Dirty Laundry

Spending time at the mall was fun. We hit up a few shops and she made me go to Victoria’s secret and buy things I’d never even touch but she made me. We were walking back to the car, Kyle was asleep. I sighed as I looked over a few bags. ‘‘He’s gonna love it'' she smirked. I scoffed rolling my eyes ''is everything about sex with you?'' ‘‘Duh!'' ‘‘You are so messed up'' I rolled my eyes. We stopped by her place to check on her dog. There was no sign of Caleb, good.

She cleaned up around the house and I did some dishes then we sat back and watched a movie. It was around four in the afternoon when we made it back home. Landon was gone and Smith was watching TV when we walked in. ''I’ve got to do some laundry go nuts'' I laughed with Lina. I gave Kyle to Smith who lay back with him on his chest. I still had Dani California stuck in my head so I hummed that as I went about mopping the beautiful mess that Cerberus left me.

Soggy kibble and water all over the laundry room floor, thank you baby…not! He sat there on his cushion watching me mop. His ears down, he just turned his head left and right watching the mop. ‘‘Come on'' I rolled my eyes patting my leg and leading him to the back. I let him out and he ran down to the grass. I stepped out into the fresh air; night was beginning to fall and the last of the pinkish reddish sun rays filtered through the forest. At the angle I was standing it'd make such a beautiful painting or picture. Unfortunately I hadn’t a canvas or camera.

Come to think of it I hadn’t drawn or painted something in what felt like forever. I also haven’t ventured out in the forest like usual either. I wonder what secrets the forest held here; every forest had its secrets. Not that many cared to find them out. But I loved to. It was like the ultimate hide and seek for me. I walked off the deck down the grass and to the forests edge. The trees stood so close to one another and the bushes so wildly I had to wade through zig zagging. Cerberus followed me.

The moss and old fallen leaves dented under my bare feet. Thorns pricked and scraped my arms and legs but it didn’t hurt, well at least to me. For some reason it reminded me of my childhood in Florida. It almost felt as if the forest was reaching out at me and welcoming me home. So I kept going. Fallen trees with moss on them, little ponds and creeks, raccoons, possums, deer, an occasional bear. The forest was usually teaming with life at this time but it all seemed so quiet. Deeper and deeper I went with Cerberus at my side watching me like a guard dog.

And then I found them. I crouched behind a tree wide eyed. I stumbled upon a camp of some sort. The men in the camp spoke to each other in low foreign tones, so low and quiet I couldn’t make out what they were saying let alone what language they spoke. Did I go too far? Maybe this was camping ground. No there were no camping grounds in this area. I crawled over to a bush sending Cerberus off towards the house before he could sniff out the men and give me away. Luckily he listened, I could hear them a little better and they spoke Spanish.

They were talking about their fallen comrades; little did they know that Smith had already killed them. They thought they went AWOL and left, or they got lost in the dense forest. They were planning on looking for them tomorrow if they didn’t turn up soon. One man stood up stretching looking around as the other added kindling to the small fire they had going. The one standing reached into his pocked taking out a wetstone and a blade sharpening it as the other sat back against a trunk of a fallen tree and held his hands out to the fire. ‘‘Tienemos que ir'' he said telling the other man they had to go. The other one simply shook his head ''no, quiero mi dinero'' he was in it for the money.

I strained to listen as the other one spoke. All I got from his muttering was that there was a bounty on Smith's head for fifty thousand American dollars. Wide eyed I covered my mouth shaking my head. Fifty thousand dollars was a lot of money. Unfortunately they didn’t say who was paying for this. After that all they did was banter and bicker to each other. I got away and when I was far enough I stood up and ran off. Now the thorns and bushes didn’t feel so welcoming. I was worried. Fifty thousand. But what got me was it was a bounty, it was up for grabs on everyone and anyone who stumbled across it. Smith wasn’t just endangered from a few mercenaries, he was endangered from every mercenary that stumbled across his name in the hopes of making some money.