Cooperstown

Big cities have big secrets, small cities have even bigger secrets. Cooperstown was no exception, hidden somewhere in the Midwest of America, the town was full of drama and secrets. It seemed that every resident was concealing something from someone they loved or in some cases hated. All of these secrets were used to cover up the biggest secret of the town, the one that would change everything if discovered.

“If you don’t want to be homeless anymore, there is a simple solution,” Lena snapped. She fancied herself the Cher or Madonna of the city so she decided that there was no need for a last name. The bum that had asked her for a quarter backed away from her, but she would not have that. “Get yourself a job, and then rent one of the many, many hotel rooms around this city. I mean my God it’s almost as if I have to do the thinking for everyone around here.”

“That’s because you fancy yourself our Lord and Savior,” Debbie Jackson derided. The two women were as different as night and day, Debbie wore her long blonde hair in a ponytail. Lena wore hers cut pixie style. While Lena wore designer clothes like Gucci, Debbie wore clothes that she bought from the local Target. “Really Lena, if you ever showed someone some compassion I think I might die of shock.”

“That would be reason enough for me to do it,” Lena waved her hand as if to shoo away her foe. When Debbie kept her stride and stayed by her side, Lena sighed. The woman was used to getting what she wanted, she could not fathom why the other lady wouldn’t go away. “Is there a reason that you are breathing the same air as I am? If not then I would prefer to be alone.”

“We need to talk, I have been trying to get your attention for a week now!” The wind whipped around them, Debbie’s hair blew back and then fell in her face. She pushed it back, and looked expectantly at Lena. “I even set up an appointment with your secretary but mysteriously it wasn’t on the books when I came in for it.”

“Things like that happen when I don’t want to see somebody. At least I didn’t have you killed like I thought about, so there’s something to be thankful for. Isn’t that your whole shtick? Positive Polly, it’s disgusting and really unrealistic.” The don’t walk sign began flashing but that didn’t stop Lena from walking across the street. She hoped that her day improved, but it didn’t seem likely. Between being accosted by the vagrant, and the homeless man, people seemed to want to talk to her. From the side of her eye, she saw the vagrant running to catch up to her again. “Seriously Debbie, I don’t want to talk to you. In case you haven’t noticed I have money and you have, well whatever you have it’s not money.”

“Maybe this will change your mind,” Debbie pulled out an old journal, the sight of it made Lena’s blood run cold. Without her rival saying a word, she knew what was in the diary. The secrets in there were enough to destroy everything that her family had worked to build over the years. “Now can we talk?”

“No. Unlike you I have a job to get to, and I really don’t have time to deal with the petty gossip that you apparently do.”

“Your great-great-great-great grandfather admits to killing mine in here,” Debbie held up the diary, as a crowd began to gather around them. Lena rolled her eyes, her face impassive as the other woman spoke again. “And admits to stealing my family business. We need to talk about what this means.”

“It means nothing. This is nothing more than a weak attempt to legitimize a long standing urban legend. Really I am shocked that a woman of your alleged moral background would try to use this ancient gossip as a tool to extort money from me,” The crowd doubled in size, everyone watched in silence as the two women battled it out. A thought crossed Lena’s mind, her thin lips curled into a smile. “Or are you really that upset that I’m sleeping with your husband? I know that he told you and that he asked you for a divorce but honestly I never thought you would stoop to something so low.”

“W-w-what?” Debbie asked, her head reeling. Eric, her husband, had been acting odd but she had chalked it up to stress at work. Maybe that wasn’t it though, maybe he really having an affair with Lena. “You’re lying!”

“Am I?” When Debbie dropped the book, Lena bent down and picked it up. Without another thought she turned on her heel and stormed off. The crowd parted for her, and then closed after she made her way through.

Her office building was less than a block away, her only thought was that of she could make it there then she could take care of everything. Every few seconds she looked behind her and was relieved to see that Debbie hadn’t followed her. The receptionist that was stationed in the lobby jumped to attention when she walked in, “Is there anything I can do for you ma’am?”

“Cancel all my appointments for the day. Get them from Dominic,” With that Lena took the elevator to her office and locked the door behind her. She knew what had to be done but there was one thing she wanted to see, she opened the book and quickly read three passages before coming to the conclusion that she was right.

Gently she placed the journal in a garbage can, and lit a match. No one would ever know the real secret that it contained. It would die with her and would not haunt anyone else, the way it had her. The truth would stay buried for another generation, her work was done.