Crossroads

by Alexie Aaron [Aaron, Alexie]

  “I’m taking you back with me,” Mia said. “I’m sure Gerald will be happy to see how you’ve aged.”

  “You said Guillaume is there? How is that possible?”

  “Let’s see… Baxter, husband number six, told me something about a darn butterfly in South America. Evidently, you must have sat on it with your big butt. Anyway, everything has changed. Cahokia never fell. He-who-walks-through-time has a tribe of superhumans. He and I are constantly fighting each other. There are very few beings who don’t fly. But pollution is nil.”

  “What about Ted?”

  “Ted?” Mia asked. “Who’s Ted?”

  “Your husband and father to your…”

  Mia looked at the self-satisfied look on Bev’s face. “At least I got some of my own back,” Bev said.

  “Come with me, Bev. If you don’t, you’re going to have quite a hot foot. The old dormant volcano is going to wipe this place from the face of the earth.”

  This alarmed the chief. “What volcano?”

  “She didn’t tell you about this?” Mia asked. “What kind of a witch is she?”

  Murphy hit the gong again. Mia watched Bev. She was as surprised as the others. She couldn’t see Murphy. She had no powers. This was a game changer.

  “The bat god says it’s time for us to go. Either go with these people to the mountains of Peru or come with me. I could use another scullery maid.”

  “I’m staying.”

  “I need this then,” Mia said, picking up the Oaxaca portal stone. “I can’t have you sneaking in and taking another of my husbands.”

  The portal shimmered. Ed must be opening it on the other side. Murphy hitched a ride with Mike. Mike walked through, carrying the gold necklaces. Mia stopped, turned around at the entrance, and looked at the chief. “I don’t mean to tell you anything you don’t already know, but I heard if you toss a witch in a volcano, it stops it from erupting.”

  “I knew that,” the chief lied.

  “Mia, I’m going with you,” Bev said. “Wait, I have to get my things,” she said and ran out of the room.

  Mia walked through the portal and didn’t look back. On the other side, she handed the stone to Ed who crushed it with his hands. He did the same for the portal stone that Gerald surrendered.

  “How was she?” Gerald asked.

  “Evil.”

  “Did you kill her?” he asked.

  “No. Beverly is powerless, with only her memory to guide her through life. I don’t remember her as much of a history buff. The woman I met was fourteen years older, and I fear there are only so many lives that cat has left.”

  Charles walked by and noticed an unfamiliar book on his bookshelf. He stopped and opened it up. “I don’t remember Olaf Frans writing this book. He’s an expert on pre-Columbian societies.” Charles flipped through the pages and grinned. “Who does that look like to you?” he asked Mia.

  The photo was of a mummified woman, they found frozen in a glacier in the mountains of Peru. The woman had white hair, strangely manicured nails, and no tongue.

  Mia handed the book to Mike. “Feel better now?”

  “Am I really husband number eight?” Mike asked. “Come on, Cooper, I have skills…”

  Ted scratched his head. Murphy appeared and patted Ted on the back. “Mia sure knows how to spin a yarn. She told Beverly and the chief of the Zapotecs an entertaining pack of lies.”

  Mike set the gold chains down. “I take it that was just for Bev’s benefit.”

  “Yup. I don’t know how much things have changed after I stopped the Zapotecs from becoming a world power, but I don’t think I can have eight husbands.”

  “Pumpkin, what are you talking about?” Ted asked.

  Murphy took pleasure in telling everyone about their little adventure and how he helped by striking the gongs with his axe.

  Baxter looked over at Mia and held up six fingers in disgust.

  Mia just hunched her shoulders.

  “I’m concerned that you couldn’t work your own husband into the narrative,” Ted said disappointed.

  “There was no way I could include you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Bev would never believe that I would have any other man in my life if I had you.”

  ~

  Mia sat down next to Gerald in Amanda’s old office while Enos stood guard outside the room. The stale cigarette smell reminded both of them of the obsessed woman.

  “I won’t insult you and guess at your motivations regarding Beverly. You’re a very complex creature who has hidden yourself from everyone, including Bev. I’m sorry my penchant for fallen eyes outed you.”

  “I won’t lie to you and tell you that I didn’t find your immediate warmth for me appealing,” Gerald said. “You’ve changed so much since we first met.”

  “We met here at my parents’ apartment before they converted it,” Mia remembered. “You were arguing with my aunt, who I thought was dead at the time. Now I know she was never my blood aunt and wanted to kill me since birth.”

  “She didn’t always want you dead if you recall.”

  “I wonder if she saved me to use me later…”

  “She did make life interesting.”

  “Would you like Ed to take you back to before Bev met Guillaume?”

  Gerald laughed. “Please no. Can you imagine the havoc that would cause?”

  “Yes, it’s probably a bad idea. Do you want to go back before Bev called the hairdresser and got you guys caught by the Cynosura?”

  “No, Mia, I think I’ve fallen out of love with the woman. Ever since the trial, where she had no other recourse but to speak the truth, my eyes have been opened. Before I met Beverly, my love was wheeling and dealing. Trading favors, nurturing good causes when I felt guilty. Much like your friend Altair, I didn’t wallow in my misfortune but created a fortune. I decided to become a wizard and studied under Quazar. Even he didn’t realize what I was.”

  “But you still have the abilities of a fallen angel. Surely you could tell when you were being played?” Mia questioned.

  “Worker angels have a natural gullibility. We assume when someone prays for something, they are going to do good things with it. It’s how we operated for millennia. When we fell, we started to see humans how the archangels see them, but still, we are gullible when it comes to love.”

  “Love blindness. I can commiserate.”

  “What are you going to do with me?” Gerald asked.

  “Me do with you?” Mia questioned.

  “I’m a threat to your world.”

  “How?”

  “You can’t trust me.”

  “Ah. Because you’re a fallen and you have no honor?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “Look around this world and tell me how many honorable people do you see? Still I have hope. Do you need a loan to start your business again?” Mia asked. She pointed to the eight gold necklaces on Amanda’s desk.

  Gerald was gobsmacked. “Wait, what are you saying? I have to admit to being totally confused.”

  “When we all started this, you made things possible. You knew a guy who knew a guy. Sure, most of those guys are dead, locked up, or broke. But there are other guys and gals who could use a hand and then give a hand. Angelo and Father Santos are having a hard time navigating this world without your greasing the wheels, padding the palms, and other trite sayings that are tripping over themselves as I’m talking.”

  Mia could tell that Gerald was listening.

  “There’s a certain paranormal investigator who could use a grant to further his investigation of ghosts and how they affect us. And a stipend, you know, something he could live on. He’s not going to take any more handouts from me.”

  “You’re talking about Burt Hicks.”

  “Yes.”

  “That gold is only going to go so far, even after I fence it.”

  Mia stood up, opened her wings, dug inside a pocke
t, and pulled out a pouch and handed it to Gerald. “Bernard can handle little things, but these things scare him.”

  Gerald poured out the gems Mia used to buy information from Udo.

  “There’s a crossroads demon named Takemi. I’m pretty sure he’s also a fallen. Anyway, he’s got a lot of gold to launder… I mean invest.”

  “I’ve lost my credibility in this world.”

  “You have to start again. Maybe help Ryan find Quazar, and this time, give him over to the gargoyles. I understand they are pissed at him for ruining their stellar reputation. You made mistakes. You’re at a crossroads. Think it over and get back to me.” Mia got up and left.

  “Mia, you forgot your plunder,” Gerald said, holding a large ruby to the light.

  “I trust you,” Mia said and walked out. “Besides you wouldn’t dare cheat me, because I know a guy who knows a guy…”

  Chapter Forty-six

  Mia arrived with her father at Rosemont Cemetery. The place was busy with hangers on, but the feeling was more pleasant than scary.

  “This is what consecrating a graveyard will give you,” Mia said. “No crossroads demons, no evil entities moving in. Basically, a nice place to plant a relative.”

  “You’re talking about these people like they’re trees,” Charles grumbled.

  “In some places, they bury the loved one in a pod that will nourish a small tree. I’d call that planting. I’m going to have Murphy plant a tree over me.”

  “I heard a rumor that your body will cease to be and eventually be reincarnated because of the amount of birdman in you,” Charles said.

  “At one time that was true. I had to reject my grace to stay on earth. But it has been returned now that I have taken on primal demon genes. I’m a whole new woman.”

  They approached the large edifice. Mia looked up at the name and hid a smile. “Dad, you interred Mother in Marvel’s mausoleum.”

  “Yes. Sam Marvel and I have worked together for many years.”

  “Ted will see Marvel as in Marvel Comics,” Mia said.

  “You and your comic books,” Charles grumbled. “How did you pick up such bad habits? I made sure you had all the Greek and Latin texts a girl could want.”

  This caused Mia to laugh.

  Charles gripped Mia’s arm as the attendant approached and opened the mausoleum for them. “She’s here in the unlabeled vault,” the dour man said before he left them.

  “We could move her to the hollow or take her to her family plot in France,” Mia said. “Anything is better than being the unknown occupant.”

  “I’ll know when to move her,” Charles insisted.

  “I’m sorry, Daddy,” Mia said.

  There was a small bench inside the building. Charles sat down and watched as Mia read all the other engraved plates. He could tell she was nervous. She turned to her father and said, “Her body may be here, but she’s not.”

  “I got the same feeling,” he admitted.

  “Maybe in the museum?” Mia offered. “There are a lot of folks in there, and we did keep her in state there until you were ready to take care of her. I haven’t been back since.”

  “Mia, you covered her with your feathers.”

  “Yes, I did. I didn’t like that she was lying there crushed for all to see. There was something indecent about it.”

  “Could those feathers be holding her in limbo?”

  “I doubt it, why?”

  “I had her covered with them inside the casket. I wanted her to have part of you with her on her journey.”

  Mia’s eyes watered.

  “Humor a silly old man and ask Orion about it.”

  “He’s your father, you ask him.”

  “About that…”

  “He’s your father.”

  “He looks younger than I do.”

  “He’s over 500 years old. You may have a longevity gene to deal with, Daddy.”

  “I doubt it. All I got was the quick mind and the ability to see ghosts.”

  “That came from Fredricka too,” Mia said. “I’m surprised you’re not more sensitive.”

  “I think it’s something you have to want.”

  “Nope. I didn’t want it and, whoa, I got it in spades.”

  “What’s next on your calendar?” Charles asked.

  “On Andy’s next day off, Enos and I are going to fly the remains of the convicts and Elenore to the mountains of California where Andy will bury them. The idea is that the three can haunt the place while panning for gold.”

  “They don’t want to go to their reward?”

  “Two of three wouldn’t be headed to Heaven,” Mia said.

  “Bah, anyone can go to Heaven. They just have to repent.”

  “That’s a page from Father Santos’s book,” Mia observed. She sat down next to her father, and he put his arm around her.

  They sat together for a while, and then, when it was time to leave, Mia left her father alone for a while. She walked out in the sunshine and read the tombstones around the Marvel mausoleum. She found a forgotten little grave and weeded the choked-out flower bed so the perennials could bounce back.

  That’s where Charles found her. He saw a faint resemblance to Amanda. She would be brushing away sand in his mind’s eye, very similarly to how Mia was weeding the gravesite. He started to see spirits take an interest in what she was doing. They nodded as she deposited her handfuls of weeds in the compost bin.

  Mia walked over. “Dad, it’s best if you don’t acknowledge you can see them. They may want you to search for an item they wanted to leave an heir who already has passed on.”

  “I imagine this place is overwhelming.”

  “Yes, but not as bad as a hospital emergency room. The spirits here know they are dead.”

  Charles nodded. “I’m going to go over to the museum to look for Amanda.”

  “Before you go… I’ve been thinking about all of Mother’s papers. We may want to think of having a student from the college catalog them. This way they could be of use to future scholars.”

  “I’d be embarrassed at the state of them.”

  “Ethan could use some college credit. You’ve worked with him before. He may grate on some people, but he’s intelligent and sensitive when it comes to things like this. He may even learn something along the way.”

  “I should have named you Wendy.”

  “Really, why?”

  “You take care of a lot of lost boys. Many of them hundreds of years old.”

  “It’s not like I plan it that way. It just happens.”

  “Don’t change, Mia. You’ve made me proud.”

  “Thank you, Daddy.”

  Chapter Forty-seven

  Mia waited for Burt, Enos, and Stephanie to arrive. Mia wasn’t initially impressed with the young woman, but you really didn’t have to like all your clients. Part of Mia wondered if it had to do with her having problems connecting with other females. Although she and Audrey were solid and Mia’s relationship with Paula had fallen into a comfortable place, she hadn’t yet bonded with Judy or felt more than a child alongside Nanny Berta. She worried that this awkwardness she would pass on to her daughters. Was it because her mother was who she was or was it something inside Mia that felt out of place when women were around?

  Mia inched her way down the riverbank and stood on a small sandy beach. She leaned forward and could just see where the silt had not covered Nicki’s skull. The waiting ghost moved upward out of the water. To anyone else, she would have just looked like light playing on the surface of the gently moving water.

  “Hello, Nicki, I’m Mia. Are you comfortable in there?”

  “When I died during Katrina, the water rushed in, and although it terminated my life, it also set me free of my internal strife.”

  “My great friend Murphy mentioned you had a singsong voice. Often those words are used to describe weakness, but I see here he has used them to impart the music in yo
ur soul.”

  “Thank you for being kind. The farmer said that you would come to ease my mind.”

  “I’m going to advise you about the status of your bones.”

  “My bones?”

  “Yes, may I move the sand and sink them deeper? I would hate to hear a young angler fished out part of you.”

  “What a prize to bring home to mother!” Nicki laughed. “By all means.”

  “Most ghosts lose power in moving water, but I see you’ve embraced the energy of this part of the river.”

  “It tingles, amuses, and gives me peace.”

  “If you ever decide you want to move up to the heavens, let Murphy or Mother Nature know.”

  “Thank you, Mia. May I give you and yours a blessing?”

  “Yes, I would be honored.”

  “May you always find water when you’re in thirst. May you have salty tears and a heart too big to burst. May love never fail you, may happy times never cease, and at the end of the day, like the end of your life, may you find peace.”

  “Thank you, Nicki, I will pass that on to my friends and family.”

  Mia took off her shoes and socks. She waded in and raised her hands, keeping in mind she had 206 bones to keep track of. She pulled them upwards with her left hand and dredged the river deeper with her right. She lowered the bones and moved the rocks, silt, and sand over them. She would write down for Murphy to check after every spring thaw that the bones were covered. Mia waded out of the water, tossed her shoes on the grass of the high bank, and climbed up. Mia slipped, and someone caught her hand, saving her before she toppled backwards into the stream. She looked and expected to see Murphy or perhaps Burt, but it was an angular man with scarred hands. Mia was transfixed by the size of the cross he wore upon his chest.

  “Hello, thank you for the assist.”

  The man looked intently at Mia’s face. “You’re she, aren’t you?”

  “She as in Mia Martin?” Mia asked.

  The man dropped to his knees. “Please forgive me, Mrs. Martin. I was driving the truck that hit you.”

  “Mr. Klein, it wasn’t you,” Mia said, and when the man refused to rise, she squatted down and held his face in her hands. “There was paranormal mischief afoot that day. I was saved by an archangel, my children by the sheriff and a gravedigger. All is well. I bear you no ill will.”