Fuel to the Fire

It all started the day I found my brother’s girlfriend hooking up with another guy.

I had never been that fond of her in the first place, but seeing her with another guy’s tongue down her throat made me want to smash her pretty little face in.

And it wasn’t like she was trying to keep it a secret. They were doing it right in the kitchen. Shelly gasped when she saw me and broke her lips away from the guy’s. “Courtney, hey! Uh…” she ran her manicured fingers through her blonde hair, then quickly moved her hands to her shirt, smoothing it down. “This is Todd. He’s my, uh, my acting partner. Yeah.”

I just nodded. Shelly was an up-and-coming actress and I figured it was clearly plausible for her explanation to be true, but I couldn’t be sure. When I found them, it looked as if they only thing they could be practicing for was a porno movie. “Okay,” I said, then I turned around and walked out of my brother’s kitchen, the kitchen he shared with Shelly, the kitchen I was sure he wouldn’t be proud to hear had been the scene of what I had just witnessed, whether it be acting or not.

I placed the basket of mini-muffins I had brought over on the dining room table and abruptly walked out of Jared’s house. Getting into my car, I just sat there, deliberating what to do next. Do I tell Jared and hope he can figure it out or do I let life take it’s own course?

I sighed, taking my keys out of my purse and pushing them in the ignition. The car started up with a roar and I drove slowly back to my house. There was a message on my answering machine. I pressed the flashing red button and grabbed a cup of water while I listened. “Hey, it’s Jared. I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be getting home late tonight. Not that you’d really care, but just in case you wanted to come over, tonight isn’t really a good night. Anyway, I’ll talk to you later, okay? Bye.”

I groaned and sat down in one of my old, rusted metal chairs. “I really need to get new furniture,” I mumbled to myself. I took a few sips of my water before discarding it down the drain. I knew I had to do something about Shelly, but I wasn’t sure what.

•••••

The next day Jared asked me to come over and feed his cat, Jinx. He told me that the back door would be unlocked and that Shelly had somewhere to be, and since he had a job, no one would be there to feed the cat. I happily obliged, telling him I would be over around two that day, and made sure to put it on my calendar. Feed Jinx @ 2 I wrote in black, underlining it.

I grabbed the book I was currently reading, put some sunscreen on and walked two blocks down to the neighborhood pool. I laid down a towel over one of the plastic chairs and then laid down on it. The sun was beating down pretty heavily, but I didn’t mind. I was used to being hot, that’s what working as a Day Camp Counselor does to you. Today was Saturday, and I got the weekends off, so I was taking advantage of my free time by going to the pool, even though I wasn’t planning on swimming.

About a half hour later, a voice called out, “You’re sweating.”

I looked up. “What?”

A guy, about twenty-two, was staring at me. “You’re sweating,” he repeated.

“Yeah, and?”

“Nothing. I just thought you’d want to go home or something.”

“I’m good,” I replied, reverting my attention back to my book.

“Do you live around here?” the man asked.

I sighed, putting my bookmark into the book and closing it. I looked up. “Yes. I live two blocks away. Is that all?”

“No.” He sat down in the chair next to me and smirked. I couldn’t help noticing his blue eyes. “I was just wondering something.”

“Yes?”

“Is your book good?”

I scoffed. “Yeah, it’s great. I was just getting to the good part when you came by.”

“Well then I’m sorry I ruined the moment.” He smirked again and then winked. I rolled my eyes as he walked away.

Ten minutes later I was sweating like a pig and I knew I had to get home to take a shower. My watch said it was already 12:45 and I still hadn’t eaten lunch yet. I grabbed the towel that was covering the chair, my book, and my sunglasses, slipped my flip-flops on and walked the two blocks back to my house.

Someone had called in the forty-five minutes I was at the pool. I listened as, once again, Jared’s voice rang out. “Hey, sorry to bother you again, Courtney, but do you think you could get to my house by 1:30 instead? It’s just that Jinx’s litter box needs to be refilled and I know you hate doing that but I’d really appreciate it. Okay, thanks.” I laughed. Sometimes I couldn’t help but love my brother.

Figuring that I wouldn’t have time to eat here, I decided to just take a shower and eat whatever Jared had for leftovers when I was at his house. The shower felt very refreshing, and my hair smelled like mint when I got out. I redressed and slipped on my flip-flops again as I headed out the door.

When I arrived at Jared’s house, there was a car along the road in front of his house that I didn’t recognize. I shrugged it off; it was probably just overflow for the neighbors. They always threw all these crazy, wild parties, and at any time of the day, too.

The door opened as I turned the key in it, and I pushed the door open. Jinx came scampering towards me. “Hey Jinxy boy!” I cooed. “I’m here to change your litter box, yes I am. And to feed you, too. Are you hungry?” Jinx meowed and I laughed, petting him on the head. “Well alright then, how about I feed you first?” I walked towards the kitchen, Jinx following faithfully behind me. As I walked past the master bedroom, I heard some grunting noises. I paused, wondering if someone was in there. The door was ajar slightly, and against my better judgment I peeked through the small opening.

I gasped at what I saw. There was Shelly, obviously having sex with another guy. And it wasn’t Todd from yesterday. Todd had brown hair. This guy’s hair was bright orange. I whipped my head back, not wanting to see that scene anymore. What the hell was Shelly doing? Either this was a very, very sick porno or she was cheating on my brother with multiple guys.

I was guessing the latter.

I carefully shuffled around the house, trying to be as quiet as I could, and hoping that no one would come out of the bedroom. I fed Jinx his food and changed his litter box as fast as I could, wanting to get out of Jared’s house.

When I got back to my car, reality hit me. My brother’s girlfriend was cheating on him in his own bed. How sick was that? How sick can a person be to just have sex on the bed that they share with someone else?

The whole ride home I couldn’t stop thinking about Shelly and what she was doing to my brother. I slammed my front door shut and started pacing the length of my living room. In a split-second decision, I hurried to my computer. I had an idea. It wasn’t great, in fact it was pretty evil, but as I looked up what I wanted and then dialed the number, all I could think about was how Shelly was going to pay for what she was doing to my brother.