SCARRED (14 page)

      “Serene, you know Lawson was married.”

      She nodded and squeezed his hand lightly.

      “Well, she was very beautiful, and very spoiled.”

      “You said she was nice.”

      Mike winced. “I know I did. She was, but she was also very demanding. She wanted a particular lifestyle that I have no doubt Lawson would have eventually afforded, and even at that time he was well off. Lawson was a brilliant attorney.”

      Serene offered weak smile. Mike could tell she wouldn’t interrupt him. She wanted to hear it all.

      “Eventually the pressure became too much and Lawson began taking questionable cases to make extra money.”

      Serene furrowed her brow and shook her head. “Questionable?”

      “I defend everyone, even if I know I will have to lie or falsify something; and I almost always win. Lawson didn’t operate like that, but he began to so he could feed Rose’s greedy appetite. Eventually Lawson was approached by a man that wanted to start a string of small Meth labs. Lawson was always excited to learn something new, and he knew this was going to bring in big time money. Well, the guy came to their house one night.” Mike paused and smiled. “Wow, this house, Serene, it was truly beautiful.

      “He bought an old plantation house. It sits on twenty five acres…anyway it’s lovely. So, the guy came there, but he didn’t really know what he was doing and Lawson knew even less. Rose knew something was going on, but didn’t question it. She knew he was doing it for her and that made her happy.” Mike took a moment to let it all sink in for her. “They were cooking their first batch and something went terribly wrong. There was an explosion.

      “Luckily, Lawson had stepped to a different part of the room, looking something up on the computer, I think, but he was burned badly anyway on his arms, back, and head.”

      Serene pulled her hand away and covered her mouth with both hands. Her eyes were filled with tears. “The mask.” She whispered.

      Mike nodded. “He never wears it anywhere else, but he did around you. He was ashamed.”

      “What happened to his wife?”

      “The explosion killed her. She was in a room right above it.”

      “Where is he?”

      “He’s at the house. No one has lived in it since, and he didn’t fix it up at all.”

      “How did the police not know?”

      Mike sat back and rubbed his face quickly with both hands. “They knew. I’m the one that got him cleared of the charges, but he was disbarred anyway.”

      “So, he became what he once defended.”

      Mike nodded. “But understand Serene, that was just part of what he did. He invested the money from Rose’s life insurance policy, plus he was already well off. He kept the drug trade small. Well, smallish.”

      “But it’s all gone now?”

      “What his money?”

      “No, the drug business.”

      “Yes. He would be hard pressed to get rid of all of his money. He’s a smart investor, and because of it he’s still worth several million, even after giving you what he did.”

      Serene put her hands to her ears. She couldn’t hear anymore. She needed to act. She went to the bathroom and ran a brush through her hair. She reapplied some eyeliner and mascara, and sprayed some perfume on. When she emerged, Mike was standing by the front door.

      “Are you ready?”

      Serene nodded and grabbed her purse and keys.

      The drive took them thirty miles further from the city. It was truly rural by the time Mike pulled onto the side of the road and got out. Serene rolled her window down.

      “What’s wrong?”

      “Nothing; we’re here.” He pointed to the driveway that arched upwards into the trees. “The driveway is uphill, but the property levels off once you get up there. You’ll see what I mean.”

      Serene looked up at him. “Thank you, Mike. You’ve been a good friend to me.”

      “I wanted more.” He said with all seriousness.

      “I know. That’s how I know what a good friend you are.” She leaned out of the window and motioned him down to her. She kissed him lightly on the lips.

      “Tease.” He whispered. He straightened from the car and smiled down at her. “If it doesn’t work out, you know where to find me.”

      Serene put the car in gear and smiled up at him. “You should consider Rita again, she’s really great, Mike.”

      “I know she is. Yeah, I’ll keep her in mind.” He watched sadly as she drove up the steep driveway. He was sad he hadn’t stood a chance, and he was sad that her heart might be broken all over again.

* * * *

      The house stood sentinel on the hill with black windows and dirty walls. The front door swung crookedly on its broken hinges. Serene popped her glove box open and grabbed the small flash light she had stashed there. She hoped Mike was right about Lawson being in there. From out here the house looked abandoned and perhaps haunted.

      She got out of the car and walked soundlessly through brown grass and other dead weeds. The night was cold, but it was early spring so at least there wasn’t the crunch of frost to announce her progress. She walked up the massive front steps and stood for a moment admiring the grand pillars and architecture of the front of the house. She wished she could have seen it before it had fallen into disrepair.

      She cut on her flashlight and pointed it at the front door. With a deep breath, she pushed it open and stepped inside. She was in what must have been a large foyer and she could see a room to her left that was had part of the wall blown away. She didn’t want to look inside there just yet. Instead she pointed her flashlight to the winding staircase and began taking the steps carefully upward. She wasn’t sure of the structural integrity of the staircase, and thought it would be terrible if Lawson found her dead of a broken neck.

      Once she was at the top, she saw that a hallway broke off into two directions. Her other option was to go straight ahead to the next stairwell which was considerably narrower. She didn’t see any light coming from either part of the hallway. Both ends turned a corner and continued on, but she decided she would start at the very top and work her way down.

      The staircase was dusty but her flashlight did pick up footprints in the dust. Thankfully it wasn’t carpeted like the bigger one. Her heart leapt with the hope that Lawson was indeed on the next floor. To her disappointment that floor was similar to the last but there was a door open near the landing, and she thought she saw the soft flicker of candle light.

      It was another even narrower staircase. When she came to the top, it opened into one huge room. There were circular windows at either end, and Serene realized it was an attic; a very large attic. There was a fireplace with a roaring fire burning from within, and that was where the flicker of what she had thought was candle light had come from.

      Serene clicked her flashlight off and scanned the room. He had to be in here somewhere. All of the corners of the dirty space were dark. Her eyes darted back to one corner in particular and saw that it was darker than it should have been.

      “Lawson?” her voice wavered and she took several steps forward.

      “That’s far enough.”

      Serene laughed and began to cry at the same time. She had replayed the sound of his voice in her head over and over since he walked out on her. Hearing it again in person was just like hearing an angel sing.

      “Did Mike tell you all of my secrets?”

      Serene nodded and wiped at her eyes. “Yes.”

      “Then why are you here?”

      “I’m here because I love you, Lawson. I don’t care about what happened. I don’t care about your burns.”

      “I killed my wife.” His voice strained out of the darkness and Serene closed her eyes to the pain she heard.

      She nodded her head and spoke softly. “You were only trying to give her what she wanted. It was an accident.”

      She could hear his breath catch before he spoke again. “You look so much like her.”

      “Mike told me.”

      “Dammit, I didn’t plan it! I didn’t know you’d look like her…but…but I was glad you did.”

      “It’s ok, Lawson.”

      “You’re so much better than her in here.”

      Serene could hear him thump his chest. “Please, Lawson, we can make this work. Just let me see you.”

      “I was lonely, Serene. I just needed company. I had no idea I would get someone like you; that I would fall in love with you.”

      Serene crossed to him and took his hand, pulling him gently into the firelight. She didn’t gasp or grimace. She had actually imagined worse. He didn’t have eyelashes, and his eyebrows were scant. The worst part of the burn scars were still pinkish, even after all the time that had passed. They spread around his eyes and to the top of his head. She ran a hand over them and smiled.

      “It’s not ugly.”

      “Don’t lie to me just to show me pity.”

      Serene smiled broader and kissed his lips. She put her arms around his neck and breathed in his special scent. “You are precious to me. My knight on a white horse and,” she pulled back and stared into his eyes, “you will always be beautiful to me.”

      Lawson took several shuddering breaths and cried. He stood before her with his arms hanging loosely at his sides and let out all the tears he had held in for so long. For once it was Serene’s turn to comfort him. She felt content. She knew her joy was going to return with the first rays of sunlight; just as soon as he purged and realized that she wasn’t going anywhere.

      She didn’t rush him. They sat in front of the fire kissing and touching until nearly dawn. Words just weren’t necessary. Lawson finally stood and held out his hand to help her up.

      “I’ve been a fool.”

      “Yep.” Serene laughed at his pained expression. “But, I forgive you.” She said and kissed his cheek. “I want to help you shave your head; you missed a spot.”

      Lawson looked at her and grinned, taking her other hand firmly in his. “Do you like this place?”

      “I do, but we might need a decorator.”

      “Yeah, that’s what Mike said.”

      “I hear there is an excellent cleaning crew around. They can even clean shit off of walls!”

      “Is that so?”

      Serene’s laughter echoed through the attic and two birds outside took flight.

      “Come on,” Lawson said tugging on her hand. “Let’s go home.”

~~ The End ~~