28: Fascination
“Mr. Blackwick, sir?”
John started at the sound of Belinda Yaris’ voice behind him. He had been so consumed with the ideas of how he would approach Brigit that he had not heard the new girl’s entrance into his office. Looking over his shoulder, John found her standing just inside the door with the large black ledger she had been so diligently recording in held against her chest. Her eyes, so very bright blue against the pale skin and raven hair, were trained on him in a wary stare. It seemed the young woman always looked at him this way. John couldn’t tell whether it was a look of fear or deep reverence – or both.
“Miss Yaris,” John cleared his throat and tried to sound as though he were pleasantly surprised to see her. “What can I assist you with?”
“I’ve finished with this book,” Belinda declared. “I was wondering where I would find a new one.”
“Oh, yes, of course. Over to your right there, Miss Yaris, are the blanks. Completed ledgers are stored here on this wall,” John instructed with a nod of his head toward the wall of bookshelves behind him.
He stepped aside as Belinda diligently marched to the bookshelf and stored the completed tome where he had indicated before turning and marching back across the room to retrieve a fresh one. There was something about her that fascinated John when he had a moment to contemplate the new recruit. Yet, as soon as he had a thought to spare for Belinda Yaris, a different and more pressing thought would quickly follow – pushing any further musings of Belinda Yaris from his mind.
“Mr. Blackwick?”
John’s attention was returned to the young woman once more.
“Yes?”
“Is there an official policy book for the firm? I mean, you know, something that lays all the rules out?” she asked timidly.
“Not really. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, no reason, I guess,” came the reply; but John suspected there actually was a reason behind the inquiry. “I was just wondering if there were rules regarding workplace relationships.”
John studied her face for a second as he thought of how to respond. She was young enough to be the type to find infatuation with the mysterious, bad boy type. Although she had had limited interaction, John quickly came to the conclusion that Belinda Yaris may have developed a slight crush on Seamus Flannery. As John continued to ponder the right response, he noticed the newest member of the firm beginning to grow nervous with the wait.
“Well,” John finally began, “I don’t know that there’s ever been a circumstance that warranted the creation of a policy regarding that,” he mused. “However, I would have to strongly suggest that, should it occur, that both parties involved maintain their priorities regarding the firm and their duties as assigned. I should also hope, Miss Yaris, that you will use your better judgment if an opportunity should present itself.”
Belinda only nodded in response before exiting his office. He hoped she understood his warning without his having to be overly blunt. He remembered Brigit’s prediction that Seamus Flannery would one day become a problem and even though he tried hard not to dwell on it, John knew eventually her prediction would come true. The recent chain of events revealed the beginnings of that particular worry. Considering the fascination Belinda had revealed without knowing it, John suddenly hoped Seamus wouldn’t drag the young woman into the drama as well. She seemed like a good girl with a good heart. John abhorred the idea of having to mete out a dire punishment on her because of one bad choice.
Belinda returned to her desk and sighed. John had answered her question somewhat vaguely, but she had caught the warning at the end of it. She had the sense that John Blackwick suspected the object of her fascination, but Belinda was sure he was misjudging Seamus Flannery. The Irishman seemed sweet toward her during their few conversations, almost gentle, even though he pretended to be so very dangerous.
Belinda opened the fresh ledger and reached for the files Seamus had turned into her that morning. His quick recovery from his sickness had caused John to set Seamus back to work at reaping souls although they were relatively easy ones compared to what the Irish Reaper said he was used to. He had lamented his boredom with the assignments during his brief visit to her office. Belinda had merely listened, hoping he would notice that he had her full attention.
As she began to record the pertinent information, Belinda decided they were wrong about the rugged, flame haired Irishman. They didn’t see what she saw in him. They were wrong about Seamus Flannery and that was all there was to it.
29: Mama Dee, Part II
Brigit stood from Maggie’s reading chair and went to the window. She was impatient, yet, she was not sure whether it was from the waiting for Maggie to return home or from the waiting to see what John would decide to do to her. Deep down, she hoped he would give her the position back. She was not willing to resign herself to the idea of being crossed over just yet. It would ultimately mean the breaking of her promise to Maggie – the whole reason she had taken the offered position in the first place.
She had only been home for two days, but it felt like ages as she pondered the possibility that John would arrive with the purpose of crossing her over. Brigit hated the waiting, but at the moment, she had no other option. Today was the third day. Brigit hoped John would make his appearance soon and the wait would finally be over.
Yet, the street was empty. Looking up and down it from the bay window, Brigit caught no sight of her mentor. Sighing heavily, she turned and made her way back towards Maggie’s chair. She would just have to sit and continue her wait.
As she began to lower herself into the cushion, Brigit paused.
An odd energy was emanating from the door. The chill that floated across the room caused her skin to tingle despite the warmth of her black coat. Curious, she crept to the door and listened. She had felt this before. As she listened for any tell-tale sign of the source, her mind raced to find the memory where she had experienced the feeling. Quickly, she pressed her eye against the peephole as the energy continued to grow stronger. A gasp escaped her when he stepped onto the landing and paused, looking first at the door that concealed her and then at the door across the hall. His black robes fluttered with an eerie breeze that blew from behind him. His pale skin seemed almost transparent in the dim light of the hall. Brigit could feel her heart thundering in her ears as she realized who she was peering at. It was the Bailey and he was on an assignment. When he turned to enter the door across the hall, Brigit felt her fear explode. He was after Mama Dee…
Mama Dee closed her eyes and began to massage her forehead. She had felt the migraine coming on as soon as she had awakened that morning. As a precaution, she had called the women’s shelter and told her boss she wouldn’t be in today because of the headache. After a compassionate plea to please go see a doctor, Winifred had excused Mama Dee for as long as she needed on the condition that she present a doctor’s note upon her return to work. As she hung up the phone, Mama Dee had silently thought that today might actually be the day to finally make an appointment. The headaches were becoming too frequent and at her age, she couldn’t financially afford to miss any more work.
A deep sigh escaped her as she massaged her head. There was more behind all this, she thought. She wished she could talk to Brigit. Maybe the young woman would have some more insight for her now that she walked on the unseen side of life.
Mama Dee felt herself smile at the thought of Brigit. The young woman’s energy had been a little stronger in the apartment across the hall for the past two days, but Mama Dee had not managed to have a moment to openly acknowledge it. Maggie must have noticed it as well, Mama Dee thought. The woman had not made her usual request for the old woman to join her for dinner. Maggie was keeping it all to herself – a notion Mama Dee couldn’t really blame her for.
The tea kettle began its lonesome cry in the kitchen and Mama Dee opened her weary eyes. The throbbing was mounting. She hoped a big cup of chamomile and mint would reduce the pressure long en
ough to allow her to call the doctor’s office and set an appointment. After that, Mama Dee decided, she would let the banging explode while she hid in the darkness of her bedroom.
Mama Dee lifted the kettle from the stove to cease its cry. As she poured the boiling water into the waiting mug, she felt the chill creep through the air behind her. Slowly, she set the kettle on the counter, uncaring that it would scorch the counter top beneath it. Every hair on her body began to stand on end as she braced herself for what she would face when she turned around. Although she would not see it, she could feel it. The cold energy that reached out to embrace her caused her heart to thunder in her ears, suddenly drowning out the explosion of the migraine that had finally began its massive assault of pain and fireworks…
Brigit entered Mama Dee’s apartment silently. The Bailey had been too focused on his prey to hear her as she exited her own apartment. She only hoped she was not too late to stop him in his mission. It wasn’t Mama’s time to go. It couldn’t be…
As she crept down the narrow hall that led to Mama Dee’s kitchen, she could see the Bailey standing in the doorway – frozen as if he were suddenly afraid to move. The string of curse words she heard in Mama Dee’s voice alarmed her. Mama Dee had never uttered a swear word in Brigit’s presence before and to hear the old black woman do so now caused Brigit to increase her speed. With a sudden flying leap, Brigit propelled herself the remaining length of the hall and tackled the Bailey from behind. A cry of sudden surprise escaped him before they both fell crashing to the kitchen floor.
As they grappled on the floor, Brigit felt the occasional hard kick to her ribs as Mama Dee joined in the fray. The frightened commands to get out of her house, to return to the depths of hell from whence they had came reached through to Brigit’s brain as she desperately fought to maintain the Bailey in her grasp. He was slippery, though, like a fish fresh from slimy waters. His robes were oily in her hands as she grasped at them. Twice, he slithered out of her reach but Brigit would manage one way or another to regain her hold before feeling another kick from the frightened Mama Dee. Finally, Brigit managed to still the chaos in her mind for half a second.
“John, I need you quickly,” she cried out in her mind.
Whether or not her mentor heard or answered, Brigit was not aware, The Bailey had slipped out of her hold once more and began a frightened scramble for the hall. Brigit rose to her feet once more and lunged to tackle him again. In mid-air, she had heard Mama Dee gasp. Either the old woman had finally seen her mortal body or she had recognized Brigit – or maybe even both. Brigit had no moment to spare thought as she and the Bailey crashed to the floor in the narrow hall and continued their frantic writhing for escape and control. Somehow, Brigit managed to wrap her legs around the death bringer’s waist and lock her feet at the ankles. She was instinctively intent on squeezing any life out of him as she held his bald head in a firm head lock under one arm. At her head, she could feel Mama Dee’s cautious approach. With a quick glance back, Brigit saw her friend creeping down the hall, a frying pan held over her shoulder like a baseball bat.
“Mama, no, it’s okay now. I have him,” Brigit gushed as the Bailey wiggled in an attempt to escape.
“Brigit?” There was a note of disbelief in Mama Dee’s voice.
“Brigit, what are you doing?”
Brigit’s attention snapped to the other end of the hall to find John standing there. There was a surprised look on his face as he viewed his assistant on the floor with the elusive Bailey in possibly the most complicated death hold John Blackwick had ever seen.
“Would you like the long or short version?” Brigit gasped. The Bailey wiggled again and she tightened her hold one more notch. The Bailey began to wheeze as he gasped for air.
“Well, I can see that you’ve found the Bailey,” John mused. “You may release him now.”
“He’ll run,” Brigit pointed out.
“Will you?” John addressed the frightened Bailey. As well as he could manage, the Bailey shook his head. “Release the Bailey, Brigit.”
Slowly, Brigit let go but remained on the floor in the attempt to catch her breath. It had been more of a struggle than she had realized. Had she been alive, she thought, her adrenaline would have hit maximum over drive. Although she wasn’t alive, Brigit recognized the effects the momentum of the confrontation had had on her.
“Brigit, did I hurt you?”
Brigit looked up at the woman the Bailey had come for. Mama Dee looked different, Brigit thought as she lay there looking up at her old friend; but from upside down and through dim light, Brigit wasn’t sure what could be different on this side of living.
“I’m okay, Mama,” Brigit replied, smiling so that her friend could see that was indeed all right. “Though, I think you should have been a soccer player, not a social worker.”
“You,” John pointed a long, thin finger at the Bailey. The Bailey stiffened under the sight of it. “Sit over there and do not move. I will address you in a moment.” Obediently, the pale figure nodded and sat on Mama Dee’s sofa, glancing nervously over his shoulder as the Grim Reaper turned to face the two women still congregating in the hall.
“What’s happened, Brigit? How come I can finally see you?” Mama Dee asked as her fear from the commotion suddenly disappeared and a new awareness took its place.
“Mama, your time came,” Brigit answered apologetically.
“You mean… I’m…” Mama Dee made to turn and run to the kitchen, as if to confirm that she really was dead by seeing her body; but Brigit caught her friend by the shoulders and steered her in the opposite direction.
“You are, Mama,” Brigit said quietly. “Trust me. Here, have a seat,” she suggested.
“I ain’t sitting by that,” Mama spat defiantly as she cast an angry glare at the Bailey. Instead, she plopped herself on the coffee table and looked from Brigit to John and back to Brigit.
In the brighter light of the front room, Brigit could finally determine the differences in Mama Dee. Gone from her face were the wrinkles of age and the grey hair of so many years of witnessed sadness.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t be the one to come for me when my time came,” Mama Dee reminded Brigit.
“You’ve had a conversation regarding the rules with a mortal?” John interrupted.
“And who are you?” Mama Dee demanded of the man that had the gall to stick his nose into the conversation.
“Mama Dee, this is John Blackwick – my boss,” Brigit introduced.
“Oh,” Mama Dee gulped with the significance of the introduction. “Well, let me just say that I’m grateful you allowed my Brigit to be here. I might have made the sin of kicking the shit out of your boy over there if she hadn’t been,” Mama Dee chuckled nervously.
“Instead, you kicked the shit out of me,” Brigit laughed. “Mama, I was suspended from work. Mr. Blackwick didn’t know this was going to happen,” she explained.
“Oh, I see,” Mama Dee’s amusement seemed to dim as she thought about what Brigit had said.
Brigit saw the look pass through her friend’s dark eyes that told her that she had the thought to inquire further, and possibly even scold Brigit for getting herself into trouble. Eventually, Mama Dee thought better of it and simply shook her head.
“Speaking of such, we need to have a conversation,” John cut in. Brigit nodded and indicated that they step out of the room. John followed her across the hall and into her apartment. If I’m going to cross, Brigit thought, I’m going to do it in my own home.
“I’m ready,” Brigit said once John had closed the door.
“Good, because we have some serious catching up to do at the office. Seamus has resumed reaping, but the workload has began to mount again. I’ve decided to keep Miss Yaris at the office to maintain records. That will free up the Reapers to continue their assignments. You pick up, you drop off and pick up some more. In the meantime, should you find any more recruits, I request that you bring them in for an interview befo
re just simply taking them on,” John instructed.
Brigit looked at him in surprise. She had expected a harsh scolding at the least. Instead, she had received the instructions for a more streamlined operation.
“I think I know of a potential recruit,” she finally managed to say.
“Your Miss Dee?” John asked. Brigit nodded. “For what department?”
“Children,” Brigit replied as she remembered the Bobby Hooper assignment. Though she had had some fun with that one, she knew children were not her forte. Mama Dee would be perfect for the position if John gave her the chance.
“Very well,” John said. “I’ll interview her at the office. In the mean time, Brigit, bear in mind that should you find yourself in such a predicament again, I’ll have no choice but to cross you. You are to set an example within the firm, am I clear?”
“Yes,” Brigit answered.
“I have one more thing,” John said as Brigit turned to return to Mama Dee’s apartment.
“Yes?”
“There was something in your story the other day that you decided not to tell me. What was it?”
Brigit stared hard at the floor as she thought of how to respond. Of course John would have noticed the pause. She had hoped he would not have asked.
“A threat was leveled against me,” she finally said. “There will come a day when he’ll try to make good on it,” she predicted. John suddenly understood that her omission was deeply personal but he was glad she had told him all the same. Two sets of eyes were always better than one.
“I see,” the Grim Reaper sighed. “We’ll deal with it when the time comes,” he promised. Brigit nodded and opened the door. Together, they crossed the hall again and found Mama Dee casting the stink eye at the progressively nervous Bailey sitting across from her.
“Mama,” Brigit interrupted casually, trying to hide her amusement at the scene they had entered. “Mr. Blackwick would like to have a conversation with you. I want you to go back to his office with him and listen carefully,” Brigit instructed.
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