Twenty-Five Grace
When Geny leaves, I go back upstairs to sleep for a little longer.
She’s upset with me and I don’t really blame her.
She’s being kept in the dark and she knows it.
I’d be upset too. And despite my natural inclination to stay close to her, I think a little space might be what we need. Just until I do what I need to do.
She surprised me, going through my car. And then admitting it and calling me out. It’s not something she would have done in the past and it made me feel a sense of pride. Maybe pride isn’t the right word. But maybe Geny isn’t as fragile and helpless as I’ve thought her to be.
Of course she isn’t. There are things about my sister I was blind to. She and Wyatt obviously had something going before I was gone or shortly after. The sister I thought I knew wasn’t capable of it. But it happened.
I fall asleep quicker than I do at night. There’s something about the daytime light that makes me feel safe enough to sleep. As if I don’t know that monsters operate in the daytime just as often as the night.
I wake up a few hours later, more awake and ready for the day this time.
I take my phone off the nightstand and scroll through my contacts.
I don’t have Tara’s number, but I have Murphy’s.
They were together at dad’s funeral, so they obviously keep in touch.
A thought strikes me that maybe they’re together together.
A small hint of jealousy tickles at my mind, but I ignore it. That’s dumb.
I send Murphy a text asking if he’d be down for a group get-together like old times. Me, Geny, Wyatt, him, and Tara.
He texts back right away.
Absolutely. Does the beach bring back bad memories? We can do my house if so.
I think about it for a second. I think I’ll be okay, but it might be too much for Geny. I text him back.
Let’s do your house. Can you text Tara? Don’t have her number.
Sure thing. Tonight too soon?
Not for me. If it works for the others. I’ll talk to Wyatt and Geny.
I debate whether I should text Geny or wait to ask her in person after she gets off work.
I think in person might be the way to go after our argument this morning.
I look at the time on my phone to see it’s just before noon.
I still think Geny and I need some space, but I need her and Wyatt to make this get-together seem natural.
I might be able to ask Tara about the picture if I can get her alone. If not, I can at least get her number to meet up with her later.
My phone starts ringing and I look at the screen, expecting to see a familiar number that I purposely don’t have saved, but it’s Brooke’s name.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Hey. I’m bored and have a few hours to kill before I’m needed. Want to have lunch?”
My stomach rumbles in answer for me. “Sure. Anywhere in particular you have in mind?”
“My place. I don’t like nosey Raven gossips.”
I laugh. “Sure. Send me the address and I’ll be there.”
Brooke’s house is next door to her childhood home, where Morgan lived when she was alive.
It feels surreal parking my car outside the house.
I can remember standing outside her front gate, waiting for her to come out for our morning run like it was yesterday.
The memory is so vivid I can almost feel the warm morning sun on the back of my thighs and smell the muscle rub I used on my lower back around that time.
Brooke steps out of the house on the right and I meet her on the stoop.
“It’s nice out. Do you want to sit out here?” she asks.
“Yeah. That’d be nice.”
There’s a small fenced-in front yard with a table and chairs, and I lead the way back down the stairs to sit down. Brooke tells me she’ll be right back and comes out with bottled waters and lemonades. She sets them on the table, and I reach for a water.
“It’s weird to see that house.” I point to her parents’ home.
She nods. “It was weird coming back and her not being here. I wasn’t sure about buying the house right next door when it went up for sale. But it’s nice to be close to my parents. My dad’s health isn’t great, and my mom needs the help.”
We’re quiet for a minute. Then Brooke stands up with a smile. “One second. I want to show you something.”
She runs inside again. A ladybug lands on my knee while I wait. I watch it walk around before its wings extend and it flutters away just as Brooke bounds down the stairs. She sets a picture in front of me. I pick it up to get a closer look.
It’s me and Morgan, our arms slung around each other’s shoulders. We’re bent over in exhaustion but smiling ear to ear. We’d just finished our meet, and Morgan got second place. Her best placement so far.
“Wow,” I say. I smile and let the image bring her back to life in my mind.
I remember how she looked, but there are details I forgot. How her hair was wavy at the ends. The black plastic choker that went out of style in eighth grade but that she wore every day.
“She kept this on her vanity mirror,” Brooke says. “I took it. I like how happy she is in it.”
“Her and that damn choker.” I laugh and Brooke snorts.
“I bought her like five different necklaces for her birthday to replace it, but she refused.”
I slide my thumb across her face, frozen at sixteen. “I liked that about her,” I say. “She acted like she didn’t care what people thought, but she did. But even so, she liked her necklace and refused to take it off to fit in.”
“I like to think she got that from me,” Brooke says.
I can tell she’s joking, but I think she’s right.
“Morgan idolized you, you know.”
She nods. “I know.”
Tears shine in her eyes, but she sniffs and sits up taller in her chair. “So. How has it been being alive in Raven again?”
We chat for the two hours she has free. About Raven. High school. Everything and anything. The topics stay light and I’m thankful. It makes me feel normal if only for a few hours. But all too soon, Brooke looks at her phone and sighs.
“I have to get going.”
I stand up. “It was nice. Doing this.”
“It was. I’ll text you, okay? Take care of yourself.”
Her expression says more than her words and I nod. I don’t want to leave, but I need to. I have another task to do before anyone gets home at Geny’s house.
I drive over and park near the front porch to make it easier to get my things into the car. I use the key Geny gave me to let myself in and head straight downstairs to pack up the few things I unpacked.
It takes only about an hour to relocate my things to my parents’ house and return to Geny’s. While I wait, I start a load of laundry to wash the bedding I used while I’ve been here. My phone vibrates. I expect to see a text from Murphy, but it’s a number I don’t have saved.
For a split second I think Murphy might have given Tara my number, but that thought flees as soon as I read the message.
Find what you were looking for? I’d be careful if I were you. I wouldn’t count on coming back to life twice.