Then, a memory struck her as if she’d been shot through the heart, it was a recollection of the party, the one in that photo. Parts of it flashed in her head like a slideshow projector – their family’s metal-framed pool, their father digging by hand a hole twelve feet in diameter and three feet deep, Uncle Teddy and Clive helping him and using every care necessary, and Aunt Moon with Sandy and Belle serving food and supplying the men with refreshments. And the careless coffee stain.
The men kept their eyes on the kids and warned them not to get too close to the hole. Their childlike minds wandered once again to the games they were playing. As the men struggled long and hard into the dark they’d finally finished digging, to fit the metal siding along the perimeter of the hole, just to pull it out again and correct it. They were tired and hungry but refused to give up the task until it was done. There’d be no tomorrow working on the pool. After they’d gotten the siding into the hole the next step was simply a matter of back-filling in dirt around the edges to stabilize the structure, after that they would hang water-blue nylon lining inside it and, finally, fill it.
Nearby, the kids were laughing, Micaiah was stuffing an entire hotdog into his mouth just to see if he could and, he could. Enaya and Euly roared as they ran in circles around him. He was chasing them with part of the bun hanging out of his jaws. Then, something went wrong. She’d lost track of where she was running and wasn’t paying attention. Euly remembered slipping. Her foot slid between the metal siding and the edge of freshly dug hole. She’d been warned but couldn’t stop her body as it fell into the siding, folding it in on one side and creasing the metal.
Her father went ballistic. He yelled at her in front everyone and she remembered crying and running inside. She remembered Enaya screaming back at their dad, defending Euly and running after her inside to console her. They’d been a team once. They had been close.
Yet, as they grew they were two branches splitting a tree at the bole growing outward and away from each other. Enaya had a way of distancing herself, walking outside a margin of family dangers where Euly would step waist deep into the quicksand and end up sucked into its pull.
And, there she was in mother’s cottage, a place Euly hadn’t ventured since a week after Belle moved into the hospice over five months ago. Now, her sister was deep in it and for the first time in a long time and Euly was the one circling, not ready to deal with the realization that her mother was gone for good. The woman who hummed lullabies to her as she rocked her to sleep, had left for good.
The phone’s bell startled her. Her heart raced in a start. It was eerie to see Belle’s name lighting up the digital display, like some celestial beacon glowing from another plane of existence. She wiped off her face.
“Hi.” She whispered, covering to hide the sound of crying. Her sister spoke with morning in her voice. Enaya wanted to know when she would be coming over. She wanted to make breakfast and it was ready to go and she could put it on the stove right now and, no, she didn’t care if Euly wasn’t ready.
“It’s not like your neighbors will see. You’re socked in by woods. You’re so uptight. How did you get like this?” And, in her statement, Euly got the sense that Enaya also thought about how differently they’d both turned out from one another, how the spread seemed abysmal and out of reach. Yet, her sister was only feet from where Euly now stood, within yelling distance. Euly turned to the window looking out to see if she could spot her sister but she couldn’t.
“Is that your idea of an invitation, an insult to wet my appetite?”
Enaya smiled. She could hear it in her sister’s voice. “Just come over. We can have coffee together and eat. Then, we can look for it.”
Enaya wasn’t a patient woman. She’d never been patient. Euly knew this. Enaya – always the first up at Christmas, the first done with a math test, the first to move out of the house, to move away, to move back – the first born.
“Okay. I’ll be right there.”
As she hung up the phone, she looked out to the frozen pond and could see rings of water that had once beaten against its edges and trees now stiff from icy temperatures. Willows bent under pressure of cold air. She could feel winter seeping in.
CHAPTER FORTY NINE
After her grandmother vanished the diner filled-up with performers – actors, singers, and musicians. They begged Euly to dance.
“I don’t dance anymore.” She told them but they prodded and pressured her to get up and dance with them. She rose up and with one quick move, a step from long ago, Euly said, “Like this?” The performers cheered and applauded to see her aging body move.
She dreamt she awoke in the dream and found she was in bed alone. A very small and frail version of Belle crept into the room and up to the bedside. Euly began to quake and moan as if she were seeing an apparition. She awoke once more in the dream but her mother was still there this time trying to console Euly. She said, “You were crying in your sleep.”
“But mom, you were just here by my bed.” The distorted version confused her.
“No, I’ve only just gotten here.” Then Belle yelled out, “Honey!” Someone else was standing behind her. It was Euly’s father.
“Honey, Euly thinks I was here beside her bed, but I’ve only just gotten here, right?”
“That’s right. Hi honey.” Then they both tried to console her.
She jerked in a start when she woke. The grief felt unbearable.
Euly had the overwhelming feeling that she was swimming in quicksand. She’d drifted off. The phone was ringing again. It was Enaya. It was still morning. Had she missed breakfast? She remembered coming upstairs to wash her face and brush her teeth and had only intended to lie down for a spell.
Euly wondered her mother heard her when she was lying there unconscious. If the dream wasn’t Belle answering her from a place where people can only communicate through dreams – that’s what some Native Americans believed. It seemed plausible now. And, in Belle’s unconscious state – that place somewhere between sleep and death – Euly wondered if people had an ability to hear and comprehend words spoken to them. She hoped so but would never know.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Their mother had always maintained the upper hand with her daughters and now her sister seized the role with ease. It was some odd pecking order like in the animal kingdom but one never spoken of on any TV shows or reading Euly could recall. Enaya took charge where their mother had left off and now she was in her house. It amused Euly to watch as she transformed from the woman she was only yesterday to this newer version. Maybe spending the night in Belle’s home did it.
“I waited as long as I could. Here. They’re not as hot as they were an hour ago.” Enaya wasn’t smiling. She dumped a thick pile of cold eggs onto each plate. Placed four slices of stiff bacon down and poured orange juice into two small pink juice glasses.
“Sorry, I fell asleep.” She scooted in her chair under the egg-blue table. The wooden legs screeched against the wooden floor.
“Whatever.” She stuffed Euly’s last comment in with all the other worthless excuses she’d heard over the years and sat down. “Coffee?”
“Sure.”
“Well, I’m not the maid. Get up and get it.”
“Yes ma’am.” Euly fetched the coffee pot and brought it back to the table. “Want a refill?”
“Don’t set that on the table. It’ll burn.”
“It’s a thermos. It’s not hot.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. I got it for her a while ago. You can sit them anywhere, take them too.”
“Sorry.”
“You didn’t know.”
“No. I mean sorry about the ‘maid’ thing.”
“Mom used to say that too.” She smiled at Enaya and her sister took a breath.
“I’m not good at this sort of thing.”
“Who is?”
“You are.”
Euly reached over and grabbed her sister’s hand. It felt soft and weak. “You’re do
ing fine. We’re both doing the best we can. I know one thing for certain, though.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s time for me to grow up.”
Today was a mix of emotions. She had received another award, an award this time for an essay she hoped to fit into her memoir. Euly was always amused by the randomness of timing and decided to wait to tell everyone until dinner. Dinners with family all sitting around a table were times for happy news. Jimmy would arrive later today and meet up with Enaya. Family would be together.
Geoff left early for golf. He was still hurt, hurt about the Clive incident. She could see it in his eyes. Still, she knew he was getting over it when he wanted to make love this morning. It was the first time in two months. Both of them were being tender to the other – Geoff was because of Belle and Euly, because of Clive.
The dog and cat were fed, the litter box cleaned, a load of laundry in the wash. She wanted to feel excited about the award but couldn’t work up the strength. She knew today would be filled with old memories.
The letter read…
To my most beautiful daughters:
Look for the red star in the heart of my world. It is locked and safe near the well-read dhurrie with three boards from the setting sun. The red star holds answers to your questions about life.
One day, you’ll understand we’re all children at heart with dreams and hopes, loves and desires, and memories of a time way back when…
Miracles happen. Look in the mirror.
I love you both more than life.
I won’t ask for forgiveness because I’ve lived my life fully and with zero regrets.
I’ll love you forever, your mother. 5/3/1976.
CHAPTER FIFTY ONE
The instructions were locked inside the a thin nondescript envelope and Euly held it like the Holy Grail as she made her way to see her sister. Wind blew her hair into her face. The air was crisp but the clouds and fog were lifting under the sun’s power. Fat clouds still skipped by in-between sun appearances spotlighting them as if actors walking from entrance to exit across a stage, adding to their importance. She kicked the door, knocking it with her foot.
“Why didn’t you just come in?” Enaya frowned but Euly didn’t answer. She only stared at her sister in dumb amazement. Her sister bent forward to her and brushed the hair out of her face. “What? What is it?”
“The last one.” She opened her eyes wide.
“The last what?”
Euly cocked her head as if to say, come on!
“Treasure hunt, you dope.”
“No shit.” Enaya’s eyes softened and her jaw slackened.
“No shit.”
“Get in here.”
She grabbed Euly’s arm and pulled her into the cottage.
They sliced open the seal with a letter-opener they'd found in the loft at her desk and carefully unfolded the note from inside the envelope. They flattened a map out over the kitchen table and read their final instructions.
“She painted the floors for our benefit.”
Enaya pointed to the reference of a red star noted in her letter to the girls.
“That stinker.”
Euly thought back on the week it had to be done.
“Mother can’t this wait?”
“I can’t wait. I’m not going to be around much longer. It has to be now.”
She held a hand to her mouth and started to cry. Enaya rubbed her back. “Unbelievable.”
“She just had to do it. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Her sister went into the bathroom for a box of tissues. When she came back she was wiping her own nose.
“Here. I think we’re going to need these. What do you think?”
“Oh yeah.” Euly laughed a little.
“Okay, little sis, let’s figure this one out.” It was more than an hour later when they discovered it – a loose split in the floorboard. It was nearly invisible and looked like just another seam in- between the wooden slats. They looked at each other.
“How do we get it up?”
Enaya rubbed the floor searching for something, any irregularity. “Here it is.”
Euly rubbed over the same spot. “Oh lord.” She let Enaya have the honor and, when her sister slipped her index finger into the middle of the red star, it gave way and made a small hole. She pulled up. The secret panel lifted out easily. The hiding place was a foot deep and housed a two-tone brown and black leather satchel with two buckled straps that, when connected, kept it closed. There was also an old-fashioned brass lock in the middle to keep out the curious.
“Get the key.”
Euly jumped ran to the counter near the envelope where she’d left it and raced back with it held out.
“Here.”
Enaya wore no makeup this morning and yet her cheeks were tinged with blush.
“Oh my God.” Euly felt her heart race as she watched her sister move closer to the satchel.
She unlatched its buckles one by one and when she placed the key inside the lock she looked up.
“Ready?”
Euly took a deep breath in and opened her eyes. “I don’t know. Wait. Wait. I’m not sure we should do this.”
“You’re getting cold feet now?”
“Just… wait a sec. I can barely breathe.”
“That’s because you keep holding your breath. Breathe.”
Euly took in two deep breaths and looked at her sister. Her sister raised one eyebrow.
“I can’t help it. I’m nervous.”
“Oh, for crying out loud.”
“Dad used to say that.”
“I can see why.”
For Euly, the click sounded like a small bomb exploding and when the lock dropped open, she felt herself jerk. Enaya didn’t ask if she could remove the lock off nor if she could lift the lid of the satchel.
But, she did. Inside was filled with stacks of paper each held neatly together like a present with jute twine wrapped around crossways then lengthways and finished off with a small bowtie. The stacks were made up of letters inside envelopes, folded drawings and photos.
“I wonder who they’re from.”
“Let’s look.” The finding emboldened Enaya but made Euly shrink. “Over here. I’m tired of kneeling. Let’s move onto the couch.” They pressed up from kneeling on the hard floor and stood, offering up grunts of exertion.
“I remember a time we didn’t make as much noise doing the same thing.”
“Yeah. We also had about a hundred and thirty less pounds on us. Come on.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“Shut up. I meant on us, together.” Enaya elbowed her sister. “I was only kidding.” She hoisted the satchel and walking it over to the couch placed it in the middle. Euly sat on the opposite side. “You first.” Enaya smirked at Euly.
“You stinker.” She studied the contents. “Most of these are to mom.” She picked the pile closest to her and held it up to her sister.
“Go on.”
She pulled the string to the bow that held her pile together while balancing it carefully in her hand as she unraveled. Enaya grabbed a stack but raced through the string. Some of the letters fell onto her lap. Euly’s were still neat and orderly and she opened the topmost torn envelope and pulled out a letter. “Whose handwriting is this? It’s not dad’s, is it?” Euly held it up in front of her sister’s face. She backed up Euly’s arm so she could read.
“Doesn’t look like dad’s,” Enaya examined the outside.
“Oh no.”
“What?” Enaya rushed to open her letter. “These are from Sandy.”
Her sister hurried to get the letter out that she was holding. A thin strip of silk periwinkle cloth dropped out, fluttering onto Enaya’s lap.
“What’s this?”
“It looks like mom’s scarf.”
Both read quietly. When they were done, they swapped.
The photos were of Sandy and Belle together in most cases but she had contained in
the trove a few pictures of the girls when they were babies, toddlers, adolescents and teenagers. The drawings were of Sandy of her face and of her nude.
“This makes it real, doesn’t it?”
Enaya breathed out a sigh but didn’t speak. Her lips pressed together and tipped up on one side in a sort of disapproving look.
“They loved each other. I mean, these letters, they’re pure love.”
“It’s too weird.”
“Maybe. She was scared. She lived a lie and for how long? Could you do that?”
“To the very end? I don’t know.”
“She was brave. She didn’t have to tell us at all. We would’ve always wondered if Clive was lying. The truth would’ve died with her.”
“I kind of wish it had.”
“Come on, Enaya. She’s trusting us, with one of the most important stories of her life. And, you know what?”
“What?” She rolled her eyes.
“Listen now. Don’t be like that. I know it’s a little freaky but that’s for two reasons – one, we’re straight and, two – she’s our mom. It wouldn’t be weird if she weren’t. But, this is the thing here, the way I see it is that we have a choice.”
“A choice.”
“Yeah. A choice. We can either tell people or…”
“We can keep her secret.”
“That’s right.”
She gauged the changes in her sister’s face. It transformed in steps. Her eyebrows lowered in a squint. She tilted her head to the side. Her eyes softened and she smiled. Not a wide smile a knowing smile like how you feel when your head breaks through from under water and you get that first breath of air.
The Last Maharajan (Romantic Thriller/Women's Fiction) Page 14