Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4

by Claudia Hall Christian

  “Would you mind checking to see if her appendix burst?” Jill asked.

  The doctor blinked at Jill. Jill gave him a bright smile.

  “Appendix?” he asked. “I…”

  “It runs in our family,” Charlie said.

  The doctor looked at Charlie and Jill. Without another word, he spun in place and jogged back into the emergency room.

  “So…” Tanesha said. “Does it?”

  “Does what?” Charlie asked.

  “Does appendicitis run in your family?” Heather asked.

  “How would I know?” Charlie said. “I just said that so he would look.”

  “Thanks Charlie,” Jill said.

  Heather hugged him.

  “Why did you say that?” Tanesha asked.

  “Last night, Aden said Sandy needed Jill’s touch,” Charlie said. “I remembered when I was a kid Sandy used to say Jill could heal anything. Can you?”

  “Some things,” Jill said. “Not this. She didn’t want me to heal her. She wants you and Sissy to be well. But I can’t help you with what you need. Only you can.”

  Charlie wilted under Jill, Heather and Tanesha’s gaze. They turned to see the doctor jogging toward them.

  “Her appendix has burst,” the doctor said. “We’re taking her into emergency surgery. I’ll update you when I know anything more.”

  He nodded to them and ran back into the emergency room.

  “Where’s Aden?” Charlie asked.

  “He can’t get away,” Jill said.

  “Because of his ankle bracelet,” Heather said. “He’s so close to being done, they didn’t want to give him the time. I guess most people screw up in the last couple of days on the ankle bracelet. He’s with the Noelle and Nash.”

  Charlie gave Heather a puzzled look.

  “Blane told me,” Heather smiled.

  Charlie nodded as if he understood. Tanesha pointed toward a row of chairs and they went to sit down. Charlie sat down on the end. He sat for a moment then punched his leg.

  “What?” Tanesha asked.

  “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Charlie said. “I didn’t go out. I didn’t go out. I didn’t go out.”

  He began to cry. Jill got up to sit next to him. She rubbed his back. Tanesha reached over to hold his hand. Heather bent down in front of him.

  “We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Heather said.

  “Delphie said…” Charlie swatted at his face with his hands. “She said if I left, Sandy and the baby would die. But I didn’t leave and Sandy and the baby are going to die!”

  “Don’t give up hope,” Tanesha said. “Sandy is very strong, resilient.”

  “But… Aden can’t be here and Noelle and Nash… Just me…”

  “Seems like just you did a pretty good job of getting Sandy help,” Jill said.

  “Think of it this way,” Heather said. “If you’d left the Castle, Sandy would have spent all day looking for you.”

  “Delphie said I would die,” Charlie said through his tears.

  “If you died it would be worse,” Tanesha said. “Sandy would have lost her shit completely. She’d be far away from any hospital.”

  “That’s right,” Jill said. “Sandy was lucky to be in a group with you and Sissy. I bet that saved her life. You’ll see. Tanesha’s right. Don’t give up hope.”

  “We never give up hope,” Heather said. “And we’ve been through a lot of shit.”

  “Lots of shit,” Tanesha repeated.

  Jill nodded. Through watery eyes, Charlie looked at Jill, Heather and Tanesha. Wiping his eyes, he nodded.

  “Sorry,” he said.

  “Why?” Tanesha asked. “We’ve seen you cry before.”

  “When?” Charlie asked.

  “Remember!” Heather laughed. “You broke your leg. You kept saying your face was crying but not you. You were too manly to cry.”

  Tanesha and Jill laughed.

  “That’s what’s happening here,” Charlie said.

  They laughed.

  “What happens now?” Charlie asked.

  “We wait,” Jill said. “Tanesha has a gift for finding great junk food from hospital machines. We’ll send her off in a little while.”

  “That’s all? We wait?”

  “We hope and we wait,” Heather said.

  “Again,” Tanesha said.

  “Again,” Jill said.

  Not liking the sound of their ‘again’ pronouncements, Charlie excused himself to use the bathroom. When he came back, they were laughing and talking. This was how he always remembered them. No matter what was happening, Sandy and her friends always laughed. He sat down in their midst to listen for a while.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Wednesday night — 8:35 P.M.

  In the Castle driveway, Tanesha woke Charlie, hugged him, and shoed him out of the car. Rubbing his eyes, Charlie waved to her until she backed out onto Race Street. With a sigh, he walked into the Castle. Today had been a long, exhausting, heartbreaking day. He slipped into the side door. Making his way to their apartment, he turned into the living room and stopped short.

  Aden was walking away from him. He opened his mouth to say something when Aden turned. Aden was carrying a pajama clad Noelle in his arms. Noelle’s face was pressed into his shoulder. When Aden stopped walking, Noelle looked up at him, and turned to look at Charlie. Noelle’s face bore the wounds made from hours of crying.

  “Charlie!” Noelle said.

  Hidden by the couch, Nash popped to his feet. Aden, Noelle, and Nash stared at him. Embarrassed, he looked down. He felt more than saw Nash come over to hug him.

  “We’ve been waiting for you,” Nash said.

  “What happened to…?” Charlie gestured to Noelle.

  “We’re upset about Sandy,” Aden said.

  Charlie looked up to see that they were standing around him. He nodded. Aden gestured to the couch and Charlie went to sit down. He watched Aden and Noelle whisper to each other.

  “She’s just like that,” Nash said in his ear.

  “Soft?” Charlie asked.

  “You’ll get used to it,” Nash said.

  “How is Sandy?” Aden asked.

  “Did you get to see her?” Noelle asked.

  “I called you from the hospital…” Charlie started.

  “She wants you to tell us in person,” Nash said.

  Charlie nodded.

  “Tell us the whole story,” Noelle said. “How did you know she was sick?”

  “She wasn’t herself,” Charlie said. “I noticed it when she picked me up from rehab. She threw up… or I think she threw up in the bathroom before we got back in the car. She just looked a little green. We went to Sissy’s group and I guess it’s some kind of beat down denial group or something. It didn’t go very well.”

  “Like the hot seat?” Noelle asked.

  “Not that bad,” Charlie flushed. Noelle had remembered his story and his pain. “The group leader asked Sandy something and she didn’t respond. I figured she was sick. So I got us out of the group. Sissy found a nurse and Sandy passed out. They zoomed us to the Emergency Room at that hospital and took her to the grown up hospital.”

  “What did you do?” Noelle asked.

  “I wasn’t allowed to go with her in the ambulance because I’m so young,” Charlie said. “Sissy was really upset. I stayed with Sis until she was feeling better and then ran over to the other hospital.”

  “Ran?” Aden asked.

  “Yeah, that didn’t go so well,” Charlie said. “I got there just as a doctor was looking for me. The girlfriends…”

  “The girlfriends?” Nash asked.

  “That’s what I call them,” Charlie said. “Jill, Heather, and Tanesha arrived just then and kinda took over. The doctor told us Sandy’s appendix burst and they did surgery. We waited and waited. Finally, they came out and said they had cleaned up everything and they thought she would be all right.”

  “And the baby?” Aden asked.
/>   “She’s fine,” Charlie said.

  “He,” Nash said.

  “She,” Charlie said. “I saw the ultrasound. They did one while I was in there. She’s a she.”

  The kids looked at Aden. He shrugged.

  “But she’s all right?” Aden asked.

  “I guess it was a big question,” Charlie said. “Lots of poison from the thing…whatever it’s called. But they said the baby… she’s tough. Like Sandy. That’s what I said. They called a baby doctor who said the baby is small. Like Sandy.”

  “That’s what you said?” Nash asked.

  “That’s what the lady doctor said. Called the baby a ‘little lady’,” Charlie said. “Sandy has to rest until the baby is due. Now. The girlfriends will make her do it so she’ll probably do it.”

  “Did you get to talk to Sandy?” Noelle asked. Her eyes welled up with tears. “I wanted to talk to her to make sure she’s all right.”

  “We couldn’t use a cell phone to call you,” Charlie said. “Some dumb rule. Sandy made a video for you guys on Jill’s camera.”

  Tears still spilling on her face, Noelle cheered. She scooched closer to Charlie so she could see. Charlie fumbled with the camera until Aden took it away from him. Aden set it up. They watched Sandy with their four heads pressed together over the tiny screen. Heather had done Sandy’s make up and Jill had done her hair. The little bit of theater helped Sandy seem less life threateningly sick. Even Charlie felt better after watching the video.

  And Sandy was Sandy. She smiled her big smile, told them she was all right. She promised to try to get home as soon as possible. Then she was all Mom. She reminded Noelle to bring her art supplies case for art class after school. She encouraged Nash to do well on his test tomorrow. She ended by telling them all to get to bed.

  They watched the short video three times before Noelle declared they should, in fact, go to bed. Nash and Charlie followed Noelle up to the apartment. Charlie waited until Aden helped the kids to bed before telling him that Sandy made a video for him. Touched, Aden nodded. Aden helped Charlie through teeth brushing and finally into bed. Charlie had just snuggled down with Cleo the cat when he heard Aden turn on the video. Like his children, Aden watched it three or four times. Charlie was sure Aden was going to bed when he appeared in the doorway of his closet room.

  “I wanted to say thanks,” Aden said. “It was brave of you to get Sandy out of that group. And really thoughtful of you to make the video.”

  “How did you know…?”

  “Sandy told me on the phone,” Aden said. “She said you insisted. I wanted to thank you. Noelle’s… She’s…”

  “Fragile,” Charlie said. “Special.”

  “Right,” Aden said. “She’s lost so much – her real mother, her home, me… Sandy stepped into that mess and became her anchor. With Sandy sick, Noelle’s adrift again. She needs that kind of visual confirmation to feel all right. She’ll probably watch the video five or six times before school. How did you know?”

  “I didn’t,” Charlie said. “I just knew what I’d want if I was at home and they were there.”

  “Must have been awful for you,” Aden said.

  Charlie shrugged.

  “Get some sleep,” Aden said. “I have to go in early but I’ll be back to get you guys up. Do you mind going with MJ again?”

  “Nope,” Charlie said.

  Aden nodded. Charlie lay back on his bed when Aden appeared in his doorway again.

  “I’m really glad you’re here,” Aden said.

  He was gone before Charlie could respond. Closing his eyes, Charlie was really glad he was there too.

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and NINETEEN

  Frightened souls

  Thursday early morning — 3:22 A.M.

  “But why can’t I sleep with Mommy?” Katy asked.

  Wrapped in a soft cotton blanket, Katy snuggled down on Jacob’s lap. She had no intention of moving. She’d asked the question just to hear him talk. Katy had been fine all evening. When Jill returned from the hospital, she had fed Katy tea and the teething crackers she loved. After a bite to eat, Katy fell asleep on Jill’s lap in the rocking chair. Katy started throwing up an hour later. When Katy started throwing up, Jacob convinced Jill to go back to sleep in their room and brought Katy out here. Jacob and Katy were sitting together at the kitchen table.

  “We’re letting Mommy sleep,” Jacob said. “She has her big presentation today for school.”

  “You forgot to tell about Auntie Sandy,” Katy said.

  Katy’s hand touched the rough stubble of Jacob’s chin.

  “I don’t mean to be barfy,” Katy said.

  “Of course not,” Jacob said.

  “Can’t Mommy fix me?” Katy asked.

  “We decided it was better for Katy to fix herself,” Jacob said.

  In a dramatic gesture, Katy put her hands on her own stomach. Feeling nothing, she shook her head.

  “Doesn’t work,” Katy said. “I tried.”

  “From the inside,” Jacob smiled. “Like regular people. For…”

  “Immunity,” they said together.

  Katy looked up into his face and then snuggled down on this lap again. She rested her head against his chest. Jacob checked to see if she was watching. Seeing her closed eyes, he beckoned a spiral binder from a bookshelf. The book flew across the loft to his outstretched hand. He caught the book and looked down to Katy. Her eyes were still closed.

  Setting the binder on the table, he found her looking up at him.

  “I wish I could do that,” Katy said.

  “It’s not as fun as it looks,” Jacob said.

  Katy nodded against his chest and he opened the book. This binder held full descriptions and financial projections for properties his friend wanted him to work on. The properties were architecturally sound, beautiful buildings with one drawback. There was at least one nasty ghost living within the walls of every one of them.

  His friend wanted to buy the buildings for a fraction of what they were worth. Jacob and Delphie would clear out the ghosts. The buildings would be brought to town where Jacob would have a chance to restore them to their former glory. They would sell for five or six times their total investment. If Jacob put in a little money, he'd share in the profits from the sale.

  The buildings were a gold mine. He could use the money to buy a larger building for the ever expanding Marlowe School; or create the scholarship fund Honey wanted for her new handicap accessible apartment building; or support one of those wretched friends of Charlie’s, maybe that little guy, Jeffy; or… There was no downside to this proposition.

  Except one.

  He didn’t want to do it.

  He didn’t like dealing with the dead. He always felt they were selfish. They had lived their lives and were now here to steal away the precious hours of his short time on this planet.

  His mother had felt differently, of course. Like the lost people she nurtured, Celia believed that ghosts were frightened souls. ‘They need our love just as much as the living do,’ she used to say. Jacob never saw it that way. More often than not, when he encountered a ghost, he sent it on to the great beyond. He’d done it so often that it was almost an automatic gesture. That’s why the Castle was ghost free.

  Of course, once sent there they could always come back. That’s how his mother continued to visit long after her death. And he did enjoy her visits. He looked down at his sleeping daughter. So did Katy.

  He hadn’t talked to his mother about this job. Outside of general mumbles, he hadn’t really talked to anyone about this job. It seemed like such a good opportunity.

  If only he could figure out why he didn’t want to do it. He began flipping through the pages.

  “What’s that?” Katy pointed to the book.

  “It’s a book of houses Mommy, Delphie, and I might work on,” Jacob said. “They’re pretty. Aren’t they?”

  “Scary,” Katy said. “Not pretty. I don’t like them.”

  “
You don’t?”

  Katy shook her head. Puzzled by her response, he continued turning the pages.

  “Not any of them?”

  Katy shook her head.

  “How come?”

  “They are sticky,” Katy whispered. “Like glue. They suck you in and you have to stay there.”

  “What?” Jacob asked.

  “I don’t know,” Katy said. “That’s just what they are. Are people stuck there?”

  “Ghosts,” Jacob said. “Angry, mean ghosts.”

  “Angry, mean ghosts,” Katy repeated his words.

  “I guess I’d be mean too if I was stuck somewhere,” Jacob said. “That’s a good reason to help them. Delphie and I could unstick the ghosts.”

  “Or get glued there,” Katy said.

  They looked at the houses together. Some were huge mansions. Others were small and delicately detailed. When he got to the end, he began flipping the pages in the other direction. Katy would touch the photos or pretend to read the pages.

  “Wait,” Katy said.

  He stopped flipping the pages.

  “Go back,” Katy said.

  Katy’s little hands tried to move the pages. Jacob helped her flip one page and then another until Katy patted both hands on a page.

  “Read this,” Katy said.

  “Let’s read together,” Jacob said.

  “I want you to read.” Katy shook her head. She fake coughed into her hand. “I’m sick.”

  Jacob shook his head at his manipulative daughter. Happy about her joke, she bounced on his lap.

  “Please?” she asked.

  “All right,” he said.

  “Built in: 1847. Location: Brighton.

  Square footage: House: 2340 square feet, Outbuildings: 1000 square feet

  Acreage: 380 Acres

  The sale must include the acreage and…”

  “No, Daddy,” Katy said. “Read it.”

  Confused, Jacob pursed his brow.

  “With this.” Katy tapped Jacob’s forehead.

  “You know that’s not really my gift.”

  “Just try.” Katy gave him a stern look that he was certain Valerie had perfected.