“Stop right there.” Finger pointed, voice sharp, Maisie approached Stuart’s ex-wife. “Put the box down.”
Karen, who was twice Maisie’s size, looked down at Maisie and laughed. “Put the box down or what? You’ll smack my hand with your little wooden spoon?”
Spoon raised, Maisie replied, “Care to find out?”
Karen shook her head and kept walking like Maisie wasn’t even there. She reached her car and slid the box inside along with several others. When she turned around and headed back to the house to repeat the ritual, Maisie reached inside Karen’s car, removed the box Karen had just put in, and set it on the ground. “Unload it. All of it. Or I will.”
Angered, Karen whipped around, hips swaying from side to side as she made her way back to the car. She slammed the trunk closed and bent down, trying to pick up the box Maisie had just discarded. Before she was able to get her hands on it, Maisie’s spoon cut through the air, smacking Karen in the back of the neck.
“The box stays,” Maisie said. “All the boxes stay. These are Stuart’s things, not yours.”
“How dare you strike me!”
“How dare you think you have the right to lay claim on what doesn’t belong to you.”
“Stuart’s dead.”
“No shit,” Maisie said.
“He won’t be needing this stuff anymore.”
“Still doesn’t give you the right.”
Karen shrugged. “We were married for sixteen years.”
“I don’t care if you were married for sixty years. You weren’t granted these items in the divorce. They’re no longer yours. They belong to your daughter. And just so you know, I spoke to her before I came over, and she’s on her way here right now.”
“It’s just like you to get involved, Maisie. I should have known.”
“You’re right. You should have.” Maisie aimed the wooden spoon at the trunk. “Now, are you going to remove the rest of these boxes, or do I have to do it for you?”
Car keys gripped in hand, Karen made a mad dash for the driver’s seat of her car. Anticipating the move, Maisie cut her off with the assistance of her well-placed foot. Karen lurched forward, then fell, her hands scraping against the asphalt as she went down. The keys flew out of her hands, dropping to the ground right in front of Maisie, who snatched them up and slipped them inside her pocket. She returned to the back of the car, popped the trunk, and removed the next box. As she turned to set it down next to the other box she’d just removed, an enraged Karen swung at Maisie, missing her altogether, and instead knocking the box out of Maisie’s hands. The box went flying.
A white Subaru sped into the driveway, the driver’s-side door opening before the car had even come to a complete stop. Stuart’s daughter Tanya got out, glared at Karen, and said, “Mother, how could you?”
With nothing left to do except behave like she was an innocent victim, Karen said, “I’m sorry honey. I just wanted to help you out. I didn’t think you’d want all your dad’s stuff. You’re going to need help cleaning the house out, and I thought I’d get a head start. I know his death has been hard for you. Can’t you see I just wanted to help?”
Tanya crossed her arms in front of her. “You didn’t want to help. You wanted to get your hands on dad’s things while you could. Unbelievable!”
“Don’t be so angry with me, honey. I just told you, I was only—”
“Leave. Now.”
“Come on, sweetheart. Whatever Maisie said to you on the phone, it isn’t true. Think about it.”
Tanya shook her head.
Maisie pulled the keys out of her pocket, tossed them to Karen. “Your daughter asked you to leave. Whether you do or you don’t, it’s up to you. But if you don’t, I’m calling the police.”