true.
All I really, really wanted was for the guy to get out of my life. He was like a stainor a rash or a wart that you just canât get rid of.
I didnât know what more I could do. Iâd told him to go away. Iâd told him to leave me alone. How much clearer could I have been? Why was he still bugging me? Couldnât he get it through his thick skull that I didnât like him?
Kyla said, âYouâve got a stalker on your hands, Frances.â
Thatâs not what I wanted to hear. It really annoyed me. Typical Kyla, I thought. Always blowing things way out of proportion. Anything for a good story.
âQuit exaggerating, Kyla. Itâs bad enough as it is.â
âIâd call the cops if I were you.â
âOh, please! And tell them what?â I said. ââHe gave me flowers. Arrest him!â Sure.â
âWhat about him taking those pictures of you?â she said.
âThereâs no law against that either. Itâs not like I was naked or anything,â I said.
âI donât know, Fran. I donât like the sound of this guy. He makes up stories. He followsyou. He wonât take no for an answer. Thereâs something wrong with him.â
âDuh! Obviously. But being nuts isnât illegal.â
âYeah, but that doesnât mean it isnât dangerous,â Kyla said. âAt least according to my bible.â
She meant
People Magazine
. Sheâs a junkie.
âI read this article a little while ago about celebrity stalkers. The guy in it said something like âSure, theyâre crazyâbut crazy isnât stupid.â Thatâs what makes them so dangerous. Stalkers are insane
and smart
.â
âI could say that about you, Kyla. But I wouldnât have you arrested. Unless you donât quit it, that is.â
âIâd be worried, Fran. Who knows? Devin could get violent.â
âShut up!â I said. âNow youâre just trying to scare me.â
âIâm not,â she said. âIâm just warning you.â
âLook, the guyâs not a stalker. Heâs just pathetic. Heâs never done anything violent.And anyway, even if he did, Iâm a big girl. I could probably take him.â
Kyla started laughing.
âOh, right! Thereâs a fight Iâd
love
to see. Devin the Creep versus Frances the Klutz.â
She was howling. She could barely catch her breath. Kyla knows what a spaz I am.
âI can just picture the two of you, flailing away at each other! It would be better than the WWF. No! NO! Iâm wrong! It would
be
the WWF. By which, of course, I mean the Weirdo Wrestling Federation! Weâll get Devin a cape and a mullet, and weâll get you one of those little silver leotards and a boob job. Youâll make millions.â
It was so stupid I had to laugh too.
After the day Iâd had, I needed it.
And the day wasnât over yet.
Chapter Fourteen
Mr. Abdul called at about nine oâclock that night to say he had a brand new-daughter. I tried to sound happy, but I didnât do a very good job. I was so bummed out about Leo and the picture and the flowers.
I tried to call him, but there was no one home.
I could have screamed. I wanted to kill Devin for screwing up my life. I kept thinking about what I was going to do the next time I saw him.
I was going to tell him that he was repulsive and disgusting and sick and perverted. I was going to say he smelled bad. I was going to threaten to call the cops. I was going to say whatever it took to get rid of him for good.
That was my plan, anyway.
It started to pour at about ten oâclock. With all that rain, the customers pretty much stopped coming. To keep myself busy, I drew a little card for the baby. I was tired and cranky so it wasnât very creative. I just sketched a picture of the harbor and wrote âWelcome to Lockeportâs newest citizen!â
That took me until