Chapter 6
At noon, I laid a blanket and pillows on the floor in the middle of the living room. As the bright midday sun shone through the bay window and a fire crackled in the hearth at our backs, we sat cross-legged eating take-out pizza with our fingers. Benjamin advised pizza was meant to be eaten this way. I tended to agree. It had never tasted so good.
My talk with Katie went well. It grieved me that she made it necessary, but she pushed me too far. I made her understand I would not tolerate her insolent behavior any longer. Time would tell whether she decided to accept the reality of our situation or not. I ached to take her in my arms and promise her nothing would ever hurt her again, but it would have been a mistake to do so.
I regretted not asking her what she meant when she said she wouldn’t be here long enough to get to know the neighbors. I didn’t need it spelled out for me, but it was something we should have talked about.
Her first order of business was to apologize to Leroy. She came from the Augusts chattering and bubbling with excitement. Apparently, Leroy’s wife, Clara, charmed her no end.
Through God’s will, my children had been deprived of the love of their grandparents. I hoped Leroy and Clara might be willing stand-ins. Imagine that. Yesterday, I was ready to lay down the law to Leroy and now I wanted him a part of my children’s lives, a part of all our lives.
“Okay, who wants rum cake?” I asked.
“I do. I do.”
Of course, my son, a slave to his sweet tooth, would. One thing he inherited from me.
“How about you Katie?” Her smile brought me hope. Maybe things would be all right between us, after all.
I cut three slices, and we sat back, ate cake, and sipped bottled water. I was physically and mentally exhausted, but at that moment, life had never been so good. I marveled at what we accomplished that morning. The cabinets, walls and windows in the kitchen had all been cleaned.
Between the three of us we managed to remove every bit of the old linoleum flooring and the glue left behind. The hardwood floor beneath was discolored in places, but other than that, it resembled the floors in the remainder of the house. I imagined them sanded and varathaned with a high gloss and smiled.
“So, what’s on the agenda for this afternoon, Mom?” Benjamin asked.
Truthfully, all I wanted right then was a nap followed by bed rest for the remainder of the day. “I don’t know. What do you think we should tackle next?” I watched as he squeezed his eyebrows together and his face grew solemn and smiled when he put his forefinger to his chin and tapped.
“What about this room? We can tear down that old wallpaper and scrub the floor.”
I wondered if I possessed the stamina to keep up with his energy and enthusiasm.
“Sounds like a plan. Katie, what do you think, honey?”
She yanked one leg out from under her. I knew by the slant of her eyes she was about to make a saucy retort. I gave her a look, a look that would tell her, “Watch it, young lady.”
Quickly understanding, she smiled and said, “Whatever you want to do is fine by me.”
“Okay, it’s settled then. But we stop at three. Deal?” It would be a mistake to push them too hard or too far, and if Katie realized I tired liked anyone else, maybe she’d view me as human, rather than a monster, as she sometimes thought of me.
“Deal.”
“Deal.”
We slapped palms.
When three o’clock rolled around, though our derrières hanged to our thighs and our feet dragged the floor as we turned in circles admiring our accomplishment, we finished what we'd intended. It proved a little difficult to work around the furniture and the boxes stacked on any available floor space, but we managed.
The first six layers of wallpaper peeled off easily enough. It was only the last layer that gave us trouble. But with a little steam, some hot water, a scraper and lots of elbow grease, we eventually removed the final layer. It pleased me greatly to see peeling plaster on the walls.
The floor, now that the buildup of dirt had been scrubbed with steel wool and washed, didn’t look half bad.
The three of us stood beside each other with our hands on our hips and surveyed the room.
“Great job, guys. I don’t know what I’d do without your help.”
“Aw, shucks, Ma’am. T’was nothing.”
I suspected Benjamin’s colloquialisms came from Leroy. If that were the worst he said in his life, then praise the Lord.
Benjamin reminded me of my promise to check out the attic. “You said you would, Mom.”
A bubble bath beckoned me. I virtually smelled the scent of jasmine, but I wouldn’t go back on my word.
Strangely enough, Katie decided to join us.
With me leading the way, we climbed the staircase to the attic. Three steps from the top, we heard a sound, like a falsetto mewl. Every nerve in my body responded by freezing me in place. Small hands clutched my jean-clad legs from the back.
“Is it . . . is it a ghost?”
Obviously, the idea of a ghost intrigued Benjamin more than the actuality. “Don’t be silly. There’s no such thing as ghosts, remember?” My voice sounded more certain than I felt.
“Now what?” Katie, at the end of the line, asked.
“Now what what?” I needed time to think, time to plan, time to map out our escape route, time —
“Now what are you going to do?”
Good question. We couldn’t stand in the staircase forever. Nor could we retreat, close the door and pretend we hadn’t heard anything. “You kids go back downstairs while I find out what made that sound.”
“No, Mom, don’t. You might get hurt.” Benjamin's arms encircled my legs.
Something natural made that noise, right? The doors and windows were locked.
“Nothing’s going to happen to me.” I hugged him close and waited for some reaction from my daughter.
She stood with her hip thrust to one side and her arms folded across her chest. “So, are you going to run away like a frightened rabbit or are you going up?”
Ah, yes. Katie wanted to see if I had the backbone I told her was a prerequisite for the course of life. No doubt she would take great pleasure in seeing me turn into a quivering mass of helplessness.
The whimpering started again, causing all three of us to look at each other. I was second-guessing my bravery. I didn't know what was running through Katie and Benjamin's minds.
While I still had an ounce or so of courage, I said, “Katie, run down to the kitchen and get the broom. We might have mice.” We didn’t have mice — I already checked — but if something up there frightened me, there was no way my daughter would ever learn I could run like an Olympian.
We all inhaled sharply when another round of whimpering filled the room above our heads. The sound rose in pitch, then fell.
In the lull that followed, Katie took off down the stairs, I hoped, in search of my broom.
The whimpering ended in a high-pitched shriek and silence descended upon us.
If ghosts did exist, they would rattle chains and only show themselves at night, wouldn't they? I reconsidered my decision to investigate. There would be more light earlier in the day tomorrow. No, I had to do this. For many reasons.
The attic remained silent. I moved up a step with Benjamin attached to the back of my leg. Then another. I stopped on the last step, hesitated a moment, then set one foot ahead of the other, dragging Benjamin with me. Safely on the floor, I looked from one side of the attic to the other. Nothing looked amiss. Boxes were piled everywhere and the smell of mildew filled the air.
The roof sloped gradually to the floor at the edges and the area in the middle was high enough for a tall person to stand upright.
I poised myself, ready for flight, my arms bent at my sides. “The police are on their way,” I said to the dark corners. Had someone ... or something jumped out at me, I would have sprouted wings
. But nothing happened. No whimpering, no movement. Nothing of anything.
“Mom?”
With my concentration focused on what I might find, I'd forgotten about Benjamin behind me and almost jumped out of my shoes at the sound of his voice. My hand found my pounding heart. “Yes, honey.”
“Are you scared?”
“With you watching my back? No way.”
We inched toward the middle of the room.
“Mom?”
“Everything’s fine,” I whispered, looking around. “This is one very messy attic.” The movers had piled boxes everywhere.
Suddenly, something flew through the air above our heads. I shrieked. The phantom shrieked and disappeared in a corner to our left. Benjamin cried out and hugged my legs even tighter. My heart beat so fast I thought it might burst through my ribcage. “Bat,” I screamed.
Benjamin cut me loose. I turned and followed, the toes of my Nikes biting the heels of his Spiderman running shoes. “Bat. There’s a bat up here. That’s the noise we heard. Just a friggin’ bat.” Not a ghost ... not a ghost. Hallelujah.
We burst through the doorway at the bottom of the stairs and ran into Katie, bowling her over and pitching the broom she held in her hands down the main staircase.
Benjamin was the first on his feet, Katie next. I sat up, but didn’t stand.
“Mom, are you sure it's a bat?” Ben asked, sounding excited.
I nodded.
“Cool.”
“And why didn’t you know that, Mom?” Katie asked.
My daughter thought I should know everything. What gave her that impression?
“If there’s one, chances are there’s more.” Benjamin danced from foot to foot.
Relieved a ghost hadn’t made those noises, I shared his excitement, but only until I realized he might be right. “There could be more.” How would I get rid of it . . . them? Bat exterminators? Was there such a thing?
Benjamin ran toward the stairs. I intercepted him. “Stay down here. You can get diseases from bats and if they get caught in your hair, you’ll have to shave your head.” I didn’t know if that were true or not, but I hated the thought of all those wonderful curls being cut off.
“Yeah, I heard that before.”
“You did?” I wondered who told him that.
“Uh-huh.”
Katie made a move for the stairs.
I jumped up and barred my daughter’s way.
“It’s just a little bat, Mom. What are you afraid of?”
“Not so little.” In fact, what flew over my head was monstrous. “Why don’t we leave it be? It’s not doing any harm.”
“It’s probably trapped. If we don’t give it a way out, it’ll cry all night and we won’t get any sleep.”
That held about as much appeal for me as going up into that attic again. Since it found its way in, it would find its way out, wouldn’t it? No, maybe not. “Just stay behind me, okay?” Two nods. I raced to pick up the broom.
The flight up the stairs took less time than the previous one. With my children in tow, I opened the window and tiptoed in the direction where the bat had taken shelter.
“Mom, if we catch it, can I put it in a cage in my room? I’d like to study it.”
Benjamin, I noticed, had changed his strategy to get me to change my mind about keeping wild life in the house. “I don’t think so.”
“Awww, Mom.” He slapped the air. “Bummer.”
“Good try, though.”
“It wasn’t a good idea to open the window so wide, Mom,” Katie said. “Now something else can get in.” She crossed her arms against her chest and tapped her foot against the floor.
She couldn’t resist pointing out my lack of foresight. “How else are we going to get rid of it, or do you want to hope it’ll find its own way out?” I suspected the window had been open all along and one of the movers closed it, thinking he was doing right.
Benjamin peeked around my legs. “We can catch it.”
My son was persistent, I gave him that. “Hopefully, Katie, nothing else it’ll get in. It’ll just be for a little while. How hard can it be to scare a bat out a window?”
She shrugged. “You’re the boss.”
“Ha. Ha.” Only when it served convenience.
“Mom.” Benjamin sprinted to a corner before I could stop him. “Look what I found.” He ran back to me and handed me his find. “Here. Put this on. It’ll protect your hair.”
With the broom held securely between my legs, I turned the lampshade around in my hands. What could I do? What could I say? Another mother might say no. “Thank you, honey. That’s so thoughtful of you.” I plopped the helmet on my head, brushed the cobwebs from my face and took hold of the broom, sweeping it from one side to the other to keep the bat at bay as we trudged toward the back wall of the attic.
“Mom, look,” Benjamin yelled and pointed.
I saw it, too. My skin chilled in response. “Hit the floor, kids.” Thud. Thud. I squatted just as a streak of black buzzed the top of the lampshade. I turned in time to see the bat fly through the open window. An inhaled breath rushed from my mouth. “It’s gone. Flew the coop.” Yay.
Benjamin and Katie raised their heads.
I straightened and soon realized I misjudged the height of the room. Maybe the lampshade had something to with it. “Ouch.” I removed the shade and massaged my head.
“That must have hurt,” Katie said, smiling.
My daughter took great pleasure in my pain. Maybe everything wasn’t all right between us. I stared past her and noticed something shiny wedged in the rafters. I reached up and took it in my hand. “Look at this, guys.”
Benjamin joined me. “What is it?”
“I don’t know.” I walked toward the window. My children followed. “It’s a box. It looks like a metal pencil box.”
“Cool. Open it.” My son sounded fascinated. My daughter yawned.
I opened the box and, other than a red silk lining, found it empty.
“That’s strange.” Benjamin said over my shoulder.
I agreed. Something about that box disturbed me. I shoved it far against the wall and followed the children down the stairs. “Well, let’s get ready. I want to get to the hardware store before we have dinner at Mama Jo’s.”
Restless Souls Page 8