by Eva Pohler
As they waited for their food, Lexi opened her present from Jan.
“It’s Grandma’s cuckoo clock,” Lexi said.
“Oh, how nice!” Sue’s face lit up. “She must have had it repaired. It’s been in the family for decades, you know. I always wished she’d give it to me, but I’m glad she’s given it to you.”
“It’s beautiful,” Ellen said, admiring the intricate details. “It’s no wonder she didn’t want to ship it. It’s so delicate.”
“It cost a fortune to fix, I’m sure,” Sue added. To Lexi, she said, “Be sure to write Grandma a thank you note.”
“Mom,” Lexi complained. “I’m not a kid anymore. I know I’m supposed to write thank you notes.”
“Well, your lunch is on me,” Ellen said, “and I’m expecting a thank you note, too.” Ellen gave Lexi a wink, to show she was only teasing and didn’t expect a note.
Sue laughed. “I’m still waiting on my thank you from Nolan for his high school graduation gift from, what, eight years ago?”
Ellen shook her head. “I have a feeling you’ll be waiting a lot longer for that one.”
“Do you have time to come see what we’ve done to our new house?” Lexi asked them.
Sue had bought Lexi and Stephen a new house with some of the oil money. It was the only extravagant thing any of them had done. They were hesitant to spend too much of the money while they still weren’t sure how long the well would produce. Plus, all three of them had agreed that Greenwood deserved more than ten percent of the oil money, since the ghosts of their past had been responsible for helping them to find it.
“I’m afraid not,” Sue said. “We’re worried about Tanya. Maybe next time.”
After lunch, Ellen and Sue said goodbye to Lexi and then walked across the street to the Brady Theater to check out its recent renovations. Jared was working the box office and seemed glad to see them again as he showed them the new flooring, seating, and repairs to some of the interior architecture. Ellen took pictures with her phone to share with Tanya, but when they returned to the hotel, Ellen and Sue were shocked with what they found: Tanya was completely naked, her legs stretched up over the headboard, her hips on pillows, and her head hanging over the side of the bed, her eyes closed and ringed with black circles.
“Tanya!” Ellen cried as she rushed to her friend’s side.
“Don’t touch her,” Sue warned. “You don’t want the demon on your back, too.”
Tanya opened her eyes and blinked several times before she swung her legs from the headboard and tried to sit up.
“Tanya?” Ellen said gently.
“What’s wrong?” Tanya asked before recognizing that she was without clothes. She pulled the sheet over her. “I got hot. Isn’t it hot in here?”
“We need to take you to a hospital,” Ellen said. “Something’s not right.”
The scholarship ceremony at the Greenwood Cultural Center that evening had been rewarding, but Ellen hadn’t been able to enjoy herself, because she’d been worried about Tanya. Ellen could tell Sue was feeling the same way as they left the reception to return to the hospital.
Hooked up to an IV, Tanya was awake and watching television in a private room when they arrived. Her complexion was no longer pale, the dark circles were significantly reduced, and she was even smiling.
“I was dehydrated,” Tanya explained. “They couldn’t find anything else wrong with me.”
“And you feel better?” Ellen asked.
“You look better,” Sue commented.
“I feel fine,” Tanya said. “They’re keeping me overnight for observation, but I should be ready to leave tomorrow. How was the scholarship ceremony?”
Ellen and Sue recounted how impressed they’d been with the six recipients. One would be attending Harvard, two Yale, and three OSU. Although Ellen and her friends had lost their case against the state of Oklahoma and against the city of Tulsa for reparations owed to the descendants of the 1921 Race Riot victims, the oil money was being put to good use in helping repair the damages done to Greenwood. The Greenwood Cultural Center had been put in charge of deciding where to use the funds. Homeowners had been given grants to repair their homes and refresh their landscaping, business owners had been given grants and interest-free loans, and the entire area was prospering as a result. Even Mount Zion Baptist Church had been granted reparations to expand the size of its sanctuary.
“Will you be up to touring the social club tomorrow, do you think?” Sue asked Tanya.
“Definitely,” Tanya said. “I feel fine.”
Ellen exchanged a worried glance with Sue, doubting their friend was out of the woods yet. If a demon had attached itself to Tanya, saline through an IV wouldn’t be enough to get rid of it.
***