The Love Sucks Club(39)

Sam grins. “I’ve never been to a tea party in my life.”

Deflating, I punch her on the shoulder and drop the bat on the counter. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I just know that I want her gone.”

“Well, let’s start by taking her tent down,” Susannah offers. “I mean, it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong. We’re just cleaning up your yard.”

We all traipse outside and start pulling stuff out of tent. She has several boxes and a few duffle bags in here. I’m not sure where the rest of her stuff is unless she sold it all. We finally clear out the tent and Sam starts pulling off the rain flap. Roxanne and Susannah set about stacking all of my ex’s stuff off to one side. Sam and I get all of the stakes pulled out and flatten the tent to the ground. Susannah pulls a tent bag from the rest of the stuff and brings it over. Sam and I fold the whole tent into a small rectangle and manage to get all of the poles and clips into the case along with the tent and the rain flap. Standing as a group surveying the pile, I’m struck by a wave of pity for the woman. She really must have nothing and no one in her life if she’s up here trying to camp in my yard. On the other hand, she basically kidnapped me in town yesterday. Roxanne puts her arm around me and smiles. “Compassion is our greatest gift to ourselves and others.”

Sam rolls her eyes. “Compassion for those who would treat you shittily?”

“Shittily? Is that even a word?” Susannah is laughing.

Roxanne is unperturbed. “Sam, what’s that old saying about holding on to anger being the same as drinking poison and expecting the other person to die?”

Shrugging, Sam smiles. “Better to just poison the other person and move on with your life.”

“Yes,” Roxanne replies. “But allowing for the idea that we can’t just kill everyone who hurts us or pisses us off, then forgiveness is the best gift we can give to ourselves.”

“Fine,” I interject, ending the debate. “I forgive Voldemort for everything she did to me before this. That said, I can’t forgive her for something she is actively doing to me. So, we need to get her out of my yard and out of my life, and then I’ll forgive her for this shit, too.”

“Wow,” Susannah says flatly. “You really have that anger thing under control.”

Back in the house, we take our positions around the table, keeping our ears open for the sounds of an engine. Susannah goes out on to the porch to call Thomas. When she comes back in, she gives me a kiss. “It looks like you ladies have this all under control. I’m going down the hill to meet Thomas.”

Sam waves her off. “Don’t worry about it,” she mutters. “We’re just dealing with a psychopath who wants to pull a Single White Female on your sister. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Laughing, Susannah raps on Sam’s head. “I have faith in you to protect my sister from her evil ex-girlfriend.”

When she’s gone, Roxanne dials the police again on my cell phone while I cook lunch for the three of us.

“It’s been a long day already,” Sam says, stretching. “I didn’t expect to be over here doing manual labor.”

“I didn’t expect to have a circus tent pitched on my front lawn.”

“How did she get here, get all of her gear unloaded and set up without you hearing her?”

“Rox and I were on the front side of the house. We wouldn’t have heard the vehicle.”

“Susannah was right about one thing; it was pretty ballsy.”

Roxanne holds the phone away from her mouth. “Not really. I don’t think she much cared if Dana came out while she was setting up. She’s acting like a very desperate woman.”

“Desperately psychotic,” Sam quips.

Laying food out on plates, I drop one in front of Sam and another in front of Roxanne. Eating directly from the pot, I shovel stir fry into my mouth. Roxanne eats with one hand, holding the phone with the other.

“Don’t waste your time, Roxy,” Sam says around a mouthful of food. “Even if you get them, they aren’t coming.”

“It’s an effort in hope,” she says.

“It’s an effort in futility.”

“Speaking of futility,” I say. “I need to go pretty soon.” Giving Sam a pointed look, I look up at the clock on the microwave.

“Yeah, we better head out.”

“Where are you going?”

I decide to level with her. “I’m going to the doctor to find out if my head problem is physical.”

She nods. “Probably a good idea to rule it out. Though, I don’t think your visions are the symptoms of an illness.”