The Joy of Revenge

CHAPTER 37 Bugs and Mrs. Jensen Joy | heard Jack call out to me, but | ignored him and hurriedly walked away. | was in need of sfresh air. The Undersheriff had horrible breath.

Before Cristos left my house last night, he gavea small black case identical to the one Sebastian gaveand asked if | could place the bug in the diner for him. | thought it would be tricky, but it was pretty simple. | was even seated beside the Undersheriff when | secretly.

placed the bug underneath the counter.

Unfortunately, | had to suck it up and endure Jack undressingwith his eyes.

Ugh! How | wanted to use the dinner knife and poke his eyes out! After picking up my car, | drove home, took a shower and got ready for the day. | decided to wear a sleeveless light blue floral maxi dress. | used a thin brown belt and a beaded necklace. to accessorize, then | paired everything with brown boots. | fixed my hair into a half ponytail, allowing the curled ends of my hair to drape my shoulders, then | inserted my beloved bladed hair comb accessory to hold it all in place.

ed everything | needed in a brown leather tote bag. Then | took a box of donuts from r and walked straight to Noah's house.

| waved at Old Man Tucket as | walked to Noah's house. He was a grumpy and nosy old man who lived in the house directly across from mine giving him an unobstructed view. He could keep an eye on my house until Lou arrives to install my security system.

| stood on the porch, in front of the Jensen’s doorway, inhaling and exhaling deeply. | needed to plant a bug in Noah's house. Hopefully, we could get suseful information out of him, so we could plan accordingly.

| rang the doorbell and a young brunette in her early thirties wearing a nurse’s uniform opened the door. | smiled at her sweetly.

“Good morning! I'm Virtue Sullivan and | just moved into that house over there,” | said, pointing to my house with my thumb. I'm actually a client of Noah's and | was wondering if he’s ready to go into town so we could purchase construction material.” She gavea small smile, but | noticed the apprehension in her light blue eyes.

“I-I'm Carol, Mrs. Jensen's private nurse. I'll go and check if Noah's ready. If you c-could just 1/5 CHAPTER 37 Bugs and Mrs. Jensen wait-" 81% | had a feeling | wouldn't be allowed in the house.

“I brought sdonuts from the diner,” | said, quickly walking into the foyer. “You can share them for breakfast or have them as a snack later” | placed the paper bag on the entry table. near the door. “How about if | wait in the living room for Noah?” | looked around and noticed not much has changed, although there was a dank smell of urine.

“O-okay,” Carol stuttered. If she looked worried earlier, right now, she looked afraid. She ledinto the living room where | found Mrs. Jensen seated in a wheel chair, so thin and frail, wearing an oversized pink nightgown.

Her once beautiful light brown hair was now all white and willowy and her skin was pale and wrinkled.

“Hello, Mrs. Jensen. I'm Virtue, your new neighbor,” 1 announced, hoping | could get a reaction. | heard a buzzing sound and the wheel chair turned automatically to face me. Mrs. Jensen was seated comfortably in a power wheelchair with a mechanical respirator attached, “Ill leave you you two, so | can check on Noah. I'll only be gone a minute,” Carol assured Noah's mother. Mrs. Jensen didn’t do anything; she just continued to stare at me. She looked old ickly, but her brown eyes had that svibrance.

er Carol went up the stairs to tell Noah | was here, Mrs. Jensen blinked her eyes. Judging by the ventilator, she couldn't speak and used her eyes to talk.

“I just moved into the old Taylor house,” | said, trying to make small talk. “I hired Noah to helpopen a small boutique in town.” She blinked her eyes rapidly and | noticed a tear fall from the corner of her eye. | rushed forward and took a tissue from my tote bag to wipe her tears.

Poor thing.

“I can cvisit you more often if you want, Mrs. Jensen. | can cread to you. What do you say?” | smiled at her tenderly..

She blinked once. | guess one meant yes and two for no. | sighed. It was such a shto see her like this.

Mrs. Jensen was like a second mom to me. She was the previous owner of the small 2/5 081% CHAPTER 37 Bugs and Mrs. Jensen bookstore in town and she was one voracious reader. She just loved books. When Noah and | were kids, she was always seen reading a book on their porch. During my freshman and sophomore year in high school, I would sometimes join her on their porch and read as an escape from this cruel world.

After | was assaulted, she cto visitin the hospital and left a book forto read. Since both of my eyes were swollen shut from the beatings | got from the ‘four horsemen of the apocalypse’, my mother read to me, which helpedfixate my emotions on the heroine. of the rather than wallow in self-pity.

When my father decided to leave New Salem after having a heart to heart talk with Old Man Eugene, Mrs. Jensen asked my mother where we planned to move. My mother told her, “Wherever the wind takes us, Laura.” “Maggie...you’ll givea call, right? Or maybe senda postcard?” Mrs. Jensen asked.

“I will,” my mother answered, lying to her. We had agreed we wouldn't contact anyone from New Salem except for Old Man Eugene.

We left during the dead of the night, not a soul was on the streets. We went straight to Bismarck where we changed cars, then drove to Wyoming where we traded in our car for another second-hand car. From Wyoming, we went to Nevada. My father loved playing ckjack, so my parents thought they could probably pocket sextra cash from the inos. After waiting for them for four hours at the motel, they cback with their pockets full.

Since they won smoney, my dad traded in our car for an SUV to my utter relief. The small compact car we got in Wyoming was quite uncomfortable.

My parents liked California so much, they decided we should live there. With the got from the grocery store, they were able to purchase a townhouse. It was smaller than what we were used to and there were people all around us. But none of them knew us which worked well for us.

money they After a couple of years, my dad called Old Man Eugene to see how things were back in New Salem. That's when my dad found out about Noah's parents.

Earlier, when | rang the doorbell, | noticed the porch needed srepairs. Having a private nurse is expensive and | know Noah must be struggling to give his mom proper care.

“How about | cby the day after tomorrow? I'll pick up a good mystery at the bookstore and we can start reading. I'll even get you a thick blanket so we can read on the 3/5 13:33 Mon, Mar 25 CHAPTER 37 Bugs and Mrs. Jensen porch,” | said, bending down and taking her hand in mine. She answeredagain by blinking once.

81% “Virtue?” Noah was right behindand he sounded angry. | turned my head to look at him. and noticed his puffy eyes and unshaven face.

Of course. He was up late last night... drunk.

“I was just promising your mother I'd cby and read to her. | noticed all the books on the shelves,” | explained, standing up and walking towards the shelves of books which covered a portion of the main wall of the living room. | picked out a book and noticed how dusty it was. Perfect.

“My mom's too sick to be entertaining guests, Virtue,” Noah scolded me. “She needs to rest. Reading to her will only get her excited and it'll put a strain on her heart.” Sadly, | wouldn't be spending stwith Mrs. Jensen after all. Well, | could get that porch done, so | can see her from tto time.

Noah bent down to talk to his mother. “Mom, Virtue and | need to go to town. Carol will give you a sponge bath and change what needs changing. | love you.” Noah gave his mother a quick kiss on the cheek. She blinked rapidly and a tear fell again. This time, Carol took over.

y, Mrs. Jensen. Let's get you cleaned up and changed,” she said. Carol quickly turned the eel hubs of the wheelchair to manual and pushed Mrs. Jensen out of the living room.

“Con, Virtue. Let's get going,” Noah said gruffly.

I quickly placed the book back on the shelf and we exited the house.

“Since we need to purchase construction material for my shop, let’s buy smaterial for your porch. It needs spaint and the floorboards need changing,” | told Noah once we were outside of his house.

“I'm not your charity case, Virture,” Noah snapped angrily.

Touchy, touchy...

“But your mom would appreciate it. She can coutside, get sfresh air and watch the neighbors,” | reasoned politely.

“I'll think about it,” he mumbled like a petulent child, then pointed to his pick-up truck. “I 4/5 818 CHAPTER 37 Bugs and Mrs. Jensen need to use my truck. We can meet up at Dom's.

“Alright. Let's meet at Dom's. | still need to swing by Lisa's office.” | waved at him then walked to my car.

This Noah remindedof the Noah during our sophomore year...dismissive, arrogant and apathetic.

He obviously didn’t like the compassion | showed his mother. Well, | hated the indifference he showedwhile | laid in the hospital.

| entered my car, fastened my seat belt and turned on the ignition. | waited for him to drive by before exiting my driveway.

Sure, Noah was an as shole.

But now, he was an as shole with a bug in his house.

Chapter Comments Emy Duvey good job!