by Roni Teson
When Teresa told the police about her mother’s illness and suggested they call her aunt, that’s exactly what they did. And so it was Aunt Jessie who broke the news of Angela’s death to Teresa the next day at the hospital. Then Aunt Jessie hunted Joe down with sheer determination and got him to somewhat sober up for his daughter’s funeral.
Angel, watching it all, saw her father go over the deep end after the funeral, so much so, it seemed as if he’d be lost forever. She was glad she knew the end of this story, and that eventually the man would pull himself out of this downward spiral and be able to make some difference in the world.
When Angel focused on her mother, she could clearly see how Angela’s death took the wind out of her mother’s attempt to stay alive as long as possible—which was really the only choice with the stage of her pancreatic cancer. Her mother gave in to the disease the moment she found out about the death of her youngest daughter. Perhaps it was her desire to be with her daughter and protect her, or maybe it was simply destiny. But within days, her mother also had passed away.
Angel shook her head and found herself sitting in the vacant cafe next to her father. She stood up and moved toward the door, her father following behind. Angel knew he wasn’t aware she was in front of him.
Her heart ached over the wasted time she’d stubbornly spent in the clouds. Finally, knowing fully who she was, Angela, and who she’d become, Angel—she realized it was time to leave her own personal hell of isolation and join her mother. With or without her father, she was ready. She just didn’t know how.
CHAPTER 25
AS MUCH AS SHE RESENTED HER father for leaving her years ago, she resented him even more for leaving her an orphan now.
“He seemed okay last night,” Teresa mumbled. She stood outside her father’s hospital room with JJ and her aunt.
“He seemed okay an hour ago when he was talking to me,” Aunt Jessie said.
“Why don’t you go in and say good-bye to him, Mom?” JJ nudged Teresa toward the door.
That was okay with Teresa, who needed someone to tell her what to do now. The whole scene felt dreamlike as her hand pushed open the door and she entered the room. A dead room without the energy of her father, whose presence—she thought—had been larger than life. The man was completely gone, and it was odd for her to feel this and then acknowledge it. Teresa rarely tuned into anything of a spiritual nature. Feelings and sensitivities were just not a part of her daily life. But for some reason she was in tune today, and now the room seemed as if the energy present the day before had simply vanished.
As quickly as she entered through the door, she exited.
“He’s not here,” she said.
JJ stepped in the doorway and pointed to the bed. “Mom, he’s right there.”
“No, that’s his body and nothing more.” Teresa moved toward the long hallway. “I need some air.”
As she walked quickly past the other patient rooms, she could hear her son and aunt following closely behind, as well as an additional set of footsteps that seemed to walk in time with them, probably the priest. She led them down the stairs and through the back doors to the outside, where she looked up at the sky.
In her heart she hoped to see her sister and father floating along with her mother in the clouds, but she knew better. Ominous dark cumulus filled the heavens above, which seemed to enhance the depressed, sinking feeling that was taking over her body. She’d wanted to stay away from her father to avoid this effect, but now she realized it would’ve happened anyway. Teresa turned to her son and asked, “Where’s the priest?”
JJ and Aunt Jessie looked back at the door and spoke in unison, “I thought he was behind us.”
“I heard it too,” Teresa said.
Goosebumps broke out over Teresa arms. Maybe Dad was following us, she said to herself. Then she shook off the idea, telling herself that her dad’s craziness was rubbing off on her. Yet in some odd way, although she’d never have wished for her sister to be stuck someplace for years, she hoped her father’s story was true. The thought of her family being around was something she could easily warm up to. Perhaps because she’d pushed away the memories for so many years, she’d almost forgotten the better moments of her youth.
“It’s cold out here, Teresa. Let’s go back inside,” Aunt Jessie said.
Teresa allowed her aunt to lead her into the hospital and back up the stairs to a seat near the nurses’ station, not far from her father’s room. JJ sat with Teresa while Aunt Jessie spoke to the hospital staff on the topic of Joe’s remains. Teresa settled back and let it happen. Not a normal line of reaction from her. In time, she thought, she’d have a vague recollection of the day her dad died and she’d wonder if she was actually there. Because right now she felt as if she was not in this moment, quietly witnessing the finality of her father’s life.
“Okay.” Aunt Jessie approached her. “It’s already been taken care of. We don’t even need to make a phone call. Joe will be moved to Fulton’s Funeral Home. No autopsy because of the nature of his demise.”
“So, it’s done, then?” Teresa asked.
“Yes, let’s go,” Aunt Jessie answered.
Teresa hesitated for a few minutes, unsure of how to feel and what to do next. Then slowly she headed toward the front of the hospital with JJ and her Aunt Jessie following behind. They walked to the parking lot.
“What now?” Teresa asked. “Do we return to what we were doing before he reentered our lives? Can we ignore that he came back?”
“I’m going to call Uncle Joe and a few others when Father Benjamin calls me with the exact time and date of the viewing. Why don’t you come to my house so we can figure this out?” Jessie responded.
Teresa shook her head. “Thank you, Auntie, but I’ve got some work to do.”
Teresa and JJ left the hospital and drove in silence for a while. She drove past the exits for JJ’s school, the house, and her work before JJ spoke.
“Mom, where are we going?” he asked.
“Huh? Oh, I don’t know.” She felt as if she’d fallen asleep. Teresa couldn’t remember any inch of the route she’d just driven.
She got off the freeway and turned around with the intention of going home and crawling into bed. Her mind wandered back to a time before her mother’s illness. Angela, Teresa, and her mother were in the kitchen. Teresa had just gotten home from school and was looking in the refrigerator when she overheard her mother talking to Angela.
“It’s hard being young,” her mother said.
“It doesn’t seem hard for Teresa,” Angela responded.
“Well, she’s older than you, honey.” Mom bent down and rubbed a spot on Angela’s forehead.
“I don’t like them. I’m not going back,” Angela whined.
Mom spoke in a softer tone. “Do you want me to call the school? Because you’re going to have to go back. You need an education, honey.”
Teresa shut the refrigerator door hard and reopened it.
“Oh, dear, I didn’t know you were home,” Mom yelled from the living room.
“I just got here,” Teresa said.
Teresa had completely forgotten about what a hard time Angela had in school and how much her parents tried to protect the girl. When it was happening, Teresa didn’t care a lot; she’d been a social butterfly and didn’t want the burden of her little sister. Now, as a parent she completely understood Angela’s situation, and wished she’d done more to help her sister while she could’ve. Children tended to behave inhumanely toward each other at times.
She shook her head and realized she’d daydreamed the entire way home. Teresa was no longer surprised over the memories of her family; she found it impossible to get away from the past now, anyway—and it really wasn’t so bad anymore.
“Do you want to go to school late today?” Teresa asked JJ as they parked in front of the house.
“Are you kidding? No, not if I can intentionally avoid it,” JJ answered.
“Compliments of Joe. Here we are.” She waved her hand toward the house.
As Teresa gathered together her business items, she noticed a few missed calls on her phone. A message from the school—the police were there looking for her and JJ. And then the police, who must have obtained her cell phone number from the school, would like a return call.
She began to realize this problem of JJ’s wasn’t going to go away on its own. Her body ached with her heart, and she feared JJ’s situation was much worse then he’d let on. Perhaps it was this fear that had fueled her denial of any juvenile delinquency issue with her son. Teresa put her phone in her pocket and yelled to JJ.
“JJ, I’ve got to run an errand and I don’t want you here alone. Get in the car, please.” JJ was at the front door when his mother yelled to him. “Hurry.”
As they headed away from home, Teresa noticed a patrol car turning onto their street. She imagined the police were on the way to her house. Where else would they be headed at this time of day in her neighborhood? Great, now she was harboring a fugitive.
“Where are we going?” JJ asked. “You’re being weird, Mom.”
Teresa resisted the urge to scream at her son; instead, she gripped the steering wheel tighter and decided to go to her Aunt Jessie’s house. It’d give her some time to figure out what was going on with JJ, and maybe call the attorney her father had suggested.
“Well, I’m wondering why the police are so adamant about finding you. They showed up at your school. What is it you’re not telling me?” she asked.
JJ shook his head. “There’s nothing to tell, Mom.”
Adrenalin pumped through her body and seemed to have awakened her brain. No longer dwelling on the past, Teresa maneuvered the car through traffic as she spoke. “Did you get that phone number from Joe? You know, the attorney’s number …” she asked.
“No, but I can get it at Aunt Jessie’s house, on the Internet,” JJ answered.
Teresa focused on the road as the two of them drove the rest of the way to Aunt Jessie’s house in silence. What the hell had JJ gotten himself into? His timing is horrid, she thought while she pulled into her aunt’s driveway. Teresa hadn’t noticed the rain until it was time to get out of the car.
“Come on. Let’s make a run for it.” She grabbed her purse and held her jacket over her head. JJ held his backpack over his head and followed behind. They stood on the porch waiting for Teresa’s aunt to answer the door.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Teresa said.
“Look, I’m not a criminal. I didn’t do anything wrong,” JJ pleaded.
Teresa’s aunt opened the door with bloodshot eyes. A smile filled her face when she saw who her visitors were. “Come in, come in. I’m glad you changed your mind.”
JJ dropped his head down as he entered the house. Her Aunt Jessie eyed JJ with an eyebrow raised.
“It’s a long story. Let’s talk over coffee.” Teresa pushed her son toward the kitchen table.
“I guess we’re outlaws now,” he mumbled.
“Stop being so melodramatic, JJ.” Teresa was more than annoyed with JJ’s behavior. It was so unlike him to get into trouble, and so unlike her to run from the police. Maybe they were fugitives.
“Well, then why don’t we just go down to the police station?” JJ focused on the ground.
“Because, JJ, something’s not right with your story,” Teresa snapped at her son and then turned toward her aunt, whose eyes were wide open.
“What’s going on here? When I last saw the two of you a few minutes ago you weren’t on America’s Most Wanted list,” Aunt Jessie said.
“Auntie, the police are looking for JJ. I’m not completely sure why.” Teresa sat down at the kitchen table and pulled JJ’s phone out of her purse. A new message had arrived from Seth that stated something about the car being reported stolen because “M” didn’t want to get in trouble. Teresa put the phone back in her purse.
“Why not call the police and find out why?” Aunt Jessie asked.
“No, we’re going to let our attorney handle it, as soon as I call him,” Teresa said with confidence, continuing with a mumbled, “just in case.”
Teresa helped herself to a cup of coffee and then sat quietly at the table considering the best way to handle JJ. While Aunt Jessie moved around in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher, Teresa remembered the spice cake recipe that she still had in her purse.
“Do we have time to try that recipe?” Teresa asked. She then spent a few seconds digging around her purse. “If you have all the ingredients, let’s try it.”
“What’s this?” Aunt Jessie grabbed the paper from Teresa, placed her glasses on her nose, and looked at the scrawled set of instructions.
“Oh, I haven’t talked to you.” Teresa tapped her forehead. “Yesterday, Joe said this is Mom’s spice cake recipe. She made him memorize it.”
Aunt Jessie placed her hand over her mouth in shock. “Mija, we’ve tried to get this right for years. Do you think it’s real?”
Teresa shrugged.
“Oh, Joe would be so happy if we made this work today—this bittersweet day.” Aunt Jessie dabbed at her eyes with the napkin she held. Then she set to work on the recipe, first digging through cabinets and drawers to pull out ingredients. She placed all the items on the counter.
Teresa turned her attention to JJ while her aunt puttered in the kitchen.
“So, JJ, who is ‘M’?” Teresa asked.
“Do you mean Murphy?” JJ responded.
“I don’t know. I’m asking you.” Teresa sipped her coffee and waited for her son to respond.
JJ played with the water bottle he’d removed from the fridge. “Murphy drove us to the party. It was his idea. We call him M. But how do you know that?”
“I’m asking the questions now.” Teresa heard the businesslike manner of her voice, which scared her a little—then she continued. “How come I’ve never heard his name before?”
“He’s not somebody I usually hang with, Mom. Murphy’s into some weird stuff.” JJ peeled the label off of his water bottle and avoided eye contact with her.
“Weird? How weird?” She wanted the details.
“Oh, not that way. He’s kind of a nerd. I’m talking Star Trekkie type nerd.” JJ looked up and directly at Teresa.
“How does a nerd like that get invited to a parking lot party?” She couldn’t make sense of her son’s story.
As they spoke, Aunt Jessie clanged around in the kitchen, pulling together the spice cake.
JJ looked down again, a sign that he wasn’t telling the absolute truth. “It was a flash mob, Mom. Murphy got the text, or no, no …” he stammered. “I think it was an e-mail. He said it would be fun to go see what it was like.”
“Okay, enough already. You’re not telling me everything, and you could be in some serious trouble. What’s a flash mob?” Teresa eyed JJ with the most intense stare she could muster.
“It’s like all these people meet in a public place and perform some sort of senseless act. These nerdy guys were trying to get a bunch of kids from school to fill up the parking lot outside of that bar. It wasn’t as big a turnout as they’d expected. Even so, they took a picture and posted it on the Internet. And when the fight broke out with some of the kids from our school, we took off running. I know that Murphy left his car there because he was afraid to go back. Sometimes the piece of junk doesn’t start. We had a long walk to the bus. It was stupid, but that’s it.”
“JJ, before we call the attorney, I need to know everything. Were you drinking or partying in any way?” Teresa asked.
“No. That’s what makes this so painful. At least I should’ve been doing something really wrong to get in this kind of trouble.” JJ’s voice rose up and his cheeks turned red
.
“Okay, so why are the police focused on you?” Teresa thought this was odd.
“I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with my driver’s permit …” Tears welled up in JJ’s eyes, and his hands shook as he lifted the bottle of water to his mouth.
“What is it, son?” Teresa pleaded with him. “Don’t block me out of this—just tell me. I promise I won’t make it worse.”
“JJ, was a girl involved?” Aunt Jessie interrupted, flour in her hair and on the rims of her glasses that she peered over the top of. “Because this type of trouble usually involves a girl.”
JJ’s voice had a slight tremble as he spoke. “No.” He wiped his hands on his legs and stumbled over his own words. “But I may have been the reason the whole thing happened.” JJ let out a loud sigh.
Teresa shook her head, and although she was seeing red, she forced herself to stay quiet for a few seconds and then respond to her son in a calm manner. Otherwise, she knew he’d clam up again. “Okay,” she said in the nicest tone she could summon. “How did you cause it?”
JJ looked up and finally made eye contact with his mother. “I’m the ‘flashster.’ ”
Teresa told herself to lean back, nod, take a deep breath, and then speak. “What does that mean, son?”
“See, you’re calling me son.” JJ seemed to have panicked. “I knew you’d do that.”
Breathe … Go slow … He’s going to break … “JJ, it’s okay. Just tell me what it means.”
He flicked at the single tiny crumb that remained on the table from Aunt Jessie’s last meal while he hesitated with his response. His eyes reflected some type of internal conflict as if he’d held a secret he hadn’t planned on sharing.
JJ’s shoulders slumped in defeat as he spoke. “I’ve been creating these flash mobs anonymously for a while. The principal has been trying to figure out who it is, but not for the same reason as the students. In fact, the kids at school see this guy as a hero. They named me the ‘flashster.’ You know, like a ‘mobster.’ I know if they find out it’s only me, all of my work … Well, they’re gonna hate me.”