“Yeah, but … I think you should tell me now,” Jerry said. “I don’t want to risk something happening that might stop me from seeing that show.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“Oh, well, nothing to you,” Jerry replied hurriedly. “Something might happen to me. I tend to be clumsy and stuff. I’d prefer listening to you impart your wisdom now.”
“And yet I have no wisdom to give you right now,” Meredith shot back. “That’s not why I’m here today. I’m supposed to be talking about marrying furniture with a color scheme to create a soothing atmosphere. I’m not talking about wooden flowers.”
“You’re not going to be talking about any of it,” Aisling muttered under her breath.
“Excuse me?” Meredith managed to lace her words with a bit of strength … and a whole lot of disdain. “Do you have something you want to say?”
“So many things,” Aisling replied, refusing to back down. “You couldn’t possibly understand how many things I want to say to you.”
“Well, I’m all ears.”
“Great.” Aisling drew out her iPad and sat on the arm of the couch. I sensed trouble, but Aisling was too far along to care how badly she was about to screw things up. “For starters, what’s the deal with your childhood dog? It says here you got it for Christmas when you were twelve, played with it for a day and then conveniently lost it in the woods.
“Now, I don’t want you to worry because the dog found a good home,” she continued. “That was after it cried and went hungry for two days, but a lovely couple found the dog and raised it. It lived to be sixteen – no thanks to you – but that’s the first thing on this list that kind of makes me want to punch you.”
Whatever response Meredith was expecting, that wasn’t it. “I … um … what?”
“Who abandons a dog?” Jerry was scandalized. “Only a jerk would do anything of the sort.”
“Oh, she has a laundry list of crimes against animals here,” Aisling said. “The Christmas dog was only the first. There’s also the Persian cat she just had to have and dumped on a maid when she grew tired of it, threatening the maid that she would fire her if she didn’t take the cat. There’s another dog that she bought and then locked outside the house in an attempt to get it to run away. Her former assistant took that dog.”
“I knew it!” Meredith hissed. “She said it was a coincidence her new dog looked like that hellion I bought, but I knew she stole it.”
“She didn’t steal it,” Aisling said. “She saved it. She should’ve reported you to every animal welfare group in the state. You’re not the sort of person who should be allowed to have a pet.”
“I am an excellent pet owner,” Meredith argued.
“You’re … something,” Aisling said. “Pets aren’t your only problem, though. I think one of my favorite parts of your file is when you locked your mother in a nursing home – one that didn’t allow her phone privileges – and told the staff she had Alzheimer’s and dementia.
“In truth, she knew you were embezzling from your own company and you didn’t want her telling anyone,” she continued. “By the way, don’t be surprised if someone places an anonymous call on that one tomorrow. You won’t care because you’ll be busy, but that’s just heinous.”
“Your own mother?” Jerry was horrified. “How could you?”
“She’s well taken care of,” Meredith snapped. “How do you even know that?”
“We have our ways,” I said. The more Aisling talked, the more disgusted I felt. While I’m not keen on making a charge’s final moments difficult, Meredith Weaver clearly had it coming. “Perhaps you should’ve spent more time being a good person rather than a wooden flower expert, huh?”
“Hey,” Jerry admonished, shaking his head. “Don’t hate on the flowers. Just because the woman is evil doesn’t mean everything she touched is bad.”
“I’m sorry.” I held up my hands in a placating manner. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Jerry’s lips curved. “You’re forgiven, especially if we can start tossing around trip ideas this weekend.”
His excitement thrilled me. He’d completely abandoned the idea of redecorating the townhouse and was totally on board with the extravagant trip idea. That made me happy. “We should pick up some brochures from the travel agency.”
“I think that’s a great idea!” Jerry’s eyes sparkled. “We can plan various trips, maybe go to an island for one and visit a cruise ship for another.”
“Now that sounds like a plan.”
“Not to encourage you, but I heard of an island called Moonstone Bay when I was researching other stuff last week, and I think it sounds interesting,” Aisling interjected. “It’s supposed to have a really cool lighthouse and a bunch of tiki bars.”
“Who doesn’t love a tiki bar?” I grinned at Aisling as Meredith made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat.
“Um … not that I don’t love listening to you making plans – which I don’t – but what are you even doing here?” Meredith barked. “This is a private dressing room. That means it’s for me and me only.”
Aisling narrowed her eyes as she swiveled. “We haven’t forgotten about you. I’m sure you wish we had because … well, you’re horrible. You’re still our main cause of interest for the next … um … seven minutes.” Aisling smiled brightly as she lowered her wrist.
“Seven minutes?” For the first time since we entered the room, Meredith looked uneasy. “What happens in seven minutes?”
“Your life changes,” Aisling replied.
“Do you really think you should tell her that?” I asked, nervous.
“This is part of that plan I was telling you about,” Aisling explained. “I’m going to finish reviewing her file and then, when we’re done, it will be time to collect her soul and call it a day.”
“My soul?” Meredith wrinkled her nose.
I ignored the woman’s confusion. “I thought it was supposed to happen on the stage.”
“It is, but it’s like twenty seconds after she gets up there,” Aisling said. “I was thinking it made more sense to simply delay her by a minute or two so we can do this in private.”
Realization dawned. “And, if we keep her in here, that means Davis and Sheridan won’t have a chance to ambush her in the hallway.”
Aisling flashed a thumbs-up. “You’re smarter than you look.”
“And you’re more annoying than you realize,” I shot back.
“Hey! Focus on me!” Meredith attempted to snap her fingers but no sound emerged. She stared at her fingertips, which were an unsettling yellow color, and cleared her throat. “You said something about collecting my soul.”
“I did,” Aisling agreed cheerfully. “That’s why we’re here. We’re reapers … and you’re about to die.”
“Aisling, that’s definitely not something you should tell her,” I complained. “She’ll freak out. We try to keep the souls from freaking out. You know that.”
Aisling shrugged, unbothered. “She deserves it. She’s a complete and total jerk.”
I couldn’t argue with that. “I know, but … .”
Meredith slapped at Aisling to shove her away from the couch. “You’re saying you’re here because I’m going to die?”
I saw no reason to lie. It was too late. “Yes.”
“Well, I’m not going down without a fight,” Meredith snapped. “I’m on the transplant list. We’re going to bribe the board so I can get on the top. I’m not ready to die.”
“And yet you are going to die,” I said. “You have only a few minutes left.”
“No.” Meredith clawed at Aisling’s face as she tried to stand. Her legs were shaky, but she managed to lurch toward the door. “It’s not my time. It’s not. I won’t let it be!”
“You don’t get to decide that,” Aisling said. “That’s one thing that’s out of your control. And, unfortunately for you, given the way you lived your life, the next stop on the soul train isn’t going to be a good one
.”
Meredith was aghast. “What’s that mean?”
“I think you know.”
I was about to expound on her future – and how hot it was bound to be – but a clicking noise drew my attention and I turned to find someone testing the dressing room door handle.
“Who is that?” Jerry asked, alarmed.
“I locked the door when we came in,” Aisling said. “That’s either Jessica or Sheridan.”
Neither was good for us. “So what do we do now?”
Aisling smirked. “What we do best.”
“Scream?” Jerry asked.
“Improvise,” I answered. “We only need another four minutes.”
“Four minutes?” Meredith screeched. “I will not stand for it! I demand you get out of here.”
“No.” Aisling was blasé. “See who’s at the door. If it’s Sheridan, we need to hold her off. If it’s Jessica, just pretend we’re not in here. She doesn’t worry me.”
“You got it.” I strode toward the door, my mind busy. Things were bad, but they were about to get worse. I didn’t think it was possible until Meredith let loose a blood-curdling scream … and the attempt on the door handle doubled.
“Well, crap,” I muttered. “This is about to suck.”
“Welcome to my world,” Aisling said, slapping her hand over Meredith’s mouth and dragging her back to the couch. “Dad is going to be so ticked when he hears this story.”
She wasn’t wrong.
10
Ten
I strode to the door and looked through the peephole, pursing my lips when I registered Sheridan’s elongated face on the other side. She didn’t look happy.
“It’s Sheridan.” I double-checked the locks before turning back to Aisling. “She’s going to be ticked when she realizes what’s going on.”
“I have no doubt.” Aisling struggled with Meredith, wrestling her down on the couch as the panicking home expo guru made a series of disturbing keening sounds. She was fading fast, so they weren’t quite wails, but they were hardly comforting noises. “Jerry, put your hand over her mouth.”
Jerry was appalled. “I will do no such thing.”
Aisling adopted her most reasonable tone. “Jerry, she’s a terrible person. She was mean to dogs.”
“It’s not that. I don’t want to get her germs all over me. You know how I feel about people getting spit on me.”
“Ugh.” Aisling slapped her own hand over Meredith’s mouth and sat on the woman, using a maneuver she perfected as a teenager when fighting off me and our other siblings. “You need to stop being such a pain in the butt, Jerry. Germs won’t kill you.”
“That shows what you know,” Jerry sniffed. “I’ve seen The Walking Dead. Germs led to the zombie apocalypse.”
I leaned my head to the side, pressing my back to the door in case Sheridan tried to break it down as I considered the statement. “They never said how the zombie apocalypse happened on The Walking Dead.”
“They did so. It’s germs.”
“They did not.”
“They did so.”
“Aisling!” I fixed my sister with a pointed look. “Did they say how it started on The Walking Dead?”
“I believe … .” Aisling broke off, using her free hand to tap her bottom lip as Meredith struggled beneath her.
“Tell the truth and no games,” I ordered. “I gave up my one day off this week to help you. I almost got in a fight with my boyfriend because of it.”
“We did get in a fight,” Jerry corrected. “We’re going to get in another one if you don’t agree with me about The Walking Dead.”
I was beyond frustrated. “Jerry, I am not going to agree with you just to agree with you. That’s not how a relationship works.”
Jerry didn’t bother to hide his surprise. “Excuse me? I think I know how a relationship works.”
“I will sue you if you don’t get off me right now,” Meredith announced as she managed to move her head away from Aisling’s hands. “I’ll have you arrested, locked up and executed in the electric chair. I’ll sue you out of spite, too.”
Aisling rolled her eyes. “Michigan doesn’t have capital punishment.”
“You’re making that up.”
“I’m not.” Aisling glanced at her watch. “You have two minutes. If I were you, I’d start repenting.”
Meredith ceased fighting. “Will that save me?”
“No.”
“Will that get me a ticket to a better place?”
“No.”
“Then why would I possibly repent?” Meredith spat.
“Because it’s the right thing to do.”
“She doesn’t understand the difference between right and wrong,” Jerry said. “She’s like Aidan. He doesn’t understand that I’m right about The Walking Dead and he’s wrong.”
“Oh, geez.” I slapped my hand against my forehead. “I can’t take much more of this day. All I wanted was to laze around, read a magazine, maybe play some video games … instead I’m stuck here watching my sister sit on a dying woman while my boyfriend picks a fight over a television show.”
“Great day, huh?” Aisling smirked. “It’s one of those days that make you happy to be alive.”
“Don’t make things worse,” I warned, jolting when someone knocked on the door at my back.
“Is someone in there?”
I turned and looked through the peephole again, cringing as Sheridan’s face took up the entire fish-eyed view. “How long?”
“One minute,” Aisling replied.
Meredith, perhaps sensing this really was the end, redoubled her efforts to dislodge Aisling. She was so weak she could barely slap at my sister, though, and Aisling had no trouble remaining on top of her.
“I don’t want to die,” Meredith announced. “It’s not fair. I’m not ready.”
“You should’ve thought about that before you locked away your mother,” Aisling shot back. “Your mother sounds like a saint compared to our mother. She eats people. No joke. She eats people and we haven’t locked her up. What does that say about you?”
“I was trying to protect myself.” Meredith openly wept. “I’m allowed to protect myself.”
“Not at the expense of others,” I said. “You’re one person in a vast universe, but you’re not the only person. You have to do what’s right for everyone, not just for yourself.”
I found Jerry smiling when I risked a glance at him. “What?”
“That was profound,” Jerry enthused. “I’m back to being your biggest fan.”
“You are?” You can never tell what’s going to sway Jerry. He flits from one thing to another. It’s one of the things I like least about him. Of course, it’s one of the things I like best about him, too. I can’t explain it.
“I want to do right for everybody, not just myself,” Jerry said. “I want to be the yin to your yang.”
“Oh, good grief.” Aisling made a face. “Jerry, he was right about The Walking Dead. It wasn’t germs. Not only was he right, but he’s going to brag about being right once you’re not in the room.”
I wanted to argue, but she wasn’t wrong. Aisling knew me well. Instead, I decided to shame her. “Shut up, Aisling. Don’t you have a woman to kill?”
“Hey!” Aisling was affronted. “I’m not killing her. She’s dying from liver failure. She should’ve laid off the tequila.”
“I would never drink tequila!” Meredith’s voice was barely a whisper. She was going and she didn’t even realize it. Heck, maybe she did realize it. She no longer put up even a mild struggle. “I drink wine, like a lady.”
“Ladies drink peach margaritas,” Jerry countered. “It’s been in all the magazines. You should keep up on trends.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem much longer.” Meredith’s eyes were narrow slits. “I won’t forget this. I’ll haunt you until your dying day.”
Aisling smirked. “I have news for you. That’s not how it works.”
/> “You’ll be sorry you ever met me.”
“I’m already there.”
“Me, too,” Jerry lamented. “I’ll never learn about those wooden flowers now.”
“I’m sure there’s a tutorial on YouTube,” I said. “We’ll look when we get home.”
“Really?” Jerry brightened. “Can we order pizza and play board games, too?”
Aisling and I answered in unison. “No!” Jerry’s penchant for cheating at board games was notorious. He was the sole reason – okay, Aisling and I might’ve had a hand in it, too – we had to disband game night.
“Come on.” Jerry pouted. “I think I’ve earned it after you lied to me about why you were here.”
I scowled and scorched Aisling with a glare. “This is your fault. I hope you know that. I’m totally tattling on you to Dad, by the way. When he finds out you sat on a dead woman to keep her still … .” I broke off when I saw the look on Aisling’s face. She seemed lost, almost near tears, as she looked down at Meredith.
I swallowed hard. “Is she dead?”
“I think she’s going right now.” Aisling got to her feet and shakily reached in her pocket for her scepter. Whatever she expected to happen, it was hard for her in the final moment because she understood better than most how everything would play out. “Any second now.”
The pounding on the other side of the door increased.
“Let me in there right now!” Sheridan screeched. She obviously realized Meredith wouldn’t be dying onstage as initially reported. “I’ll pull the fire alarm if you don’t.”
I ignored her. “Here comes the shimmer,” I noted.
“What shimmer?” Jerry was fascinated by the process, even though he couldn’t see what was happening. He wasn’t born into a reaper line, so he was unable to see the magic.
“Shh.” I pressed a finger to my lips.
Aisling extended her scepter and waited for Meredith’s spirit to take shape. If I didn’t know my sister I’d almost believe she felt bad for what she had to do. Almost.
“Am I dead?” Meredith’s ethereal soul was horrified as she glanced around.
“You are,” I confirmed. “Do you have any regrets?”
Grim & The City: A Grimlock Family Short Page 9