HeartWorks

by Charmaine Gordon

  As I climbed into the backseat of my father’s car and we drove to the restaurant I planned out my night. I would sleep until at least three. I knew Jack was a heavy sleeper, but I also knew that he didn’t go to sleep until at least one in the morning. I set my alarm on the way back to the house and within minutes of being dropped off, I was in my bed and fast asleep. Several hours when my alarm went off, I excitedly jumped up to turn it off so that I wouldn’t wake Jack. Seeing the date on my cell phone made my heart pound, to the point where I could hear it beating in my eardrums.

  I snuck out of my room ever so quietly and tiptoed to the doorway leading to the attic. As I turned the handle and the door creaked open, I glanced back at Jack’s room. When I was sure that I hadn’t woke him, I continued up the stairs and counted the floorboards, stepping quickly across the fourteenth board and immediately being transported to the second level.

  I stood still momentarily. No one was in the attic. I thought that was a bit odd since it was Saturday, surely people had to be coming and going to visit their loved ones. I debated momentarily about walking down the stairs to see if I could find my mother and when I finally decided to check it out, I nearly jumped down the whole flight, I was so excited. I swung the door open and looked around in shock. The entire hallway was full of people and a woman with a stern face approached me immediately.

  “What are you doing here?” She asked. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  “You must be Mrs. Miller.” I replied. “I’m looking for my mom.”

  The woman shook her head slowly.

  “No, Mrs. Miller is gone.” She said. “Her husband came. How is it that you know her name? Did you meet her previously?”

  I shook my head.

  “Never.” I replied.

  “Then how do you know her?” The woman asked, an odd tone to her voice.

  “It’s not important.” I replied. “Can you help me find my mother?”

  “Your mother is out.” The woman said.

  I looked around at the people surrounding me in the hallway.

  “How do you know which one is my mother?” I asked. “I haven’t given you her name.”

  “That’s not important.” The woman said sarcastically, raising her eyebrow. “The girl is here, would you like to speak with her? I believe she is your sister, is that right?”

  “Ruby,” I asked. “Yes, I would like to speak to her.”

  The woman nodded at a child, who had to be no older than twelve. The child stepped forward, his blue eyes sparkling at the chance to be called on.

  “I’ll take you to your sister.” He said, taking my hand and raising his other hand in a quick motion.

  Just that quickly we were both transported to a park. I looked around, quickly realizing that I had no idea where we were. The boy let go of my hand and smiled at me, making the same circular motion and then disappearing into thin air.

  Chapter Nine

  “Wait!” I called after him, but it was too late, he was gone.

  I gasped for air, worried that I was trapped here and stood still waiting for what felt like minutes. When nothing happened, I walked through the park, trying to find some landmark that would tell me where I was. I walked for what felt like hours, without coming across anyone or anything, until finally I saw a pond in the distance. As I walked toward it, I noticed a teenage girl sitting by the water. The girl turned to me and when she did, I could tell that she resembled me.

  “Ruby,” I called out. “Is that you?”

  The girl smiled ever so lightly.

  “What are you doing here Gabriela?” Ruby asked quietly. “You have to go back.”

  “I wanted to see mom.” I replied. “Where is she?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough.” Ruby said sadly.

  She looked up at me, in a way that sent chills down my spine. I wondered what she meant by that.

  “Why did you change your age?” I asked.

  Ruby looked down at her long legs that lay on the ground before her.

  “I don’t know.” Ruby said. “I wanted to look different. I saw you and Jack growing up and wanted to look more like you.”

  Ruby picked up a rock and threw it into the pond.

  “Now I wonder if I made a mistake.” She said. “Mama didn’t take me with her when she went to the other side.”

  “What other side?” I asked immediately.

  Ruby looked up at me, her eyes widening as if she realized she had said too much.

  “Your side.” She said as she stood up and walked over to me.

  “What do you mean my side?” I asked. “Why would she come there?”

  Ruby pulled her hair into a ponytail as she stood before me.

  “Do you think the cost was free for you to come here Gabriela?” Ruby asked. “Why do you think that Abuela got sick the last time? You come here and in return the health decreases for the person you love most. Yes you get to see your mother again, but at what price?”

  “I don’t get it.” I replied. “Mom’s not here. What price do you mean?”

  “I’m not sure I should tell you.” Ruby said slowly.

  “Ruby tell me.” I ordered her, grabbing her hand.

  Ruby shook her head and looked at me sadly. She slowly raised her other hand and moved it in a circular motion and just that quickly, we were back in her side of the attic. She turned to me with apologetic eyes.

  “You have to go.” She said. “You’ll understand soon enough.”

  “What do you mean Ruby?” I asked. “I want to know what you mean.”

  Ruby shook her head and looked down.

  “You have to go Gabriela.” Ruby said. “I’ll see you when you’re here again and we’ll talk about it then.”

  “Why do you two keep saying that?” I asked. “Mom said that the last time and she’s not even here to meet me now.”

  “It’s not about you.” Ruby said. “Go and you’ll see.”

  “See what?” I asked angrily.

  Ruby held up her finger and pointed to the fourteenth floorboard.

  “You have to go right now.” Ruby said. “Please.”

  I nodded at her and walked over to the floorboard, turning back and staring at Ruby and her sad expression as I took a step backwards.

  “Gabriela, what are you doing?” I heard Jack call from the bottom of the stairs as I began to cough from the dust.

  I remembered the last time I had entered the second level and that no time had passed while I was gone.

  “I thought you were sleeping.” I said. “What happened?”

  “I had a bad dream and when I woke up, I heard you open the attic doorway and followed you.” Jack said.

  I shook my head and put my arm around him, leading him back down the stairs.

  “Come on, we’ll go have some hot chocolate or something and you can tell me what happened.” I replied.

  As we walked, Jack looked confused. He stopped as we entered the living room and turned to me.

  “No, I feel like this has all happened before.” He said, as a breeze passed my shoulder and the scent of my mom filled the room.

  “Like what has happened?” I asked.

  The house phone rang and Jack put his hand over my arm to stop me from answering.

  “That.” He said appearing frightened.

  I smiled and shook my head at him, carefully removing my arm and walking over to the phone. Jack turned and ran out of the room, headed back upstairs.

  “Jack!” I exclaimed.

  “I don’t want to know.” He called after me.

  The phone rang twice more and I went over to pick it up. When I answered the line was silent momentarily and just when I was about to hang up my aunt called my name in a low voice. I stood still as I held the phone to my ear, shivers going up and down my arms.

  “Yes.” I responded.

  “Estella, your grandmother.” She said, before starting to sob.

  She didn’t need to say more. I knew what was coming, confirmat
ion came seconds later when my aunt was finally able to pull herself together. My grandmother was gone. That’s what Ruby had neglected to tell me. Suddenly everything made sense to me. My mother being gone when I had crossed over this second time, she had gone to get my grandmother. My grandmother wouldn’t have recognized Ruby, she wouldn’t know who she was. I hung up with my aunt and began to cry.

  My father and Farrah walked in, with tons of Valentine’s Day stuff to surprise us and when my father saw the expression on my face and the tears in my eyes, he set down two huge stuffed monkeys and immediately came to my side.

  “What’s wrong Gabriela?” My father asked.

  “My abuela died.” I cried out, wrapping my arms around him.

  My father stroked my back.

  “It’s all my fault.” I said. “I went up there again.”

  “Up where sweetheart?” My father asked.

  “To the attic.” I replied.

  I lowered my shoulders and glanced at Farrah. Her eyes narrowed when our eyes met and she set bags of candy down and stormed out of the room. My father looked at me with apologetic eyes.

  “Honey this is not your fault. My father said. “Your abuela was very old and she was sick.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “That’s not it.”

  I proceeded to tell him the entire story of the attic and of the fourteenth floorboard. When I was finished, he said nothing and just stared at me. I was tempted to show him, it was still the 14th after all, but at the same time I was scared. I was scared that if I did show him, something else terrible would happen.

  Three months later on one of my phone calls home, my father let me know that they had listed the house for sale. He said that he and Farrah had decided to downgrade and get a smaller house, but on a phone call weeks later with Jack, he admitted to strange things that had started to happen around the house. My father had told Farrah and him all the details of my story and everyone had agreed they didn’t want to be there for another Valentine’s Day.

  The following year and on my Christmas break, I couldn’t help driving past our old home. I noticed that another family had moved in and had the house decorated beautifully for the holiday season. I slowed to a stop as I watched a mother playing inside with her children. The children had to be about my age when we moved in, maybe just a year apart from one another. Suddenly the daughter broke away from her mother and ran over to the window to look out. She smiled and waved. I waved back and began to drive away, as I did I couldn’t help but wonder if they would ever figure out the secret of the fourteenth floorboard.

  Love, Upside Down

  by Lauren Shiro

  Chantal opened the door to her truck. Out of nowhere, someone grabbed her from behind and squeezed her belly tightly.

  She quickly spun around. It was Desiree.

  “Hey girl!” Desi shouted.

  “Hey!” Chantal replied, she hugged Desi tightly. “How are you, girl?” Chantal took a step back to look at her.

  Desi looked good. She always looked good. Her dark ebony skin glistened under the desert sun. She was wearing her flowing kelly green off-the-shoulders blouse that always looked so good on her. Her dark jeans tightly hugged the curves and contours of her hips and legs. Her light tan boots made her even taller. She was stunning, as usual.

  “I didn’t see you in there.”

  “I was all the way up front.”

  “You? Up front? Since when?” Desi laughed.

  “Shoot!” Chantal chuckled. “Nah, my sponsor said I really need to put my nose to the grindstone and take my sobriety more serious.”

  “Something wrong? You tripping?”

  “Nah. She’s right. I do what…one or two meetings a week? And I don’t do any service positions. I gotta stop making excuses and start making shit happen.”

  “Look at you! Good for you!” Desi’s bright smile lit up her face. That smile always killed Chantal. “I’m proud of you.” Her tone was low and gentle.

  Chantal couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks.”

  Desi reached out and hugged her again. It felt good to hold her close again.

  “Alright.” Chantal sighed. “I’d better go. I gotta meet a client at ten.”

  “Okay, girl. Knock ‘em dead.” She pulled back. “Call me some time. We could hit up a Starbucks or something.”

  “Alright, alright. I will. Catch ya later.”

  Desi flashed one more smile.

  It took every ounce of will power for Chantal to turn her attention away from Desi and get into her truck.

  “Super star Katy Perry will be opening her own show here in Vegas next month.”

  “That’s a surprise,” Chantal mumbled to herself. There was nothing good on the radio this morning. The best she could get was stupid celebrity gossip. That’s bad…that’s really bad.

  The light turned yellow.

  Chantal stopped the truck. She looked around impatiently. Time was not on her side. She hated to be late, and she was cutting it close.

  Finally! The light turned green.

  Chantal inched the truck up, waiting to make the left turn.

  The man on the radio dragged on and on about nothing.

  Ugh. She still couldn’t turn left. There were too many cars. This is why she hated living in a big city. All she could do was hope that this wouldn’t leave the customer with a bad impression.

  Yellow again. Good. She should be able to finally make her turn!

  Just as she began to guide the steering wheel, she heard screeching brakes.

  Chantal turned to the right and saw a big, old Suburban coming right at her. Her eyes closed, but she could hear the metal and glass bending and braking.

  Then, there was nothing. Just darkness and silence.

  Chantal couldn’t open her eyes. They were too heavy. She felt flat, stuck – like she had been run over. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t see. Even breathing felt like a chore. She wanted to move, yet she also felt safe and comfortable in this flat position.

  “Oh baby girl!” Someone whispered from far away.

  Chantal could hear footsteps that were getting louder and louder, closer and closer.

  “Oh my!” A woman whispered. “Chantal, baby, can you hear me? It’s me, Desi.”

  Oh what a sweet sound and wonderful relief. Desiree was with her. Chantal felt even more secure now. She could hear Desi, but she had no way of responding.

  “Baby? Baby, it’s me. It’s your Desi. I’m here. I’m here; Sharon’s on her way, too. She’s coming for you. We’re all coming for you. You stay strong. Don’t you leave me, Chantal!” Her voice broke.

  Chantal could hear her sobs.

  “I want you to stay around for a long time, okay? Okay? You hear me?”

  Chantal rustled up all of the courage and strength she could. She let out a soft moan.

  “You in there? You hear me? Hang on, baby. Hang on. Stay right here. Stay with me, Chantal. Stay with me.”

  “Miss…?” A man’s voice came from the distance.

  “Turner. Desiree Turner.”

  “Miss Turner, what is your relationship with Miss Thompson?”

  “I’m her partner.”

  Chantal may have just smiled. She hadn’t heard Desi say that in a long time. It was music to hear ears.

  “I’m Doctor Koch.” The man said.

  “What’s going on? Is she okay?”

  “Yes, she’s fine. We administered some very heavy pain medications which have alleviated her pain, and also sedated her so that we could see the extent of her injuries.”

  This was so bizarre. She had enough wear withal to hear them and understand them, and yet she was also in a dream-like state.

  “And what are the extent of her injuries?” Desi asked.

  “She has broken her back. She broke three vertebrae: her L1, L2 and L3.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Her first three lumbar vertebrae are broken. The good news is that it is not surgical. There is some lumbar
radiculopathy, but that should heal with treatment and physical therapy in anywhere from six weeks to three months. ”

  “Six weeks to three months?! With three broke vertebrae?! So, what does she do?”

  “She’s just going to need time to heal. And lots of it. It will be a slow, lengthy process. The bones typically heal in about twelve weeks. With there being three broken vertebrae, and the extent of muscle spasm and nerve impingement, I’m expecting her to take somewhere around six to eight months to fully heal.”

  “Seriously?!”

  “Seriously.”

  “But what is she doing to do? She works for herself. She’s going to need some kind of income.”

  “Either you or she can file a claim for short term or perhaps even long term disability.”

  “But…?”

  Chantal inhaled deeply.

  The room was suddenly quiet.

  “What was that?” Desi asked. “Are you sure she’s gonna be okay?”

  “She will. There is no damage or danger to any of her major organs. It’ll take a long time, but she’ll be okay.”

  “So what are we doing for now?”

  “I want her to rest. We’re just going to let the medications wear off and then we’ll send her home with you.”

  “You’re sending her home?!” Desi’s voice was loud and angry.

  Chantal tried to moan again. She didn’t like Desi’s tone. Barely a peep came out.

  “Yes. There’s really nothing more that we can do here. We will send you home with prescription medications which will help to take away the inflammation, relax the muscles, and ease her pain.”

  “Drugs. You’re going to give her a lot of drugs?”

  “That’s really all we can do.”

  The room was silent again.

  “Is there a problem with that?” The man asked.

  Chantal couldn’t hear anything. Had they left? Was this all a bizarre dream? What on earth was going on?

  Still silence.

  “Miss Turner?” The man asked.

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Are you certain? You don’t seem like it. Is there a problem of some sort? Did she or does she now have a drug habit?”