Righteous anger flared in Aja. “Since I’m innocent, I don’t see why I can’t.” She felt a tickle of apprehension in her gut when she said that, but the fight to prove herself won out. “I want to make sure you really talk to your grandparents.” Aja considered stopping by Mr. Jensen’s room to talk to him, too. “Give me a sec to tell mom I’m going out.”
Walker was waiting by the door when Aja came from her mom’s room. “I’ll take my car so you don’t have to drop me off later.”
“I don’t mind.”
“No, just in case I want to drop by and visit Mr. Jensen.”
“Visiting hours will be over,” Walker said.
Aja knew he was reluctant to have her there. “I’ll take my chances.”
She followed Walker in his car and watched him park in front of the residence home. She kept driving and parked closer to the hospital. It was almost seven. She could meet with Walker’s grandparents, Mrs. Poston, and hopefully stop by to see Mr. Jensen before eight. She still had a pile of homework to do tonight, and Mrs. Burnett expected perfect work and attendance for these last few days. No excuses.
Walker waited for Aja under the entrance at the home. “Aja, I’ve been thinking…I don’t want to upset my grandmother. Can we do this another time?”
“I’m already here. It won’t take long.” Aja stepped ahead of him. “If I get tossed out of here, then we’ll do it later.” She turned and gave him a hard stare. “You know Walker, I hate scandals, too.”
He sighed and dutifully followed her inside.
There was no one at the front desk to stop Aja, so she followed Walker down the hall to his grandparents’ apartment. She kept expecting to hear Mrs. Poston screech at her, but all was quiet.
Walker’s grandparents lived past Mrs. Poston’s apartment. As they passed, Aja tensed, more reflexively than out of fear, but Mrs. Poston’s door was closed. Unusual for her, the old bat always had her door opened to see what everybody else was doing. Walker was quiet and seemed pensive during the walk.
“Walker, why don’t you go visit your grandparents first. I’ll talk to Mrs. Poston. I want to make sure she knows I’m innocent.”
He seemed almost relieved but said, “Aja, this place is still reeling from the cafeteria scene. I don’t want to rock any more boats.”
“I won’t tell her it was Kendall. I’ll let you do that.” Aja had stopped walking. “I’m not into revenge or looking to rub someone’s nose in it, but I want to be able to walk the halls here without feeling shame. That’s important to me.”
“Okay, I understand. Come by my grandparents’ apartment when you’re done.” His eyes softened. “Tell Mrs. Poston I’ll vouch for you.”
“Thanks,” Aja said, heading toward Mrs. Poston’s door. The hallway was quiet except for loud TVs inside most apartments. Aja figured everybody was in for the night, ready to watch Dancing With the Stars or some other show.
Aja knocked on Mrs. Poston’s door and waited. Nothing. Aja knocked again, put her ear to the door, and said, “Mrs. Poston, it’s Aja, can you talk?”
Still nothing.
Aja knocked louder, which brought Mrs. Poston’s neighbor, Dr. Landers, out. He was still crisply dressed from dinner, but his shirt was untucked.
“Why, Aja, what a surprise.” He gave her a questioning look.
“Hi, Dr. Landers. I wanted to talk to Mrs. Poston. Do you know if she’s out?”
“Actually, no one’s seen her for the last few days. We talked about it over dinner tonight.”
“Maybe she’s with her family.”
“Yeah, I hope so. But Bea usually announces when she’s leaving.” Dr. Landers leaned closer to Aja. “This place is like a gossip mill; everybody knows what the others are doing, especially…” He nodded toward Mrs. Poston’s door and winked at Aja.
“Has anybody checked on her?” Aja asked.
“I don’t know. We all have an electronic button wired to the front desk that we have to turn off by 10:00 a.m., or someone checks on us.”
“Maybe she’s just not feeling well,” Aja said, looking at the door.
“Come to think of it, I remember Bea had hers disconnected. She said she hated to have to check in with anybody like a child.” Dr. Landers began to look concerned. “And her family rarely comes by.”
Aja had to bite back a smart remark, like she knew why they wouldn’t visit. Instead she said, “Should we go in and check on her?” Aja almost reached for the hidden key but stopped. That was what had started all this mess—her knowing where the key was. “I can run to the front desk and see if anybody’s spoken to her.”
“You are a sweet girl,” Dr. Landers said. “I never believed you’d taken anything.”
“Thank you.”
Dr. Landers reached for the fake geranium pot. “She keeps a key under here.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to get in trouble by going in uninvited.”
“Understood.” Dr. Landers smiled. He knocked on Mrs. Poston’s door and tried the doorknob. It was unlocked. He shrugged, then cracked open the door. “Bea, are you here?” He pushed the door open further.
Aja couldn’t see all of her, only Mrs. Poston’s legs. Aja hated herself for thinking that it reminded her of the wicked witch in The Wizard Of Oz. Aja and Dr. Landers stepped inside where they found Mrs. Poston face down in her living room. Lying still. Too still.
Chapter 44
An hour after Aja and Dr. Landers found Mrs. Poston, Edna Jones sat on a sofa in the residence home’s lobby wringing her hands. “Oh, this is terrible. How long was that poor woman like that?”
The paramedics had taken Mrs. Poston a little while ago. Aja and Dr. Landers had sat with her while they waited. Aja had dabbed a wet cloth over Mrs. Poston’s face and, per Dr. Landers, let her suck a tiny amount of water out of it. “Even though she’s dehydrated, you don’t want to give her a lot to drink. She might need surgery.” He’d taken her vitals. The poor woman was barely conscious, her pulse thready, and her usual loud voice could only croak the words, “Help me.” Aja felt awful for her. Mrs. Poston’s helmet hair was flat and stuck to her face. Aja gently moved it away from her eyes as she cleansed her face with the washcloth. It seemed like forever for the emergency crew to arrive.
“And you.” Edna glared at Aja. “You always show up when there’s trouble. You’re not allowed here anyway. Oh, heavens.” Edna’s pudgy fingers flapped in the air.
“Edna,” Dr. Landers said, “If it weren’t for Aja, Bea Poston may not have survived the night. You should thank her.”
“Why did I allow Bea to shut off the check-in light? I told her something like this could happen.” Edna rambled on, trying to justify the action. “It’s not our fault. She insisted on turning it off.”
Uncomfortable, Aja felt in her pocket for her guardian angel charm but remembered that she’d pressed it into Mrs. Poston’s palm as they took her away, telling her that it would bring her good luck.
Walker approached the crowd that had gathered in the hallway just as Edna screeched to Aja, “Were you here to steal from her again?”
“What’s going on?” Walker asked. He looked around at the medical trash left by the paramedics lying on the floor. “Who’s hurt?”
“Mrs. Poston,” Aja answered.
Walker looked at Aja, shock and questions lining his face. “What happened?” he whispered. He looked at her as if she was the one who hurt Mrs. Poston.
“Walker, do you really think I’d do something to her?” Aja glared hard at him.
“Young man,” Dr. Landers interrupted, “Aja saved Bea Poston’s life. I think you, and most of this group”—he waved a hand at the rubberneckers—“owe this girl an apology. And you, Edna, you especially should apologize to her.”
“Everything was fine until you showed up here.” Edna focused on Aja. “It seems as if every time there’s a crisis, you’re in the middle of it.”
“Edna, I’ll speak to the management about your attitude,” Dr. Landers adm
onished. “Bea Poston would have died tonight if Aja hadn’t thought to check on her.”
Aja began to back away. “Thanks for sticking up for me, Dr. Landers. Could you let me know if she’s all right? I have to go.” She turned to leave and saw Walker standing next to his grandparents, both clad in their nightclothes. “Didn’t anybody tell Edna I didn’t steal the jewelry?” she asked softly.
It seemed that the whole population of the residence home was watching the drama. Aja wished Walker would step forward and come to her defense. She felt naked with all eyes on her. There were too many ghosts in the room—past and present. She’d even lost interest in defending herself.
As she made her way to the door, she heard clucking and whispers as she passed. She wasn’t sure if it was from the residents or from the ghosts. She tried to turn off her intuitive brain, but she was so beaten down it was hard to think straight.
The exterior doors swished open, and she walked into the hot humid air to the parking lot. She glanced back to see if Walker was behind her, but he wasn’t. She couldn’t see him through the throng of people still hovering in the lobby.
Though she’d parked near the hospital in case she had time to visit with Mr. Jensen, she decided, considering how the evening had gone, to just head home. Her car was the only one in the side lot, and she began to get a feeling of foreboding. She stopped walking for a second and looked around. She was alone. No police cruiser, no figures lurking. Keys in hand she jogged the rest of the way, jumped in her car and started the cranky engine. She took a deep breath and tried to shake the awful premonition feeling in her gut. To be safe, she reached over and locked the door as she drove out of the lot.
She figured the scared feeling was because of seeing Mrs. Poston bent, broken, and so near death—and all the residents whispering about her. Even though the woman had given Aja nothing but grief, Aja wished her no ill will. Or did she? She tensed, thinking maybe her powers were stronger than she thought and she had caused Mrs. Poston to fall by thinking of bad things for her. No, Aja thought, no, I’d never want to physically hurt the woman. Then why wouldn’t this feeling of dread go away?
Driving toward the main street, Aja looked toward the copse of trees where Clay Richards attacked her. That must be it, she sighed. It was dark as a tomb through the trees, and her nerves were spitting fire from the disastrous evening.
A shadow moved from the back seat and, before she could react, she felt something cold against her ribs.
“Keep driving,” Clay whispered venomously in her ear.
Chapter 45
Aja screamed and looked in the rearview mirror straight into Clay’s steel-dead eyes. She forgot to drive and instead thought to run, accidentally pressing the accelerator, propelling her car over the curb and smashing head-on into a tree. Her head smacked into the steering wheel, which hurt, but not as much as knowing Clay was in the car with her. She reached to open the door, but it was locked. Before she could unlock it, Clay grabbed her by the hair and pushed her down. He pressed her head down on the passenger seat, the console cutting into her back as her seatbelt strained to hold her in. Clay moved between the seats hovering over her with a knife.
“You’ve given me more trouble than the other rats and for that you’ll pay,” he said through clenched teeth. “Most of you juvenile delinquents know your place.” He leaned heavier on her, the seatbelt felt like it was slicing her insides.
Aja couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move with his dead weight on her. The engine hissed and creaked, and she could smell antifreeze. She prayed Walker or somebody would drive by. She wished she could send a telepathic distress signal to her mom but really didn’t know how, since she’d practiced keeping her “gift” off more than on.
Probably afraid someone would drive by, Clay used the knife to cut the seatbelt off Aja, leaned over her, then unlocked and opened the passenger door. “Let’s take a walk,” he seethed. He crawled over Aja, his knees crushing her abdomen, and jumped out of the car. Grabbing her hair and arm, he pulled her to the ground. On her knees in front of him, Aja’s forehead was bleeding from hitting the steering wheel. A puddle of blood formed near her knees and it felt like Clay scalped her when he pulled her by her hair.
“Stand up and walk,” he demanded.
Aja had no energy or fight. She couldn’t move at all.
“I can kill you right here. I know how to make it look like an accident.”
All of a sudden, there was a diffuse, sprinkled light; it made Aja think of a person’s aura. The illumination faintly lit the trees, but without reflection, and it reminded Aja of her mom’s angel snow globe after a good shake. Oddly, Aja felt her mother’s needle-nose pliers pressed into her hand. From where? Then, as if someone else moved her hand like a puppet, she managed to get the pliers around Clay’s nose as he bent over her. With strength she didn’t possess, she twisted his nose. He yelled and dropped the knife.
Aja kept twisting. He tried to fight her off, but there was some kind of protective force around her. As he fell to the ground, Aja never released pressure. Headlights fanned over them from the street, and Aja saw, in the beam of car lights, clear as day, Mrs. Jensen standing next to the tree Aja’s car was twisted into. Aja never saw her lips move but heard her say, “He won’t bother you anymore, dear.”
Walker ran to her side. “Aja, are you okay?”
Aja let herself cry and nodded. “I will be.”
Chapter 46
Aja remained in the ER until almost two in the morning. She was whipped, but felt renewed. Clay Richards had been arrested. She finally felt at peace.
“It’s over,” Aja told her mom as they left the hospital.
“Yeah, I feel it, too.” Her mom put an arm around Aja. “The black cloud has lifted.”
Aja gingerly touched her forehead, thirteen stitches later and bumps and bruises everywhere else.
“Let this be a lesson never to steal again,” her mom said.
“What?”
“All this started when you took that money from the teacher.” They got in her mom’s truck. “Bad karma.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Aja, we’ve had some bumps in the road, but those only moved us to another phase in our life. When you took that money, it brought Clay Richards to us. Remember?”
Aja thought about the day she took the money. She rode the edge of trouble her whole life, but had never done anything wrong like that. “I wanted to prove them right.”
“Who?”
“The principal and Dumpster Dempsey. They were saying all sorts of bad things about me. I thought I’d give them a reason for talking like that.”
“You’re better than that,” her mom said as they pulled in their driveway. “Now go to bed. We’re meeting with Officer Smith tomorrow morning.”
“No, I have school.”
“Aja, you don’t have to go, considering everything that’s happened.”
“Mom, two more days, then finals. I’m fine.”
Aja’s mom looked at her for a minute and smiled. “Okay, honey, but I think they’ll understand.” They both got out of the car. “Maybe I could learn how to be more responsible from you. I am proud of you.”
Aja waved her off, but still enjoyed the compliment. She was sore and tired, and she dreaded the alarm going off in a few hours. But still, she felt great.
Mrs. Burnett, having heard about what had happened last night, checked Aja’s stitched forehead and bruised face when Aja met with her before classes started.
“How do you manage to get yourself in these messes?” She spoke with affectionate admonishing. “Are you sure you’re up to going to your classes? I understand you were assaulted last night on top of you wrecking your car.”
Aja nodded. “I hurt inside and out, but I haven’t felt this good in a while. The jerk is behind bars, and I feel like I can get on with my life.”
“If you start to feel puny, then see me or the school nurse. This is a valid reason to miss school.”
&
nbsp; “Thanks.” Aja stood to leave, thinking that all the other reasons were valid, too. Maybe because this time she had stitches to show for it.
“Oh, Aja?” Mrs. Burnett called.
“Yes?” Aja turned.
Mrs. Burnett smiled. “I got a call from Tish this morning. She wants to finish her GED and look at vocational schools. I think you had a positive influence on her.”
“Karma,” Aja said. “Good karma.”
Officer Smith, Maggie, and Ms. Lewis were waiting when Aja got home from school. Her mom had fixed herbal tea, and they sat sipping and admiring the paintings Aja’s mom had done. Ms. Lewis gravitated toward the floral still lifes, only glancing curiously at the nudes.
Aja joined the women and poured a cup of tea for herself. “I’m starving, Mom, do we have anything to eat?”
“I’m expecting Clara Wells in a few minutes. She made you a coffee cake.”
“Oh, yeah!” Aja said, happily.
“No lentil loaf?” Maggie asked.
“Aja.” Officer Smith took a seat on the couch next to her. “Clay Richards isn’t talking, but the girls at the detention center are.” She sighed. “I’m sorry we didn’t see what was going on.”
“There’s more good in people than bad,” Aja’s mom said, looking at Ms. Lewis.
Ms. Lewis didn’t respond to Aja’s mom, but said to Aja, “I spoke to Tish and Sissy today.” She stopped, like something was caught in her throat. “I didn’t realize Julia was a victim, too.” A tiny tear threatened to fall. She turned to Aja’s mom. “You’re right. I should have listened to her.”
“Find her and tell her.” Aja’s mom gently touched Ms. Lewis’s arm.
“Maggie and I are trying to track her down,” Officer Smith said. “Aja, all those girls today opened up like a Christmas gift as soon as they realized we were on their side. Thanks for standing up for them. For making us see them differently.”
Maggie spoke up. “Clay Richards’s bail hearing is being set soon. The judge is waiting to hear testimony from the girls and you. Officer Smith is going to take your statement today. I’ll put the case together and hope the judge sets his bail so high he’ll never see the light of day.” She sipped her tea. “And all charges against you have been officially dropped.”
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