded closer this time. 

“He was looking for us,” James answered. 

“What happened? What did he do?” she demanded. She knew what her ex was capable of. Less than a year ago, she was the main target of his anger. He would stop at nothing to prove his point. 

“I was getting back into my car after saying goodbye to you and he just appeared out of nowhere. He must have been watching us. He started yelling at me that I was the reason you two broke up. He was asking me if I knew you cheated on him the whole time you were married,” he spoke quickly, as if time was running out. 

She rubbed her face hard as lightning filled the sky, followed less than a second later by several thunder claps. It was almost as if helicopters were hovering over her house. She looked out the window; leaves released their hold from the tree in her front yard and hit her neighbor’s fence and stuck there. 

“What the hell? Are you serious? That’s not true!” her voice was too loud, but she couldn’t contain it. Her ex had accused her of seeing other men for years even though it wasn’t remotely true. He was gone most of the time, and she was home with the kids. Even if she had wanted to, there wouldn’t have been time to carry out another relationship of any kind. She thought that after the divorce, he would calm down and end his baseless accusations, but so far, that had only been a hopeful dream. 

“He wanted to fight me. He kept yelling ‘hit me, hit me’ like he was trying to get me to start something so he could claim self defense,” James continued.

She knew it was true. He had done the same thing to her in the midst of their divorce, cornering her in the bathroom. “Oh my god,” she uttered. “You didn’t, did you?” She hoped to God James didn’t. 

“No, I don’t need to go to jail for someone like–,” he cut himself off. “How did he know we were there?”

“I don’t know. I’m so sorry. I…I…I don’t even know what to say,” she was shaking. 

“Mom! The sky is green!” the kids yelled from the living room. 

She ushered her kids to the basement while cradling her phone to her ear with her shoulder. As they walked down the stairs, thunder cracked and shook the walls of the house. With her children safely planted with cartoons and coloring sheets in the basement living room, she shut herself into the downstairs bedroom her elliptical and treadmill occupied. 

“What the fuck?” she asked loudly.

“Why was he there?” James demanded. As if it was her fault her ex had accosted him. 

“I don’t know,” she tried to hold back her tears, but was entirely unsuccessful. “I’m so sorry this happened. I don’t know why he would confront you.” Her face was wet with tears, but she didn’t wipe them away. 

“He was screaming at me that you cheated on him. Did you cheat on him?” he asked.

Her hands shook as she held the phone. Tears continued to streak her cheeks. The wind outside whipped at the windows blowing leaves and sticks at the side of her home. The rain pelted the house in near horizontal blows.

“No! Of course not,” she replied. She couldn’t believe that once again she was having to defend herself against her ex-husband’s accusations. She had divorced him. This was supposed to be over. She was supposed to be free of him and his ability to take a perfect day and rip it to shreds leaving behind a pile of sad confetti.

“He thinks you did. He thinks we did,” he answered. She couldn’t get an exact read on his tone, but she knew it wasn’t positive.  

“I know. But it’s not true.” She was tired of this fight. It was part of the reason she had left her ex, yet here she was having the same fight, but through a third party. A third party she didn’t want to lose. 

“Ok,” he answered. He resigned. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Ok,” she hesitated. “I’m sorry this happened and that you got dragged into this.”

“Yeah…”

“Ok. Bye, James. I love you,” she hoped that he wouldn’t punish her for her ex’s actions.

“Bye,” he said curtly, and ended the call. 

She went into the living room where her kids sat huddled on the couch coloring while the TV blasted vibrant colors and sounds from a show she didn’t recognize. She looked outside, the sky had turned a deeper shade of green, almost matching the grass. A second later, the tornado sirens began to blare as hail fell from the sky. It sounded as if rocks were hitting the side of the house in a staccato rhythm. Audelia pulled the cushions off the couches and laid them in the storage room under her stairs. She spread blankets and pillows across them. She hurried the kids to their newly created bunker. Her children sat with their markers and paper and drew picture after picture while Audelia worried the seam of a blanket with her fingers. 

“Mom, is everything going to be ruined?” her daughter asked, chewing her bottom lip. 

“I don’t know, love,” she answered. The storm and her relationship with James hovered above her. “We’ll be safe here though.” The three of them huddled together under the stairs for the rest of the night as the storm raged on outside. 

When they woke in the morning to a cloudy, but still sky, they learned that several people had lost their houses to the tornado that had wiped through the town. Almost everyone had downed trees, missing patio furniture, siding and roof damage. Audelia assessed her own damage. A tree in the front yard lost a large branch. The grill previously on her deck was in the neighbor’s backyard, bent out of shape. But her siding was fine, and she would climb onto the roof later to assess potential damage. Her fixes were minimal. 

Audelia checked her phone. There was a message from James. “Are you guys ok?”

“Yes,” she answered. “No major damage here. What about you?”

“No major damage here either,” he responded. Then a minute later, “Do you need anything?”

“Want to help me get my grill out of my neighbor's yard? And possibly cut up a broken tree branch?” she asked. Audelia looked out her window at the tree branch lying in her front yard. The tree looked a little uneven, a little battered, a little vulnerable without the branch. Nevertheless it stood sturdy. The sky began to clear slowly. The sun tried to peek through the light gray clouds that lingered from yesterday’s storm.

“I’ll be there in an hour,” James answered.

“See you soon,” she answered as a stray beam of sunlight streaked down into her window. A gentle sprinkle fell from the sky, but the sun rays continued beaming down on her house.