That night Ronald and Latoya slept in the same bed. Neither of them felt safe after Latoya told Ronald about the rule of inviting a monster into your home. That was a bad move on her part she now saw. Their mother never returned from the room after saying she did not feel well. At some point during the early morning Ronald needed to use the bathroom. He slowly climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom. He never forgets how dark the house is at night.
Just as he was about to sit down he heard a creak. It was very faint but he was sure that he heard something. He pulled his underpants back up and walked into the living room. He scanned the room and went to the kitchen confident it was safe. He saw that the locks on the back door were all undone. Even the chain was not in place. He was just tall enough to put them back on. He went into the living room again and checked the front door, making sure it was secure
It was.
Right?
He sighed silently to himself and began to walk to the bathroom when all of a sudden there was pounding at the back door. Ronald screamed and ran towards his bedroom but tripped on a phone cords, yanking it to the floor with a loud crash and ringing from the bell inside.
He scrambled to his feet and hit his broken arm on the doorway of his bedroom. Latoya was not in bed. She was in her room where they had fallen asleep! Again a loud pounding made his heart skip a few beats. He was about to run back into the hallway leading to Latoya's room when suddenly his door slammed shut. He crashed into it face first. Sitting up and rubbing his now bloody nose he felt a chill run down his spine. He looked towards his bedroom window and saw a figure standing in front of it. It began pounding on his window. Ronald screamed so loud that it woke Latoya up.
She jumped out of her bed and raced to his room. She tried opening the door but the knob would not even turn. She tried kicking it but it would not budge. She took a few steps back and threw her shoulders into it. She was thrown back against the floor, the wind flying out of her and stars dancing in her vision.
"Ronald, open the door!" she shouted. She could hear him on the other side panting heavily. "Ronald, are you okay?!" Silently the door opened. Ronald was sitting on the floor; a puddle of urine soaked the carpet around him.
"It was her…" he whimpered as his eyes rolled back and he slumped, his head thudding against the floor. Latoya walked over to him and caught a glimpse of a shadow running from the window. She quickly ran to the kitchen, grabbed a large knife, and tried to take the locks and chain off of the door. She ran into the backyard and looked around. The cold air turned her breath into smoke.
She looked towards Miss May's house but saw no movement. Suddenly she felt someone behind her. She spun quickly, throwing her leg high. She was going to put her junior high cheer leading exercises to work. She moved so quickly that by the time she saw who her foot was aimed at it was far too late to stop. The kick hit her under the chin, knocking her on her ass. Her legs going straight in the air.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Lucia screamed. "First you lock me outta my own goddamned house and then you kick me?!" Lucia slowly got to her feet rubbing her jaw. She swung her fist at Latoya but she ducked it and slapped Lucia across the face. "What the fuck you think you doin', girl?" she asked Latoya. "Don't you know I will break you in half?"
"Today I found out that there are way scarier things in the world than a crack headed ass step-mama" Latoya said. "I swear to God that if you hit me again I am gon' kill you." Latoya locked eyes with Lucia, refusing to look away or blink. Lucia rubbed her chin and smiled.
"I got you, bitch," she said to Latoya. "Just you wait. I got you, don't worry" she said as she walked back into the house. Latoya stood and caught her breath and let her heart slow down as she heard all of the locks turning inside and the chain being placed into its slot.
She walked over to Ronald's window and saw Lucia grab him off of the floor and hit him across the face. A muffled "Next time open the fuckin' window!" was heard before the door was slammed.
Ronald walked over to his window and cracked it open as quietly as he could. He stuck his hand out and motioned for Latoya. She walked over and took his hand. He was trying his best to keep from crying.
"Wanna come in?" he asked her in between sniffles.
"No," Latoya said. "We'd both get into trouble" she replied. "I'm jus' gonna sleep in the car." Ronald released her hand as she walked in the driveway towards Lucia's car.
As she approached it she saw a figure standing next to it. After the day she had she thought that nothing could scare her but she was wrong. The figure waved her over.
She felt herself walking towards it before she even knew that she was moving. She tried to will her legs to stop but they would not listen to her. As she got closer to the car and the figure she tried to grab the hood but succeeded only in taking hold of the antennae, breaking it in the center. "Another whippin'," she thought to herself as she continued moving. The figure smiled at her. Yellow teeth glowing like a wolf the moment before attacking its prey.
"What you doin' up so early, sweetie?" Miss May asked as she raised a large shovel into the air.
Latoya woke up on the couch in the living room. She had no idea how she got inside. She tried to sit up but her head was aching. The room began to spin and she lay back down. She opened her eyes and Ronald was standing over her.
"How you get back in?" he asked her. She tried to speak but only a gasp came out. She looked over Ronald's shoulder and raised her eyebrows. "Mama went to church," he said. "She saw you on the couch and got mad so I tol' her I let you in," he said while lifting his shirt. He had a hand print on his chest. "I didn't want to get you into trouble no more."
"Thanks" Latoya said. She felt that it was okay for her to sit up after the room stopped spinning. "I saw her outside."
"Who? Mama?" Ronald asked.
"No, stupid. The Bug Lady" Latoya said as she stood. She felt the back of her head and it was sore. "She was waitin' by your mama's car last night. She hit me with somethin', I think." Latoya tried to remember what she saw but when she was close to getting a clear image of Miss May the pounding in her head grew stronger. She grunted and sat down quickly on the couch. "I am gonna go to her house today."
"You can't do that!" Ronald protested. "I'm gon' tell mama if you do!"
"I don't care" Latoya said. She stood and walked to her bedroom with Ronald following closely behind. Even in the daylight of a bright summer morning he still did not feel safe from the Bug Lady. "I need to find out what her problem is. She two-faced. Actin' all sweet to mama then turnin' 'round and hitting me in the head." Ronald saw the back of Latoya's head as she bent down to grab her backpack.
"'Toya, you got sumthin' on your neck" he said to her. Latoya went into the bathroom and positioned the mirrors so she could see the back of her head. She grabbed at it but it would not budge. She took Lucia's tweezers and picked at it. "Ew!" Ronald screamed. It was a large grub. Blood dripped from the back of Latoya's neck where the grub had been
"Yeah. I'm goin' to her house," Latoya said firmly.