lydia fontaine pushed the stray locks of auburn hair that fell in loose waves in front of her eyes, as she heard the whining hiss of the buses huge brakes. she stood and knew this was her stop, it was always her stop 12th and main her stop, her home.
she waited as the doors creaked open and felt the rush of cold wind enter the bus, lydia pulled her coat tightly around her body as she stepped down to curb. the fierce wind blew hard and fast and debris that littered the ground went scattering in mini cyclones lifting her hair as they blew around her. she shivered in the cold as the sound of the bus door creaked shut and the pungent smell of diesel fuel wafted through the nights wind, soon the number 6 bus was lumbering
up main street toward the heights. lydia sighed loudly as she proceeded to walk to the covered shelter provided by the municipality. the whipping cold was enough to remind her that it was indeed march and within a few days her birthday, she was not looking forward to this one 28 meant that she was so much closer to 30 than to 20, and she was still single. which magazine she thought said that the odds are greater for a single woman to get struck by lightning than to meet a man after 30. but finding a man was the least of her troubles at this point in her life, from the bus shelter she looked up at the big old house that stood like a fortress on the corner of 12th and main, no lights were lit but as it was 6 am it would be unlikely that anyone was even awake. but lydia knew the old house was empty, her parents had left for their home in florida weeks before leaving the cold wet winter of washington d.c. far behind them. it was a day she will never forget them ordering her out of the home she knew all her life, the fighting the name calling and then her father telling her to get out- and subsequently he had all her belongings sent to the apartment of her friend joan, who was kind enough to let her stay there until she could find a more permanent home, as well as another job. lydia shivered deeply as she remembered the harsh words of her father - tramp, whore, adulteress, they were all true and she had to stand silently as he flung the venomous words at her. it was only a few days after the scandal broke out and hit the newspapers, and the media frenzy that followed was the stuff of tabloid fodder brilliant d.c. attorney questioned in the death of u.s. state department envoy, it all happened so quickly the murder the acquisitions, the subsequent arrest, and then the release. the fact that she had a soild alibi for the time of donald's death, meant the d.c. police could not hold her, but the entire affair spilled out like a dropped deck of playing cards, every sordid detail their secret hotel afternoons the weekends where he stayed in d.c. lying to his wife in arlington, that he was working on a case. it all came to the light once his body was found at the fairmont hotel room 306 shot 5 times and killed. the media jumped on lydia the second the police had her in custody for questioning. they pulled her laptop her phone and all the emails and text message as well as the photos they shared it all spilled out for everyone to see. her father was mortified her mother in shock, how could their daughter raised in a classically structured home environment, all the right schools wanting for nothing, rising in her firm as the star young attorney, the one who could not be beaten. how could their daughter not only be accused of murder but also the subject of an adulterous affair with donald lemming the golden boy of the state department? that night her father said that he no longer had a daughter, she was dead to him, nothing she could say would change his opinion that was now seared into his mind. lydia stared at the structure that she called home for her entire life. right across main street but a million miles away. when the police seized her laptop and phone they froze all her assets so lydia was not only homeless and without a job she was penniless. she knew that this act was one of desperation but she had no choice, everything that her parents owned would pass on to her when they died- she needed it now. so she planned on taking what she could sell and get the hell out of d.c. change her name start over somewhere far from here, she did not have a life in d.c. any longer. lydia knew the combination to her fathers safe and in it the contents her mother's good jewelry, the excess cash her father kept in case of an emergency it was enough to give her a fresh start far away, she thought the west coast could be a great place to vanish perhaps oregon,that was as far away from d.c. as she could imagine, but maybe colorado. right now that didn't matter all that mattered was that she get into that house. lydia steeled herself and began the walk that would change her life forever, her parents livid now would be furious when they saw what she was about to do, she could not think about that now she needed to do this she had no other choice. as she stepped off the curb her phone began to ring and it continued she began to fumble in her bag as always the phone slipped to the bottom and she was fishing for it and soon realized that she had to see where it was, fumbling in the dark could not get her hands on the ringing instrument. she continued to cross main street as she searched the bottom of her bag, she felt a whoosh of cold air that blew right through her, chilling her to her very bones and as she looked up she saw the number 7 bus just past her, again on its way to the heights. that was awfully close she thought as she pulled out the phone and saw that it was not a call at all but her phone alarm set to wake her everyday at 6:10 am, how ridiculous she thought, i was almost killed by a bus for an alarm that holds no value to me any longer. she tossed the phone back into her bag and made her way the rest of the way across main street, funny it did not seem so cold any longer, the temps must have gone up in the last half hour or so, even the whipping wind did not seem to bother her. lydia entered the front vestibule it was never locked since her parents were away for a few months their neighbor would get anything left on or near the front door, it was a safe neighborhood filled with classic old homes and a tight group of old timers who still believed that washington d.c. was a place to be proud of. lydia was sure no one saw her go into the vestibule and even if they did it would not be a problem not many people knew that her parents had thrown her out of the fine old house. she fumbled for her keys, during the fight and the eviction her father did not ask for her keys either he just forgot or it was not important considering how angry he was at the time, wanting her gone was his intention so she held the keys. there was very little light in the vestibule as they had the lights on timers and they had gone off since soon it would be dawn, she only had the light from the lampost outside the gate. and she tried the keys one at a time, surely he did not change the locks, the face plate looked the same. let me get my phone she thought and place it in flashlight mode she pulled out the wayward phone and lydia was surprised that the screen was shattered and the time was fused to 6:11, right when she turned off the alarm. how did the screen shatter like that i just placed it back in my bag i did not drop it and it surely is not cold enough to shatter glass? all she could say was whatever and turned on the light and once the beam was on the face plate she could tell it was not new, but the same one that had been there for ever there were scratches on the metal and the brass was not as shiny as her father would have preferred but it was just a lock. she slipped in the key and it glided into the face plate yet when she went to turn it right to open the door nothing happened, the tumblers did not budge. she pulled it out and looked at it and tried another key this one did not even fit at all, so she went back to the original, the right key, sure it was the one she had handled her entire life, it was the right key and the right lock. maybe i turn it left and not right? could i have forgotten in such a short time she questioned. the key slipped in quietly and smoothly and she turned left and nothing happened. this is so very strange she thought as she continued to slip the key in and out of the lock. maybe he did change the locks she thought but how these face plates are not new they are old and this doesn't make sense. lydia was sweating eventhough it was still quite cold out she was beyond frustrated when she saw the light go on at the front porch next door. mrs jamison she thought walking pugsley, some things never change, and began to ponder the thought that should i let her see me or better yet not. and lydia turned off the flashlight on her phone and leaned up against the black front door, as she heard mrs jamison open up her front gate, speaking softly to pugsley words inaudible to lydia. soon she was past the fontaine home and she barely even looked up from her conversation with pugsley. within a few minutes pugsley began to bark loudly and mrs jamison looked at where he was barking and she started to walk over to the center of main street where she let out a blood curdling scream, in the street was a mass of clothing and blood she pulled out her phone and called the police and she dragged pugsley to the side of the street her home was on, she was beside herself with panic, what was it that she saw thought lydia as she looked out from the vestibule and she saw in the softly gleaning day light there was a body laid out right in the middle of main street, was it there before? did she walk past it? how awful that she was so close yet did not even have a clue, i suppose i was very distracted with my own thoughts that i just walked right past it. the police took no time in pulling up to the grisly scene 3 cars closed off the block from all traffic and soon many of the neighbors where opening their doors and stepping outside. mrs jamison was speaking with the police now and lydia was no longer afraid to come out of the vestibule she was as curious as the rest of them, when pugsley saw her he immediately began to bark furiously mrs jamison tried to calm him down, what is it pugsley what do you see? that was odd lydia thought i am right here only a few feet away how did mrs jamison not see me? mrs jamison was speaking to the police and lydia was listening with interest as she heard her last name. no mr and mrs fontaine are not home they left for florida about 3 weeks ago, i have been keeping and eye on the house as i have always done. she said to the 2 police officers, the incident was so hard on them, she was their only child a bit spoiled if you ask me, but its none of my business especially now, no officer i heard nothing at all it was a windy night and i am not a light sleeper. it's such a shame this will surely kill the fontaines after all they have been through now this. what was she talking about? what is going to kill my parents? do you think it was an accident or maybe suicide? mrs jamison asked the police. really can't tell till the medical examiner gets here, the way her life has been smeared all over the media it could easily be a suicide but no use in speculating. lydia was massively confused what were they all talking about suicide of who? she walked slowly towards the body laying in the street and saw a flash of auburn hair and a navy coat, she began to shake as she walked closer to the corpse and just as she got close enough to see the medical examiner placed the tarp over her face. lydia saw the woman and the face that was being covered was her own. she began to scream silently and was inconsolable when she felt and arm on hers, she looked up and it was donald he was here with her, he took her hand into his and in a flash of light they were gone and all that was left in the middle of main street was a set of keys laying on the ground a few feet from the now covered corpse. strange the medical examiner said i did not see those keys there a few minutes ago, they are a few feet away from the body, maybe the impact of the bus tossed them out of her hand, but i was pretty sure they were not there a short while ago. i guess they are not very important any longer, he thought as he zipped up the black body bag holding the remains of lydia fontaine.
tony scarpa 1/30/2019
