Hell and Back

by Patricia Blackmoor

  “It wasn’t my dream job,” I admitted.

  “What would that be?”

  “I had always wanted to be an event planner, but I thought I’d be planning weddings, not alumni luncheons.”

  “Everyone starts somewhere.”

  “The problem is, I started there and never moved on. That’s the legacy I left behind. Meg, twenty-six, planned alumni luncheons.”

  “You don’t give yourself enough credit,” he said.

  “You didn’t know me when I was alive. I was boring.”

  “You robbed banks.”

  “I was the getaway driver,” I pointed out. “I didn’t do any of the actual robberies. That was on Courtney and Mitchell.”

  “That’s still more action than people see in their lifetimes. It’s more action than I saw.”

  “But you were responsible,” I said, settling back against the uncomfortable plastic seat. “You made a difference in people’s lives. You had a family who loved you.”

  “Your family loved you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You didn’t know my family.”

  He looked at me for a long time. “Maybe I didn’t,” he said, “but I’ve seen people lose family. I’ve talked to enough prisoners in hell. Just because you might not get along, their death still hits you where it hurts the most. You may not have felt like your family cared much about you, but I’m sure they were devastated when they lost you.”

  “Guess we’ll never know.”

  He paused again. “Maybe, if we have time, we can go see them. Check in and see how they’re doing.”

  “Then what? Go back to hell, knowing that they’re rejoicing? I’d rather leave it ambiguous.”

  Parker glanced out the window. “This is our stop, isn’t it?”

  I was relieved. I didn’t want to pursue the subject.

  We stepped off the bus behind a mother with a toddler in her arms. For a moment I thought the child might have seen me. It seemed he was looking right at me when he smiled wide. Of course, that was impossible, but the sight warmed my heart while also giving me a pain of regret at the reminder of what I’d never have.

  “This way,” I said, pointing down the street. I may never have ridden the train, but I certainly recognized my own neighborhood.

  “Nice area,” Parker said. We passed by the Mississippi River, heading into the little slice of suburbia in Minneapolis. Here, the houses were in good shape, some of them single family, a few duplexes, many of them housing middle-income families. Courtney had known the landlord, it was one of her uncles or something, which is how the three of us had ended up in the cute little one-story duplex in the first place.

  “It’s not bad,” I said. “Lots of kids.”

  He shook his head. “I would have killed to have brought my brothers and sister up in a neighborhood like this,” he said.

  “Maybe you should have worked it into your deal,” I said with a sigh as we turned down onto my street.

  “Too late now.”

  When I caught sight of my house, my heart leaped in my chest. The cute little pale brick home sat in a patch of well-manicured, bright-green grass. Our neighbors had been an elderly couple who kept to themselves, and as we drew closer, I saw Erma sitting in the window of her living room.

  “Ready?” Parker asked me as we walked up to the front door.

  “Ready,” I said.

  In the few weeks I had been gone, things were mostly how I had left them. The kitchen timer shaped like a chick hatching from an egg was still perched on the back of the oven. A stack of rom-com DVDs were still stacked by the Blu-ray player. Cleaning had fallen to the wayside a little bit; I had been the neat freak of our trio, so while the dishes were done and the trash had been taken out, the bookshelves were full of dust and there were splatters of marinara sauce on the kitchen floor.

  “I don’t think anyone is here,” Parker said.

  “I think you’re right.” Courtney’s bedroom door was shut, but I couldn’t hear anyone inside. The door to my and Mitchell’s bedroom was open, however, but a cursory glance inside showed that no one was there either.

  “What’s all this?” I asked, kneeling down by a stack of cardboard boxes. The top one was still open and only half full with some of my things, a few books, some toiletries, some of my clothes. “He’s getting rid of my stuff.”

  “It’s probably too painful for him to look at,” Parker said. “When my parents died, going into their room hurt so badly. Every little thing reminded me of them, and it just woke up the pain all over again.”

  “Yeah,” I said, standing up, looking at the boxes of my things. I knew Parker was probably right, but it still hurt to see Mitchell getting rid of my things.

  From inside the bedroom we heard the sound of the front door opening. I rushed out to the living room where a man was kicking off his shoes. My heart pounded.

  “Mitchell.”

  Chapter Twelve

  I took a few steps forward so I was standing in front of Mitchell. He didn’t look at me, of course, and I knew that would happen, but it still stung. Mitchell reached over and grabbed the controller for the Xbox. He leaned back, kicking his feet up on the table.

  “Oh no,” I said, reaching out, remembering that there was no way I could get his feet off the table.

  “That’s your boyfriend?” Parker asked me. I could understand his skepticism; Parker and Mitchell looked nothing alike. They were about the same height, although Parker might have been a little shorter, but that was where their similarities ended. Mitchell was lanky; Parker’s shoulders were more broad. Mitchell had spiked blond hair; Parker’s was black and buzzed. Mitchell’s skin was a shade lighter than mine, though it had tanned a little in the summer sun. Parker’s skin was much darker; if I were to guess, his parentage was mixed, though it seemed rude to ask.

  “That’s Mitchell,” I said.

  “He looks...boring.”

  Parker wasn’t wrong. Mitchell was zoned out, punching the buttons on his controller. I glanced over at Parker, whose arms were crossed. He looked more than a little put out. I didn’t say anything, just shrugged.

  “So where do you have the money hidden?” Parker asked after I had been quiet several minutes, watching Mitchell.

  “The backyard.”

  “The backyard? Seriously?”

  “I may have buried it.”

  Parker raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you a pirate?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

  We left out the back door and took the steps from the porch down to the yard. Our yard was spacious, sloping down to a line of trees. We crossed down to the tree line and slipped between the trunks, continuing down the slope until we came to a small stream. I bent down near the trunk of one of the thicker trees.

  “This is where I buried it,” I said.

  “Why did you bury it?”

  “I just had this feeling,” I said. “I got nervous, really nervous. I was worried that the police were on to us. I wanted to hide it in case they came looking. They never did, of course, but I almost feel like if I hadn’t hidden it, they would have. Better safe than sorry, I guess.”

  Parker nodded.

  “There was something else...again, just a feeling. It was Courtney. She was always texting, always hiding in her room with her phone...I don’t know. I just got this vibe that she was being shady, even though I had no way to prove it.”

  “Better to trust your gut.”

  “That’s what I thought,” I said, sighing. “But now we’re here, with a box of money buried at the foot of a tree, with no way to get it to Mitchell and Courtney. I screwed up.”

  “Hey, you were just doing what you thought was right,” he said. “We’ll figure out how to get the money to them.”

  I gave him a small smile. “Thanks.”

  “Let’s head back to the house, see what we can figure out.”

  I followed Parker through the trees and up the lawn, back to the house. Mitchell was stil
l on the couch, playing video games.

  “He’s not very exciting, is he?” Parker asked.

  “What, like you never played video games?” I asked.

  “Didn’t really have time.”

  “I suppose you didn’t,” I said. Glancing at Mitchell, he did seem boring. When Parker was alive, he had been working hard, taking care of his family. All Mitchell did, when he wasn’t at the bank, was sit around and play video games. It made the comparisons between the two men even more stark. Still, I held an affection for Mitchell, and couldn’t help but smile as I watched him furrow his brow in concentration.

  “How did you guys meet?” Parker asked me as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, eyes still on Mitchell.

  “College,” I said, still watching Mitchell. “He and I were in the same intro writing class. We had to find partners for a project, and we were sitting next to each other. It kind of grew from there.”

  “How long had you guys been together?”

  “Two years. We were just friends at first… didn’t see each other much once that semester ended, but then we ended up in the same statistics class the next year. Two years ago, Courtney invited me to this party not too far from campus. He was there. I had to work the next morning and so did Mitchell, so we were the only sober people there. We just sat and watched South Park while everyone got super hammered.”

  “How romantic.”

  I shrugged. “It was college.”

  “How long did you guys live together?”

  “Almost a year. It would have been a year in September. Courtney and I were roommates, and Mitchell was talking about moving in. Courtney’s uncle or something owns this place, and she had mentioned it. Between the three of us we could afford it; two of us wouldn’t have been able to. It worked out pretty well.”

  “And that’s how you guys decided to rob a bank?”

  “Courtney and Mitchell both work at banks, but different companies. It was their idea… just a joke at first. That’s what I thought, at least. It kind of grew from there.”

  “You and Courtney were pretty close too?”

  “Yeah. Best friends. We were roommates our freshman year.”

  I glanced at Parker. He had a look on his face that I couldn’t read, a deep consideration.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  He turned to me. “Do you think that we ever would have met on Earth if we’d both stayed alive?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”

  “We lived such different lives. You grew up in the suburbs, went to college. You had a future.”

  “You say that like you didn’t have a future.”

  “I didn’t. Not really. I was trying to raise kids while being a kid myself. If I hadn’t made that deal, I would have been stuck working three jobs still, dead-end jobs, since I didn’t have a degree.”

  “There are plenty of successful people that don’t have a degree.”

  “But I was never going to be one of them. With everything I was doing, I didn’t have time to be successful.”

  I wasn’t going to argue with him anymore. He didn’t need me to debate him; he needed my sympathy. “I’m sorry.”

  He offered me a tight smile. “I didn’t mean to sound so harsh.”

  “You have every right to. You’re right; I was privileged.”

  I glanced between Mitchell and Parker. “I wish I had done more in my life to help people. If I could go back and do it again, I would have.”

  “It’s amazing how the regrets keep piling up when you look back on your old life, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” I said with a nod. “It does.”

  The front door of the house opened, and Mitchell turned to look toward the entrance. A moment later, Courtney stepped into the living room.

  “Hey,” she said, setting her purse down.

  “How was your manicure?” Mitchell asked.

  “Look, they’re all sparkly.” Courtney held out her fingernails, much longer than I would have been comfortable with. Indeed, they sparkled in the light.

  “Cool,” he said.

  She passed through me to sit down on the recliner adjacent to the couch. “So, what are we doing tonight?”

  “What do you mean?” Mitchell had turned his attention back to the screen again.

  “For the Fourth of July.”

  He shrugged, eyes still glued to his game. “I dunno. We can sit outside and watch the fireworks go off.”

  Courtney wrinkled her nose. “That’s it? That’s all you want to do? You don’t want to go anywhere? Out to a bar, out to watch the fireworks over the lake?”

  “Not really.”

  Courtney crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “You used to do it for Meg.”

  Mitchell paused his game, and I didn’t miss him rolling his eyes as he set the controller down beside him on the couch. “That’s because it always blended into Meg’s birthday. She wanted to go somewhere, so we did.”

  “That’s not fair,” Courtney said. “Just because she’s gone doesn’t mean we can’t do something fun.”

  “She’s gone, and now I don’t have to go anywhere,” he said, “so I’m not going anywhere.”

  “That’s not fair,” Courtney said again.

  “Sorry.”

  They fell quiet, Courtney still with her arms crossed and a frown on her face, Mitchell either oblivious or pretending to be.

  “Her parents invited us over tomorrow. Did you want to go?”

  “Not particularly,” Mitchell said with a sigh.

  “Okay. I didn’t really want to either.”

  They fell quiet again, and the tension was so thick I was beginning to feel anxious, my chest tightening.

  “I didn’t realize they wouldn’t get along if I was gone,” I said to Parker.

  “Any luck today?” Courtney asked.

  “Nope.”

  Courtney stood up from the chair, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. “Seriously? You were home all day. What were you doing?”

  “I went to get some stuff.”

  “From Kenny?”

  “He’s the one with the good stuff.”

  “Did you smoke it all already?”

  “Maybe.”

  Parker turned to me. “You didn’t tell me they did drugs.”

  I watched the scene, frowning. “I didn’t know they did.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Courtney said, throwing her hands up in the air. “You’re wasting all your money on drugs.”

  “Not like I could do it when Meg was here,” Mitchell reminded her.

  “That goody two-shoes,” Courtney muttered.

  Parker looked at me.

  “I wasn’t a big fan of drugs,” I said. “I thought they increased our chances of getting caught. If the police did search here, we’d probably get in more trouble for the drugs than the stolen money.”

  “Nah,” Parker said, shaking his head. “You all are white.”

  “I didn’t even know he was interested in drugs. He never seemed to care before.”

  Courtney crossed into the kitchen. “You thirsty?” she called out to Mitchell.

  “A beer is fine.”

  I glanced at the clock. “It’s two o’clock.”

  “It’s two in the afternoon,” Courtney said.

  “It’s five o’clock somewhere,” said Mitchell, eyes still focused on the screen.

  Courtney rolled her eyes.

  “Besides, it’s a holiday,” Mitchell said. “Happy birthday, ‘Murica.”

  Parker turned to me, raising his eyebrows. I only shrugged.

  Courtney brought over a beer for Mitchell and a wine cooler for herself. She handed Mitchell his beer as she sat down next to him on the couch.

  “Hey, those were mine,” I said, looking at the raspberry cooler in her hand.

  “Well, it’s not like you’re going to be drinking them,” Parker pointed out.

  Courtney watched Mitchell for a mom
ent before speaking. “We’ve got to find that money.”

  “I know,” he answered, not meeting her gaze.

  “Like, soon.”

  “Jesus, Courtney, she died two weeks ago.”

  “Exactly!” Courtney said. “Two weeks we’ve been looking for that money.”

  “I don’t know what you want me to do.”

  “Look harder!”

  “You can look too, you know.”

  “You think I haven’t been? I’ve been scouring this house. If it’s here, she hid it well.”

  “Stupid bitch.”

  “Hey!” I cried out, but of course he couldn’t hear me.

  “Did you know?”

  “Know what?”

  “That she hid the money?”

  Parker let out an exasperated sigh and paused his game, letting his arm with the controller flop onto the leather couch. “We’ve been over this a million times, Courtney. I had no idea that she was going to take the money out of the safe. I don’t know why you keep asking me.”

  “Just making sure,” she said, tightening her jaw.

  “If I knew where that money was, we’d be out of here,” he said. “You know that.”

  “I know,” she said with a sigh. “I’m frustrated.”

  “You think I’m not?”

  “You don’t seem frustrated! You’re playing video games!”

  “I needed a break.”

  “From what, smoking weed?”

  “Jesus, Courtney, will you get off my back?”

  Courtney stood up from the couch. “You know what? No. I won’t. We need to find that money, and we need to do it soon. I told my uncle we’d be out by the first of August.”

  “Why the fuck would you do that? We weren’t supposed to tell anybody!”

  “He needed to get ready for another tenant! It was part of our agreement!”

  “Who fucking cares?” Mitchell was yelling now as he stood up, tossing his controller down on the couch.

  “I care. He’s my family!”

  “You knew the rules. We weren’t supposed to tell anyone that we’d be leaving.”

  I frowned. “Courtney wasn’t supposed to be going with us,” I said.

  “Oh?” Parker asked.

  “We asked her if she wanted to move to California with us, but she said she’d rather stay here. We were going to split up the money with her and Mitchell and I were going to go.”