by Mav Skye
She frowned. She had made that stain. She remembered dropping several glasses of Kool-Aid. But, why?
Chloe became aware of Mutton Chops’ growling and tugging on her pant leg.
Erin scooped him up, and he instantly calmed. The fluffy mutt licked at Erin’s hand as she petted him, then turned back to Chloe, eyeing her suspiciously. Erin glanced at Sharon. “She remembers.”
Sharon smiled back. Her fingers combed through her hair that she had just loosed from her ponytail. “I think she does.”
Chloe looked from one sister to another, then spoke slowly as if the words would have been whisked away by some unknown force if she didn’t. “I.”
“Yes?” asked Sharon.
Chloe said, “I was your babysitter. And…now I am again.”
“Ha!” cried Erin, and both twins gave each other a high-five.
“Sit down. Sit down!” said Sharon. “We’ve so much to talk about.”
“Yeah, I’ll make hot cocoa like old times,” said Erin, dropping Mutton Chops and rushing into the kitchen.
“Can I take your jacket?” asked Sharon.
Chloe said, “I’ll keep it, thanks. I actually can’t stay long. I have other appointments today.”
“Oh,” said Sharon, looking rejected.
“Let’s start with the basics,” said Chloe.
Erin popped out of the kitchen. “Sure, like…what happened after you moved away with your Aunt?”
“More like,” Chloe produced a small cup with a lid from her pocket. “Pee in this for me.”
At the sight of the cup, Erin disappeared back into the kitchen.
Sharon burst out laughing. “You get personal fast! Just like the good ol’ Chloe I remember.”
Chloe made a face and held the specimen cup out to her.
Sharon took it with a cheesy grin. “I’ll have a pure yellow sample for you in a second.”
Chloe pursed her lips and raised her eyebrow. “That’s what I like to hear.”
A few minutes later, Erin came from the kitchen carrying a mug and Mutton Chops. “I already had the water warmed up, because I figured you’d want a mug. Where’s Sharon?”
Chloe produced another specimen cup from her pocket, tilted it back and forth, and held it out for Erin.
“Aw, shit. Really?” She took the sample cup, and Chloe took the hot chocolate.
Chloe shrugged. “Figured we’d get that out of the way first.”
Erin rolled her eyes. “Whatever, right, Mutton Chops?” She scratched under the dog’s chin.
Chloe laughed. “Your dog’s name is almost as ridiculous as my dog’s. What breed is he?”
“Mutt. Pug and long haired Chihuahua.”
The little pooch was a mix of long fluffy, gray and brown fur, looking more like a mini-coyote than a dog. He had the snout of a Chihuahua, but his giant eyes popped out like a pug’s.
Chloe said, “He’s cute in a scruffy way.”
“Thanks. I think so.”
Mutton Chops’ ears stood straight up as Chloe let him sniff her fingers. After a lick, he decided Chloe wasn’t a threat. He wagged his tail when Chloe scratched behind his ears. “Did you find him at a pound?”
“It’s more like he found us. Just showed up one day when I was training in the tree. He came running down that driveway, yapping like he was going to eat me. He didn’t have a collar, or a tag, and was skinny as can be.”
Chloe paused before sipping the hot chocolate. “Wait, you were training in a tree?”
“Sure, didn’t you see me climbing the rope when you got out of the car? I climb to the top of the rope and balance on the tree limb while I train with the nunchucks. It makes me feel like a tight rope walker. I’m pretty sure when the zombie apocalypse hits, I’ll be ready for it.”
Chloe grinned into her mug and sipped. “Sounds like it.”
“Unless it rains. I hate water.”
From the bathroom, Sharon said, “She hates water cuz of that day she almost drowned. You remember that, Chloe?” A toilet flushed and Sharon came down the hallway with the specimen cup. “Filled it up for you.”
Chloe said, “Just set it down on the coffee table. I’ll collect it in a minute.” She changed the topic back. “Why…would I remember that day?”
Sharon set the cup on the coffee table. “It was your fault she almost drowned. Left all alone while you were talking to that boy, and getting a soda pop.”
Chloe looked at Erin.
Erin bit her lip and looked down at Mutton Chops.
Chloe said, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
But then, all of a sudden, she did. The memory consumed her.
Chloe was barely aware of falling back on the couch as Donny’s face popped up, his cute smile, dark hair and tanned arms.
She said, “Oh my… there was. I saw...”
Erin turned to Sharon and whispered, “She’s remembering.”
“You saw what, Chloe?” asked Sharon.
As the memory faded, Chloe’s vision cleared and focused on the twins sitting on the edges of their chairs.
Chloe said, “I saw a clown with bunny ears.”
“Ha!” Sharon jumped out of her chair and punched her sister in the shoulder.
Mutton Chops yapped.
Erin shrieked, “Ouch! What was that for?”
“That’s for not believing me. You owe me fifty bucks, Sis.” She smacked one hand on the other palm. “Fifty smackaroos.”
Erin shoved her back and clutched Mutton Chops close to her. “No way. Not until Chloe says it.”
“Say it.” Sharon turned back to Chloe now, ringing her hands together as if she were a contestant on The Price is Right, and she was one question away from winning the grand prize.
Chloe locked eyes with Sharon, the memory sharpening and fading in her mind like an old movie. “He was holding a red balloon.”
“Yes!” Sharon jumped up and down, grand prize winner, then she pointed at Erin. “I told you. I told you and told you that there was a clown with bunny ears that day, and he gave me—”
Chloe stood quickly from the couch, took a step forward, then teetered.
Sharon grabbed her arm for support.
Chloe touched her hand. “He gave you a red balloon.”
Sharon said, “Yes, uh huh, he surely did. Ya hear that, Erin?”
Erin shrugged. “Whatever. I was busy drowning.”
Chloe glanced at Erin, feeling an overwhelming emotion of guilt, the very same she’d felt that day when she saw little Erin lying face down in the water. “I’m so, so sorry, Erin.”
Erin shrugged like it was nothing, but pressed the fluffy pooch close to her chest like a doll. “I’m over it. I just don’t like water anymore.”
“Right.” Chloe picked up her hot chocolate mug and sipped from it again.
It was quiet in the room as all the women became lost in memory.
Finally, Chloe set down her mug, licked the chocolate off her lips, and pulled the pen out from behind her ear. She fished her Moleskine notebook out of her pocket, and glanced over her questions. “Let’s get down to business, shall we? There’s stuff I need to ask you girls about, but…”
Chloe held out her palm. It was shaking. The memories had startled her more than she realized. “I’m not sure I can.”
Sharon sat down on the coffee table and patted the couch behind Chloe. “You got a job to do. We understand.”
Erin nodded her head.
Sharon said, “So, sit yourself down and shoot with the questions.”
Chloe sat back down on the couch and took off her coat. She felt warm and dizzy.
Erin said, “Would you like a glass of water?”
Chloe looked at Erin, hearing the words, but not quite translating what they meant.
“That would be good, I think,” said Sharon. She frowned and felt Chloe’s forehead. She snapped her fingers in front of Chloe’s eyes, and Chloe felt herself blink.
“That’s better,” said S
haron.
Erin came out of the kitchen and offered the glass to Chloe.
Chloe looked at the glass: was it half full or half empty?
She couldn’t answer the question.
Erin placed the water in her hand and whispered to Sharon, “This is how she looked before she left, completely out of it.”
“I know,” whispered Sharon.
Chloe raised the glass to her lips. The cool water brought her steadily out of her haze, and finally, she was able to meet first Sharon’s, then Erin’s brown and blue eyes. “I’m back.”
“That’s good, honey,” Sharon said, patting Chloe’s free hand. “Just ask us your questions. We don’t need to talk about anything else today.”
Chloe nodded and glanced at her notebook. “Where are you employed?”
Sharon laughed. “You mean, where do we work? I don’t know. Where do we work, Erin?”
Erin stood, Mutton Chops dropping from her lap. “Work? Ha! We are self-employed, aren’t we, Sharon?”
Chloe looked from one sister to the other.
Mutton Chops yapped once by Chloe’s feet and turned in two tight circles, wagging his tail, before sitting and staring intently at her. Chloe scratched at his silky ears. The soft fur grounded her in the moment. “What do you mean self-employed?” She glanced up at Sharon and raised her eyebrow. “You’re not selling drugs are you?”
Sharon exploded, “No! No, of course not. Our days of breaking the law are over. Ain’t they, Erin?”
Erin nodded. “Sure is. We’ve got a real legit business going on. And it’s doing well.”
Chloe said, “Okkkay. Care to share what it is you two are doing?”
Sharon said, “It’s an online business. Erin, get the laptop.”
Erin had already jumped up, and was pulling up the heater vent, then removing a chunk of carpet. “We hide it here in case someone breaks in.” She slipped the laptop out from between two pieces of wood in the floor, then slid everything back into place, topping it with the heater vent. She rushed over to the couch and sat beside Chloe, balancing the laptop on her knees. “The blog was Sharon’s idea.”
“Blog?”
“Yeah, it’s called Kick Its Ass ~ The Doom’s Day Prepper’s Diary.”
Erin said, “It’s a day by day prep guide for the apocalypse. It has everything from storing food, securing transportation, housing, weapons—”
Sharon said, “Especially weapons. And weapon training.”
Erin said, “Yes, it’s very important to train first. What good is a gun if you don’t know how to use one?”
Chloe said, “So…you two,” she pointed her pen at Erin, then Sharon, “wrote a diary to prepare for…” Chloe trailed off and drank more of her water.
Sharon cried out impatiently, “The apocalypse for crying out loud!”
Chloe bit her lip, and raised her eyebrow. “For like, when Jesus comes back?”
“No, no,” Erin said, “The zombie apocalypse! Don’t be dull, Chloe.”
Sharon chimed in, “Though, there’s a small chance of a clown takeover.”
Erin said, “Sharon, we’re talking about zombies. Don’t change the topic.”
“Clowns aren’t changing the topic. In fact, clowns are more likely to take over than the walking dead.”
Erin gave her sister a stern look. “I’m doing this right now.”
Sharon spread her fingers. “We’ve got to be realistic. Statistics show—”
Erin talked over her. “Anyways, our blog has a huge fan base.”
“International, too!” Sharon blurted.
Erin said, “Our website started crashing, so to reduce the number of users, we started charging a monthly member’s fee.”
Sharon continued, “But, that increased the number of hits instead of decreasing! Since we then could afford to, we moved our site to another service.”
Erin clapped her hands. “And the money has been rolling in ever since!”
Sharon said, “Yeah, and we’ve been paying down back taxes for this place.”
“Wow,” said Chloe. “For real?”
“Yes!” cried both sisters at once.
Erin let out a breath. “But that’s not even the best part.”
Sharon tugged on Erin’s sleeve. “Let me say the best part.”
“Okay, say it,” said Erin.
They both gushed, “Doom’s Day Prepper’s Kick Its Ass workout!”
Chloe said, “It?”
Erin said, “Yeah, for whatever causes the apocalypse. Zombies, Aliens—”
Sharon said, “Clowns.”
“Stop saying that,” Erin interrupted. “You’re gonna freak Chloe out again. Our YouTube commercial went viral.”
Sharon waved her hands in the air. “Totally out of control.”
Erin said, “We had millions of views in just a few days.”
Chloe smiled at them. They were both just as adorable as she remembered. “So, what kind of training do you teach for the uh…” she twirled her two fingers together, “the apocalypse?”
“Nunchucks,” Erin pointed at herself. “And Sharon trains with the Samurai sword. But we also teach everything from basic self-defense techniques, to martial arts, to proper stretching and breathing.”
Sharon said, “We’ve sold tons and tons of Kick Its Ass workout DVDs.”
Erin said, “It feels good to be honest again, you know? Just how our mama raised us.” The twins looked at each other and smiled.
At this, Chloe recalled a face of a woman. She had kind eyes and an easy spirit. “Shirley.”
Sharon said, “Yeah, that’s her. You’ve done good remembering today, Chloe.”
Erin said, “Real good.”
Chloe looked back and forth at both of them, feeling that same connection like they had when they were all younger. “How many years has it been? How old are you girls now?”
“Twenty-six,” they said at the same time.
Then Erin said, “That makes you thirty-six, ol-l-l-l-l-d woman.”
Chloe smiled, scribbled a few notes in her book and said, “I’ll tell you. You girls are the best memory I’ve had since I can… remember.”
Erin hit Sharon on the shoulder. “She joked just now, did you catch that?”
Sharon rolled her eyes, annoyed. “I don’t think that was a joke.”
“Oh.”
Sharon said, “There’s other stuff that happened, though, Chloe. Bad stuff.”
Chloe said, “Other than the drowning and the clown, you mean?”
“Uh huh.”
Sharon leaned over and put her hand on Chloe’s. “But we’ll be here to help you through that. Just like we did back then.”
Mutton Chops barked once.
Erin laughed. “Mutton Chops wants to help, too.”
Chloe realized that the relationship between parole officer and parolee had been over-stepped. If she wanted to continue working with the girls, she’d need to do it from a distance.
At the same time, she didn’t think anyone would call her on it, especially since she’d practically been given full reigns to clean up the county officer’s lazy mess. “Well, girls, you’ll need to show me your website and bank records, so that I can show the parole board you’re on the up and up. I have to say I’m proud of you two for straightening things out.”
Both girls beamed.
“Your mother must be so proud.” Chloe stood. “Thank you for the hot chocolate and water.”
The twins looked at each other, then Chloe. Erin said, “Mama, isn’t here anymore.”
Chloe tied the belt around her long jacket. “She moved to another city? Is she close by?”
“She passed away when we were eighteen.”
Chloe frowned at both of them. “I am so, so sorry. I wish I could remember her more. I can recall her face, her kind eyes, but…” Chloe shook her head. “It’s like I remember, but I don’t.”
Sharon said, “We’ll help you remember, but I think you probably had enough for to
day. Earlier, I thought you were going to have a stroke.”
Chloe said, “Memory loss was a result of an extremely traumatic event, that’s what my doctor and therapist say anyway. It’s been coming back to me in bits and pieces, mostly in my nightmares.”
Erin said, “We still have nightmares, too, especially Sharon.”
Chloe looked from one to the other. “The clown with the hatchet?”
Sharon said, “In my dreams, I am chased by clowns holding hatchets and red balloons. And there’s so much blood.”
“Me, too.” Chloe frowned at her and nodded. The twins had seen the clowns, too. Perhaps that was their deeper connection.
Erin changed the topic. “Could you come over soon, Chloe?”
She said, “I’m technically not supposed to meet with you on a friend to friend basis. However, I’m encouraged to check up on you girls as often as I please.”
Erin said, “And we could eat a meal over said check-up.”
Chloe grinned. “I’d like that.”
The twins walked Chloe to the door.
Sharon said, “We’re here for you, Chloe—if you need us.”
“Oh!” Erin popped a business card into Chloe’s hand. “This has our business info, and we have a workout program on Mondays and Fridays at the community center. You are welcome to come to that, too.”
Chloe smiled. “Great, thank you. You girls keep up the good work.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” they both said at the same time.
Chloe laughed. “You two haven’t changed a bit.”
She rushed out into the cold, feeling a warm glow inside brought on by catching up with old friends. Chloe felt proud that, though the Pratt sisters had temporarily gone astray, they had found the straight and narrow path once more. Shirley would have heartily approved.
Chloe jumped into the car and started up the engine. She sat there for a moment, looking at the trailer, thinking about the young women, and wondering what puzzle pieces of the past they had shared together.