Cara Mia Delgatto and the Protector, Conclusion

Author's Note: Okay, I'm seriously hooked on writing and sharing serialized short stories, but I depend on YOU to give me feedback. So, please comment! To read Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, scroll down to OLDER POSTS and click on that.


The sight of Jodi, climbing out of a white Mustang convertible, almost made me want to run back into my house. The car looked like it was brand new. In fact, I could see the dealer's sticker in one window.

However, I was determined not to cower in front of her. What could she do? As my Nana used to say, "She can't kill you and she can't eat you." Of course, I supposed it was remotely possible that Jodi would kill me, but that didn't seem likely. No, she enjoyed torturing me too much. In that way, she reminded me of Luther, the tom cat who belonged to my neighbor in St. Louis. Luther enjoyed playing with small critters that he caught. In fact, he rarely ate them, but he did maul them pretty badly.

Keeping my head held high, I walked to my car. I heard her door slam and the brisk sound of her footsteps.

"I talked to Poppy," she said, as she stood blocking my way out of the garage. She's a little taller than I, and because she always wears heels, she usually towers over me. As I watched, she crossed her arms over her chest. Today she was wearing white slacks, an aqua tunic in silk, and big white sunglasses.

"So did I."

"You can't have this place. If you do, I'll take you to court."

"Do what you want."

"I don't think you understand. I will make your life miserable. You think you're going to run off with this piece of property? Just like you took our parents?"

From the house, I heard Jack barking. I sighed, thinking that a bigger dog would be nice, but if that dog was inside the house (like Jack was), he couldn't do much to help me.

Besides, what would I want a big dog to do? Bite my sister? Knock her down? Tear her from limb to limb? Well, yes...but only in my fantasies.

"Look, Jodi," I spoke in a calm voice. "You don't like me. You feel cheated. I get it. I'm tired of trying to make nice to you. If you don't get off this property right now, I'm calling the police."

That seemed like a perfectly reasonable way to solve the problem, except for one hitch: I'd let my phone in my purse in the house. Jodi either guessed what I'd done or she was simply to stubborn to give in. After I delivered my threat, she stood there, smirking at me.

"Jodi, you need to leave and you need to leave now!" I raised my voice. As I did, I heard a noise. The skittering. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the crab. He was advancing toward me and waving his claw over his head.

Now I'm not scared of crabs, but I'm not stupid either. My toes might look like fat little worms to a hungry crab. Rather than find out whether worms are part of a balanced diet for crabs, I hopped into the driver's seat of my car and right before I shut the door, I yelled, "Crab!"

The next thing I knew, Jodi was screaming at the top of her lungs. As I watched in my rear view mirror, she went flying toward the Mustang. In one hand were the keys. To my amazement, she punched the set over and over. "It's coming after me!" she yelled. "I can't get my door unlocked!"

I opened my car door and watched in fascination as she ran clockwise around her car. One of her shoes fell off. She howled as she ran barefoot over the gravel. The crab seemed to know she was terrified, because he started after her. She was so panicked that she ran a complete circuit. That put her almost on top of the creature. He turned and waved his claw at her. She was sobbing, hobbling over the broken rocks.

The crab came after her.

I grabbed a shovel from the corner of my garage.

"Kill it! Hit it!" she screamed.

Instead, I slipped the blade under the crab and lifted him into the air.

"Leave now or I'll throw him at you," I warned her.

Of course, I wouldn't do any such thing, but she didn't know that. Tears were streaming down her face. Her mascara had run all over her tunic. She jabbed and jabbed at the key fob until we both heard a clicking sound. Without any pretense at being ladylike, Jodi threw herself into the driver's seat. As she fumbled around, starting the car, I backed into my garage. I was still holding the crab aloft, and I didn't want my sister to run over me.

Us.

My protector and me.

~ The End ~