Abigail

by Gloria Kitchens

  Abby looked on from afar for a few minutes before working up the courage to actually knock on the door. She kept a couple of the questions Deely had asked earlier, in the back of her mind, so she could at least expect a little of the conversation. Finally, she walked up the path to the door, letting her heels click against the fine wood porch and she rang the doorbell which sounded like a bunch of finely harmonized wind chimes. After only a second, the door swung open to reveal the old lady from before in an apron with flour covering her hands.

  Abby felt like she towered over the woman, standing a full head and a half above her. It seemed like the lady had to strain her neck to look Abigail directly in the eyes.

  “Can I help you?” the old lady asked sweetly but also cautiously given the odd hour Abby had arrived.

  “I’m looking for a date.” The old lady simply stared blankly at her as if she had no idea what Abigail was even talking about. She looked so blankly that Abigail felt that she could’ve made a mistake by coming here. Maybe she really wasn’t involved in such a dark business. But then she thought about the fact that Deely knew her. And quickly became more confident in her statement.

  “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  “No, I don’t. I’d really like for you to leave now.” The old lady tried to close the door, but Abigail was 100% sure of what was going on in this house and she wasn’t going to be pushed away like that. She swung her arm out, stopping the lady from closing the door.

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about.” Abby thought about Deely’s question. How would you explain how you even knew where to find the house? “Your place wasn’t hard to find. A few searches on the Internet, I was able to get your address. You know who I’m here for.” She used her other hand to pull out the money from her bra, waving the 100s in the old woman’s face.

  Finally, a spark seemed to awaken in the woman’s eyes. And she didn’t say anything for a moment. She just glared up toward Abigail.

  “The normal price is $500 for the night, but since you showed up unannounced, the price is $700. You pay half now and the other half when she gets back,” the woman said annoyed.

  “How about we round it up to a nice and even $800. I don’t carry any 50s with me.”

  “Fine. You’re not coming inside though. Stand here while I go get her.”

  Abigail nodded and the door slammed in her face. She nearly wanted to collapse at how well she was able to pull that off. She counted through the money Charlie had given her, $400. Thankfully, that lady wasn’t ever going to see the other half of that $800.

  After more than a while of waiting, the door finally opened again, this time a small girl who couldn’t have been much older than Meri stepped out. Abby would’ve reacted to the girl’s age, but she couldn’t risk breaking character, not when she was nearly done.

  “Here.” Abby held the money out and the old lady snatched it out of her hands and slammed the door on both of them.

  “Come on,” Abby handed the child her hand and ushered her forward, finally glad to be on her way back to the restaurant.

  Chapter 10

  By the time that Abby had gotten the girl back from Section One, she only had one thing on her mind. She finally knew exactly what she was made to do. Though thinking back to the old lady, Abby may not have been the best when dealing with her, but she knew she could always get better. They walked into Ol’ Mike’s, and Deely was already at the front of the restaurant somehow finding out what she did. Deely looked as if he was going to yell at her until he saw the young girl trailing behind her. Abby could see the disbelief and relief pour from his gaze, but she wasn’t yet sure whether to be offended by his lack of faith in her.

  “Have you explained anything yet?”

  “I let her know that she’s safe now.” Abby looked down reassuringly at the young girl hoping that her own faith in Deely could be instilled into the girl.

  Deely bent down so that he was eye level with the girl. “What’s your name?” he said gently.

  “Mia.”

  “What a beautiful name. My name is Deely. But my friends usually call me, Tom.”

  “And what friends do you speak of, sir?” Charlie interjected from the background, the outburst making Mia laugh and causing her to finally relax her bunched up shoulders.

  “He,” Deely made a point of sounding intensely annoyed, “would not be one of them.”

  “That really hurts, sir. It really does.” Charlie went on to whatever he did behind the counter.

  “Follow me.” Deely didn’t make an attempt to grab Mia’s hand, instead wanting her to make the decision for herself. Probably the first of many that she’d be able to make on her own. They walked toward Deely’s study out of sight of Abigail who continued standing at the front door, entertaining her own thoughts.

  “Would you like something to eat, Miss?” It’d gotten so quiet without Mia and Deely in the room that she had forgotten Charlie was even there.

  “Uh...yeah.” She sat down at the bar. “The usual.”

  “Of course.”

  Charlie prepared a glass of water for her and threw in four ice cubes exactly, which she noticed he did almost habitually and left to make her a hefty cheeseburger with an extra side of fries. She got addicted to greasy foods immediately, to the point where Deely told Charlie to only make her one meal like that a day. And she looked forward to it every single day.

  Abigail sat there watching the ice cubes melt. She finally figured out that the only thing she was truly good at was being somebody else. That’s all she’s ever been able to survive on since she was little. She knew how to be the perfect, behaving girl that stayed out of trouble. She knew how to be the girl that kept men’s hands off her. She knew how to be the girl that got what she wanted from men at least sometimes.

  The door to Deely’s study opened. It seemed like it had only been a few minutes since they had even entered. When she looked down in front of her, she noticed that her burger and fries were there now lukewarm from her distracted daze. Charlie, it seemed, had not even made a move to snap her out of it.

  When Deely was the only one to come back to the front of the restaurant, Abby shot him a confused look.

  “Where’s Mia?”

  “She’s sleeping in the study. Meri will have her all set up to leave tomorrow.”

  A sense of optimism and relief flew through Abby’s body. She finally did something that helped someone else. And that’s all she needed to feel confident in telling Deely how she could help him.

  “I think I know how we can get closer to Patel,” she blurted out.

  “Really?”

  “Well, you kind of already said it yourself,” she said hoping that he’d remember when she first saw the sad man. When Deely didn’t make a show of any remembrance of what he said she continued. “I could seduce him. I don’t mean like pick him up as an absolute stranger. I mean he could buy me for a night, and we get his info right then and there.”

  Abby felt like she was holding her breath for an eternity waiting for a response.

  Letting out a long breath, Deely simply said, “No.”

  “No? What do you mean no? That’s better than anything we’ve got right now. You barely have a plan right now!”

  “The answer’s still no.” Deely started to gain a sternness in his voice.

  “You told me to find something I’m good at. And I’m good at being a whore!” Deely winced but Abby kept going. “I know how to get men to give me what I want. Especially slimy ones like Patel–”

  “That’s a stupid idea.”

  And that’s where the conversation seemed to end. Abigail, while stubborn, couldn’t seem to grasp how adamant Deely was in his decision. He clearly moved on from the topic by sitting down and waving his hand up signaling to Charlie that he wanted a dr
ink. This meant the end of most conversations and this time instead of just brushing it off, it only made her angry. Abigail pushed her meal away without having taken a single bite of it and brushed passed Deely in frustration. She didn’t care about who or what she ran into. She went all the way to Meri’s room and slammed the door behind her, leaving Deely and Charlie to tend to themselves.

  Chapter 11

  Charlie grabbed a glass from under the counter and began pouring Deely a beer, letting the foam rise and die down before he continued filling.

  “I think you handled that swimmingly, sir,” Charlie said, still working on filling the cup all the way.

  Deely didn’t respond.

  “Also, I thought that you might want to know that a few undesirables came by earlier today while you were out.” Deely suddenly listened to what Charlie was saying. He knew it had to be important if Charlie was telling him about it.

  “Who was it?”

  Passing the beer off to Deely, he pulled up the security video from the parking lot. He pulled it up on the counter next to Deely showing two blurry figures adorning dark sweatshirts, one wearing a dark green one with a puffy orange vest, the other simply wearing a black one. Deely couldn’t make out the faces but he could make out the matching patch on the side of each of their arms as they opened the door to the restaurant. The patch resembled a spider that was discernible even from the grainy surveillance video. Deely let out a breath of frustration still not having taken a sip of his drink.

  “What did they want?”

  “They didn’t ask for much besides a few drinks. They appeared to be looking for something or someone.” Deely continued to sit quietly taking in the information. “I have a feeling they might be around again pretty soon.”

  “Mhm.” Deely sounded in agreement getting up, leaving his full glass on the counter and starting toward the hall.

  “Oh, heavens. I almost forgot. Meri wanted to see you; she says it’s urgent.”

  Deely grimaced still not used to being at the beck and call of a 12-year old.

  “Where is she?”

  “Where she always is, sir,” he ended, going back to cleaning, adding Deely’s wasted glass to the pile of dishes to be washed. “I guess we’re all in the mood of wasting food and drink today, huh, sir?”

  Deely again headed toward the hallway but instead of going to his own bedroom as he planned to do, he walked right past it and continued on passing Meri’s bedroom where Abigail had closed herself inside and then to the right of his own bedroom he opened the door next to it, a faint fog encircling him as he entered. The room was dark, like it had always been and it annoyed Deely every time he entered it. Though he did understand that Meri didn’t necessarily need the light. She couldn’t make much use of it.

  Suddenly a short flame sprouted in the middle of the pitch-black room and slowly the flame appeared to float up and down, birthing new flames right next to each other until the lights illuminated the tiny guiding hand that wielded the original candle. Meri sat with her legs crossed behind the wall of candles she lit, her face illuminated by the orange glow and her pale blue eyes looking in Deely’s direction.

  “You seem tense.”

  “What do you want, Meri?” Deely was already bothered knowing Meri’s tendencies not to immediately say what’s on her mind. Still not yet answering, Meri fixated her hands on the positioning of the candles in front of her. Waving her hand over the flames, making them dance with every pass. Deely could never understand how such an impaired child could be so fearless, and he’d always found it unnerving yet admirable. She finally grabbed the necklace fastened around her neck. The planets of the solar system all glistening in the warm light.

  “The universe doesn’t lie, Tommy. You should know that better than anyone.”

  “And what did it tell you today?” he derided moving around the room, tired of standing in one place for too long. He mindlessly looked at the deities that covered one of the walls. Nine in total covering it, eight representing the eight planets all situated with one large figure more supremely abstract from its neighbors almost resembling a blob of stars and cosmic dust. Someone really thought a blob was the best way to capture the universe’s essence. Maybe if the universe was a little prettier, it’d be easier to believe in, Deely thought.

  “It told me that Abigail’s presence is dangerous.” She stopped for a second, calculating more than someone her age should before she continued her thought. “But we need her. She’s right, you know. We don’t have jack shit of a plan, if we can’t even get into the building.”

  Deely rolled his eyes, hating that the universe would always whisper to Meri. Telling her things far beyond what Deely ever wanted her to know. But it was never up to him what she knew. She always seemed to know it all. Deely continued his stroll around the room wanting to answer as emotionlessly as possible. “She’d be way too exposed. You know the rules. We never go behind closed doors especially since no one would be able to help her if things go wrong.”

  “Only rules you put in place after she died.” Deely stopped. The “she” Meri referred to was his mom. Meri wouldn’t bring her up for no reason, knowing how much it hurt Deely to think about her. Meri clearly had her reasons and Deely was quickly learning to simply accept them no matter the cost. One long inhale and exhale later, Deely came to terms with this new precarious addition to his even bigger scheme.

  “Just give me some time to think.” He concluded the conversation by walking past Meri who still sat in one place on the floor serene in her own omniscience and closed the door gently on his way out. He took no time making his way to his bedroom finally secluding himself.

  Chapter 12

  The darkness of the night surrounded Abby from head to toe. It felt as if it clothed her limbs like she could’ve been naked under it and no one would’ve noticed. In the middle of a quiet street, orange lights lit up the path in front of her, guiding her to an old ruddy house that looked very out of place yet unassuming amongst the downtown streetlights. Abigail walked toward the house realizing how familiar she was with it. Like she knew the place but had also never seen it before in her whole life. As she was walking forward, she felt that her feet were bare against the black concrete, yet, the harsh rubble felt unexpectedly good under her feet.

  Each time Abby felt like she was getting closer to the house, almost catching glimpses of more detail only seeming to make out the mahogany finish of the front porch, the house would seem to be farther away. She wanted so badly to go in, to see what was inside. She began stepping faster and faster. That stepping eventually turning into a wobbly jog, and then a heavy-footed sprint. She was able to get closer and closer and still the house remained out of reach and abruptly the door of the house cracked open.

  A deep crack slithered through, revealing nothing of what resided inside. A face crept out of it and recognition swept over the girl, stopping her in her tracks. It was Mother. However, much more hideous than she’d ever seen her. Her eyes were carved out leaving nothing but eviscerated holes that seemed to never end. Blood flowed steadily out of them, thick and heavy on her cheekbones. Her mouth hung open displaying jagged, rotten teeth. She let the blood flow back into her mouth and it traveled back out through her eye sockets, like a fountain.

  At the very bottom of the cracked open door, below Mother, the head of a wide-eyed girl peeked out through the bottom.

  “Kat?” Abigail questioned. She’d recognize those wide brown eyes anywhere, but the rest of the girl’s face was unrecognizable. Her eyebrows were shaved, and diagonal slash marks rested in their place acting as her eyebrows. A large burn scar covered half of her nose and her entire cheek all the way down to the right corner of her mouth. Remembering Kat’s small button nose and seeing what had become of it turned Abby’s stomach.

  Just when Abigail thought of turning away, she felt a cold metal press against her back right below her ribs and th
en it exploded, waking her up with a start.

  Her forehead was covered in sweat which left a faint mark on her pillowcase as she sat up and tried to gather her breathing. She lifted her shirt, feeling where she had exploded just a second ago but there was nothing, just skin where it was supposed to be. Abigail looked back to find Meri sound asleep next to her somehow unbothered by all her movement. She couldn’t remember exactly when she even went to sleep, she was still wearing the same clothes she’d worn when she’d gone out. Meri must’ve tucked her in. Once her breathing calmed, Abigail could hear talking. It sounded like a woman but not one that she’d met before. She got out of bed hoping to find out who else was here. It didn’t take more than two steps out of Meri’s bedroom to distinguish what the disembodied voice was saying.

  “… really rather foolish of me. I should’ve known that you’d grow out of those tiny little trousers. You’re gonna grow up just like your father. Hopefully not as much of an asshole as your father,” a short pause followed, and the woman continued with a short nervous laugh. “See what I’ve done now. I’ve rambled and it’s your own fault at this point if you haven’t turned this off by now.”

  Abigail continued walking down the hallway, finding the source of the voice in the room across from Deely’s study, to which the door was left slightly ajar. “I can’t even remember what I really even wanted to say to you, Tommy. Nothin’ you don’t already know. Even when you were a baby it felt like you had already figured out how much I loved you.”

  Abby could see a mini see-through woman projected in pulsating lights in front of Deely. Her brunette hair and clear blue eyes matching Deely’s and her voice so celestial and careful even as she stumbled and rambled on. The cold light of the projection lighting Deely’s own eyes revealed a moisture that Abigail hadn’t seen under his eyes.