Page 36 of Happy Is On Hiatus
Those same words rolled around in her head as she walked to the door and pulled it open. New—less flattering—words came to mind as she stared at Ethel’s frowning face.
“I’ve been calling you all day,” she said without any other form of greeting, and stepped forward as if she’d already been invited inside.
“I was out,” Rita replied, still blocking her entrance. “You could’ve tried calling my cell.” But that would’ve been too much like right, and Ethel so often preferred to take the most difficult route to a task. At one point, Rita had thought she and Ethel could be friends. But that was long before she saw Ethel’s true personality. Ethel only wanted two things from people—to know all their business so she could judge them and their circumstances accordingly and to have them kiss her butt even when she was woefully undeserving of the praise. Still, Rita had always tried to remain as pleasant as possible when dealing with the woman. At least she had before their last HOA meeting.
Working alongside her on the HOA board had been less than thrilling in the past two years, and Rita couldn’t wait until it was time to vote on new board members. When they’d first moved to Willow Grove, she and Nate both thought it a good idea to stay involved with the community, not only to plant roots here for their family but to establish communal ties and to really be an active part in their surroundings. Over the years Nate’s involvement had been streamlined, but like with most everything else, Rita had excelled in contributing to the community’s bylaws and helping things to run smoothly and equitably. Ethel, on the other hand, contributed to the chaos that sometimes erupted. Which was why she’d had to resort to bullying some of the residents to vote for her.
“Doesn’t your home phone still work? And why are we having this conversation outside? Is there someone inside you don’t want me to see?” Ethel asked with a disapproving tone.
Intrusive, nosy, and oftentimes rude. That was a perfect description for Rita’s longtime neighbor and biggest pain in the butt.
“Come on in,” Rita said, her tone cordial, with no hint of the reluctance she felt. After their last meeting, Rita hadn’t talked to Ethelpersonally, only via the numerous emails she sent to the board members weekly.
Ethel brushed past her without another word, going straight to the living room, where she took a seat in the armchair.
“I wanted to let you know that I’ve contacted the police department again,” Ethel began before Rita could take a seat. “It’s only fair that since you’re the current vice president that you know what’s going on even though you made it quite clear at the meeting that the theft didn’t concern you.”
“I made it clear that I didn’t like being accused of stealing a flowerpot, or of knowing the person who would steal a flowerpot,” Rita countered as she sat.
Ethel pursed her lips, giving the impression that she still believed her assumption was right, and Rita had to resist the urge to cuss her and toss her out of her house.
“Sometimes we’re the last to know,” Ethel said with a slow nod.
Rita clenched her fists but kept her hands otherwise still in her lap.
“Now, I’ve been in touch with an Officer Phillips. You might remember him; he was here the morning of your, uh, mishap.” Ethel glanced around the living room as if she thought she might spy another pile of burning clothes somewhere. “He’s agreed to come out to an emergency meeting this Friday evening where he’ll go over some things we can all look out for and some precautionary measures for keeping us safe. We’re not accustomed to crime here in Willow Grove, and we’d like to get ahead of this. Find the thief and get them safely behind bars.”
With all that Rita had going on in the past couple of weeks, the last thing to cross her mind was somebody stealing a flowerpot. It just wasn’t high on her list of priorities.
“I’m going out of town Friday,” she stated.
“With Nate? I haven’t seen his car in the driveway for over a week. I figured he was already out of town. Will you be joining him somewhere?”
Right. While her family and the church knew about the divorce, Rita hadn’t spoken to anyone else about it. Most especially not Ethel, who was, from the way she’d raised her brows in anticipation of an answer, already thinking something was wrong.
“No, I won’t be joining Nate, and you’re right, his car hasn’t been in the driveway.” She didn’t owe Ethel any explanation and wasn’t about to give it to her just because she asked her personally instead of going around to every one of their neighbors looking for an answer instead. “And I won’t be at the meeting on Friday. But please, do keep me posted. If we do have a problem with theft, we should certainly take care of it.”
Rita wasn’t so sure there was a problem. Janice’s flowerpot was expensive, not to mention heavy, as she’d already filled it with some tropical plant that Rita had been certain would die as soon as winter hit. There was no way somebody came into the development, picked up that pot, and walked away without being seen. And why would they in the first place? Sure, it was expensive, but last time Rita checked—with Tariq, who was famous for hustling all types of items—flowerpots weren’t being sold on the streets for quick cash.
“Are we sure Janice just didn’t return the pot? She’s been known to go on shopping sprees and then return half the stuff a week later.” Thanks to her third divorce and second phenomenal financial settlement due to said divorce, Janice had more money than she knew what to do with and generally spent it on any- and everything she saw. Her one goal in life seemed to be to flaunt every ridiculous purchase to the community in her effort to prove she was better than everyone else who lived here.
“Are you accusing her of making a false accusation?”
“I’m asking a question,” Rita replied. “Making an accusation would be standing in front of a roomful of people and pointing the finger at someone without a shred of evidence.”
Ethel huffed. “Really, Rita, I’m doing what’s best for Willow Grove. I would think as the one to succeed me should I decide not to run for president again next year, that you’d take this more seriously.”
Two weeks ago, Rita had been itching to campaign for Ethel’s position on the board if for no other reason than to shut the woman’s loud and very often wrong mouth. Today, with all the other things going on in her life, she could care less what title Ethel held on to and was more concerned with keeping her hands from going around the annoying woman’s neck.
She stood. “As this meeting is a last-minute thing, I’m sure the rest of the board will understand my absence. I’ll send an email to everyone to let them know I won’t be there.” Because she was certain Ethel would tell them something other than what Rita had said. “And I’ll read the minutes of the meeting as soon as I return home Sunday night.”
Rita waited for Ethel to stand.
“Well, I guess we all have our priorities,” Ethel huffed.
“We certainly do,” Rita replied and extended an arm signaling that Ethel should walk toward the front door.
She was being as polite as she’d been raised to be when all she really wanted to do was push the overbearing woman out of her house and bolt the door against her ever stepping foot in here again.
