Goodbye Lucifer

by John Harold McCoy

  * * *

  “Mom, Jilly farted on me!” David’s loud, whining complaint greeted Melanie as she stepped into the dining room.

  Jilly countered just as loudly. “The little creep was gonna bite me again!”

  The two statements together struck Melanie as absurdly funny. To the disappointment of the children, each expecting parental wrath to descend on the other, she burst out laughing. From the kitchen, Aunt Claudia’s voice carried over the commotion. “All of you sit down. I’m bringing in breakfast.” Aunt Claudia, though totally devoted to Melanie and the children, was not famous for putting up with nonsense.

  Melanie’s laughter subsided as she sat down at the table. She looked at her children with mock sternness, pointing at their chairs with little jabs of her finger for emphasis. They sat down, and as both started to speak at once Melanie held up her hand.

  “That’s enough! If you two had any idea how ridiculous that sounded—” Her voice trailed off as she almost laughed again.

  Jilly tossed a fiery look at David. “Creep,” she whispered.

  David stuck out his tongue.

  “Enough,” warned Melanie again, still smiling. “And don’t call your brother a creep.”

  At that moment, Aunt Claudia bustled into the room pushing a clattering serving cart laden with generous proof of her morning efforts and with the aplomb of a professional croupier began dealing breakfast to her hungry charges. When finished, she pushed her rickety cart back to the kitchen and returned with a large carafe of coffee. After filling her own cup she handed the carafe to Melanie, then sat down at the table.

  “I don’t want eggs,” whined David. “Can’t I have cereal?” A look from Aunt Claudia convinced him that eggs were just fine.

  With eggs accepted and pouting beginning to fade, breakfast at the Meljacs’ began on a reasonably civil note.

  Jilly brightened. “Mom, me and Patty—” Catching Melanie’s frown, she sighed, gave her best “whatever” look, then exaggerated, “Patty and I…are going up to the springs to swim after school. Okay?”

  David chimed in, “I wanna go, too.”

  Jilly snapped at her brother, “You’re too little. You’ll drown like a bug.”

  Melanie grimaced at the renewed bickering. “All right, you girls be careful up there. David, you and I will go over to Grandpa’s and have an ice cream soda when you get home from school. How’s that?”

  David mentally weighed swimming versus sodas. Knowing he wasn’t going to win anyway he chose the soda at Grandpa Walker’s drug store. “Okay,” he said, “Strawberry.”

  Melanie chuckled to herself. Supermom solves all problems, she thought, and was proven right as the rest of the morning meal continued peacefully.

  Finished with breakfast, Jilly chugged the last of her orange juice. “Gotta go,” she said, getting up from the table and glancing at David. “Hurry up, creep.”

  At the word “creep,” Melanie stuck her fingers in her water glass and flipped a few drops at Jilly.

  “Okay, okay.” Jilly struck a deliberately formal pose, nose in the air. “Come, dear sweet brother. It’s time for us to walk lovingly hand in hand to school—s’that better?”

  Melanie smiled and flicked more water. “Get out of here, both of you.”

  Footsteps sounded on the veranda. Patty Clark, Jilly’s lifelong friend—or as Melanie was fond of saying, partner in crime—rushed in through the double doors.

  “Come on, Jilly, let’s go,” she spouted with her usual morning impatience. Then, more politely, “Hi, Mrs. Meljac.” And to Aunt Claudia, “Hey, Anta.”

  Jilly had grabbed her backpack from where it leaned against the wall, and was already at the door. “Hey, it’s been raining,” she said, as she stepped out onto the veranda.

  David was still fumbling with his backpack as the girls disappeared through the veranda door. He heard Jilly shout from outside, “Come on, bug!”

  Melanie got up and helped David with his pack. She walked with him to the veranda, bent down and kissed him on top of the head.

  “Don’t forget. We have a date for sodas later.”

  David smiled up at her then ran after his sister.

  THREE

  LOUIS WALKER WAS THANKFUL the drug store he’d inherited from his father was located at the very end of the row of two-story structures that was Brandell’s downtown. Through the glass front of the store he could see his daughter’s house diagonally across the intersection of the Boulevard and Stillman Road, and every morning he could wave to his grandchildren through the big side window as they walked along Stillman Road towards the Brandell Bridge on their way to school—as he was doing now.

  He stood watching as the children crossed the bridge and disappeared around the bend where the road turned to climb the mountain towards Stillman Township. Had Louis’ store been anywhere else he would have retired years ago, but here he felt linked to the big rock house across the way and the only family he had left—not to mention Claudia Meljac, whom he’d known all his life. There was also the fact that Mel, Jilly and David had known the store as part of their lives since birth. It was as much home to them as the big rock house on Meljac Lane. He couldn’t bear the idea of this part of their world being in the hands of strangers. So retirement was out of the question.

  Louis turned as the little bells over the front door jingled. Claudia Meljac walked in.

  She greeted him jokingly, “I see you’re standing there doing your proud grandfather bit instead of setting up the morning coffee for paying customers.”

  Louis smiled. “Yeah, well, since you’re here so early I guess you didn’t clean up your breakfast mess either, did you? And since when were you a paying customer?”

  Claudia grunted a playful “Harrumph,” and sat on one of the soda fountain stools.

  “Well, is there gonna be any service here today, soda boy?” she teased.

  “Soda boy, indeed!” said Louis with feigned indignation as he walked around the counter. “Oh all right. I guess if my only customers are going to be old maiden ladies I might as well get the coffee going.”

  The little bells jingled again as Melanie came in. Louis threw his hands up. “Jeez, now the place is full of women.”

  “Come on, dad,” said Melanie, beaming. “You know I’m your pride and joy, the light of your life and all that good stuff.”

  “If you insist,” admitted Louis, trying to look resigned. “Sit down, baby girl. I’m making coffee for her highness, here.” He grinned at Claudia.

  “Just get on with it, soda boy,” shot Claudia.

  Melanie laughed. “You two should get a room.”

  Both Claudia and Louis blanched, but said nothing. A few seconds went by.

  Melanie giggled. “And now a moment of strained silence.”

  “Put a cork in it, kid,” groaned Louis.

  Claudia and her father had for many years been close friends, perhaps more—she wasn’t sure—but she still got a kick out of ragging them about her suspicions, and now that she had them on the hook she wasn’t about to let it go. “Just think, Anta,” she kept on. “You guys could have a big wedding, then you could be the kids’ Aunt Grandma and my Aunt Mom. Cool, huh?”

  Louis laughed, and Aunt Claudia gave them both a warning look, saying, “Let’s move right along, shall we? Where’s that coffee, Lou?”

  Louis set out three cups. “Just about done,” he said. “How’s my grandbabies this morning?”

  Claudia shook her head. “I swear, you’d think those two were mortal enemies the way they fuss and fight.” She glanced over her shoulder at the magazine rack. “Oh, and Louis, no more horror comic books for David, okay?”

  Louis nodded. “How about superheroes? Maybe the spider guy, or some killer robots?”

  “For God’s sakes, Dad,” said Melanie. “Whatever happened to Mickey Mouse? Why do all kids’ comics have to be so weird?”

  Louis cocked his head, pretending surprise. “Ha
! Listen to who’s talking about weird!” He hummed a little Twilight Zone.

  Both women glared at him.

  “Oops,” he said, “Not funny, huh?”

  Melanie made a face, then smiled. “You’ll think it’s funny when you have to referee the brats all night. What time are you coming over, Mr. Babysitter?”

  FOUR

  LESS THAN A QUARTER OF A MILE from where it began, Meljac lane ended at a waterfall where a convergence of cold mountain streams cascaded into bubbling springs to become the source of the Blue Springs River. The river itself remained mostly hidden by thick forest till it emerged behind the houses on Meljac Lane. From there it flowed under the Brandell Bridge and behind the row of downtown buildings before leaving the valley.

  Swimming down into the mouth of the springs, fighting the gushing water for as long as possible, was a game Jilly and Patty had played since they’d been old enough to come up to the springs by themselves. Of course they had been careful not to mention it around their parents, not that it was dangerous, but parents were parents.