Page 4 of Hoof It

Four

Chapter 3

Darcy

B etween the emotions roiling through me, and the hangover from all of the alcohol last night, I’m exhausted. It only takes a few minutes before I start to drift off.

“Nah, bitch. Nap later. Talk to me about goatman.”

I crack one eye open and see that Lexi has returned fresh from the shower. “What time is it?” I yawn and sit up.

Lexi pulls her phone out of her pocket and lights up the screen. “Two thirty in the afternoon.”

“Jesus. I hadn’t planned to sleep that long.” I shake my head in disbelief.

“I mean, we were up pretty late last night. Then woke up at the ass crack of dawn. Anyway, I’m going to go grab your laptop bag and notebook. You use the bathroom and take care of that,” Lexi motions to the disaster that is my hair, “then you’re going to tell me all about the goatman and we’re going to plan our next hunting trip.”

I grin for the first time in days. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”

Lexi laughs as she walks out of the bedroom. I climb off the bed and follow her out to make my way into the bathroom and start the shower. Turning the handle to the warm side, I cautiously step under the water. Then I just stand under the warm spray and let it run down my battered body. My entire body is sore from Mat as well as from sleeping squeezed between Lexi and Frankie.

Just as I’ve lathered a palmful of their shampoo onto my scalp, an unexpected knock at the door startles me. I jump and the movement causes shampoo to drip down into my open eyes.

“Fuck!” I curse as Lexi opens the door.

“You good, Darce?”

I’ve got my entire face under the shower head and I’m attempting to rinse the shampoo out of my eyes. I stick my head out of the shower curtain and look at Lex. “Yeah, you startled me and I got soap in my eyes.”

She laughs and it’s infectious, so it doesn’t take more than a few seconds before my laughter joins hers. “I brought you a set of Frankie’s clothes. A tee shirt and a pair of leggings. I’m gonna put them on the counter for you. No rush. Frankie just left for work for a few hours and I already showered. So, you can take your time in here. Although, I am dying to hear everything you learned. Soooooo…”

I laugh again. “Impatient ass. I’ll be out soon.”

Lexi gives me a thumbs up. “Alright, I’ll leave you to it.”

I pull my head back into the shower as she walks out and shuts the door behind her.

Feeling human for the first time in days, I step out of the shower and dry myself off before wrapping up in a towel. Glancing around, my eyes land on the blue tube of Lexi’s favorite face wash, it’s the perfect lather and the citrus scent never fails to perk me up. Washing the salt from the tear tracks running down my face feels as though I’m being reborn, like I’m able to take my first real breath since Mat came home that night. I pat my face dry and then get dressed in the clothes that Lexi brought me. I know that I need to go get my own clothes from the house, but I’m not quite feeling up for that yet.

I wrap my hair in the towel and step out of the bathroom, only to see my best friend sitting across the hall. Her legs are crisscross applesauce, her palms resting on her knees, and her eyes closed. Sitting on the floor next to Lex, I close my own eyes and bask in the silence. Dark thoughts start to creep up on me, and I fight to shove them aside. My focus is entirely on my breaths. The rise and fall of my chest is a reminder that I’m still here, that Mat hasn’t broken me completely.

Several long moments later, I finally feel centered and calm. My eyes blink open slowly and I feel more myself that I have in far too long. From the corner of my eye, I see Lexi open her eyes and smile before stretching out her legs. I hold out a hand to help her stand. Keeping her warm hand in mine, we walk towards the front of the house. I plop down on the couch and heft my laptop bag up with a groan.

As I’m opening my laptop, Lexi walks in with two coffee mugs. She places one down on the coffee table in front of me before sitting next to me on the couch. I grab my notebook and flip it open to the first page of my goatman notes.

“You don’t think we should wait for Frankie to go over everything?”

Lexi shakes her head and takes a drink of her coffee. “Nah. I’ll fill her in when she gets home.”

“Okay. Here’s everything I learned this week about the goatman.”

We go over each and every meticulous note I took. I tell Lexi about the origin of the goatman, where most of the sightings have been, how long it’s been since the last sighting, as well as what the locals have had to say over the years. Next thing I know, three hours have passed. Our coffees are long forgotten and cold, and Frankie’s walking in, her arms laden with a bag from our favorite fast food place and a to-go tray of drinks from a local coffee shop.

“I figured neither of you would have thought to eat once you started going over research together. So, I got a sack full of burgers and iced coffees.”

Lexi and I both grin up at her. Frankie places the bag and tray down on the coffee table before leaning down and kissing Lexi tenderly. I force myself to look up at the ceiling before tears threaten to fall. It forces me to think about the last time anything between Mat and I was tender, and it dawns on me that it’s been at least a year.

I fight the tears harder, and a hand squeezes my shoulder. I look towards my two best friends and offer them a weak smile. Frankie kisses the top of my head before handing me a wrapped burger and an iced coffee. I tear into the burger, suddenly ravenous. I can’t remember the last time I ate anything of substance. I’m down to my last bite when another bacon double cheeseburger is shoved in my face. I grin up at Frankie in thanks.

“No fries, Frankie?! Ugh! What did I hire you for?!” I glance at Lexi and her face has a massive grin. Frankie waves her off.

“Baby, you didn’t hire me. I hired you after you kept stalking me at school for months.”

I’ve heard the story of how they met at least a dozen times, plus I was forced to live it since Lex dragged me along with her for most of junior year when her crush on Frankie first became public knowledge.

Lexi cackles and blows a kiss to Frankie before taking another bite of her own burger. The three of us finish eating in comfortable silence. I lose myself in my thoughts as I chew and swallow each bite.

Frankie is the first to finish, followed by Lexi, and then me. Together we clean up our mess, then get right back into the goatman research. We catch Frankie up on everything I’ve already gone over so far.

“Okay, so if the last five sightings were all centered around Lake Cosca in Maryland, but it’s been at least ten years since the last sighting, what makes you so sure that, that’s the best place to go, Darce?” Frankie looks at me, one eyebrow raised in question.

“Because I spent several hours cross referencing all of the key words to see if there’s been a sighting anywhere else in the country since the last one. There’s nothing. So, my gut says that the goatman is still there, just hiding from humanity for whatever reason.”

“Probably because the world is a total dumpster fire, babes. I can’t say that I blame it. Or is goatman a him?”

I shrug. “No one has ever reported getting close enough to it to be able to determine the gender.”

Lexi nods, accepting my response. “So, when do you want to go to Maryland?”

“I’d love to say right now, but ya know, my life is currently a mess.” I shrug and continue. “I’d need to go home long enough to at least grab my clothes and my camping gear. If he’s there, it’ll turn into a huge fight that I don’t have any desire to participate in. Then I’d need to plan the actual trip and make sure my car is up for that long of a drive. I don’t know when the last time he took it for an oil change or anything was.” I sigh.

“So, what if we went with you to get your stuff? You already know that we’re going on the trip with you. We can take one of our cars if you want,” Frankie offers up, and Lexi nods in agreement.

“Ugh, I fucking love you two. You know that, right?”

“What else do you need to do?” Lex asks, grabbing my notebook and pen while flipping to a new page.

“We’d need to set an exact date so that we can rent a campsite in the Cosca Regional Park. Double check that all our camping gear is intact and ready for use since it’s been a while. Check the weather for the week or so that we’ll be there so that we know what to expect.” With each item I list, I hold up a finger. Lexi’s hand flies across the notebook as she writes down everything we need to do, her grin so big it’s taking over her face.

“Then we’ll need to stock up on non-perishable food items. Get a new bear proof cooler because I have no idea where mine is. Buy some bear spray because I’m pretty sure the cans we currently have are all expired.”

Lexi nods as she continues writing. Frankie speaks up. “What all do you need to grab from the house, Darce? You know that we’re going with you to get your stuff. What about your bank accounts? Are they in your name alone, or in yours and his? I want to help you make this break up as clean as possible.”

“Fuck. Um, I need everything. My clothes, my books, the quilt that my grandma made me when I was a kid. My desktop computer. Ummmm…” I trail off as I try to picture each room of the house and anything of mine that may be in them. “All of my hair tools. My toiletries. Oh! My photos of the three of us through the years! My photo albums up in the attic. My little knickknacks from our cryptid hunting trips.”

Frankie nods as I list everything I own. “You can stay here as long as you need, Darcy. You know this. We have space. The spare room is already basically yours anyway. You might as well make it official.” She smiles softly at me.

“Frankie is right, Darce. We can go get all of your stuff tomorrow and move you in here.”

I can’t help the stray tears that slowly fall down my cheeks as I lunge at them and pull them in for a hug. “I really fucking love you two.”

Lexi laughs, “We love you too, woman.”

“Hell yes we do,” Frankie agrees. “Last question for now, what about the money situation?”

I pull away from the group hug and grin. “We never opened a joint account. We’ve always kept our money separate. He hated that I didn’t want to open one with him; said it would be easier to pay our bills if we had a joint account. But there was always a little voice in the back of my head that told me not to. And, I’ve even opened up a savings account at a different bank that he doesn’t know about. I’ve been saving small amounts of cash each week. He tends to forget cash in his pants pockets before he changes clothes. You wouldn’t believe the amount of money the fool has ‘lost’.”

Frankie cackles. “How much?!”

My grin grows. “Just shy of five grand over the course of about a year.”

Lexi jumps up so fast that it gives me vertigo. Her eyes are wide with shock and her head ping pongs between Frankie and myself. “How did he not notice that kind of money missing? I know he’s kind of, well, dumb, but I didn’t think he was that dumb!”

“Despite pushing for me to open a joint account, he rarely used his own account. The moment his paychecks hit, he was at the atm withdrawing it all. ‘Cash is king baby’ was always his reason as to why.”

Frankie and Lex both shake their heads. I just shrug. “After the third time of finding a hundred dollar bill in his pants, I realized that I could use it to my advantage. Not only was I able to save money, but I could use his constantly losing money as a reason not to add him to my account. Obviously, he couldn’t be trusted. And he stopped questioning me. He also stopped asking me if I’d found any cash in his pockets because he didn’t want me to know he was still ‘losing’ so much money.”

“Wait, you said it’s in a savings account. Does that mean that it’s gaining interest?” Frankie asks.

“Yup. It has a one percent interest rate. Five thousand is just what I’ve deposited over the last year. I don’t pay attention to how much interest it’s accrued. I just let it keep adding up.”

“Jesus. I don’t want to do that math…” Lexi says, and Frankie interrupts her. “It’s not much. About fifty dollars, if there’s exactly five thousand in the account.”

I shrug both shoulders. “I’m gonna have to take your word for it. I know nothing about it other than my interest rate and how much I’ve deposited.”

Frankie grins and changes the subject. “Okay, so we know what we need to do. Lex, did you happen to write down the list of all Darcy’s stuff that we need to get from the house?”

Lexi nods. “Sure did.” She rips out a sheet from the notebook and hands it to Frankie, who hands it to me to double check.

“Looks right. If I happen to think of anything else I want or need I’ll add it,” I tell Frankie.

“Okay. Tentative plan then; tomorrow I have to work all day, and so does Lex. Darce, you can stay here and just veg out if you aren’t feeling up to going into work just yet. Though you should probably call your landlord and let them know that you’re moving out, then call the county history museum and let your boss know you need some time off. The day after tomorrow, the three of us will take mine and Lexi’s SUV’s to the house and we’ll grab everything of yours. We’ll bring it all back here and get you settled into your room.”

“Okay.”

“Once you’re moved in, we’ll start planning our trip to find goatman. Sound good?”

“Yes, ma’am.” “Mmhmm.” Lexi and I answer at the same time.

“Okay. For now, let’s put everything away and watch more Shenanigans before we head to bed?”

“Yes, please!”

Just like that, the heavy mood from the last hour dissipates and we lose ourselves to the ridiculous reality show for a few hours.