The brisk November air made the hair that hung down next to Heather Gibbs’ face dance as she walked through the lazy streets of her small hometown of Jasper. Not much happens in Jasper, Ohio. Some would say it’s a rather boring town and in most cases, they would be right. That will not be the case today, however. The things about to happen to this quiet farm community were going to shake the world, and Jasper, Ohio, will have its moment in the spotlight.
Heather was an attractive 19-year-old girl; barely a year separated from high school. High school is always good to people like Heather. When you are confident, attractive, athletic, with good hair and skin; you go far in high school. Heather was co-captain on the cheerleading squad and was part of the school dance team that won state competitions every year she was in school. She dated Mike Reynolds for awhile, the starting quarterback for the Jasper Hornets, but just like most jocks, he was too into himself for that relationship to survive. With her blonde hair, perfect teeth, flawless complexion and athletic build, Heather could most definitely land a modeling gig. She was not the type of gal who hung out with the Ryan Dohertys of the world.
Ryan Doherty had quite the opposite experience Heather had in high school. Ryan was a year ahead of her and never really talked to her until the day she walked into Clarence’s Food Mart. (Most people just called it The Food Mart. Clarence hated it when people called it that. He would remind his employees it was HIS name in front of “food mart,” not “the.”) Ryan was a tall, slender, dark-haired kid with a poor complexion. Most people thought he had a learning disability or wondered if he was “slow” because he was so very introverted. Quite the opposite was true. His intelligence only meant he would suffer most of his school years at the hands of his peers who constantly harassed and humiliated him. He and his little band of misfits chose to play chess, read complicated literature and talk about math equations and what their relativity to our world was today. Maybe if there were some attention given to his appearance, a haircut, and some nicer clothes, he wouldn’t be at all bad looking.
Heather crossed Sheraton Street and made her way down Piper Street until she came to 15th, the street where Ryan lived with his mom. “Maybe this is crazy.” she thought to herself. “What if he thinks I’m some creep showing up uninvited like this?”
When she started working at The Food Mart ten months ago, it was Ryan’s job to train her as a cashier. It wasn’t as easy to pick up as she thought it would be. It seemed like it took forever to get it down. Trying to remember all of the codes and where to find prices of unmarked items, it all seemed so daunting. Ryan never lost his patience with her, though. He would explain the same things over and over again, calmly walking her through each scenario as if it were the first time telling her. He gained her trust in the process and the more she got to know him, the more she found herself liking him.
517 15th Street had seen better days. A picket fence which hadn’t seen a fresh coat of paint in years, with many of the slats broken or just plain missing, stood sentinel at the front of the house. Vegetation in the tiny front yard had been neglected for years leaving it brown and withered. A broken brick path lead to a small covered porch at the front of the dilapidated, single-story house.
It took Heather a few moments as she fidgeted with the gate but it finally unlatched, granting her access with a slow grown. She reached the door and took a few seconds to gather herself. She took a deep breath in and rang the doorbell. There was no way she could know these were the last moments of life as she knew it.
Ryan answered the door and stood motionless and speechless for several seconds before the gears re-engaged, and he invited her in. “Please come in,” Ryan motioned awkwardly toward the living room. “Thank you,” Heather said as she took in her new surroundings.
Stepping through the front door was like stepping back in time as she entered the living room filled with outdated furniture. A large circular area rug covered most of the wooden floor in the living room, surrounded by a couch and two faded high back chairs. Opening up beyond the living room stood a square dining room table with six matching chairs which eventually gave way to the kitchen at the back of the house. From where Heather was standing, it had been a while since someone had done kitchen duty. There was an opening on the opposite wall halfway between the kitchen and the living room that lead to the bedrooms and a bathroom that, like most things in the house, was outdated by several decades.
All the walls had been painted in a flat white paint many years prior and now were just dingy. Several family pictures adorned the walls along with several religious paintings of Jesus and Mother Mary. It was very much what you would expect walking into someone’s home who had been there for many years. Time moves forward, but the house becomes somewhat of a time capsule. Stacks of newspapers and magazines seemed to be everywhere. You could almost expect to find a newspaper dating back to the JFK assassination or the landing on the moon. For sure the space shuttle explosion.
“You haven’t been to work for several days,” Heather began. “I just wanted to come over and check on you. See if you’re okay.”
“Ummm… yeah. We’re doing fine.” Ryan said rubbing the back of his head. He closed the front door and quickly moved to the couch and cleared a spot for Heather to sit. “Sorry, if I would have known you were coming over…”
“I’m sorry. I should have called I guess. I just thought if maybe… I should probably go,” she said as she started for the front door.
“NO!” Ryan threw the stack of papers and magazines to the side and motioned toward the couch. “Please, stay. Mama has been sick for awhile, but she seems to be recovering now. Mama’s gonna be fine.”
“That’s great to hear!” Heather took her seat on the couch and smiled sheepishly. Ryan sat in the high-backed chair next to her and they both fidgeted for a few moments in an awkward silence. Both of them broke the silence as they tried to speak at the same time. Ryan motioned for her to proceed.
“It hasn’t been the same at The Food Mart without you the last couple of days.”
“Don’t let Clarence hear you call it ‘The Food Mart.’ You know how he gets when he hears that.”
They spoke in unison, “It’s Clarence’s Food Mart. My store. My name.” They let out a nervous laugh and went back to an awkward silence.
“What made you come over here,” Ryan asked. “Not that I mind. I just… I’m just surprised that you would even come to my house I guess.”
“Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Cuz I’m the King of “Dorksville,” and you’re the Queen of “Cliquesville”. People like you don’t talk to people like me unless we’re at work or something.”
“Well for YOUR information, I am not the queen of anything. And you are not the King of Dorksville or whatever you called it,” a little annoyed at his comment. “I was concerned about you and wanted to let you know that if you need it, I’d be willing to help out.”
Ryan stared for a few moments trying to decide if she was sincere or if she was setting him up for a horrible prank like so many that befell him in high school. “Why do you care what happens to me?” he finally asked.
“Look. You were so patient with me when I started at The Food… Clarence’s Food Mart. I was so dumb you had to explain things to me a million times. You never once made me feel stupid or lost your patience with me. That meant a lot to me.”
Ryan’s face flushed when Heather put her hand on his knee. “You weren’t dumb,” he said looking down at the floor. “The process can be overwhelming at times.”
Suddenly, Ryan turned to look over his shoulder and began to have a strange conversation. “Yes, mother. It’s a friend from work; she’s here to check on us, to see if there’s anything she can do for us. Just get some rest. Ok?” It’s always strange when you can only hear one side of the conversation.
Even though she couldn’t hear mama’s voice, Heather’s heart melted. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Heather was having an internal discussion as to whether she was desperate or if it was the lack of options in a tiny town that brought her here. But the obvious concern for his sick mother moved her heart.
“Mom. Can you wait for a bit? We’re trying to have a conversation.” Ryan continued.
Admiration filled her heart and it was becoming more evident to her there was more to this guy than she realized. “Go to her. Take care of whatever she needs, and I’ll be right here when you get back.”
Ryan scratched the back of his head and growled, “Okay.”
He stood up and took a few steps, stopped, turned and made Heather promise she would not move from the couch. “You have to promise me! Mama doesn’t like people to snoop through her valuables,” he said using his fingers to place imaginary quotation marks. “Promise?” He asked pointing at her.
“Promise. I am stuck right here,” she said pointing down at the cushion she was sitting on.
Ryan disappeared through the opening just off the living room. Soon the only sound was the Tic-Tic-Tic from the old grandfather’s clock in the corner and the muffled but soothing words Ryan spoke as he began to tend to mama. Heather tried to get comfortable on the old, lumpy couch. She leaned back, smiled and thought the lack of options or not – she may have lucked out with such an incredibly caring guy.
It didn’t take long for the discomfort of the aging couch to drive Heather to her feet. She was enamored with the family pictures hanging on the walls at first. Then there were the snow globes, candles and other various trinkets throughout the living room.
Soon, Heather’s attention turned towards the crosses lined up on the one wall opposite the living room. They were all different shapes and sizes, stretching all the way down the wall to the opening that lead to the bedrooms. Some had inspirational messages, Bible verses and some were flat out crucifixes. They lined the entire length of the wall. Ryan continued his sweet conversation in the next room. “I know people collect crosses and other religious trinkets but I’ve never seen them displayed like this.” she thought. She followed them till she was standing in the small common area with three doors. A closed door to her left. Most likely a bedroom. An open door in front of her revealing an outdated bathroom sink and medicine chest. A rather curious door to her right. There was a giant red cross painted on the door with a crucifix hanging at the center of the painted cross. While all of the crosses seemed a bit odd, all Heather cared about in the moment was how caring Ryan was being towards his mom.
Lured Ryan’s tender words, Heather decided maybe she could sneak in for a moment and introduce herself. She turned the doorknob, and the door opened silently. At first, she peeked in. The room was dark and cluttered, continuing the theme as the rest of the house. Pushing the door open wider, she could feel a drastic drop in temperature. Almost as if there was a window was left open. Heather, now standing with the door wide open, paused for a moment. Ryan’s back was turned to her and unaware of her presence. A small antique lamp on the nightstand next to the bed was giving off the only light in the room. The room was extremely crowded with furniture, piles of clothes and who knows what else. Heather took one step forward and a floorboard creaked. Ryan spun around.
That’s when she saw that the body lying on the bed wasn’t a living person. Stunned, she took two steps back as the realization washed over her that he was covering the decomposing body with kitty litter. Heather’s head was spinning. She wanted to run. She wanted to throw up, but she couldn’t seem to do either. It was almost like her shoes were suddenly made of concrete.
“Mama’s gonna be fine,” Ryan said in an eerie but calm voice. “But Heather, I need you to close that door immediately.”
Even if she wanted to she couldn’t. Her face had gone numb and the ringing in ears was drowning out most of what Ryan was saying.
Ryan looked over to a dark corner of the room, and now in a much more panicked voice he yelled, “HEATHER! YOU NEED TO CLOSE THAT DOOR NOW!”
But Heather couldn’t move. She kept staring at the kitty litter covered corpse lying on the bed. She didn’t even see what was coming from the darkness. Ryan dropped to his knees, cupped his hands over his face and began repeating “Mama’s gonna be fine. Mama’s gonna be fine. Mama’s gonna be fine…” like a skipping record.
Heather never knew what hit her. Mama was NOT gonna be fine.
To be continued…
Steven L Struble 