Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
C ody knew Demmy had something on his mind. After nearly a lifetime of friendship before their relationship had developed into something deeper and better, Cody could always tell when Demmy was working through something. It had taken Cody a while to understand Demmy wasn’t intentionally keeping secrets, that he was just more independent because of his childhood. As the only child to older parents, Demmy had come to rely on himself to work through things. He’d told Cody once before that he’d tried to talk with his parents about things, but they were so far removed from what life was like for someone his age, it hadn’t been helpful.
Understanding Demmy’s internal process when it came to bigger decisions, Cody had learned to give him space and not push him to talk about things. Over the years, especially recently, Demmy had become much more open about what he was mentally working through. But sometimes the issue might be so big or involved he wasn’t ready to share it right away, not even with Cody.
And since he’d come back from Amelia’s the day before, Demmy had been a little more quiet and withdrawn. His expression was just a bit more pinched than usual, his eyes a tiny bit narrower, which helped to emphasize the shallow lines extending from the corners. Cody gave him the space he needed, although he would be the first to admit if Demmy was thinking about something that hard, it made him more than a little nervous.
To give Demmy even more space, Cody spent Sunday morning working in the small back and front yards, raking up leaves and clearing out the plants and flowers that were done for the season. He could hear the quiet patter of Trevor’s feet as the raccoon paced up and down the wooden ramp leading to his shelter. Somewhere off in the distance, a bird called and another answered. The sun was warm and relaxing across his shoulders and the back of his neck as he moved on hands and knees along the edge of the flower bed.
“You never put this much work into the yard when we were growing up.”
Cody sat back on his heels and looked over his shoulder. His brother, Dave, stood in the driveway, grinning at him. He wore sweatpants and a Parson’s Hollow High hoodie, of all things.
“Mom and Dad never paid enough for household chores,” Cody said.
“I think they’d disagree, seeing as we all ate them out of house and home.” Dave approached, then stopped as he heard Trevor chirp at him. “Good God, I will never get used to you having a pet raccoon.”
Cody shot a dark look at Trevor, who was sitting up on his hind legs on a small platform outside the shelter. “He’s not a pet. He’s a squatter.”
“A squatter you built a shelter for.”
“Better that than to have him constantly trying to hitch a ride home from the woods.”
“Look at you, getting all soft and compassionate in your old age.”
Cody frowned. “Old age? I’m only two years older than you.”
“Hence the phrase, old age.” Dave grinned and pushed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. “Want some help?”
“I don’t know, what’s it going to cost me?”
“Some conversation, unless you’re out here to avoid that.” Dave widened his eyes in an overly dramatic manner. “Are you and Demetrius fighting? Is that why you’re out here working in the yard?”
“You’ve been living with Ollie the intrepid boy reporter too long.” Cody waved toward the other end of the flower bed. “Start down there and pull up anything that looks dead or close to being on its last legs.”
“Like you?” Dave asked as he walked toward the back of the yard, leaving a lot of room between himself and Trevor.
“Have I told you to fuck off lately?” Cody made a thinking face. “I don’t think I have.” He smiled brightly. “Fuck off, Dave.”
“There’s my big brother.”
They worked in silence for a bit, Trevor keeping up a quiet patrol behind them, and somewhere down the block, a mower rumbled into life. When they had moved closer together, Cody paused to sit back on his heels again and look over at Dave. He’d grown a beard for the winter and it was full and nicely trimmed, the whiskers just a touch lighter than his brown hair, a lock of which had fallen across his forehead. Sunlight flashed off the lenses of his tortoise shell glasses, and Cody thought Dave looked more like a college professor than a data analyst.
“How’s the wedding planning going?” Cody asked.
Dave sat back as well and shrugged. “It’s good. Not going to be very big, so we’re trying to figure out venues that will work.”
“I’m sure the activity room at Parson’s Pines is available.”
Dave grinned. “I’m not that interested in copying my older brother. There’s a new place out by that subdivision they’ve been building for about ten years.”
Cody thought a minute. “Out on 118 toward Harriettville?”
“Right. Just about a mile past the Hollow Leg.”
“Oh, hell, that place? I thought that was a sporting goods store or something.”
Dave shook his head. “Dude, you think every place is a sporting goods store.”
Cody gave a half shrug. “Wouldn’t hurt.”
“Anyway, we have an appointment out there this week.”
Cody bent back to work then said, “What about the gym?”
“At the high school? No.”
“Why not?”
“Because this isn’t a movie, and I’m not sad about having not taken Oliver to the prom.”
Cody had to chuckle at that one, dammit. “Hey, I’m just trying to help.”
“I appreciate it, but we’re doing okay.”
“Still on track for a spring wedding?”
“Yep. May fifteenth.”
“I’ll wait until I receive my invitation to add it to my calendar.”
“Nice. You’re still up for being my best man, right?”
Cody feigned surprise. “What? Best man? Me? Really?”
Dave gave him a flat, unimpressed look. “You’re not at all funny, you know that, right?”
“Says you.”
“Says everyone.” Dave pulled a few more withered impatiens from the ground. “Seriously though, you’re still going to be my best man?”
Cody pulled a particularly stubborn petunia, then turned his head to smile at him. “Yeah, little brother, of course.”
Dave smiled back. “Good.”
They worked in silence, moving closer across the lawn. Once they’d finished clearing the flowerbed, they sat on the grass, legs stretched out before them and leaning back on their hands.
“How are things at the DPW?”
“Stupid. Painful. Redundant.”
“And yet…?”
Cody sighed. “And yet, we get steady paychecks and health care. And we get paid overtime.”
“So, all in all?”
“All in all, it’s work that makes me think one day it might be possible to be out of debt and live in my own house.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“If you’re into that. How about you? How are things with the clicks and the visits?”
It was Dave’s turn to shrug. “It’s fine. I work from home most days.”
“You and Ollie drive each other crazy?”
Dave smiled. “Oh, yeah.”
Cody made a face. “Gross. I didn’t mean it that way.”
“That’s okay, I did.”
“Ugh.”
“You asked.”
“Anyway,” Cody said. “Have you been to see Felicia lately?”
“I went a couple days this past week.”
“Did she know you?”
“In one visit, she thought I was you, then Grandpa, then some guy named Harry.”
“Yeah, pretty much my experience as well.” Cody sat upright, plucked a couple blades of grass, and let the wind take them from his palm. “Not sure how much time we have left with her.”
“She’s ninety-nine years old.” Dave’s voice was quiet, respectful. “She’s lived a good, long life.”
“I know. It’s just that…” Cody made a face and took a breath. “I’m really going to miss her.”
“I know you will.”
Dave’s tone had shifted easily to empathy, which caused a weird and uncomfortable blend of emotions to snarl together and wedge high up in Cody’s chest like a ball of barbed wire dipped in hot sauce. The instant understanding without Cody having to try to explain himself made it clear why he felt closer to Dave than any of his other brothers.
“You’d be completely devoid of emotion if you didn’t miss her. You, out of everyone else in the family, has been seeing after her and visiting her the most. You’ve gone at least once a week for years to check on her, even before she moved to Parson’s Pines. And when she finally did move there, you made sure her care was at the level she needed.” Dave sat cross-legged and plucked a few blades of grass himself, spinning them into a twist between his fingers. “I’ve read a lot online about how the immediate caretakers experience a loss in many different ways from other members of the family.”
“Yeah, I’ve read about that, too. Trying to prepare myself for it, but…”
Dave put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “I know.”
They were quiet for a bit, and an Oscar-worthy montage of memories of Dave as they’d grown up together flashed through Cody’s mind. He really was glad to have Dave back in town. Even if he was engaged to annoying cub reporter Ollie.
“Have any plans this afternoon?” Cody asked.
Dave shook his head. “Oliver’s taking an online class and asked me to stay out of the apartment.”
“You know he’s just watching a bunch of porn, right?”
“That’s okay, it gives him ideas for new positions.”
Cody made a face. “Gross.”
Dave looked entirely too pleased with himself. “You started it.” He tossed some grass Cody’s way but the breeze took them sideways. “What’d you have in mind?”
“Want to go visit Felicia and maybe get some lunch?”
“Sure. Just us?”
“Yeah, just us.”
Dave smiled. “That’d be great.”
Another body bag on a stretcher was being wheeled out the door when Cody and Dave walked into Parson’s Pines Nursing Home.
“They were taking someone out when I was here earlier this week,” Cody said, stopping and watching the bag roll past. The October sunlight gleamed along the slick black surface.
“One time when I was here as well,” Dave said.
“Heaven must be running one hell of a move in special these days.”
They stopped at the front desk to sign in, and Cody smiled at the younger nurse behind the desk who, he was surprised to see, was looking up at him and not at her phone.
“We’re here to see?—”
“Felicia,” the nurse said for him, smiling. “I recognize you both.”
“How’s she doing?”
“She’s quiet today. She didn’t eat a lot of her breakfast or lunch from what I’ve heard.”
“They adjusted her meds a couple of weeks ago,” Dave said. “Maybe that’s affected her appetite.”
“Maybe.” Cody nodded to the woman. “Thanks.” He started to go, then stopped and gestured toward the exit. “Was that anyone my grandmother knew?”
“It was Mr. Branson.”
“The friendly guy in the wheelchair?”
The nurse raised her eyebrows. “Which one?”
“Yeah, all right.”
“I think I know who you mean,” Dave said. “He carried a book around with him sometimes.”
“Yep, that was him,” the nurse said with a nod and a sad smile. “He was a really nice guy.”
“He seemed pretty spry last time I saw him,” Cody said. “I mean, other than the wheelchair, and the hearing aids, and the glaucoma, I guess.”
“You know, it’s okay to stop talking sometimes,” Dave said.
Cody shot him a dirty look before turning his attention back to the nurse. “Was it sudden?”
She looked around before leaning in over the desk. In a lower voice, she said, “I’m not supposed to say anything like this, but I know you’re worried about your grandma. He’d been feeling tired the last few days, and then today…” She shrugged slightly. “He just never got up.”
“Well, hell. That’s too bad. He was a really nice guy.” Cody gave her a tight smile. “Thanks for telling us.”
“Telling you what?” She lifted her eyebrows and looked down at the desk where she had paperwork spread out.
Cody and Dave walked off down the hall.
“I know it’s a nursing home, but it seems like a lot of people have been dying lately,” Dave said.
“I’ve noticed that, too.”
Cody entered Felicia’s room. It was empty, the late afternoon sunlight slanting in through the windows and painting everything in gold. The bed was neatly made, and everything looked tidy. He checked in the bathroom, found it empty, and turned for the door, then stopped. The cross Demmy had mentioned hung above the light switch, gleaming in the sunlight.
“Did you hang that up?”
Dave came up beside him. “Nope. I don’t remember seeing a cross there before.”
“Huh.”
“Yeah, huh.”
They stepped out into the hall and looked either way. A woman bent nearly in half from osteoporosis and using a walker for support speedwalked past them without a glance. The walker’s wheels made a long, drawn out scratching sound along the tile floor, and it sent a shiver down Cody’s spine.
After checking a couple of the common areas, they found Felicia sitting on a small padded bench by a side exit. She was staring at the window in the door, hands folded in her lap. Her Rollator was parked nearby, and Cody was amazed once again that at her advanced age she was still mobile.
“Hi, Grandma,” Cody said.
Felicia looked at them, her expression blank.
Dave approached and squatted before her. “Hi, Grandma. It’s your grandson, Dave.”
She stared at him but didn’t move or say a word.
Cody pulled the Rollator around and sat on the padded seat that also covered a storage compartment. “You doing okay today?”
“Hi,” she finally said, after giving him a long, searching look.
Cody smiled and leaned in a little. “Hi back. How are you?”
“Okay.” She was quiet, her eyes moving as she studied his face. “I know you.”
“That’s right, you do. But it’s okay if you don’t know my name.”
“It is?”
Cody gave a quick nod. “It is. I just want you to always know you’re safe with me. Okay?”
She looked at Dave. “I know you, too.”
“Yeah? That makes me happy. And like Cody said, you’ll always be safe with me.”
“I know that.” She looked between them. “I’ve always known that, haven’t I?”
“That you have.” Cody stood and moved the Rollator in front of her, then set the brakes. “Are you waiting for someone?”
“My grandson Cody usually comes to see me just after sunset.” She grabbed the handlebars and pulled herself upright. “But I guess he’s busy tonight.”
“You know,” Dave said before Cody could find his voice. “I heard from Cody earlier today, and he asked the two of us to come and visit you for him. Does that sound okay?”
“I guess it does.”
Cody managed a shaky smile of gratitude for Dave and wiped at his eyes. They followed Felicia as she set off down the hall.
“He tells me to wait by the door,” Felicia said over her shoulder.
An alarm started going off in the back of Cody’s mind, quiet amid all the noise of his own inner dialogue and racing thoughts.
“He does, huh?” Dave glanced back at him. “How long has he been doing this?”
“I don’t know. A while now.”
Cody followed them into her room and watched as Dave got her settled by the window. When she had the usual blanket draped over her legs, he approached and once again used the Rollator as a seat. Leaning forward, Cody gently took hold of her hands.
“Grandma, I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay?”
She fixed him with her watery brown eyes. “I’m listening.”
“I know Cody really well.”
“You do?”
“I do. He’s like my very best friend.”
“Some might say his own worst enemy,” Dave said in a stage whisper.
“Not helpful,” Cody said from the corner of his mouth, keeping his eyes on Felicia. He smiled at her and continued. “He’s talked with me about you many times, and the one very important thing he’s told me over and over is that he will always come to your room to visit you. Okay? He will never ask you to meet him anywhere other than right here where you are right now.”
“Okay.” She released a shaky sigh and shook her head before turning away to look out the window. “I get so confused sometimes.”
“I know you do.” Cody leaned in close and gently kissed her forehead. “But all you need to remember is there are people close by who love you very much, and they will never ask you to meet them anywhere but right here in your room.”
She gave a small shrug. “If you say so.”
“See what it’s like talking with you?” Dave stage whispered again.
“Shut it.”
They visited with Felicia a little longer, but she never understood they were her grandsons, though she talked about them both. When they left a short time later, the sun had set and the room was heavy with shadows. Cody switched on the bedside lamp and paused in the doorway to look back. She sat with her head turned away, looking out the window, waiting, apparently, for him to arrive even as he was getting ready to leave her.
If he thought about it too long, it would break his heart.
Dave had driven separately since he and Ollie lived halfway between their house and Parson’s Pines, and Cody walked him to his car.
“It’s hard to see her like this,” Dave said. “And Mom and Dad can give us all the sympathy they want over the phone, but they don’t know how it feels every day with her.”
“Yeah, every day is a different choose-your-own-adventure.” Cody leaned back against Dave’s car and crossed his arms. “It’s really hard to know what’s in her mind and what might be some kind of threat.”
“You’re thinking about the nix,” Dave said.
“Yeah, that, or something other than a shape-shifting water sprite that fixated on our family.”
“Jesus, something else that shape-shifts?”
“I don’t know, maybe? Or it could be someone really persuasive who showed up outside her window and she called him my name and now he’s telling her he’s me.” Cody scrubbed his hands up and down his face. “Or she’s imagining that I come by and thinks I’ve asked her to meet me by that side door.”
“They’ve got security cameras all over that place, don’t they?”
“Oh, yeah. After old man Kelmer went feral werewolf, they doubled the number of them.”
“You never realize how many more security cameras you need until an old man is bitten by an alpha werewolf on a trip overseas,” Dave said with a sigh, and Cody laughed as something tight inside his chest loosened a bit. God bless his little brother. “Maybe we could convince them to take a look at the camera for that side door going back a few weeks?”
“Yeah, maybe.” Cody blew out a breath, tipped his head back, and shouted “Fuck!” up at the first stars showing in the late evening sky.
Dave pulled him up from the car and into a strong hug. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, little bro.”
He stepped back and watched Dave get into his car and pull out of the lot. Standing beside his truck for a bit, Cody listened to the wind in the branches of the pines that surrounded the facility. Frogs and crickets were holding a competitive sing-off, and somewhere deeper in the woods an owl hooted.
A quiet sound started up beneath the nighttime chorus, and at first Cody thought the wind had picked up, blowing through the branches of the pines. But something brushed past his face, startling him, and he frantically wiped at his cheek.
“The fuck ?”
He looked up and saw a large black shape twisted and turned in on itself overhead, blocking out the stars. It spun and spiraled above the pine trees, then suddenly swooped down toward him.
“Shit!”
Cody dropped to a squat and covered his head. Dozens, possibly hundreds of bats chased each other over and around him, their small, furry bodies bouncing off him, wings slapping him all over. Cody closed his eyes and screamed down at the asphalt as the bats circled him, their wings blowing dust and dirt into his face.
Then suddenly, they were gone. Cody remained in place, hands over his head, panting down at the parking lot. Slowly he lifted his head and looked around. Not a bat was in sight. He unlocked his truck and got inside, slamming the door and hitting the lock button. A shiver rattled through him, and he ran his hands over his head and face, shouting into his palms.
“What the fuck?” he whispered, leaning forward and looking up through the windshield. All he could see was stars and a few wispy clouds. He swore again for good measure before starting his truck and heading for home. A shiver snuck up on him as he pulled onto 118 and it seemed to push another round of curses up from his gut.
For some reason, he felt like he’d just been fucked with by someone, and he didn’t like it. Not one bit.