by Kim Pritekel
Her new town, Pueblo, was okay, she supposed. Not like she or her siblings had a choice. So, now they lived in a posh—she supposed—area called University Park, which was near the university. She stepped up onto the large porch to the double front doors and pushed open one side to enter. Immediately she heard her father yelling at someone. She wondered who the lucky recipient was this time.
Deciding she didn’t want to join in on the fun, she ducked out to the back stairs that would lead to the second floor she and her fourteen-year-old brother and twelve-year-old sister shared. Their parents had an entire suite on the third floor, where they weren’t allowed.
When she saw LJ sitting in his room, she figured the yelling that echoed throughout the house had to be Nora or their mother. She stopped at his open doorway. “What’s going on?”
He glanced up from a notebook he was writing in. As soon as he saw her, he flipped it closed and stashed it behind him. “Dunno. Some announcement or something. Dad’s gonna be pissed that you’re late.”
She glanced down at her Swatch. “He told me to be here by three. It’s like, three-twelve.”
LJ met her gaze. “As I said, you’re late.”
She rolled her eyes and continued down the hall to her own bedroom. She’d just pushed open the door when she heard her father bellow up the stairs.
“Is she here, yet? Goddamn it, we don’t have all damn day!”
“Yes, she’s here, Dad,” LJ said, his voice seeming to flow down the hall and to the top of the stairs. “She’s been here for almost fifteen minutes.”
Jill tossed her shoes towards the bed and ducked her head into the hallway, sending a grateful smile to her brother’s back.
“Oh. Well, you two get your asses down here.”
Nora sat on the couch next to their mother, who was working on her ever-present needlepoint. Framed works hung all over the house. Nora was messing with the small, pink camera she’d been given the previous Christmas. The two older siblings pounded down the stairs and plopped down into the two fluffy armchairs. Larry, Sr. held court standing at the center of the room in front of the fireplace, long legs spread wide and big hands placed on his hips. His short-cropped hair was slicked back from his strong features.
“Judy,” he said, his wife’s head popping up from her task. Without a word, she set it aside and squeezed between the large square coffee table and Nora’s legs to stand by him. She reached up and tucked some dark blond strands behind her ear, her green eyes dull and not focused on anyone or anything. His arm protectively, almost possessively, around her shoulders, he spoke. “We wanted to announce to you kids that we’ll be adding another member of the family sometime late winter.”
Jill glanced over at LJ then Nora then back at her parents. “What?”
“Havin’ a baby,” Larry, Sr. said with pride, standing up a little taller at a job well done. “Your mamma is going to be a mamma again.”
Jill’s gaze fell upon their naturally quiet mother to see her looking down at fidgeting hands that rested in front of a belly that would be growing soon. “Well, congratulations,” she said, at a loss.
“This is great news, guys. Maybe I’ll have a son to toss the ball around the backyard with.”
LJ looked down at his hands before meeting Jill’s eyes, which were already on him. She gave him a quick smile but didn’t dare reach over to touch his leg or arm.
“So? What the hell do you all think?” the patriarch boomed.
“Uh,” Nora said, leaning forward, feet spread and arms resting on her thighs. “I guess it’s great.” She glanced at her older siblings. “Right, guys?” She shrugged before glancing at their parents. “Maybe it won’t be so bad being the youngest. I guess.”
****
The months went by and Jill’s life continued as normal. She was about to turn sixteen and enter her sophomore year of high school as their mother entered the final trimester of her pregnancy. Judy Schaeffer had always been quiet, certainly one to keep to herself. But, in the ensuing months since the Schaeffer kids had been told about the coming baby, she’d become downright remote.
After a few outbursts from her, Larry, Sr. felt it was best for Judy to stay with her beloved aunt in Aurora, a suburb of Denver for the final trimester.
It was a Tuesday when Larry, Sr. knocked lightly on Jill’s bedroom door. She was lying on her stomach on the bed doing homework. She glanced at the door. “Yeah?”
The door opened and her father stepped in, giving her a quick smile before shutting the door behind him.
****
Jill’s wedding ring glinted in the overhead light as she brought the glass to her lips, the wine sweet yet intoxicating. She glanced at the clock, noting Andrew was nearly two hours late. She knew he had a big case that he’d been working on for months, but tonight she truly needed him. She needed to talk.
Setting the wineglass down, she grabbed her phone and went to her contacts. Fingering through them, she looked for a name, any name, to jump out at her. Name after name flew by, and she was shocked at the realization that not a one could she talk to tonight. Not for what was on her mind. None of them would understand, she knew instinctively. Her eye and finger stopped on Nora’s name. She chewed on her bottom lip, trying to decide if she should press down or not.
Shaking her head, she stubbornly put the phone aside and picked up her wineglass.
Chapter Eight
“Come on, sweetie,” Nora said, opening the car door to let Bella out of the backseat. She seemed to know how to unbuckle herself, but it took her a moment to climb down out of her car seat. Nora smiled down at the adorable little one and took her hand.
“Where is this place?” Bella asked, looking around.
“This is your Aunt Jill’s house,” Nora explained, waiting as short little legs climbed the high stairs to the front porch. “You get to spend some time with her for a little bit while I go to work.” Bella looked up at her with wide, frightened green eyes. “It’ll be okay, sweet girl, I promise. And, your cousin Sylvia even stayed home from school today to spend some time with you!”
“Really?”
“Yup. Sylvia’s awesome and has some pretty cool stuff in her room.” Reaching the front door, Nora extended her free hand to ring the doorbell. After a few moments, the clickity clack of high heels on the marble floor of the foyer grew louder. Butterflies batted at her rib cage as nerves hit her. The door opened and Jill stood before them, looking as stunning as ever. “Hey,” Nora said as pleasantly as she could. “Thanks so much for doing this. What I have to do today isn’t exactly kid friendly.”
“I understand,” Jill said coolly. She knelt down to Bella’s eye level. “Well, hello to you, sweetheart.” She opened her arms to take the small girl into a quick hug. “I am so excited you’re here today.”
“Aunt Nora said Sylvia has a cool room,” Bella said shyly, holding her beloved teddy bear, Sam, closer to her chest.
Jill gave her a charming smile. “She sure does. She’s excited to show you, too.” Jill pushed to her feet and reached down to take the hand that had been in Nora’s. She looked into the younger woman’s eyes. “She’ll be fine.”
Nora nodded, knowing she would be even as she was loath to leave her. Bella still cried nightly and slept many nights in Nora’s bed or ended up there at some point in the night. “I’ll text you when I’m headed back to town. Shouldn’t be longer than a few hours.” Nora gave her niece a tight hug and kiss on the cheek before turning and trotting down the steps. She stopped halfway down the path when she heard her name.
“Do you think it was odd how Mom left?” Jill asked.
The question was so out of the blue and random, Nora wasn’t entirely sure what to say for a moment. “I suppose,” she said at last.
Without another word, Jill turned and she and Bella disappeared inside the house, one side of the etched double doors closing softly behind them.
Letting out a sigh, Nora headed back to her car. After she climbed in, she sat
in front of Jill’s car for a moment and thumbed through her emails to find the address of the shoot, so she could plug it into the GPS. At the advertising shoot today, she’d be taking photos for a business’s new brochure. She chewed her bottom lip at the realization that the shoot she was heading to was in Manitou Springs, a little more than twenty minutes from Colorado Springs. She filed that information away for later.
****
“Are you guys happy with the shots?” Nora asked the business owners as they leaned over her shoulders to look at the screen of her tablet. She had uploaded all the shots she took of their café, the gorgeous mountain scenery of the small town around them, and anything else they’d asked her to take.
“Yeah, fantastic,” one of the owners commented, standing erect. “You said we’ll get copies in a few days, right?”
Nora slid her tablet back into its bag and stood from where she’d been sitting at one of their outdoor tables. “Yes, a week at most, but honestly,” she said, looking each in the eye, “two days, likely.”
“Excellent.” He extended his hand, which Nora shook with a firm, confident grip. “Thanks so much.”
“No problem, Mr. Hagaar.” She brandished a bright smile. “Talk to you both soon.”
On the road again, Nora wove her way through the small hilly town, trying to get back to the highway. She pulled up behind a Cadillac at a red traffic light and chewed on her bottom lip, trying to decide if she should head back to Pueblo and spend the afternoon with Bella or head to Colorado Springs and Shannon’s apartment. She needed to grab a few more things for her niece, and though she could easily buy her new clothes at Wal-Mart, she figured Bella would feel more secure with clothes she knew were hers.
Decision made, she headed toward the Springs. Her mind was wandering all over the place. One thought pattern landed on Jill’s words right before Nora left her house. Yes, Shannon’s disappearance had made her think about her own mother, but she hadn’t allowed herself to focus or dwell on it. But now, she wondered why Jill asked that question. Where did it come from?
****
Pueblo, Colorado – 1992
Shannon giggled uncontrollably as Nora tickled her three-year-old little sister with merciless precision, the sixteen-year-old knowing all the best sweet spots. She was giggling right along with the adorable redheaded toddler until their father’s booming voice interrupted their play on the couch.
“Shut that kid up!”
Stunned, Nora instantly gathered the girl into her arms as she looked up at the looming figure who’d stomped into the living room. “Sorry.”
He let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his hair. “Where’s Larry, Jr. and Jill?”
“LJ called about ten minutes ago. He’s waiting for Jill to pick him up from practice and they’ll be here. So, should be any time, now.” To her relief, the front door opened as her words still hung in the air like a dialogue bubble.
“Get in here, you two!” he bellowed, the words followed by two sets of harried footsteps.
“Sorry, Daddy,” Jill said with an exasperated sigh. “Roger didn’t come in on time, so I had to wait until he arrived—”
“I need you to quit that job, Jill,” Larry, Sr. said, interrupting her explanation.
“What?”
“Your classes, too.”
“Daddy,” Jill said, jaw falling open. “I can’t. I’ve only got three semesters to go, and I can move on to graduate school—”
“What the hell do you need a degree for?” he asked, waving his hand in the general direction of her left hand. “What the fuck do you think that rock is on your finger for? Andy is supposed to end up being some rich lawyer or something, ain’t he?”
“What is this all about?” LJ asked, seated between his sisters.
Without a word, Larry, Sr. left the room only to return a moment later. He tossed a piece of paper at his son. “Read it aloud.”
LJ bent down to grab the page that had floated down to the floor to land atop his right shoe. Holding it in both hands, he read, “‘I can’t do this anymore. I will contact you once I get settled. Love, Mom.’”
Nora felt her heart stop. Still holding Shannon, who chewed on her first two fingers on her left hand, she reached over with her free hand and snatched the page from her brother. She read it three times before the note was taken from her, their father crumpling up the paper before throwing it into the lit fireplace.
“See what she’s done?” he boomed, looking at all three of the oldest kids. “She left me! Packed all her shit and left. Left all the shit I’ve done for her all these years, left this beautiful house, and left you guys.” He waved a dramatic arm to indicate the four of them. “You”—he pointed at Jill—“are moving back home. There’s a house to be cleaned, meals to be made, and a kid to raise.” He indicated Shannon.
“Wait, Dad, LJ and I can—” Nora began.
“No! You got high school to finish and Larry, Jr. has got football to play. She ain’t got nothing to worry about. High school’s done and she’s got a lawyer fiancé to take care of her.”
Nora glanced past her brother at her older sister, who looked absolutely crushed. “Jill,” she said softly and shook her head when Jill sent a watery gaze her way. “We can take care of all this. Don’t leave school or Andrew.”
“It’s done. This is how it’s gonna be. Jill, I want dinner by six thirty tonight,” Larry, Sr. said before storming out of the room.
****
Nora shook her head to clear it. She hadn’t thought of that day in many years, as it had led to the worst year of her teenage years. Jill had been turned into essentially a slave overnight, but, always wanting her daddy’s approval, she’d done it all, anything he asked of her. Finally, Andrew came to the rescue and moved their wedding up by more than a year to get her out of there.
She pulled into Shannon’s parking lot and found a spot. It was fairly full, which she found interesting for a Tuesday afternoon. She had to wonder if anyone who lived there worked. She cut the engine and pulled her ignition key loose as she stared up at the building, then Shannon’s apartment door. LJ had mentioned to her that the place looked pretty much like that of a busy single mom, save for the extra messes presumed to be made by a frightened five-year-old.
Unhooking her seatbelt, she climbed out of her car and slammed the driver’s door shut, automatically clicking the alarm button on her key fob. She pocketed her keys and cell phone as she walked across the parking lot and up the stairs to the third floor. Remembering she needed Shannon’s key, which LJ had returned to her in case she needed more things for Bella, she retrieved her keys and picked out the one that fit the apartment door.
Nora stepped inside the dark, stale-smelling apartment. Nobody had been there for a week nor had any windows been opened. She wanted to air the place out but thought perhaps it wouldn’t be a good idea. She needed to be careful of anything she did and mindful of what she touched, should the missing person’s investigation come to the apartment.
She closed the door behind her and, from habit, locked it. Flicking on the light switch, which was connected to the floor lamp tucked into the corner by the couch, she saw the cereal mess LJ had mentioned, and it broke her heart. She couldn’t even imagine how terrified Bella must have been. She almost wanted to call Jill and ask her to put Bella on the phone to hear her voice. She’d always loved her niece but had certainly become incredibly protective of her in the last handful of days.
Picking her way through the apartment, she ended up in Bella’s bedroom. She found a duffel bag and stuffed it with some clothes and a couple more stuffed animals before zipping it up. She hitched it over her shoulder and headed back to the hall, stopping at Shannon’s bedroom door. Setting the duffel on the floor right inside the room, she walked in, still able to smell her sister’s perfume and the scent of lotion. Shannon was a notorious lotion user. Her dresser top was half-filled with various scents. She also noticed a framed picture of Bella grinning from behind the glass,
a picture of them both together, a couple snapshots of Shannon with a few women, whom Nora assumed were friends, and one that surprised her.
Nora picked up the picture, studying her sister’s lovely face and the handsome man she was cuddled up with. She recognized him as Richard—or Rick—Stanton, Bella’s father. He was an actor Shannon had met doing community theater seven or eight years before. Nora had only met him a time or two, but LJ had told her he didn’t like him. Said the guy seemed slimy. Either way, Rick had absolutely broken Shannon’s heart, taking off when Bella was a baby. Obviously Shannon never got over him.
Putting the picture back, she glanced at the bed, noting several outfits lying there. It looked almost as though Shannon had been trying to decide what to wear on her night out. In the corner, tucked between the bedside table and the wall, was a faux wood cardboard box with handle cutouts and a lid. Written in thick black letters on the top was Precious Memories.
Squatting, she pulled the box toward her and lifted the lid. She smiled when she saw Bella’s baby blanket that the hospital gave her to swaddle the baby in before taking her home. Bella’s tiny hospital bracelet was there as well as a few other memories of that special day in March 2012. She saw a thumb drive tucked into a large spool of thread.
As Nora dug down a bit farther, she was surprised to find a couple scripts and playbills from a few of the plays Shannon had done in high school. Beneath those, and toward the bottom of the box, she came across something wrapped in a towel. As she unwrapped the covering, her breath caught. It was the four Sarah Brightman CDs she’d given her baby sister over the years, including the first two, her own words still inked on the dust jacket tucked inside the jewel case cover.