Walking Woman (Gratis Book 2)

by Jackson, Jay

  Okay, maybe I can somehow use the sheets on the bed, maybe there’s something around the table near the window.

  Another twitch, and again the pain exploded. She didn’t know it, but her head reacted each time it happened, trembling. Nothing, nobody, made a sound. She wanted a sound, any sound. It could be from the child, needing her, or from her sister, worrying about her. She prayed for a sound, something to give her hope. Instead, she got nothing.

  All she could do was lie there, waiting for the next spasm of pain, deafened by the crashing silence.

  57.

  Mister Brother drove the golf cart down one of the paths leading away from the house. Mom’s words rang in his ears as he drove. They drowned out the birds calling to each other as he passed.

  “You need to take care of Baby Brother right now. This has gone on long enough. All you have to do is change him, like we were changed. You know how. You do that now, and we’ll be okay. Even if we’re found, you change him, then change yourself, and nothing can keep us apart. We’ve been waiting for all this time, for too long. You have to change him. Now.”

  “Mom, I don’t want him changed. He’s okay with all of us. He’s happy . . .”

  “You are selfish. Just like when you were a child and stole your sister’s Easter candy. You change Baby Brother, or Sister will go away. Dad will go away. I love you, with all my heart, but I’ll have to go away, too. You’ll never see us again. You’ll never see me again.”

  “But, Mom—”

  “Don’t ‘but Mom’ me. If you keep waiting we’ll all be gone, whether you want us to be or not. Whether we want to stay or go won’t matter. Now, I won’t talk to you again until it’s done.”

  Mom turned away. Mister Brother got Baby Brother and left, slamming the door behind him.

  The two rode down the wooded path. Oaks spread their arms above and pines peeked through. Baby Brother sat in his car seat, the blue blanket tucked around him. They stopped in a moss-covered clearing where the sun splashed through the canopy. Mister Brother spread a blanket and took Baby Brother out of his seat. He sat the child down, who then proceeded to crawl off the blanket and onto the moss. There he played, inspecting every bug he unearthed with his tiny hands.

  Mister Brother sat down beside the child. Baby Brother’s new eyes widened with every beetle or worm he uncovered. Watching those eyes, Mr. Brother thought of the family in the house. He knew what he had to do.

  Gathering the little boy into his arms, he hugged him and slowly rocked back and forth. “I’ll take care of you, buddy. I’ll make sure you’re all right.”

  The two sat that way for a long time, the child nestling his head into Mister Brother’s chest. The breeze was slight, diminished by the trees all around. The sun washed over them. After an hour, Mister Brother reluctantly stood up, the child in his arms. He placed him back into the car seat. Baby Brother barely stirred, sleepy from the warm embrace of his protector.

  They started back to the house.

  Mister Brother whispered to the dozing child, “I’ll take care of you, but I’ll miss this. Mom’s right, though. We have to change. Don’t worry, little man, when we change we’ll really be together, and it will be wonderful, I promise. I love you.”

  58.

  Racey did as suggested and parked at the gate. The truck continued down the drive and parked in front of the house. Getting out, Delroy and Kero heard shouting from inside.

  “I know the devil’s got her this time, JoJo! I know he’s got her good! I can feel it in my bones, and I can hear him laughing! Can’t you hear him, JoJo?”

  They both walked in and saw Jewel in her bed. She strained to get up despite her injuries, overcome with panic. JoJo stood back in the kitchen. He looked relieved when his father came in the door. Kero went to his son immediately.

  “I’m sorry, JoJo. I didn’t think she’d be this bad. Are you okay?”

  “I’m okay, Dad. I’ve never seen her like this, but I’m fine.” The tremble in his voice betrayed his words.

  Kero walked over to his cousin. “Jewel, I know you’re upset, but you have to calm down. You scared JoJo. You keep acting like this, and I’m not going to let him come back here.”

  Jewel listened to her cousin. As soon as he was finished, huge, pregnant tears welled from her eyes. “Sorry, Kero. I love me some JoJo. Sorry, sorry, sorry. My Claudia is gone, and I know somebody hurt her. I’m sorry, JoJo.”

  “It’s okay, Claudia. I’m okay. Just tell Dad what happened. Just take a minute and tell him slowly, okay?”

  Jewel looked at her cousin, now at her bedside. She grabbed his hand, squeezing it fiercely. Clenching her eyes shut, she tried to slow her breathing and find the right words. This was no easy task. It was another minute before she spoke.

  “JoJo was here and gave me my medicine. Mr. Glen Campbell was singing ‘Southern Nights.’ I went to sleep. I had two dreams. I was scared in one, but I was happy in the other one. That dream lasted all night, almost. I woke up. I called out, ‘Claudia!’ She didn’t come. I called you. Claudia never came home. The devil got Claudia. The devil, the devil!”

  Her grip on Kero’s hand was tightening. Kero had to use his other hand to loosen it. Extricating himself, he moved away from the bed. His fingers throbbed as the blood flowed back in.

  They tried to get more details from Jewel, but didn’t get far. She kept repeating “Listen for me, Claudia,” and “Hurry because the devil ain’t gonna wait!” After almost an hour, Kero and Delroy walked out to the front porch. When they left, Jewel had her hands clasped under her chin, whispering “hear me, sister” over and over.

  “Delroy, I think I need to stay here for a bit. JoJo can’t handle this, and I can’t leave her alone. I might call the sheriff, too. I want him to at least keep an eye out, and let us know if he sees anything.”

  “I think you’re right, Kero, about leaving her alone—and about calling the sheriff. I hope I’m mistaken, but something feels wrong to me, too. I’m going over to Benny Parker’s place with Racey. We need to go ahead and see him, to confront him. I don’t want him to get too ready for us before we do. Too much time to prepare equals good lies. I’m afraid of waiting any longer than we already have, or I’d wait for you.”

  “It can’t be helped. Just let him know he’s lucky I couldn’t see him—not today, anyway. By the way, you might want to make haste, from what I’m looking at.”

  Delroy was puzzled. “Why?”

  “Your Atlanta friend was parked up there, at the gate, and now I’m not seeing that long, black car of his. That thing is pretty hard to hide. You wanna bet where he went?”

  “Son of a bitch!” Delroy got in the pickup and rumbled to the gate, dirt whirling behind as he went. Of course he knew where Racey went. It had to be the exact place he told him not to go.

  That’s what I get for telling a rat to stay away from the cheese. What did I think he was gonna do, play fair?

  59.

  Mister Brother took Baby Brother into the house and gave him a bath in the sink. The child thrashed his arms. Warm water and suds splashed Mister Brother, bathing him as well. Taking him out, he massaged the child with a towel still warm from the dryer, then took him to his bedroom and placed him on the bed.

  Mister Brother went to talk to the family in the living room.

  “I know you won’t talk to me until I’m done, but I want you all to know that I’m about to change Baby Brother. I’ve already prepared a place to do it, upstairs, but have just been waiting for the right time. I’ll probably change our visitor also. Don’t know what will happen with that person, but she can’t stay and I can’t let her go back home. Then I’ll change myself.”

  Nobody said a word, but he could see the relief on their faces. He felt guilty then. Mister Brother realized for the first time how anxious they were, how scared. All they wanted was to be together and safe.

  I’ve been so selfish.

  He went into Baby Brother’s room. The little boy was playing with
the Hot Wheels scattered from the night before. He looked up, smiling and giggling. Mister Brother sat on the bed beside Baby Brother. His eyes danced as only a small child’s can.

  They stayed there for another half hour. The little boy raced his toy Mustangs and Corvettes up Mister Brother’s back and over his arms. Engine noises sprayed out of the child’s mouth every time one of the little cars accelerated. Every crash brought a low gurgle. Cars careened over the side of the bed.

  Mister Brother went to the dresser and retrieved an older onesie, one that he had considered getting rid of. It had a rip in the side, just under the sleeve, and Baby Brother was about to outgrow it. Today, though, being a little snug was okay. The changing would get messy. As he dressed Baby Brother, the child looked down at himself, trying to push his little arms and legs through at the most inappropriate times. Finally clothed, he looked up at Mister Brother, smiling.

  Mister Brother took him in his arms and they went into the living room. The rest of the family smiled at them both. Even Sister smiled, a rarity for her, before returning her gaze to the teen magazine spread on her lap. Mom rocked in her chair. Dad couldn’t hide the pride in his eyes. The two finally went to the stairs.

  Mister Brother hesitated. He looked upward, to the door at the top, and knew that everything would be different when he came back down. On the other side of that door, everything changed.

  Slowly, he took the first step.

  60.

  The gnats buzzed around the Audi as Racey sat there, checking his messages. Two new messages came in from folks needing discreet help. One gentleman was from Sandy Springs, and went on about his wife cheating with a neighbor.

  “Hell, I drank with him at the pool, use to float with him in the shallow end, beer in hand. Now he’s screwing my wife. I need your help. We gotta get enough on her, before I file the divorce papers, that she gets squat.”

  This was dirty business, but also Racey’s stock-in-trade. He’d scalp this pool-floater for a lot of bills.

  The second message was from a man needing a liquor license in DeKalb County. He had a few issues in his background and needed to smooth them out. Racey loved this kind of call. He knew whom to pay and would get the situation fixed with one or two phone calls. This was easy money.

  All right, once you get home there’s about eight to ten thousand dollars waiting for you. You just need to wrap this up.

  Worn down by his recent altruism, he blamed only himself. His soft heart brought him here, to this green, super-pollinated hell. He was disgusted with it. This “Gratis situation” needed to wrap up—today. Here he was, though, sitting on the side of the road while the dynamic duo went to check on an upset cousin.

  This is like a bad episode of the friggin’ Waltons. I’ve had enough of it.

  Racey drove a half mile down the road and parked. He was across from Benny Parker’s driveway.

  In front was a gate with a security screen and a code box. The gate itself was seven to eight feet high, like the rest of the fence. There was nothing fancy about it, but it was substantial, made of wood with heavy iron hinges. There was no getting through it without an invite. Assessing the situation, Racey decided to go over. He moved the car another two hundred yards down the road. Cameras were conspicuously mounted on top of the gate. He wanted to escape their view.

  Racey got out of the car and walked up to the fence. The unpainted wood was at least seven feet high. Splinters jutted out everywhere.

  Well, he didn’t build this thing for looks, and it sure as hell doesn’t invite a person in, either.

  He parked his car closer to the fence and got out. Gingerly, Racey stepped on the Audi’s hood and pulled himself to the top of the fence. He dropped down on the other side and headed toward the general direction of the driveway.

  Racey wasn’t used to walking in the woods and tripped over a dead log. Getting up, he noticed his Ferragamo loafers. They were crusted with dirt and clay in the seams and tassels.

  Well that’s just great. That’s just really great.

  The woods gradually opened up, with larger spaces between the trees and less underbrush. He came to a large hedge, squeezed through an opening, and was finally at the driveway. A house sat eighty yards ahead. Its outline was barely discernible through the woods in front of him. Racey walked down the driveway, slowly, looking around to see whether there were more cameras. The woods gave way to the front lawn. Cameras were mounted on each corner of the house, only forty yards away.

  Damn, this guy has some control issues. Or something to hide.

  Racey stood in the driveway, considering his options before going any farther. He could go up and look in the windows. It would help to know what his client was hiding before he spoke to him. Go up and peek in windows, though, and a man could be shot for acting like a burglar. Racey was sure that no jury that would convict Benny, not under those circumstances.

  No, the only course of action was to go up and knock on the front door. He didn’t come here to slink around. He came here to confront his client, to tell him the secrecy jig was up.

  If you’re gonna stare a man down, you gotta stare him in the face. You gotta stand and look at him. You gotta tromp up to his front door and bang like hell when you get there.

  Racey walked up the driveway, up the front steps, and to the front door. Taking a deep breath, he knocked loudly. Nothing happened for almost a minute. He knocked again. Racey waited, listening for footsteps to approach the door from inside. None came forward. He knocked one more time. Hearing nothing, Racey stepped off the porch. The air was still and all around was quiet.

  Then, the silence broke.

  61.

  Benny Parker was known to his family as “Mister Brother.” His big sister gave him the nickname when he was a little boy, and it stuck.

  Benny entered the upstairs room with Ted Johnson in his arms. Claudia looked at them, relieved to see the child was alive. She tried to stay in the moment, to ignore the spasm of pain she knew would come.

  “Claudia, this is Baby Brother. You know him by his old name, his wrong name. This is the little boy I lost so long ago. I think he might be the reason you’re here.”

  Benny hugged the child, sniffing his forehead as he did so. Ted gurgled and smiled, warm in Benny’s arms.

  “Benny, I know you only want to be kind to that child. But you know who he really is. He’s got a momma that misses him, that needs him, and he needs her, too. Why don’t you call and get us all some help?”

  Each word rasped out of her dry throat, sanding it raw.

  Benny looked at her with kind eyes and walked over to the small dresser. He opened a drawer, retrieved a mound of blankets, and put them on the table. Placing Ted on the mound, he turned back to Claudia.

  “Help? We don’t need any help. Baby Brother is about to change, to go be with Mom and Dad and Sister—forever. The momma you’re talking about isn’t real, she never was. His real Mom is downstairs right now, waiting for him. Don’t worry about yourself, either. I know you’ve been in pain, but that’ll be over soon. We’ll change you, too. Everything will be all right.”

  He turned his attention toward the child. They looked into each other’s eyes, the child and the adult, each loving the person they saw. Benny then went to the dresser and got a syringe from a drawer. It was already filled with enough propofol to kill a large man. He put it on the table and took the sheet off the large object in the corner.

  There sat the Porti-Boy Mark IV, its tags still stuck to its metallic sides. Today it had a job to do. Benny was ready to start.

  “Mister Brother is ready to finally bring you home, Baby Brother,” he said quietly, gently touching the embalming machine.

  The situation was clear to Claudia. This machine meant harmful business. She didn’t know what to do, so she tried to yell at Benny. Her voice, now almost gone, only whispered.

  “You can’t do this. You’re sick and you don’t know it. Stop, and we’ll make everything all right. We can bring
that child home, together.”

  Benny responded, “Claudia, that’s exactly what we’re about to do.”

  He picked up the syringe and took one of Ted’s arms in his other hand. He placed the needle on the tiny arm and his thumb on the thumb press. Benny was ready to push the plunger and bring the whole family to a new kind of life.

  Suddenly, he stopped. There was a knock at his front door.

  Not now, he thought, we’re so close.

  62.

  Claudia heard a loud knock at the door, the first one she heard since moving in. She had lived there almost a week already, alone. Getting up from a ratty couch, she opened the door. In front of her was her little sister. Jewel looked sweaty, ready to burst, and then opened her mouth.

  “I love you, Claudia. I love you more than anything I’ve ever loved, more than ice cream and pecan pie. I always will.”

  Claudia realized that it wasn’t beads of sweat on her sister’s cheeks, but tears.

  This was the first thing Jewel said to her, years ago, after she changed her name and wore her first dress. Claudia was barely seventeen. Daddy wouldn’t speak to her, and Kero pretended she wasn’t there. The only words said to her by others, when she first became the person she was meant to be, were filled with hate. Then Jewel found her living in her uncle’s rental house. She reminded her about love.

  Jewel wasn’t supposed to be there. Daddy told her that she couldn’t see her brother, not like he was acting.

  “His mind is off and he’s wearing a dress.” Daddy thought he had to be on drugs, or had gone crazy.

  Jewel didn’t care. She found out where Claudia was staying and walked three miles to get there during the school lunch break. Jewel wasn’t allowed to leave her classroom without an escort, much less leave the school grounds. When they realized she wandered off during lunch, the only time of day she didn’t have to be closely watched, they called the sheriff’s office. A deputy would find her hours later, eating rocky road ice cream with her sister in the rental house living room.