Samantha Langston pulled her car into the drive-way of the duplex she lived in. Work had been completely stressful. She had been working on a project not only with a co-worker that she couldn’t stand, but one who had a fairly strong body odor that day. Samantha didn’t want to be that type of person. She was usually friendly with all types of people. Usually thrived on helping people, but Rodrigo Martinez just happened to catch Samantha during a time where there was a mounting tower of problems in Samantha’s life.
Most of all was a fairly ugly break-up with her longtime boyfriend/fiance/loser-that-she-wished-would-just-die-already Alex. She’d caught Alex cheating on her. To be precise, cheating on her with her best friend Lilith “Devil’s Spawn” Desjardin. So not only had she moved to the city, the three of them only a year a half previous, excited by the prospect, but now she was in a new place. Boxes still not unpacked. She had lost not only her lover, but her best friend.
Samantha put her car into park, then pushed the On/Off button. She picked her purse up and slung it onto her shoulder. Then she picked her phone up.
3 MISSED CALLS - Lil
“Bitch.” Samantha said, throwing her phone into her purse.
Samantha got out of her car and pushed the lock button on her key fob. She walked to the front of the driveway, to the mailbox she shared with her neighbor Tom. Tom was nice from the few times Samantha had seen him. He worked in the IT field and from everything Samantha knew about it, he seemed like he did. He was shy around her, but given recent circumstances, Samantha kind of liked that.
There was a stack of mail in the mailbox, Samantha grabbed it and then shut the door to her duplex’s box, turning the key. She heard her phone vibrating as she walked to the front door of her duplex. She found the house key that went to the deadbolt of her front door and began to insert it into the lock.
“Miss Langston!” A voice came from her left.
Samantha turned to see Tom, getting out of his vehicle and making his way toward her.
Samantha smiled, “Tom, I’ve told you how many times now to call me ‘Sam’?”
Tom almost tripped on the rock garden that led up to Samantha’s front door, which widened the smile on her face. He was such a cute nerd. Maybe that’s what she needed. At least for a rebound relationship. Who knew beyond that?
“Sorry. S-s-Sam.” Tom said, reaching Samantha’s porch.
“It’s okay, Tom.” Samantha said, pulling the key out her lock. She slipped a finger through one of the rings of her keychain unconsciously. Her father had taught that to her as a bare minimum of self defense, using a key as a sharp object to swing at an attacker.
“How are you?” Tom fumbled.
“Eh, ready for the weekend. How about you?” She asked.
“Same.” He replied, then added, “Oh! That’s what I wanted to talk to you about!”
Tom reached into the right pocket of his slacks, pulling out two pieces of paper and held them up, “I-I got two tickets to ‘Belleza’ from a co-worker. Paid him, of course. B-b-but I was wondering if, maybe, if you weren’t, you know, busy this weekend, you would like to go with me?”
That smile slipped onto Samantha’s face again. She was almost proud of Tom for having the guts to ask her.
“Justasfriends!” Tom blurted out. “I mean- I don’t want to put pressure on you. I just know you like ballet, so-“
“I would love to, Tom.” She said, reaching a hand out to his chest to stop him. His chest felt nicer than she expected it would, firmer. She slowly pulled her hand back as his face brightened.
“Yeah?” He asked.
“Yeah.” Samantha replied, with a smile.
“Great!” Tom exclaimed.
She laughed, “Great.”
“Okay, well the show starts at seven tomorrow night. Dinner before, my treat?” He asked.
“Tom, this almost sounds like a date!” She said jokingly.
“Againno-“
“I’m joking, Tom. That sounds great.”
Samantha heard her phone begin to buzz in her purse once again.
“Awesome! Meet you here tomorrow, five-ish?” He asked.
Samantha reached into her purse, pulling her phone out.
MOM
The screen said, showing a woman who, while older looking than Samantha, she looked remarkably like. She took time to give Tom a warm smile, “I’ve got to take this, but I can’t wait.”
He smiled back. His smile made him even more attractive to her, “See you tomorrow.”
“Bye.” Samantha said, opening her front door, then shutting it behind her. She turned the deadbolt lock on the door. Then she looked at her phone screen, swiping on it to answer, “Hey Mom.”
“Hey sweetie. How was your day?”
Samantha walked over to her dining room and deposited the mail onto the kitchen table, “Ugh, don’t remind me. I just want to forget about it.”
“That bad?” Her Mom asked.
“Yes.” Samantha said, making her way into the kitchen. She got a glass out from the cabinet and turned on the kitchen faucet, holding the phone between her cheek and shoulder, she checked the temperature of the water and filled her glass, then turned off the water.
“I’m sorry, honey.” Her Mom said.
Samantha tipped the glass back, feeling the cold water slip down her throat. As she pulled the cup down and sat it on the counter, she ran her tongue over her top lip, feeling the beads of water left behind.
Her Mom had been silent, then continued, “You know, Sam, your Father and I have been talking-“
“Here. We. Go.” Samantha said, more than a little annoyed.
“Sam, come on. We’re just not crazy about you being in the city all alone. Especially after everything that has happened lately. We both agree, that it wouldn’t be the worse thing for you to come home. Now, I know what you’re going to say,” Samantha’s Mom continued, cutting off Samantha’s unspoken protest, “You don’t even have to move home with your Dad and me. Your Dad’s co-worker, Ron, you remember Ron, right dear?”
Samantha was only half listening. She had made her way back to the kitchen table and was beginning to sort through the mail. She had heard this from her Mother several times since Samantha had caught “What’s his whore name” and “Slutfest 9000” having sex on her couch after the Halloween party.
Samantha opened her most recent doctor’s visit bill. She’d recently started taking medication for depression, on her Doctor’s recommendation.
“Sam?” Her Mom asked.
“Mmmhmm, of course, Mom, I remember Ron.”
“Oh! Well he has an apartment opening up. Next month, honey. You really should think about it.”
“You know, the city isn’t so bad, Mom…” Samantha said, trailing off as she began to think of Tom.
If this weekend went well, who knows?
“Yeah?” Her Mom asked, sounding disappointed.
Samantha laughed, “I’ll let you know after this weekend, Mom. That a good enough answer?”
“As long as you consider it, honey.”
“Okay, I promise, I will. Listen, Mom, I’m going to get cleaned up. Then maybe binge a show before the night‘s over with.”
“Okay, Sam…” Her Mom said, trailing off with a hesitation that caught Samantha’s attention.
“Mom?” Samantha said, not able to hide the concern she felt.
There was another brief moment of silence and then, “I love you, Samantha.”
Again, that caught Samantha’s attention, her Mom, like most people close to her in her life almost always called her Sam.
“I love you too, Mom. Is everything okay?”
“It’s nothing dear. Mom’s intuition. I’ll talk to you Monday.”
“Okay,” Samantha started, waited a few beats and then said, “Bye Mom.”
“Bye honey.”
Samantha pulled her cell phone down, frowning at it. She sat it on the kitchen table. She hadn’t quite made it through the mail yet. She slowly backed away from the table, away from the phone. Something about the end of their conversation felt wrong to Samantha.
She turned heel and began to walk through the living room of her duplex, down the hallway and into her bedroom. As she made her way by her dresser, she grabbed a scrunchie to put her auburn hair up in a ponytail, which she did as she made her way to her bathroom.
Samantha flicked the light on, sitting down at the edge of the whirlpool tub. Just as she had done with the kitchen sink water, she felt the temperature of the water with her wrist, found the perfect level of heat and pulled the stopper to the tub. A nice, relaxing vanilla bath bomb would do the trick of shedding whatever this feeling was that she felt after the way the conversation ended with her Mom. She dropped the ball into the tub and took a deep breath, blowing it out.
Just what I needed, she thought, A weird conversation with my Mom on top of everything else. At least I have something to look forward to.
Samantha walked out of her bathroom, through her bedroom and down the hallway. She stopped in her kitchen, grabbed a wine glass from the cabinet and filled it with her favorite red wine.
Out of the corner of her eye, next to her cell phone, she noticed what looked to be an old, faded envelope at the bottom of the pile of mail from the day.
Samantha frowned, then slowly made her way over toward the dining room. The feeling she had at the end of the conversation with her Mom returned, in spades. She slowly pushed the rest of the mail to the side to expose the faded letter.
It had one word written on it, with no return address. It looked like it could have been years, hell, decades old.
Sam.
It said on the front of it.
The disturbed feeling increased as she picked the letter up. The letter was closed, but there were small gaps, as if time had slowly began to open the letter itself.
Inside, was a paper that looked like it had been crumpled, unfolded, straightened and looked just as old as the envelope it was in. Written on it:
Hey Mom.
Hey sweetie. How was your day?
Ugh, don’t remind me. I just want to forget about it.
That bad?
Yes.
I’m sorry, honey.
You know, Sam…
Samantha’s eyes continued down the letter, which replicated the conversation she had had with her Mother, not five minutes ago, word for word.
As she reached the bottom of the letter, she heard it. A creak of the floorboard in the kitchen behind her. The scream began to build in Samantha’s mouth as she turned to see what was standing in her kitchen. As it began to leave her mouth, three crusted and spindly fingers wrapped their way around her neck.
The letter fluttered to the floor, joining the newly shattered wine glass. As the red wine began to mix with some of Samantha’s blood, the letter reached the ground. A small stream of the liquid reached the bottom of the letter. Directly above the bottom of the page, the letter ended. It said simply…
WELCOME HOME.
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