Beneath

by Chanel Harry

  “You okay?” He asked her, looking into her eyes.

  “I am.” She replied.

  “Mia?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re beautiful.” Tareeq confessed, lifting her chin. He kissed her deeply. Their kiss broke when the song was over and everyone started clapping. Mia looked up at him and smiled.

  “Uh oh!” Tareeq said with wide eyes.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “That punch just went right through me. I gotta go use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” He said. She rubbed his arm and watched as he walked away. She walked back to their table and that’s when King saw this as his chance to talk to Mia. He pried himself from Tammy and went over to the table where she sat.

  “Can I talk to you for a second?” King asked her.

  “What do you want?” Mia asked giving him an evil glare. King gave an evil look right back to her.

  “You need to leave him alone.” He grimaced.

  “And if I don’t?”

  “I’ll tell him.”

  “Go right ahead! At this rate, he wouldn’t care what you say. I’ve already sealed the deal.”

  “You can’t do this; he doesn’t deserve this!”

  “Kyle, I haven’t decided what I might do with him yet. But you, you’re already running out of time.”

  “Not entirely; I have something to protect me against Tammy.”

  “Your little charms won’t work for long. She’s already got you wrapped, baby.” Mia laughed.

  “Listen, you better stay away from Tareeq.” King demanded. “I don’t know how I’ll stop you all, but I will.”

  “Go on,” Mia giggled. “You know Josh said the same thing to Brittany; then she was picking his meat from her teeth.”

  King scowled at her and walked off back to his friends, leaving Mia laughing hysterically.

  When Tareeq came back from the bathroom, he saw that Mia was sitting at their table, giggling and talking with the Blue Crew. Once she saw him, she stood up and gave him another peck on the lips. Tareeq hugged her close, inhaling her fragrance. Mia brought her lips up to Tareeq’s ear.

  “Thank you for treating me like a princess.” She said.

  “You’re welcome.” He whispered back. She smiled at her friends, mouthing the words: “It’s almost time, girls.”

  Chapter 16.

  Derek was on cloud nine again. Elise had called him wanting to meet for lunch. Although he was excited the way she sounded over the phone made him believe that she had something important to tell him. He was now on his way to meet her at two in the afternoon at the sandwich shop on Main and Pine Avenue. Tareeq had brought Proud Mary back to home safe and sound last night. Earlier, he made sure to do a quick inspection of his car before heading out.

  When Derek finally made it to the sandwich restaurant, he saw that Elise’s car was already there.

  She’s always early! He thought. Derek walked into the tiny restaurant and found Elise sitting at a table already eating a sub. He walked over to her, waving his hand to her.

  “Is it good?” He asked her as he sat down.

  “’Cuse me?” She asked with a mouth full of food. Derek chuckled and handed her a napkin.

  “The sandwich?” He pointed.

  “Oh yeah, it’s really good!” She replied swallowing her food after.

  “You wanted to see me?”

  “Yup. I wanted to let you know that I have a new lead on the Josh Hamlin case.” She whispered, wiping her hands on the napkin. Derek leaned in closer to hear.

  “What is it?”

  “Now, I know you’re going to flip, but we found something in his car when we brought it from the water.”

  “Mhmm?”

  “It was the strangest thing we’ve seen, well not strange considering the town we live in—’’

  “What’s that supposed to mean.”

  “I forgot to tell you; this town is abnormal to say the least. A lot of unexplained things go on here.”

  “Come on, Elise. A lot of towns has its eccentrics. This town isn’t any different.”

  “This town is different, but I don’t have time to explain. We found a fish’s scale in the car.”

  “That isn’t out of the ordinary.”

  “It’s not just any fish’s scale though. It’s a blue scale with blood on the back of it. When forensics did their tests, they found that the fish scale was a mix of Josh’s DNA and DNA from another human.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, that’s not the only surprise; Josh’s brother, Mason, came forward and let me know that Josh told him that he was going to see Brittany Macon on the night that he disappeared. Mason said that Josh told him ‘he’d had an axe to bury with Brittany.’”

  “Oh my god, are you saying?

  “Mhmm, I’m saying that we might have our suspect; Brittany Macon. I have to bring her down for questioning and a blood sample.”

  “That’s terrible, but I don’t think a teenage girl is capable of murder.”

  “You’d be surprised in this town, Derek. Brittany Macon is a known truant along with her friends Crystal Rodriguez, Tammy Hart and Mia Wayne; The Blue Crew. I’d suggest that you tell Tareeq to stop seeing Mia for a while. I don’t want him getting mixed up in anything just in case they had something to do with Josh’s disappearance. I always knew something weird was going on with those girls.”

  Derek gulped and wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans from fear. He thought about Mia and Wanda; especially Wanda. He didn’t want to say anything about her and the secret that he shared to Elise. He thought he could handle it. Then, he thought about his wife’s death and a question popped into his head.

  “How long have you been in the force?” Derek asked.

  “Not long, about two years. Why?”

  “You sure you only remember me from my books and not what happened in the news to my wife?”

  Elise thought about it for a moment and then her eyes widened as if she remembered something big.

  “I have so many cases but…I knew that I remembered seeing you before besides reading your novel. I can’t believe it slipped my mind. I remember when I was a rookie on the force, my predecessor handled your case…when your wife drowned in Springbrook Lake!”

  “Yeah.” Derek nodded his head. “And now I know that I have to tell my son the truth. He might be in trouble.”

  Chapter 17.

  The lunch period bell rang and Tareeq was on his way to lunch with King, Jamir and Gary. They were talking when they noticed a familiar face walking up to them. It was Mason. They all ran up to him giving him hugs and handshakes.

  “Glad to see you’re back, bro!” Jamir said. Mason gave them a half grin, registering the love that he was getting from his friends.

  “How are you holding up, kid?” Tareeq asked. They all headed into the busy lunch room and sat at their usual table.

  “Eh, so, so.” Mason replied. “They still haven’t found my brother.”

  “That’s crazy! I really pray that they find, Josh.” Gary said.

  “Tell me about it.” Mason replied. “Mom and Dad haven’t been the same since. We try and do our own searches, but it’s not use.”

  “Damn.” King mumbled, shaking his head. He stared at the amulet around his neck.

  “You had told us about what Josh said to you before he left, did you tell the police?” Tareeq asked.

  “Yeah, Josh said that he was going to make up with Brittany.” Mason revealed. “His exact words were, ‘I have an axe to bury with her.’”

  All of their eyes widened as they heard this.

  “That was the last time that I heard from my brother, man.” Mason continued shaking his head.

  “I knew it!” King blurted out. “Those girls are up to no good!”

  “Man, what are you talking about?” Tareeq asked angrily. “Can you just leave them alone?”

  “Yeah, can you drop your conspiracy theories?” Jamir asked. King became even angrier that his frie
nds were now agreeing that The Blue Crew were just regular girls.

  Now these idiots are under their spell. He thought.

  “I can’t drop it! I’m telling you guys that those girls are not even girls! I’ve seen it before!”

  “What are you talking about?” Tareeq said. “Don’t tell me that you’re spying on my girlfriend—’’

  “Girlfriend?” Mason interrupted Tareeq. “When did one of them become your girlfriend?”

  “Mase, he’s dating Mia! The ringleader of it all!” King yelled.

  “You know what? I’m about tired of you coming at her! She told me you threatened her at the dance and I’ve been meaning to press you about that!” Tareeq said to King, standing up.

  “I’m not going to fight you, bro! Especially when I’m trying to help you.” King replied. “Meet me after school and I’ll tell you everything.”

  King walked out of the cafeteria and out of their sight. Leaving Tareeq infuriated by his best friend.

  “What are you going to do?” Gary asked. “You can’t fight your homie.”

  “Yeah, we’re all friends here.” Jamir agreed.

  “I’m not going to fight him and he knows that. I will hear what he has to say though.” Tareeq said. He sat back down in his seat and pulled out his lunch that his father packed for him. As he ate, he could feel eyes on him from across the room. When he looked up, Mia was staring at him, smiling. Feeling his heart mount with infatuation, he waved back and winked at his girlfriend, vowing that whatever King had to tell him, he wouldn’t see Mia differently.

  Chapter 18.

  King stood in front of Wittington by the stone staircase, waiting for Tareeq to meet him. He placed his hands in his coat pocket, fiddling with another amulet necklace that he had for Tareeq with his right hand. He wasn’t expecting him to show up after the fight that they had with one another, but he hoped that he would. King was getting desperate at this point. Seeing another one of his friends in trouble was something that he could not take again.

  “Yo!” Tareeq said from behind him. Tareeq gave him an angry look, but King could understand his frustration.

  “Come on, let’s walk home.” King replied.

  “No practice today?” Tareeq asked, walking down the school steps. King followed him, still rolling the necklace around in his pocket.

  “No, I’m skipping it today.”

  “What you got to tell me, bro?”

  “First, let me say that I’m sorry for the way things went down today at lunch. I’m just trying to get through to you.”

  “Apology accepted, bro. You’re tripping lately, though.”

  “Thanks. I’m tripping because I’m fighting something.”

  “Speaking in parables again; can you just start from the top?”

  “Okay. First I got to give you this.” King pulled out the necklace from his pocket with the amulet attached to it. “This will ward off any evil.”

  Tareeq gave his friend a confusing look, but took the necklace and put it around his neck.

  “Now what?”

  “I feel better that you have it on. Okay, this town is not what it seems.”

  “Mia told me.”

  “I’m surprised she did! Did she tell you about the strange things that occur here?”

  “Somewhat.”

  “Well, I’ll give you the whole history.”

  “Hurry because I’m cold.”

  “Springbrook isn’t like any other town. Things happen here and some of its citizens’ are…not of this world. Monsters, flying creatures, witches who can control death, werewolves and the like, all inhabit this town. Even sea creatures; mermaids if that’s what you want to call them.”

  “You know this is all hard to believe right?”

  “I know it is, but believe it because it’s true. Springbrook Lake is the home of those mermaids. These mermaids aren’t like the ones in those children’s movies. They eat people.”

  Tareeq gulped remembering what he say in the lake. He couldn’t tell King though.

  “They’ve lived in that lake since the inception of this town. I heard that they have an underwater kingdom where they lure young men under to eat them.” He continued. “Have you ever heard the legend of Mami Wata?”

  “No. What is that?”

  “It’s a West African goddess of the sea. She sometimes assumes the form of a human woman to seduce men and lures them back to her kingdom where they drown underwater or worse, get eaten by her. Sometimes, if she falls in love with the man, she forces him to stay faithful to her and she will not harm him. If he doesn’t, she will bring down her wrath upon him.”

  “That’s some…story.”

  “It’s reality. Have you had dreams about Mia lately?”

  “Since I met her I have.”

  “She is trying to see if you’re being faithful. Tammy does it to me all the time. Why you think I try my best to resist her, but whenever I am alone, she’s watching me to make sure that I am being true.”

  “King, you’re freaking me out now. How can The Blue Crew be goddesses when this Mami Wata person is just one?”

  “Because they’re Mami Wata’s daughters. She made them this way when they pledged their allegiance to her. I remember seeing them a couple of years back, when I was walking with my ex-girlfriend near the lake, splashing about in the lake with a large blue fish. Just thinking about that…monster gives me the creeps.”

  “I can’t believe this!” Tareeq said. “You really wanted to tell me a story instead of being honest?”

  “No, it’s not like that! You’re in real danger! Mia is out to get you; her and her friends.”

  “Oh yeah, mermaids are out to eat me.”

  “You got to believe me! I’m telling you the truth.”

  “Listen, I got to go. You go home and get some rest; you look like you need it.” Tareeq replied walking off.

  “You’ll see!” King shouted to him. “You’ll see!”

  Tareeq walked the rest of the way home thinking about what King told him. Although he told his friend that he didn’t believe him, he did. He seen the mermaid in the lake, but he just couldn’t register it in his own mind.

  He walked into his house to find his father sitting in the dark of the living room except for the end table lamp on.

  Why is everyone being weird? He thought. He shut the door behind him and started to head upstairs to his room.

  “Tareeq.” Derek said, softly. He stopped in his tracks and went back down the stairs.

  “Yeah?”

  “Come here. I have to talk to you.”

  He made it to the living room and sat in the red accent chair opposite his father.

  “Am I in trouble?”

  “No, son. In fact, I think I might be in trouble with you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I haven’t been honest with you, son.”

  “About what?”

  Derek took a deep breath and looked his son in the eye. Through the dim darkness, Tareeq could see that his father’s brown face was tear stained.

  “Your mother’s death.” He confessed. Tareeq gripped the arms of the accent chair. His heart started to thump in anticipation and fear of what his father would reveal.

  “What about her death? I thought you told me everything?”

  “I didn’t, but since something just came up, I must tell you now. Your mom didn’t just drown accidentally; she was murdered.”

  “What?! By who?!” Tareeq blurted.

  “Your mother and I vacationed here about a week before she died—’’

  “What?!”

  “Yes. Remember that vacation we took for our anniversary and you stayed with your Aunt Rita in Georgia?

  “Yeah, dad I remember.”

  “Well, she wanted to come up here to Springbrook because she heard the lake is pretty in the summer and there are fun activities here so I agreed. While we were here, a woman accosted me while I was out touring the town and your mom was at the lake hous
e taking a nap. We talked over coffee, but that was it. The woman tried her best to lure me to her place to be with her, but I declined. She kept on trying though, but I kept on saying no to her. That’s when she kissed me and I became enamored with her. I thought about her for days while your mother and I were here. I even saw her a couple of times; going on dates with her. She still begged me to be with her, but I resisted and told her that I had a wife. That’s when the woman got angry and told me who she was.”

  “I can’t believe you, dad! You fell for another woman besides my mother? How could you?!” Tareeq imploded.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me, but it was like…this woman had a hold on me. This woman told me that she had powers beyond my wildest dreams and she would ruin my life if I didn’t come with her. I didn’t believe her though. On that day that your mother passed, Felicia and I were canoeing in the lake. The waters were rough, but she didn’t care, all she ever wanted was to see the lake. I agreed. While we were out there, something rocked the boat. I remember Felicia leaning over to see what was in the water. I leaned over too and saw a large fish tail, the color blue with a human attached to it. A mermaid! The mermaid swam to the surface and that’s when I got a good look at it. It was the woman! She was a hideous creature with claws and fangs. Her skin was a pale dark brown and her hair was long. She grabbed your mother’s hand and took her underneath the water. I screamed for Felicia, even swam in to find her, but it was already too late. Your mother’s dead body floated to the surface. I carried her back to the shore, trying to revive her. Nothing.”

  “This is all your fault then?!” Tareeq grimaced. “You caused mom to die!”

  “I’m sorry, son.” Derek whispered, tearfully.

  “I can’t believe this! Because of you, my mother is dead! I hate you!” Tareeq stood up and stomped all the way upstairs and slammed his bedroom door leaving his father in tears. As he stood with his back to the door, he believed in everything that King and his father told him.

  Chapter 19.

  Tareeq slipped out of the house around the time that he knew his father was going to be asleep. He used the back door to make his escape into the night to go on a walk. He couldn’t sleep; there was a lot on his mind. What is his father revealed to him wasn’t what he was expecting to hear. He hated that he couldn’t control his anger and felt bad for lashing out at his father. On the other hand though, he couldn’t blame himself for being upset; his father lied to him.