“Willa?” she says. Moving to sit up, she realizes her hands and feet are tied. “What the fuck?” Anger quickly replaces the confusion. “Willa, untie me.” The woman shakes her head. June propels herself up into a sitting position, then winces in pain. There’s blood on the back of her head. “Was it you who hit me?” Willa nods. “With what?” June asks, unsuccessfully trying to reach around and assess the damage.

“A shovel,” Willa answers matter-of-factly.

“But why?” June asks, sounding like she might cry. “Why would you do that? And why are you even here?”

“You thought I didn’t really know anything, didn’t you?” she asks with a smug smile.

June leans forward. “Willa, I’m June. Not April. Do you know that?”

“I know damn well who you are,” she snaps back. “That day I came here to blackmail you, you thought I was just bluffing. Didn’t you?”

$$##June shakes her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Willa. Just please untie me.”

Willa pokes a bony finger at June. “West told me everything.” The old woman doesn’t even seem to be hearing June. There’s definitely something not right about her, something dangerous, I can feel it.

$$##“I believe you,” June says calmly. “I believe that West told you everything. So, why don’t you untie me and we can talk about it.” She lifts her hands up. “This is hurting me, and I think I might need stitches in the back of my head. Please, Willa, I need your help.”

Willa flinches and looks away from June, confusion twisting her features. She gives her head a little shake, mumbles something to herself, and then looks back at June with new resolve in her eyes. “If you really believed that West told me everything, then you never would have come back. You would have been too scared to.” She pokes herself in the chest. “But I do know everything. I do.”

June stares up at Willa in silence, and I can see her trying to figure out which new tactic to take. “That’s right,” she says, her demeanor suddenly changing from pleading to challenging. “I don’t believe you know everything. So, prove it. Start from the very beginning, then.”

I’m guessing June’s strategy is to play along with Willa in the hopes that in the end she’ll be able to convince the woman to untie her. It’s a risky plan, but hopefully June knows what she’s doing.