Chapter Five
Willie’s bladder woke her before dawn, demanding a trip to the toilet. On her way back to bed she remembered the towel was still draped over the screen. She gasped and immediately ran downstairs to remove it. As she folded it neatly she suddenly froze momentarily in fear, realizing she must have left the bottle outside, in plain view of the neighbors when the sun came up. As quietly as possible she tiptoed through the kitchen to the deck to retrieve the nearly empty bottle. Thankfully it was still quite dark, and looking toward each of her neighbor’s homes she could see the windows were blank and there were no signs of life. She crept down the stairs and buried the bottle in the sand beneath the deck.
Relief turned quickly to anger with herself as she climbed back up the stairs. Taking the glass from the deck and rinsing it in the kitchen sink she gave herself a talking to about how foolish she had been and what a silly old lady to sit around drinking wine like a, oh what did they used to be called – hobo! Like a hobo in a doorway with their cardboard and sleeping bag and brown paper sack. She shivered at the thought. What have I come to? I must be off my nut. “Oh Willie please,” a little voice in her mind piped up, “get over yourself. Is it so horrible to have a glass of wine in the evening? Or two or three? What is the harm? It’s just because the damn SJD makes you feel like a criminal in your own home. Lots of people have a drink in the evening without a care in the world.”
Willie gasped. She recognized the truth in this, but it didn’t make her feel any better. It rather terrified her. No, mustn’t think like that. Once you started down that road you ended up nowhere good. She shook her head as if to make every one of her thoughts fly out. Exhaling loudly, she determinedly left the kitchen and went back to bed, careful not to think about anything at all.
Two hours later she was awake again and drinking a cup of tea in the kitchen. The wind had come up just before dawn and had brought bands of low gray clouds with it. A few sprinkles of rain occasionally blew onto her deck driven by a boisterous gust of wind. Looking out over the Sound she could see curtains of rain here and there obscuring the scenery behind them. The wind whipped up frothy whitecaps on the waves. Not exactly pleasant kayaking weather. She sighed.
She remembered it was Friday and that she needed to take out some frozen salmon to thaw for dinner. The kids were coming over and she wanted to make them a decent meal. The meat and fish in the shops was often questionable, quality wise, when they were available at all. Luckily, growing up so close to the ocean, learning to fish was a matter of course, at least in Willie’s family. It was a skill that had served her well in recent years, although one had to be careful to stay out of the sight of the SJD. Willie didn’t mind sharing her catch, as what they said was true, the resource belonged to everyone, it was only fair, but lately there had been a few times when they had taken her entire catch.
She went over a sort of grocery list in her mind. There were still plenty of potatoes in the bin in the basement, as well as carrots. Salad fixings she would bring home fresh from work, and herbs she had in plentiful supply, dried and also growing in pots on the deck. She might check in the shop on the way home for some cream to make a sauce, but she wasn’t hopeful. They usually had the UHT milk though, and she was becoming quite a whiz with powdered milk, since she had managed to salvage several large bags of it when a nearby elementary school closed down.
She had just decided on baked apples for dessert when there was a knock at the door. Who on earth would be knocking this early, she wondered. The clock read just past 7. Willie tied her housecoat tighter around her waist and went to open the door.
“Open up. SJD,” a male voice called authoritatively through the door.
“Coming,” Willie called out, walking swiftly down the front hall.
She opened the door and saw two men in black coveralls on her doorstep. The first appeared to be in his thirties with an olive complexion and black hair and a rather stern look on his face. Behind him stood a younger man, blond and blue eyed and somewhat less stern looking. Without waiting for her to invite them in they brushed past her into her living room, making straight for the screen on the wall.
“Excuse me,” said the blond one as he passed.
“What is it? What’s going on?” Willie asked as calmly as she could manage.
“Not sure, that’s what we’re here to find out,” replied the older of the two. He had taken a small rectangular device from a holster on his belt and was pointing it at the screen.
The blond one scanned the room briefly. Apparently seeing nothing amiss he looked at Willie and smiled reassuringly.
“We got a report from your screen that there might be something wrong. It’s nothing serious.”
“Really? Something wrong with it or-”
“Take a look at this,” the older man barked before Willie could finish her sentence. The younger one walked over to him and took the rectangular device from him. They both huddled over it for a moment, the older one pointing at whatever it was he wanted the other to see. As the younger one pored over the device, the older man began to walk through Willie’s house, peering intently into each room. Willie watched him, trying not to look guilty. When he walked toward the office she turned away, pretending interest in what the younger man was doing, though she couldn’t make head nor tails of it. She heard the older man poking about in the office, opening and closing doors. She dared not look, afraid her face or body language would give her away.
After looking through the upstairs bedrooms and the basement he came back and stood beside the younger man again without a glance at Willie. Oh thank god for small miracles, Willie thought, he hasn’t found anything.
“Yeah, I see what you mean,” the younger one said, handing back the device. He turned to face Willie, and as he did, the large neatly folded towel on the coffee table caught his eye. Willie felt her jaw tighten involuntarily.
“Wilhelmina, do you sometimes cover the screen? Like drape a towel over it maybe, or a blanket?”
Willie hesitated. She considered saying something about just setting the towel there when she went to answer the door, pretending she had been on her way to her bath, but decided against it. She was a terrible liar and, if the screen could do what she suspected it could, it would have seen her answer the door anyway.
“Well, yes, I do. Sometimes. Why?” Honesty is the best policy after all, she thought, at least it’s worth a shot.
The young man seemed a bit surprised by her answer, as if he hadn’t expected her to admit it. He hesitated briefly, considering.
“That explains it then. I mean the report. We would ask you not to cover it in future, please,” he said kindly but deliberately.
“Oh, well, sure, of course. I didn’t know it was a problem.”
“Yes well,” he paused, thought for a moment, and then continued. “They overheat, then they send out these reports and we have to come and check them out. It’s a pain. For you as well, I’m sure.” He smiled kindly but seemed slightly embarrassed.
“I have to ask, why would you want to cover it?”
“Oh, the glow bothers me sometimes, you know.” Honesty was not the best policy this time. The young man’s eyebrows went up and he looked at her incredulously for a moment or two.
“Well, just tell it to go dark next time. Did you know you could do that?”
“No, I didn’t actually. How does that work?”
“SAM, go dark,” the young man called over his shoulder. The screen went black.
“Oh brilliant. Thank you so much,” Willie gushed, perhaps a tiny bit too effusively. She knew she could make the screen dark, she just never bothered to do it. It wasn’t the glow that bothered her.
The older man, who had been standing watching them, approached Willie holding her chip card in its lanyard. He had taken it from its usual place in the office.
“You’re to wear this at all times. Regulations,” he said flatly.
He put the lanyard around her neck and held the rectangular device briefly up to her chip card. Without saying another word, he put the device back in its holster and turned to leave.
“Come on Jeff.”
“Yeah, I’ll be right there.” Willie heard the front door open behind her.
“I remember being here before,” the young man said.
“Really? When?”
“Your son is Marcus, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Willie forced herself to breathe normally.
“We went to school together. I remember coming here and building sandcastles on the beach. You used to bake cookies for us, or no -“
“Microwave s’mores, I think, and cocoa. You kids would always come in freezing, with your little hands red from the cold water.”
Willie was smiling broadly at the memory, but as she remembered who she was talking to the smile quickly faded, and she looked down at the carpet. It felt slightly dangerous somehow, to let her guard down the tiniest bit, even to her son’s childhood friend.
“Well, nice to see you again,” the young man said, awkwardly. Willie looked at him keenly for a moment. He seemed like a decent person, and she wanted to like him. Unfortunately, it was impossible to trust him, working for the SJD as he did.
“Yes, you too. Jeff, is it?” Willie smiled as warmly as she could manage.
“Yes, Jeff. Goodbye.” He turned to leave and Willie noticed the older man waiting for him near the open front door, the disapproving look on his face obvious even in the weak gray morning light. Jeff followed him out and closed the door behind him without looking back.
Willie stood in the middle of her living room, not yet able to fully grasp what had just happened. She had always suspected the SJD was able to observe her through the screen, but just assumed they probably had better things to do than peep in on an old woman. A strong sense of violation swept over her, so strong she felt nauseous. She walked slowly up the stairs to her bathroom, resisting the urge to look back at the screen. She pulled the door closed behind her and began to scan the room frantically, trying to reassure herself that surely they weren’t watching her in there too.
She knew that the dark man had gone into every room in the house. What if he had planted something in each room, even in here? Finally realizing there was no way to know for sure, she put the lid down on the toilet and sat down, trying to collect her thoughts. Her first instinct was to blame herself. You and your stupid wine, she thought, look at the trouble you’ve caused yourself. Instantly the little voice piped up again, pointing out she had every right to enjoy a glass of wine just like anyone else, and besides, what gave the SJD the right to watch her in her own home, like an animal in a zoo, or a prisoner in a jail cell?
It was true. They had no right. How was she a threat to anyone? How did taking away her privacy add to the greater good? She couldn’t see why it must be so; it made no sense. She swayed a little, as if a wave had washed over her. For the first time she seriously questioned the way things were. For the first time she found herself unable to shrug her shoulders and tell herself it was only fair. It frightened her, but she couldn’t deny it, and she couldn’t shake it off.
Still, she had a job to do. Resolutely, she stood up and climbed into the tub, clothes on. She closed the shower curtain tightly, took off her clothes and threw them over the rail. She showered and then reached around the curtain to get a towel off the rack. She dried herself off and wrapped the towel tightly around her before pulling the curtain back, then grabbed her clothes from the floor and went to her bedroom to get dressed for work.
Looking around the bedroom, she wondered where they would put a camera. Finally she dressed as she normally would, thinking if they wanted an eyeful she guessed she’d give to them.