Let's Not Meet Again

Mary Lou

It all happened to my father one stormy night in Glenwood, Colorado.

It was the 80's. My father was an electrical engineer who was just returning from a job site. He worked long hours and it wasn't uncommon for him to be heading home around midnight to the small cabin he shared with a friend tucked back in the canyon walls. It was pouring rain; lightning flashed only to illuminate the murky puddled patches of washed out terrain. As my father rounded the corner upon the dirt road he passed a large willow tree. As his headlights crossed it's base he noticed someone was crouched underneath it. It was woman who seemed to be in her late twenties with long and tangled blond hair. She had on fairly casual clothing and carried a somewhat large bundle in her arms wrapped in cloth.

My father, being the gentleman that he was, decided to pull over and offered her to take shelter from the storm in his cabin just up the road. She smiled and thanked him as she got into his vehical. She explained that she had been on a hike through the canyon that day when the storm hit and had been caught off guard by the rain. My dad smiled and pointed out that she wasn't exactly wearing the best clothing or shoes to go on a hike. She laughed and said she had left her place on a whim unprepared. He asked if she needed him to dry anything at his place pointing to the bundle she held tightly under her arm. Her voice suddenly got very stern and stated "No." When my father asked her where she lived around here things started to get strange.

She started telling my Dad she had no family or friends in the area and was quite vague when asked details of where she lived. All she responded with was that it was "Too far to drive to tonight in this kind of weather". At this point my dad said he felt she was a bit off but chalked it up to her exaustion hiking and standing out in the storm for several hours. As they entered the cabin my dad remembered that his roommate had left that morning to take a trip out of town and wouldn't be back for several days. My dad would have offered her his friend's room, but didn't feel comfortable doing so without her permission. Remember this was the 80's. Pocket cell phones weren't on everyone yet. My dad told her she was welcome to sleep on the couch and dry off as he handed her several towels. She took them from him with her right hand but still never let go of the bundle she hugged under her left arm.

My dad at this point realized she had never given him her name so he introduced himself. "Nice to meet you." she replied. "My name is Mary Lou." My father started to feel a bit more comfortable and turned on the television for her and handed over the remote. She scanned through the channels finally deciding on a gangster flick. The scene involved a bunch of mobsters getting shot to pieces. Mary found this to be quite amusing and started to laugh in a crackling high pitched tone. My dad started to get a bit creeped out by this. She was enjoying it a little too much he said. Then my dad asked her about her life and things took a turn for the worse.

When asked if she was in a relationship she pointed down at her belt buckle and told my dad the story of her "Break-up". She claimed her last boyfriend wanted to be domineering over her and to this she responded by bludgening him half to death in his gravel driveway with her belt buckle. The same one she was wearing. "He kept saying stop, please stop, and begging but I wouldn't show him mercy." she said with a note of pride in her voice. My dad asked if he had abused her or if she was reacting defensively and she merely scoffed and said "No, otherwise he would be dead." My father's unease grew as the conversations progressed. She told him about her mother dying on the operating table and how the surgeon who had been working on her walked out covered in blood and said she would be fine. "How was she supposed to be ok with all of her guts in the trashcan?" she spewed. Then she laughed again glancing back at the t.v screen littered with disheveled, bullet riddled corpses. "I love the sight of blood. It excites me. Turns me on you know? Death. Draining them to death."

At this point my dad was officially done. He was bigger and stronger than she was. He was quite street wise and had seen plenty of horrors himself; but the way she spoke with a violent confidence combined with her sure grip upon the bundle which lay under her arm sent chills down his spine. He needed a plan. Finally an idea popped into my father's head. "I have a friend who is a priest in town, he has access to several shelters funded by the church. You would be a lot more comfortable there instead of on our couch. They can feed you too and arrange a ride for you to get home in the morning. I can call him right now, he's only a few miles from here." he stated reassuringly. Mary Lou's tone brightened to match his. "That sounds wonderful! Thank you so so much!" My father smiled hiding his relief. "Of course. It's the least I could do for you."

As my dad walked over to the phone and began to dial the second number Mary Lou erupted in a low gutteral growl "I HATE PRIESTS." 'I HHHHAAAAAATE PRIESTS." she didn't yell it. She didn't scream it. She said it with a tired hatred, a clear, direct, audible, whispered distain from the bottom of her heart with an unflinching resolve. My dad had enough. This wasn't a game to play anymore. This was beyond a stranger with odd tendencies. A darkness with coiled cruelty had crossed the threshold of his door. "You need to leave; and you need to leave now." my dad said pointing to the front of the cabin. "There's the door. I can't have you in here and feel comfortable. I'm sorry, but the storm has stopped and I hate to have you walk in the dark but that's the way this has to go. Please leave." Mary Lou gazed upon him, expressionless and finally just shrugged.

My father walked her out standing close to her in the event that the bundle concealed some type of weapon. He wasn't taking any further chances. She smiled at him as she slowly walked out onto the front porch. "Goodbye for now....See you when I see you." she said calmly. With that she walked down the long dirt road, with a single streetlight upon its path. She looked back one last time before crossing the light and disappearing; enveloped by the darkness with no trace of her to be seen.

My dad called the police the next day concerned that she may be hiding on his premises somewhere after speaking to his girlfriend (now my mom) about it and being convinced by her that she was going to cut the window screen when he was gone, hide in the house, and kill him. They found nothing and said the area attracted a lot of transients and nomads. My father then made the mistake of telling his engineer buddies at work which resulted in them bidding him farewell at the end of each shift in the form of asking that he "Say hi to Mary Lou" for them. My dad never saw her again. He still questions what could have been in that bundle that she so adamantly protected. He'll never know.