"Do I have to remind you? She's a liar, and she's cheating," Mike snapped. "And I'm going to prove it."

Elizabeth's Treason
by MELISSA CROSS

Our initial case of the house indicated that the coast was clear, so we slipped easily through the garage and entered the main house.  It was so quiet, that the blood pounding in my head sounded like a bass drum.  I quickly led Kat through the house and directly to Elizabeth's bedroom.  We didn't have much time. 

The door was open, so we tiptoed in. Dust motes danced lazily around the late afternoon sunbeams that filtered through the heavy peach curtains into Elizabeth's well-appointed bedroom.  The room felt cold and intimidating without her in it, like a church.  Or maybe it just felt that way because I wasn't supposed to be here, and I was worried that God would call me out.

"Mike,"  Kat whispered, "this is nuts."

Coward.  I put my finger to my lips.  Think, Mike.  Why the hell did I bring him along?  I scanned the room.  How would I find the proof?   I couldn't just ransack the place.  This little operation had to be a surgical procedure.  Best for her not to know.

"She's gonna know it was you.  Come on, man --"  Kat fidgeted.

"Do I have to remind you?  She's a liar, and she's cheating," I snapped.  "And I'm going to prove it."

He shook his head.  "I don't know, man. You're like, obsessed."

I ignored him.  Think like her, Mike.  You're cheating, and you have to hide the evidence somewhere.  I walked over to the bed and tapped my fingers over the flowered comforter.  She slept here.  So innocently, no doubt, so sure she had everyone conned, especially me. 

The memories of our time there - all the time I invested in getting to her bed, all the games I had to play to get through her door - threatened to overwhelm me.  She was a lot younger than me.  Not only had I been her first, but no one even looked at her before I did.  I took her out, I introduced her to the right people.  She had status with me.  My throat went dry.  You'd think that would inspire some basic loyalty.  But no, the little bitch had stabbed me in the back.  I just knew it.

Don't think about it.  Just do what you came here to do.  "Maybe there's something under here," I mused, bending on one knee and looking under the bed.  "Check the other side."

Chris "Kat" Kazinsky - now, there's a joke of a name for you - ambled over reluctantly, dodging the windows clumsily.  He twisted his large frame awkwardly to duck under the other side of the bed, then reappeared a second later.  "There's nothing there," he muttered immediately. 

"Are you sure?"  I couldn't help but doubt his sincerity.   I could tell he was twitchy, ready to bolt.  The Kat had never had much of a stomach for coloring outside the lines.  Besides, even when we were kids, his short attention span was legendary. 

"Yeah, I'm sure.  Look - we gotta get out of here."

"I'm not leaving until we've settled this," I insisted.

"Well, how do you know for sure?  She's your girlfriend," Chris cajoled.  "Don't you trust her?"

His words ate at me.  He couldn't know that feeling in my gut.  "No.  I don't."

"Couldn't you just ask her, then?"

I glared at him.  "Are you insane?"

"This isn't healthy.  I think you need help," he sighed.  Satisfied with his diagnosis, he gave up all pretense of helping, and just watched as I approached the closet.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw him dip his hand nervously into his back pocket and retrieve the ever-ready can of chew. 

"Not here, Kazinsky," I growled.  Honestly.  No brain at all, this guy, sometimes.  He tapped his forehead with a sheepish grin.

I reached the closet and gingerly opened the door.  Not like I expected anything to happen, but one couldn't be too careful, after all. 

"You're going in there?" Kat whispered, horrified. 

I nodded.  It was in here.  With the caution of a bomb technician, I moved shoes, coats, blouses, things I'd never even seen before ever so slightly out of the way.  Ahhhhhh!  That cheating bitch.  I had her now, but good.  I liberated the evidence of her betrayal from the closet's depths and dropped it triumphantly at Chris's feet. 

He gaped at it.  "No way."

"There's the proof, mi amigo."

Chris knelt and examined my discovery thoughtfully.  "I never have thought she'd do something like this," he said reproachfully, shaking his head.  "I'm sorry, man.  You were right."

"What did I tell you?" I felt strangely jubilant, oddly light. 

"You called it, man."

"You bet your ass I did."  I knelt down and stroked it lovingly.  I had sought it for so long.

The ugly marble Buddha in the scarlet wrestling jacket lay on the floor, belly to the carpet where I'd dropped him. Kat dropped to his knees with me and righted the statue.  "So what so we do now?  Maybe we should just leave it here." 

"No way in hell," I exclaimed.  "Only seniors and juniors may steal the wrestling team mascot.  Sophomores are not allowed to play the game.  That's tradition!  She nearly messed it up for us!"

Kat shrugged.  "So all's well that ends well, right?"

"Hey, I stole it from the juniors fair and square. She had no right to take it.  At least now they'll have to buy it back from us at graduation."

Kat laughed.  "You need to lighten up, man."

 

© 2005 Melissa Cross.  All rights reserved.  No part of this story may be reproduced without the express permission of the author.