If you want to start from the beginning, click here for Chapter One
Chapter Two
"The term 'piggybacking' means to use someone's Internet connection without their permission or awareness, correct?" the prosecutor asked.
"Yes, sir - that is correct," I answered, remembering his advice to keep my responses short and to the point. This was only the evidentiary hearing to see if the emails could be used. He'd said there was no sense in putting all the proverbial cards on the table yet.
"So it was because of this you were able to access Sharon's emails?"
"Well, no... not exactly. The only thing piggybacking allows you to do, besides hopping on someone's Internet connection, is to see any folders or files people have as "shared" on their network. You don't get automatic access to their online accounts, like Yahoo or Hotmail. You'd still need their passwords in order to read their emails."
"Then how were you able to read the defendant's emails through piggybacking?"
"I wasn't. I mean, I was able to read her emails, but not because of the piggybacking. In fact, at the time the crimes were committed, I was hooked up to Sharon's computer network."
"How did that come about?"
"Umm... " I paused, trying to think of a concise way of explaining the events leading up to my discovery of Sharon and Elise's email conversation, while leaving out a majority of the bed-hopping antics, as the prosecutor had also advised. I figured he must be an amazing lawyer, not to mention poker player, to be able to say, "bed-hopping antics" without batting an eye. I finally replied, "Well, there were a bunch of different things that happened first leading up to it. Starting, I guess, with when I first met Martha, Sharon's... err, rather the defendant's mother ..."
The rest of the move was pretty uneventful. Jack managed to leave me completely set up in my new life, and thoroughly confused as to whether or not my old one was truly over. He called his brother as we were finishing up and, as arranged, had him drop off our cat Max. Jack had decided I should have custody of him (and swore it had nothing to do with his former-now-current roommate's allergies), but agreed it would be less stressful on Max to wait until after the truck was unloaded.
I was determined not to be one of those girls who spend the rest of their dateable years mourning the loss of a relationship. I allowed myself a couple of days to have a total and complete pity party, with the requisite Ben & Jerry's and way too much take-out Chinese, then planned a closure ritual for the new moon. After work on the third day, I headed to my favorite local witchy store to stock up. After soaking up the calming sandlewood-scented atmosphere, and resisting the urge to buy the cute little voodoo doll as a joke, I took the candles and incense to the cashier, then headed home to get set up.
I decided to go with a simple ceremony. I carved some healing and banishing runes on the candles with my handy dandy quartz crystal point. Then I lit a charcoal disk in my small cast-iron cauldron, and picked a blue Post-it note from the rainbow pack I used for burning, after learning the hard way not to light big pieces of paper on fire unless I was hoping for a date with a cute fireman. Using my favorite magical pencil, I wrote what I wished gone from my life, and what I wanted to heal, lit the paper with the candle, then set it in the cauldron to finish burning. After it turned to ash, I took a deep breath and watched the candle flames, meditating on my new path.
"Isn't that cheating?"
I glanced over at the smug-faced devil, perched back on my shoulder again.
"What do you mean - cheating how? And where's your better half?
"Off doing heavenly things I imagine. I mean what you wrote. Sending out into the Universe that you "want to move on from the past issues with Jack and start fresh" doesn't exactly read like you're giving him the big send-off."
"What's your point? And no fair reading over my shoulder."
"Just doesn't sound like you plan on giving up on him."
When I couldn't dig up a retort, he chortled and pointed his tiny pitchfork at me like a skinny red finger.
"I'm right, aren't I? You think you'll get back together, don't you? After everything, you still want him back?"
"It's not that I want him back, I... I just think he's going to realize someday soon that he made a big mistake, so I don't want to close the door completely yet."
"Keeping your foot in it then?" asked the smirking imp.
"You can hush your mouth right now. Besides, shouldn't you be off creating chaos and strife somewhere?"
"Probably, but it's my day off. I'm moonlighting as a Devil's Advocate."
"Great, even my hallucinations make bad puns," I groaned as I flicked him off my shoulder and turned my attention back to my altar.
After I released my circle and put my tools away, I got online to check my email. As I surfed a few of my favorite hang-outs, I noticed a voice getting louder and louder in my brain. I realized it sounded like all those crazy hands from the movie Labyrinth, only instead of saying, "She choose DOWN!" they were saying, "You choose JAIL!"
"Alright, already, I get the message. I'll stop. Even better, I'll tell them their connection is open, and show them how to lock it. Okay, stupid subconscious?"
I posted a bunch of messages online saying I'd be AFK (Away From Keyboard) for a little over a week while I waited for my install. I figured the universe was trying to tell me I needed some down time with no distractions in order to get myself firmly on this new path. I mean, I hadn't even finished organizing my new place - sure, almost everything was out of the boxes, but things were still in their temporary places. I had dinner plates in three different kitchen cabinets and no idea what to put in the cute little set of drawers next to the fridge. This could be an opportunity, right? And I knew the longer I felt unsettled in my place, the more likely I would be to do something completely dumb, like calling Jack to come over and hangout "just as friends" (code for, "let's have sex"). I didn't want to be that girl, and I wanted to feel like my apartment was my safe little haven in a sea of screwed up people, so not having the cyber distraction could only be a good thing, right?
So I took a deep breath, disconnected my wireless router, and told myself the very next day after work, I would approach my neighbors, explain the situation, and beg forgiveness.
However when I got home the next day, the apartment downstairs looked quiet, and there were no cars in the driveway. I figured I'd go upstairs and try to keep my eyes open for them. Somehow, the idea of knocking on their door filled me with fear - I was much better about my ridiculous shyness at my advanced age of twenty-seven then I'd been at the tender age of twelve, but there were still situations that filled me with dread. Knocking on unfamiliar doors was high on that list.
I started working on dinner, trying hard not to listen to the internal whine of the voice telling me how much it sucked cooking for only one, and periodically looking out the living room window to see if their porch light turned on.
I was in the middle of browning the hamburger for my mini shepherd's pie, when I heard tap-tap-tap on my door. I tried not to panic (another by-product of my shy and reclusive nature) and looked out of the peephole. I saw the top of a head and, hoping it was a child and not a homicidal midget in search of a random kill, I opened the door. I recognized the little one from downstairs, who said, "My Nana wanted me to come upstairs and tell you that you left your headlights on."
"I did? Well, you tell your Nana I said thank you, and I'll be right down to shut them off."
She smiled and disappeared back down the stairs. I realized the universe just gave me a wonderful opportunity to break the ice. Or, the universe wasn't going to let me off easy, depending how you looked at it. I grabbed my keys, shut the stove burner off, and headed down the stairs.
The woman I assumed was grandma was in the process of pulling Walmart bags out of the back of her car. I waved at her as I went over, unlocked my car, and shut off the lights. Then I quickly walked over before I lost my nerve, and said, "Thanks so much for sending your granddaughter up. Getting to work tomorrow morning would have definitely been challenging with a dead battery. My name's Catherine, by the way. I believe you know my mother Lisa from your church?"
"No problem," said the rather less-than-tiny woman. "I'm always leaving my lights on, so I know what it's like. Yes, I do know your mother and she talks about you all the time. Nice to finally meet you, Catherine. I'm Martha. You already met Kaitlin."
I looked over and smiled at the girl, who seemed to be around the same age as my first-grader niece. I asked her, "Let me guess - you're what, fifteen, sixteen?"
She giggled and said, "Noooooo."
"Oh, how silly of me. You're probably more like twenty or twenty-one, and now I've insulted you, right?"
She giggled again, and said, "No, I'm only seven."
"Seven?" I exclaimed in mock surprise. "You're much too smart to be that young. I bet you're an undercover spy and can't reveal your real age. My apologies for almost blowing your cover. Carry on, Miss Spy."
She rolled her eyes at her grandmother, and laughed while she brought grocery bags into the house. Martha said, "You're good with kids. Are you planning to have some of your own soon?"
"Nope, haven't gotten there yet." I gritted my teeth and smiled, thinking any question of whether or not my mother mentioned me in church was just answered. "But I am the favorite aunt to my brother's children, and not just because I'm their only aunt."
Martha chuckled, and pulled more bags from the back. I noticed how slow she moved, even for a woman of her size, and how sweaty she was getting even though it was pretty cool out. My guilt pushed me into action.
"Can I help you with those?"
"Oh, that's okay - we can manage."
"Are you sure? It's no trouble."
Martha paused for a moment, and caught her breath. "Okay, if you don't mind, I certainly could use a hand. My daughter never seems to be around when we get back from shopping. Thank you."
I followed her inside, carrying the last five bags easily as she struggled with two. I took a deep breath and said as we walked, "It's the least I can do - in fact, I probably owe you a month of grocery hauling. I consider it repayment for hitching a ride on your Internet for the past few nights."
There, I finally said it out loud. No going back now.
Martha frowned as she put the bags on the kitchen table, and then asked, "What do you mean, hitching a ride?"
I half smiled, half grimaced and said, "I had a little misunderstanding about the internet in my apartment..." I proceeded to babble the whole story at her, including Jack, open networks, and piggybacking until I noticed she was motionless, watching me with a worried look on her face. "And I should probably shut up now, because I think I just freaked you out and I know I'm getting a phone call from my mother tonight."
"Umm," she said slowly, "I'm not sure what you're talking about. My daughter is the one who knows about computers. She and her ex-husband Roger set everything up. Did they do something illegal?"
"No, not at all. I'm the one who did something wrong, and I wanted to let you know before someone else does it and isn't as honest as me." I winced a bit at the unintentional irony, but it seemed to be lost on Martha.
"Okay, well... thank you for telling me and I'll let my daughter know when she gets home that you said our computers ...” Her voice trailed off as she tried to work out what I'd said with all those words.
"Tell her the network is unsecured, and she should understand. If she has any questions, please tell her to feel free to come upstairs and knock on the door.She can even bring the police if she's feels it's warranted." As my unease got worse, so did my sense of humor, but amazingly, Martha laughed.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure it will be fine, and it's not like she's never done anything wrong before. Thanks again for helping with the groceries," she said, signaling it was time for me to leave. I said my farewells to her and Kaitlin, then made a less than graceful departure, almost tripping over a little white puffball of a dog (I later learned he was Martha’s dog Barney) in the process.
"Great way to make a first impression," I groaned to myself as I went out the front door.
When I got back upstairs, I saw the red message light on my cell phone flashing. I checked and saw Jack had called. Feeling a bit proud of myself after my confession, and knowing I'd end up telling him about it and he'd tease me to know end, I shut the alert off. I had my shepherd's pie, gave Max a little raw hamburger I'd set aside for his treat, then settled in on the couch with some ice cream to reward myself for being such a tough chick.
After dinner, I got another phone call, but not the expected, "What on earth did you say to Martha to get her so upset" rant from my mother. It was my cousin Christine, the closest thing I had to a local best friend. Technically, we're cousins about a thousand times removed, but we're almost the same age and ended up in the same general area of New Hampshire. We could get on the phone and talk for hours about absolutely nothing. Even though she was now married with two kids, we still managed to find things in common.
Knowing if I didn't answer, she'd call a bunch more times and I'd have to wade through all her funny and/or annoying messages speculating why I wasn't picking up, I hit the button and said, "Hey, I'm not home right now, leave a message at the beep. Beep."
"Fine, I have exciting news, but since you're not there, I guess I'll have to wait and call you tomorrow ... bye ..."
"Okay, okay - I give. What's the exciting news?" I rolled my eyes, knowing it was probably just a ploy to keep me on the phone.
"Oh, so you lied about not being home, and now I'm supposed to reward that behavior?"
"I didn't lie, I got in as you were leaving the message and I picked up."
"Nice try, but I called your cell phone - can't screen that."
"Dang, you win - but seriously, it's almost time for 'Red Dwarf" so I can't talk long."
"Oh, excuse me all to pieces. Nice to know I rate just below some weird sci-fi show on your list of important things. Fine, I'll make it quick. Remember I told you about how I was getting Laura involved in Girl Scouts?"
"Yes, I remember how it made me all nostalgic for when we used to wear our little green sashes and do the yearly camping thing at the Friendship House in Gloucester. Why?"
"Well, I figured out a way we can recapture that magic, even though we're old ladies now." She had the tone I called the 'plan in motion' voice, and I knew it would be about as easy to stop as a twenty ton snowball barreling down Mount Washington.
"Um, scared now - what have you cooked up?"
"Just that our area Girl Scout troop is short on adult volunteers, and I know how much you want Laura to have all the same wonderful experiences and memories as we did as girls, and you'd want to help out ..."
"Oh, my god! What did you volunteer me to do?"
"It's not as scary as it sounds. I only said I could be a co-leader to a troop that only has one leader, and I was sure you wouldn't mind helping out as another co-leader."
"Ugh, I don't know. Co-leader sounds suspiciously like someone who gets delegated all kinds of stuff the leader doesn't want to be bothered with."
"No, seriously, it will be fun. All you need to do is come to a leaders' meeting with me next week, and they can give you all the details."
"Why me?" I asked, knowing there was usually an ulterior motive.
"Because we could plan some fun things together, and you're always saying you don't see my kids enough. Besides, there are a couple of cute single dads in our group ..."
"Geez, Chris, give it up already! I'll come to the meeting if you promise me not to make this about my being single."
"Okay, deal. Go watch your stupid show and I'll talk to you tomorrow. Oh, and is he cute?"
"Who?"
"Your downstairs neighbor. Didn't you say a guy lived in the other apartment?"
"Nice try. No, I didn't say. In fact, apparently all my downstairs neighbors are female..."
"Oh, so you've decided to see if the grass is greener ..."
”... who all know my mother and brother from church! Therapy much? Hanging up now."
"Bye Cat."
"Bye Chris."
Girl Scouts. Why did I have such a hard time picturing myself wearing a green and white oxford shirt and singing by the campfire? Regardless, I'd give it a chance because she was right - I wanted Laura to have the same kind of awesome experience Chris and I had. Maybe I could even satisfy that nagging maternal urge by doing this, in the best way possible - hanging out with the kids, then sending them home with mom and dad... or maybe just dad... okay, I was going to seriously hurt Chris for putting these dangerous thoughts in my head...
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I piggy back sometimes. Speaking of first impressions, I like writing too. Interesting fiction. I like it. Thanks for sharing. I'm Oatmeal Joey Arnold. Happy Easter 2018.
Nice to meet you, @joeyarnoldvn! Always happy to bump into another Steemian writer. 😊
I am SO intrigued to see where this is going !!!
And this Cat... a lot like me.... addicted to the internet, to toxic exes [I still need to know what happened between them!] and not closing doors and to...witchcraft hehe!
Also, I need a picture of Max. Yeah, I know it's a novel - invent it if you have to :P You mention cat,you give people cat! :P
Coolness!
And funny thing - Cat is a lot like me too... 😉
You'll find out a little bit about the backstory of their relationship in... shuffles papers two more chapters, then even more later on. Does that help? LOL!
Oh, that's right - completely forgot I took out the description of Max! He's based on Sid, but someone ages ago said it was "too stereotypical" to make a witch's cat black. Well, screw you person who's name I've completely forgotten - Max is a gorgeous, short-haired Obsidian colored cat!
Well we do now by now that us two are alike so Cat is similar to us ;)))
No.......check your messenger................
Love love loooooove Max!!! [when I was a kid I named all my pets Max - goldfish, parrot -no cat, Mom wouldn't let me have one :P ]
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