But, who could really blame Amy? To tell the truth, Mary knew that we all tend to take everything for granted at some point or another in our lives.
After Amy's last relationship, she took some time to think about her life and she came to one fact about men. It was the only idea that stayed with her. All men were dogs.
However, there were some men that remained dogs and others that did not. To her it was simple. She decided that she would discard the dogs and test the others, as thoroughly as possible.
She was getting older and she wanted a good man. That was all, just a good man. It didn't matter what he looked like or what he had. All that mattered was that he was good man who loved something more than himself.
So Amy became open to the idea of dating again. After her cool down period, she got into the game and saw a familiar face.
And it didn't take much time to find someone who she thought was ideal. She thought of every way to separate the good ones from bad ones. She did as best as she could before she picked again.
In the end, she was beautiful and could attract all sorts of men.
In the end, she choose a guy who spoke soft and was kind hearted. His name was Nick. In fact, they used to work together. She knew Nick for a while and they became friends while she was going through her last relationship, where she re-examined everything in her life.
It was Nick that helped her reevaluate everything. He had been there for her from the beginning.
They started to date and the love affair lasted longer than she expected. At many moments, she thought that her relationship would eventually collapse. But, it didn't.
It was Nick who told her that he loved her. A couple years after, she got pregnant. When she told him about the baby, he smiled. His happiness made her day. She knew right then and there that she had a good man. He was someone that would never leave her side.
For a time, she was happy.
Finally, she found someone who loved her. And she wanted to tell her sister about what a great guy he was. She wanted Mary to be proud of her. She wanted to prove to her sister that she could take responsibility for everything in her life, the bad with the good. She wanted to tell her sister that she found the one thing that Mary told her to find.
Love something, she remembered her sister telling her.
She did. It wasn't just the baby that she loved. She had her own art too. She had fallen in love with the written word and for a moment the world seemed brighter.
Then, a dark cloud interrupted the sun that shined on her.
It was Joe. One day like any other day, she met Joe. And Joe did much more than take away the sun. Yes. He did much more than that.
When it came to Joe, he was a lone dark figure that no one ever really noticed. And if they did, there were even fewer that looked at him for more than a couple of minutes.
Most people forgot about him right after they met him.
But, Joe never forgot them. To him, each person he met was special, in their own way. Each was filled with faults and contradictions that he loved to learn about and exploit when the moment struck.
Like a snake in the ground, he preferred being a part of the background. Most people didn't know Joe was around, until he was right next to you.
Amy met Joe only once. But that was one time too many.
It was after work, when Amy got off the 46th Street Station in Queens. She wanted to surprise her sister. She walked for about two blocks and turned down 48th Street. The block was lined with old apartment buildings that rose eight stories into the air. In the middle of the block, Mary shared a small studio with her son.
Amy got to the front door of the lobby and buzzed her sister's apartment. But, she wasn't there. In that instant, Amy's mood changed and her eyes lost life. She checked her watch and thought she knew when Mary and the boy should have been home.
Just a moment ago, Amy was so happy that she wanted to take her sister and the boy out to dinner and talk all about her baby and how good everything was going with Nick.
Amy rang her sister's apartment, again. However, no one answered.
It was at that moment when she noticed a reflection of a man in the glass door. For a few moments, he stood there staring at her. Then, she quickly turned around to look at him and he was gone. She couldn't help feel how strange that felt. Maybe she was just seeing things. Either way, she felt unsafe.
She tried her sister's buzzard again. Again, no answer.
Then a man stepped out of an elevator to leave the small lobby. Amy saw nothing remarkable in him. He looked average with pale white skin and brown rimmed glasses. And he was short and a little over weight. However, he looked harmless. She became relived and waited for him to open the door.
As a soft smile appeared on his pale white face, he opened the door. Amy was about to pass through when he stopped her with the bulk of his body.
"Hey. I can't let you in." His voice was nasally and even whiny. "Hey, Come on, I don't know who you even are."
"My sister lives here. I just want to make sure that she's okay."
Amy hopped that if she made it sound like emergency, he would let her through without a hassle. He looked her over and didn't think she was much a threat.
"Okay. But..."
"But what."
It was at that moment when Joe looked into her eyes and saw something that he recognized, something that he had seen many times before. He saw recklessness and he smiled. All of a sudden Joe seemed familiar to her.
"Are you sure you want to see your sister? She probably not home. That's all."
Amy's eyes became vacant.
"I should... But, what else I'm going
to do."
"You could hang out with me."
"I don't even know you."
"Come on," he smiled.
Amy thought he looked harmless enough. But, she could not just walk away with him. He was a stranger for goodness sakes. Beside, she wasn't that kind if girl, not anymore.
Regardless, she could not look away from him. There something about him that she recognized in his eyes. He seemed so familiar. Maybe, if she spoke to him. She could figure it out.
He pushed his brown glasses with his pinky and leaned over to her right ear, "Why don't we take a soft walk?"
Amy heard him and his words appeared soft enough. But inside, her mind echoed like drum. And it shook her bones.
"Where?" She almost afraid to ask.
"Over here." He grabbed her by the hand and led her away from the building.
The strange thing was that Amy didn't pull away. She didn't even hesitate. Instead, she followed him, without putting up any kind of fight. There was something in his voice and something about his warm hand that felt so familiar.
So, they walked hand in hand, as if they were a couple, as if they had been a couple for a long time. He placed his arm around her waist and spoke to her as if they had been friends for a long time. Together, they walked away from the residential blocks and headed across the rail roads and into the industrial areas.
Alone, they walked.
Twenty-Six
The Wall Of Nothingness
Back in Calvary Cemetery, Amy held the boy's hand when they stepped through the fog of nothingness that covered the cemetery. The fog was like a wall that seemed to go on forever. It felt like a blank page that never changed.
"It's okay." Amy told the boy. Then, she held the boy's hand tighter.
In reality, she told herself that everything was going to work out. She tried to keep as confident as possible with every step that she took. All she had to do was find her sister. She needed to stick to that plan. She already knew where her sister was. She could no longer deny the reality to herself. Mary was at Joe's grave. There was no where else that she could be.
My god, she said to herself. She imagined her poor sister on her knees and sobbing over Joe's grave. Even in death, Joe knew how to get under people's skin.
But, something about the possibility of Mary knowi
ng where Joe was worried kept bothering her. How did her sister know where Joe was buried. She never mentioned a word to Mary. There was no reason why Mary should know he was buried in Calvary.
For a little while, Amy and the boy could barely see two feet in front of them. After a few steps, the air began to clear up and the fog dissipated.
Then, Solomon noticed something moving up ahead. As the purple sky receded and the golden light of the sun came in sideways for a final time. The boy recognized who it was that was out there in middle of a field of tombstones and an ancient trees.
There was someone standing across a field of tombstones.
It was the woman in black who he had met earlier. She was calling to Amy and the boy. She called the boy's name and he looked at her standing against the setting sun.
With wide arc of her arm, she called the boy over.
Amy remembered that Joe's grave was by the eastern wall of the cemetery. However, the woman in black stood in the western half of the cemetery.
The boy looked up at Amy, "She could have found mom."
"Then, we should go see what she found." Amy looked down at the boy, "Are you sure, you want to go?"
"Yes. She found something. I'm sure of it. She's looking for Joe too."
Amy thought about how strange that comment sounded, coming from the boy. Why would she be looking for Joe, too? He's dead.
Amy could no longer be distracted by questions that flooded her mind. So, they went forth. They marched through the row of tombstones and the evening was starting to come to an end.
Amy and the boy started to walk quickly toward the woman in black.
Along the way, Solomon noticed another figure in black walking with them. The shadow was far and kept the same distance from them the whole time. Finally, they arrived at the place where the woman called to them. But, she was no where to be found.
They came to the end of a row of tombstones and it led them to a tree where there was much over growth in this part of the cemetery. It was as if the caretaker cared nothing about what was around this area.
"She gotta be around here, somewhere." said Amy.
They both looked around for the woman in black and found nothing.
Then, Amy heard a woman's voice, no higher than a whisper. Amy and the boy stopped in there tracks to listen.
"Hey. I'm over here."
The voice came from within the overgrowth.
Amy pulled aside some branches and took a good look inside. As the boy looked at the dying red sun, Amy saw the woman in black standing inside.
"Come in, it's fine. We won't hurt you. Were just waiting for him."
"Mom," the boy yelled inside.
Amy tried to hold him back. "No. Stay with me."
But, the boy ran inside to look for his mother and Amy went after him. She stuck her legs through the leaves and branches and it felt like she was scared of where here feet would land. She made her way through a heavy shadow and stepped into an entirely different place. For a moment, it felt like she passed through a cave made of leaves and branches. She pushed the branches aside and saw a couple woman and the boy huddle around something, up ahead. There were two woman and a boy looking at something on the ground.
"Mary?" She yelled after her sister.
The women in black heard her and the stepped aside to reveal what they were standing around. Amy's eyes widen when she looked at the ground. She expected to find her sister in the ground. Instead she found a whole in the ground that looked more like an open grave.
"Jesus. What are you people doing here."
The women in black said nothing. They only laughed a little.
"Aunt Aubbie?"
"What?"
"She's here."
"What?"
"Down there."
Amy's eyes widened as she approached the grave. It looked like someone had dug themselves out of it. In a panic, she lost her balance, stepped back and fell to the ground. The boy ran to the edge.
Behind her, she heard the sound of the women's footsteps walking over dry leaves. The air felt colder. There was fear running through her body. She looked at two woman approach her from the shadows of the cave.
"We are all waiting for him."
Amy approached the grave and slowly looked inside. The hole was deep. Inside she saw Mary laying down on the dirt.
Amy looked into the pit. "Jesus. What are you doing?"
Mary said nothing. Her sister looked confused, even lost. Mary was as thin as a rail. She looked horrible, almost on the edge of madness.
Twenty-Seven
Inside The Cold Earth
When Amy crawled into the unearthed grave, black soil fell inside her shirt, making her whole body shiver. The air inside the earth felt cold as if she submerged herself in a pool of water. Making her way down, she planted her feet on the uneven ground and among the broken pieces of wood.
Quickly, she kneeled over her sister's body, looking for a sign of life, checking to see that she was still breathing. She placed her ear over her mouth and nose, hoping to feel her breath. But, everything felt cold and numb.
What about her pulse?
Amy unbuttoned and pulled back her sister's sleeve. Her arm felt cold and her skin looked as pale as milk. The whole time, Mary didn't move an inch. She just laid on her back with her hair spreading in all directions.
"Everything's going to be okay, Mary. We just got to get you out of here. That's all. We just have to get you out."
Amy heard nothing back from her. She wondered if Mary accidentally fell inside the grave. It was possible. Then again, someone could have pushed and she could have lost consciousness when she hit the ground. That was possible, too.
Regardless, it was too dark to see if her sister's chest was expanding and contracting with life. So, she decided to press her two fingers on the crease of Mary's wrist. It took a second, but she was able to find her pulse. It pulsed slowly, but she found it.
Thank god.
Even though Amy was relieved, she still felt pity her sister who was in a bad place, mentally and physically. Amy felt partly guilty for letting her sister spin out of control. She knew that Mary had never gotten over Joe's death. But, it was hard seeing her like that, lying there in the dirt like some corpse thrown in a ditch. There was no reason for this to happen to her. None at all.
Mary was always a good person who had done nothing to deserve this. But, there was a possibility that she could have done this to herself, which was the simplest explanation of all. Even though her sister was unconscious, Amy couldn't help but ask.
"Why would you do this Mary. Why. Don't you care about your boy. Can't you live for him."
Amy rubbed Mary's forehead and felt terrible over everything. Then, she combed the dirt out of her sister's black hair with her fingers, hoping that her sister would wake up soon. So they could climb out of the grave and walk out of Calvary.
"Come on, Mary." Amy prayed. "Get up Mary. Please get up. We have to get out of here."
Amy looked up at the red sky turning purple. She saw the upper half of the boy's face, peering inside the grave, trying to look inside. There was only a glow of indigo blue that illuminated Amy's face.
"Don't worry. She's okay. We'll be up soon."
The sky was darkening and there was not enough time to get home before the night came. She turned to her attention to her sister, again.
"What are you doing down here, Mary. Get up. Please. Your son needs you. Wake up."
Amy heard something faint. She heard Mary grasping at the dirt and her face emerged from the darkness. Her voice was weak, but there.
"Baby?" Mary rolled over on her side.
"Thank god. Come on Mary. You can do it. Get up. I need you to get up."
Mary felt groggy. Dirt fell from her face and clothes, as she moved around.
"There you go, Mary."
Mary opened her eyes.
"Is he here?"
"He's up there. Yes. Now let's get you out of here."
/> Amy placed her arm around Mary and help her sit up. She held her carefully, trying to comfort her, as best as she could. Mary sat up and looked at her sister and then at the darkening sky. Amy looked too.
"Okay girl. Come on. Let's go."
Both sisters got off the ground, each helping the other, find their balance.
"Are you sure he's up there?"
"Yes. Let's go."
Amy was about to climb out of the grave, when Mary grabbed her by the arm.
"Come on we're almost out of here."
Mary looked at her with sad eyes, as if she wanted to say something.
Amy turned around and gave Mary her full attention, waiting for her to say something.
"It's okay, Mary. You can tell me. What do you want to say. You can tell me."
"Is my baby here with you? Is he okay."
Amy held her face and smiled. It was the first time, she ever mentioned the boy.
"Yes. He's waiting up there for you. He needs you."
Then, Mary looked at the sky and at her sister again.
"Are you sure. Is Joe waiting up there for me? Is he really up there? All this time, I was waiting down here for him."
"What are you talking about, Mary. Please, focus. We are almost out of here. Your son needs you, right now."
Amy turned around to climb out.
"But, Joe needs me."
A cold chill ran over Amy's neck. She looked at the edge of the grave and no longer saw the boy looking at them. She wondered if the boy was still there, waiting for them among the tombstones. Someone could have snatched him away, while she was in the grave and the boy was alone.
"What are you talking about? Joe's dead for god sake. He's been dead for a year."
"You. don't know that. No one does."
"I'm Sorry for this."
"For what."
Finally Amy slapped her, "snap out of it. Don't you love your son? He needs you. How many times do I have to tell you? Solomon needs you."
The name shook Mary to the bone. She brought her dirty hands to her mouth and repeated her son's name.
"Solomon...my god...the boy."
The Dead Never Die Page 13