Wyatt, Rachel and Kelly were standing at a fence, looking out at a woman riding a horse around an arena. Wyatt's arms were folded, and he was shaking his head. Rachel, chewing nervously on her nails, couldn't possibly be anymore uncomfortable being at a ranch, and Kelly...Kelly was just seated on the fence and eating a sandwich she'd brought from the craft services table at work. Wyatt finally exhaled and looked at Rachel, who glanced back at him, their eyes locking.
"Dude, it sucks to be you," Rachel said. "I never got the pony my parents promised me," Kelly said through chewing, "your daughter's a lucky girl." Both Wyatt and Rachel glared at her, and she shrugged. "...what?" she asked. EARLIER THAT MORNING Wyatt was sitting at the breakfast table, eating a bowl of cereal, while Mona was eating a toaster strudel. The baby was still asleep upstairs (the one saving grace about Mona's little brother was that he slept a lot), and Scarlett was drinking her coffee and reading the paper. She scoffed and shook the paper, then tossed it across the table to Wyatt, who picked it up. "Look at this," Scarlett said, "remember that park Morgana was going to bulldoze? Looks like the park is now protected property by the city, and Morgana is under investigation. They aren't going to be doing much construction for a while, it seems. Honestly, good riddance. Imagine taking away places made for children, all for the benefit of low cost condos. Disgusting." They heard Mona's brother start to cry upstairs, and Scarlett excused herself, getting up to head upstairs to gather him. Scarlett looked up over the paper and noticed Mona was locking eyes with him. "What?" he asked. "That's what you and that lady did isn't it?" Mona asked, "you guys stopped them. The night you took me trick or treating." "Yeah, that was what we did, but we did it for you, and kids like you, who deserve to have a nice world to grow up in, pumpkin. Morgana was evil, and they were doing things illegally. We did the right thing," Wyatt said. "...can I have a pony?" Mona asked, and Wyatt laughed. "Yeah, sure, right after I get a jet plane," he replied. "I'll tell mom what you did if you don't get me a pony," Mona said. "...are you blackmailing your own father?" Wyatt asked, leaning in and lowering his voice, "seriously?" Mona leaned in as well, smiling, and whispering, "I want. a pony. daddy." *** Rachel opened the door, hearing the knock, only to find Wyatt standing in the hallway of her apartment. She pulled her robe over herself - she was wearing only underwear - and cleared her throat. Wyatt raised an eyebrow and Rachel sighed, exiting the apartment and shutting the door behind her. "I interrupt something?" he asked. "You caught me just after morning sex, so no, I was finished," Rachel said. "Oh, well, aren't you lucky," Wyatt replied, "...I need a pony." "Oh, is that all? Okay, well let me go to my closet and get you one, hold on," Rachel said, making him chuckle as she added, "why...why the hell are you coming to ME of all people? Why would you think I knew where to get a pony?" "You told me you used to ride horses," Wyatt said, "once when the four of us had dinner together recently, a few weeks back, you and my wife got into this whole thing about hobbies you had as young women-" "I resent that, I am still a young woman, thank you," Rachel said, folding her arms and leaning on the wall. "-and one of the things both you and Scarlett did was ride horses," Wyatt said, "you told me you were, like, almost a professional at it or something. You did shows and won awards. I figured if anyone would know, you would." Rachel hesitated, then sighed, shaking her head, getting her bangs from her eyes. "...why do you want a pony?" Rachel asked. "I don't want a pony, I need a pony," Wyatt replied. "Well, that sounds worse, actually," Rachel said, "why do you NEED a pony?" "Because if I don't get my daughter a pony, she's going to tell my wife about what Celia and I did to Morgana," Wyatt said, "you know, the thing Oliver got blamed for? The thing that got him fired? The thing that-" "Yeah yeah, I got it," Rachel said, sighing and looking back at her apartment, "alright, give me a few minutes to get dressed and call someone. Meet me in the parking lot. We're gonna take your car." *** Kelly was done with her weather reporting for the day, and was now just standing at the crafts services table, picking out some lunch. Always a challenge, deciding what to have that particular day, but she figured she should always try and mix it up. Just then her cell phone rang, and she reached into her pocket and pulled it out, answering as she picked up and examined a sandwich wrapped in plastic. "Hello? Hi Rachel!...yeah, I'm not busy," Kelly said, "...okay, I can meet you outside." Kelly took the sandwich and paid the man minding the cart. She then stuffed the wrapped sandwich in her coat pocket and headed out the backdoor towards the parking lot where she saw Rachel waving and whistling to her from the car window. Kelly ran over to the car and got into the backseat behind Rachel in the passenger. "Kelly, this is my friend Wyatt, and Wyatt this is Kelly, she's a friend from high school," Rachel said. "I know you, you're the girl who does the weather on Channel 7," Wyatt said as he started up the car and pulled out. "Indeed I am," Kelly said eagerly, almost like she was proud, "so what do you need me for?" "Do you remember where that place we rode horses was at?" Rachel asked, "because I cannot for the life of me recall where it was, but I was hoping you might." "Why, are we going riding?" Kelly asked. "Something like that," Wyatt muttered. *** Leonard stood up from his chair in his kitchen and stretched, groaning as he adjusted his back. Calvin smirked as he looked up from grading a paper and leaned back in his chair. Leonard finished stretching and popping himself, then adjusted his large glasses and ran his hand over his mustache, sighing as he looked at Calvin and chuckled. "Never get old, Calvin, it's not worth it," he said. "Duly noted, Mr. Wattson," Calvin said, tapping his pen on the table, "I think we're about done with this batch. Should we drive these boxes over to the college?" "Yeah, I'll take these two downstairs, if you just get my keys from the wall," Leonard said, gathering up two large boxes and carrying them to the front door. Calvin quickly got up and opened the door for him, which he was thanked for, and Leonard exited, heading down the apartment stairs to his car. Calvin packed up his things and then looked for the keys, noticing them dangling from a hook on the wall in the kitchen. Calvin reached for them, until he noticed one of them had a tag on it. Calvin leaned in and examined it, putting a hand over his mouth as his eyes scanned the words on the tag. "O. Brighton Unit 321." The key it was attached to also had the name of a company and the address embossed on it, and Calvin was terrified to touch it. He glanced back over his shoulder, hearing Leonard's trunk shut. Calvin then reached for the keys and quickly undid the one with the tag, stuffing it into his pocket, before grabbing the boxes and exiting the apartment. He handed the remaining boxes to Leonard, and then said he wouldn't mind driving them to the college. Anything to keep Leonard from realizing the key was missing for as long as possible. But it didn't make sense, Calvin thought, why would Leonard Wattson have a key to a storage unit for Oliver Brighton? Calvin had a terrible feeling in his stomach, and he was terrified to learn the answer. *** "Sorry, I don't sell my horses anymore," the older woman leading a horse back to the stall said. This woman, Caroline, was the one who had taught both Kelly and Rachel how to ride when they were young girls, and also had been Rachel's manager during her time doing professional riding. "Well, if you don't, do you maybe know someone who does?" Rachel asked, keeping up with her by her side - Wyatt and Kelly following a little ways behind - as they walked, Rachel added, "somebody close by and maybe kind of cheap? Kinda desperate and in a rush here. Not to, you know, put any pressure on you Mrs. Wilkins." As they reached the stall, Caroline pulled the door open and led her horse inside, shutting and locking the door behind her before turning towards the group and pulling her helmet off her head, shaking her sandy blonde mop of hair loose. "...yeah, there's a small ranch a ways from here, maybe 40 minute drive, that'll sell you whatever you want," she said, "they're kind of, uh, what's the word...sketchy? They don't ask any questions so long as you pay 'em, let's put it that way. Don't care much for their reputation, I guess. Regardless, they're who I'd approach if you're looking to purchase a pony on such short notice. I have to ask...you're not gonna eat it are you?" "Can...can you...can you eat a horse?" Wyatt asked, sounding disgusted as he added, "I didn't even....the thought never crossed my mind, but no, we're not going to eat it. Dear god. Especially not a pony. That's a baby. I don't even eat veal or lamb. I have a rule of thumb, no eating babies." "That's a good rule to live by," Kelly said, nodding. "Thank you, I thought so," Wyatt replied. "Can we have the address?" Rachel asked. Soon enough, the group found themselves at yet another ranch, this time standing at a fence, looking out at a woman riding a horse around an arena. Wyatt's arms were folded, and he was shaking his head. Rachel, chewing nervously on her nails, couldn't possibly be anymore uncomfortable being at a ranch, and Kelly...Kelly was just seated on the fence and eating the sandwich she'd brought from the craft services table at work. Wyatt finally exhaled and looked at Rachel, who glanced back at him, their eyes locking. "Dude, it sucks to be you," Rachel said. "I never got the pony my parents promised me," Kelly said through chewing, "your daughter's a lucky girl." Both Wyatt and Rachel glared at her, and she shrugged. "...what?" she asked. "How you gonna explain this purchase to your wife?" Rachel asked. "I probably won't," Wyatt said, "that's kinda how being blackmailed works. You don't need explanations. You just hide things." "So, what, you're gonna rent a stall somewhere too and keep the pony there? Pay someone to feed it and bring your kid up whenever she wants, by yourself, to ride it?" Rachel asked, almost laughing, "you're insane, that's ridiculous. At some point Scarlett's gonna think something is up. She's gonna assume you're having an affair or something." "Don't have an affair with a horse," Kelly said, shaking her head, "that'll kill you." Rachel and Wyatt looked at Kelly with a mixture of intrigue and disgust on their faces. "...i...i saw it on the news once," she whispered. Wyatt ran his hands through his hair and groaned as he walked away from the fence. Kelly scooted down, closer to Rachel and spoke to her through half finished bites. "Aren't you nervous to be here?" Kelly asked. "Extremely, and honestly the sooner we get this done and the faster we get out of here the better. I never wanted to be around horses again," Rachel said, looking back at Wyatt over her shoulder and sighing, "I just was trying to help him. Poor guy has enough to deal with without his own kid blackmailing him." "Blackmailing him over what?" Kelly asked, and as Rachel opened her mouth to answer, she quickly rethought this and decided against it, shrugging, shaking her head. "I don't know, he wouldn't tell me," she replied instead. Here she was, just getting her former best friend back, and already she was lying to her. God. Well, whatever helped keep them in the dark, she figured. They'd been lying to so many people for so long, what could one more really hurt? *** That evening, after dropping Kelly and Rachel off at their respective destinations - Kelly back at work so she could get her car and Rachel back at her apartment - Wyatt then picked up dinner on his way home. He couldn't believe the position he was being put in. Rachel had a point too, eventually Scarlett was likely to find out about the horse, and what would he say then? It wasn't like they couldn't afford it, they lived well, but still. Purchases of that nature are often ones a couple makes together, financially speaking. All throughout dinner, Wyatt couldn't think of anything else but the stupid pony he'd talked about buying earlier. Whenever Scarlett or Mona tried to speak to him, he didn't pay any attention. He was simply too far into his own head. He put everything away and cleaned up after dinner, just to get his mind off things for even a little bit. Scarlett eventually took a shower, while Wyatt put the kids to bed. While he was tucking Mona in, he sat on the side of the bed and lowered his voice. "...I think I found a pony," he said, "um, they're at a-" "You actually got me a pony?" Mona asked, sounding surprised, "...I just wanted to see if you would. I'd never actually tell mom what you did." Wyatt sat there, feeling like he was hit with a brick in the head. He started laughing uncontrollably and fell back onto Mona's bed, cackling. Mona started laughing as well, unsure of what else to do in the current situation. After he managed to gather his sense again, Wyatt sat back up and wiped his eyes free of tears, and shook his head. "...you're evil, kid," he said. "Sorry," Mona said, shrugging, "I just wanted to see how much you'd actually do for me." Wyatt smiled and reached out, touching his daughters head and petting her. "I'd do anything for you, you know that, apparently even buy a pony," Wyatt said, "whose name, for the record, is Sugarcube, is ready to be ridden any time. You say the word, and we'll go riding, yeah?" Wyatt finished putting Mona to bed and exited into the hallway, heading up to the bedroom when he heard a knock at the front door downstairs. He sighed and headed downstairs, pulled open the door, only to find Calvin standing there. Calvin wouldn't even look at him, he wouldn't move his eyes from his shoes, but instead he simply put his hand out and pushed something into Wyatt's hand. "...okay, first of all, what are you doing here at this time of night, and secondly, is this a key?" Wyatt asked, looking at what Calvin and handed him. He snapped his fingers in Calvin's face a few times, asking, "hey, anyone home? Calvin?" "...you need to see something," Calvin said, "call Celia and Rachel. Tomorrow meet me at the address on that key. You need to see something." "What's going on?" Wyatt asked, watching Calvin turn on his heel and briskly walk back to his car. As Calvin reached out for the door handle, pulling the door open and preparing to get in, Wyatt called after him, holding the key up in the air, waving it and asking, "Hey, what is this?" Calvin stopped and looked dead eyed at Wyatt, his limps trembling. "...it's Oliver Brighton's storage unit," Calvin said, "and trust me, you don't wanna see what's in it, but you need to."
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A group of former high school classmates reunite at their 10 year reunion, and discover they each want something different, many with someone else there. What ensues is a labyrinthian relationship amongst them involving crime, murder, romance and, in one particular case, terrorism. Archives
May 2024
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