c. 2026 Rod Ice
All rights reserved
(10-26)
Linn Speck awakened in his bedroom
at Evergreen Estates, expecting to rise with a sense of victory boosting his
mood for the day. He had vanquished his intellectual enemy up the street with an
anonymous act of arson, that could not be traced back to any specific
perpetrator. And that desperate strike had finally managed to rid the rural
trailer park of its most colorful and contrarian character. He felt invigorated
by sunshine that beamed through his windows. With the old drunk eliminated from
their citizen ranks, he hoped to revive his push to organize an association of
residents, that would help to oversee operation of the isolated property. That
cause remained paramount among his priorities. He lusted after the allure of
leadership. And believed that by taking charge in the village of manufactured
homes, he would inherit his own manifest destiny. But upon throwing pillows and
blankets aside, while sitting at the edge of his mattress, a chill in the
sleeping quarters became apparent.
Haki, his wife of a dozen years, was nowhere to be found.
Still groggy and in need of caffeine, he stomped through the vintage singlewide, scattering anything in his path. The household cat went running for cover. Dust particles blew into the air, before settling in his wake.
“HONEY! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, MAKING BREAKFAST, MAYBE? ANSWER ME! ANSWER ME! WHERE THE HECK DID YOU GO?”
The boxcar dwelling was silent and empty. He stood alone in the kitchen for several minutes, before realizing that his submissive spouse had secretly made a clandestine escape, overnight. A check of the closet, and their dresser, revealed that much of her wardrobe had disappeared.
He fell onto the sofa with a hefty thud that shook the floor. Then, spotted a handwritten note, carelessly scribbled on the back of a junk-mail envelope.
“I don’t know how to put this any other way, so here it is, in plain English. I’ve had enough! You were never a prize to begin with, but we used to have something between us, some spark of romance. That made living here something I could accept. But now, all you do is grouse about this community, and the people who live on our streets. You act like a king who lost his crown! But let me tell you, mister – nobody thinks of you in that way around here. Definitely not me! You’re a bitter, balding loudmouth with an axe to grind. Nothing more or less than that! I’m sick of hearing you complain. Maybe when you’ve got nothing but these walls for company, you will realize how much it meant to have a loving partner sharing your life! I want things to be the way they were, but after so many fights and disappointments, I know that’ll never happen. So here’s my plan. I am going to file for divorce, and go live somewhere far away from this little spot on the map. I hope you will be happier with nothing but your own reflection in the mirror every morning. Good riddance to you, hubby! Have a nice life on your own!”
The portly antagonist broke out in a sweat. He was dizzy and disoriented, with a surge of blood pressure swelling his face.
From the front door, a sharp knocking began to resound. He had barely managed to get up from his plush furnishing, before a shrill, feminine voice called from outside.
“Ayyyyyy, gordo loco! Open up already! I’ve got some questions to ask about the fire that happened at Lot 13!”
Linn staggered across the room, feeling deflated. He twisted the doorknob angrily, and was immediately confronted by Dana Alvarez, their manager and ownership representative.
“This is outrageous! I haven’t even had my coffee yet! What kind of nonsense are you talking about? A fire? I don’t know anything about a damned fire!”
The paid supervisor had her shiny, black mane pulled back under a red bandana.
“Estupido! Do you think I am dumb or what? Everybody in the park knows how much you hated that shaggy dude on his porch. He had been here a long time. Now the sheriff is calling, and he wants to snoop around with his deputies. That shit gets me nervous, okay? I don’t like the policia, they screw around, and make a mess of things. This dump is already a mess, I don’t need more of that, you know?”
The failed association head shrugged and rolled his eyes.
“I understand you want peace and quiet. I get it! But what does that have to do with me? I am a Christian man, married with a family, and am a good example to others. There’s no reason that you should be standing here, squawking about that dirty bum who lost his shack! He never belonged here anyway! He wasn’t one of us! He never wanted to join in anything that we did!”
Dana huffed and rocked on her heels.
“Look, this is a warning, okay? You don’t wanna talk to me, that’s fine. But I tell you there’s gonna be other people at your door, real soon. Sheriff Rath will be knocking. He’s heard a lot of rumors, there’s a bunch of mierda going around about the fire. You understand? A lot of scuttlebutt shit. Not only did that trailer burn down, but then somebody pissed all over the memorial flowers. That’s some crazy stuff right there. Dios mio!”
The overweight provocateur groaned audibly, before gesturing toward their street. He lied skillfully, with the tone of a politician at work.
“I’ve got nothing for you, Ms. Alvarez! I don’t know anything, I’m not guilty of anything, and I won’t say anything! That’s as far as it goes! That bastard from our county will get the same reply! A big ball of nothing from me! Nothing, nothing, nothing!”
The park overseer lowered her gaze, and nodded.
“Okay pendejo, you keep going with that attitude. I don’t care about this one way or another. All I know is that shaggy dude paid his rent on time every month. Now I need another tenant to move in, you get it? It ain’t so easy to find people, with the costs going up constantly, and a big water bill on top of that! Ayyyyyy! It gives me a headache!”
When she was finally gone, the flabby instigator returned to his couch. He did not feel guilty for having expelled T. C. Lincoln from their remote oasis. But guessed that in the coming days, his existence was about to become more complicated and unpredictable.
He had always been respected among the residents of Evergreen Estates. Looked upon as a seeker of truth, and a steadfast believer in God. But now, he wondered if that period of benevolence might have officially come to an end.
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