Chapter 3 The Towns Speculation
Chapter 3: The Town”s Speculation
Emma
Facing the mirror, I realized one of my earrings was gone.
“If they deserve five stars, then give it to—”
“Sandy?” I cut her off.
“Yeah?”
“I think I just misplaced my earring,” I said, looking pensive.
“So? You have like hundreds of them, don”t you?”
“This is grandma”s special jewelry. The bronze earring.”
“Oh my gosh! How did you misplace that? I thought it was supposed to be for special occasions?”
“Well, this was kind of special. A vacation trip,” I told her, removing the second earring.
“Fine. Where do you think you lost it? Have you checked the car?”
I tried remembering when I last noticed the earrings, but my brain couldn’t process much.
“Not yet. I”m so tired right now; I will do that in the morning.” I yawned lazily.
“Okay. You know how your Ma can be; you”d better find it.”
“You”re sounding like my mom right now,” I chuckled. “I’ll find it. Sandy, I need to take a quick shower and rest my head. I”m exhausted.”
“Yeah, you should rest. Talk to you tomorrow. Sweet dreams.”
“Yeah, bye.” I threw the phone on the bed through the open door without stepping out from the bathroom, then took off my clothes leisurely, still staring at the mirror.
* * *
Jack
I was in the driver”s seat, Meg sitting beside me, and Tess, our little girl, was in her car seat just behind me. It was a Sunday and we were headed for church.
“Daddy, drink.” Tess stretched out her water bottle towards me.
“Tess, Daddy will drink when he is not driving, okay?” Meg collected the water bottle and set it aside.
“Babe, you don”t think that was too harsh?” I glanced at her and then into the rearview mirror at Tess, who had recoiled and was moping at me.
“What? You”re driving and she”s distracting you,” Meg said.
“She was trying to show some love.”
“You are always making excuses for her.”
“Meg, she”s just four, give her a break.”
“Fine. I’m not saying another word. Do what you want.” She picked up the bottle and handed it back to Tess.
“Tess, baby, give Daddy some water.” I watched the smile of being vindicated spread across her small lips as she held out the bottle to me.
“Jack! Watch out!!” I heard Meg scream.
But it was too late. The approaching car was too close and there was no opening I could take. I let go of the steering wheel, trying to reach for Tess as she screamed out my name. Darkness covered me.
I sprang out of bed, my hands stretched out, trying to save Tess. I sighed, realizing it was my constant nightmare. It was haunting how real it felt every night. I turned on the table lamp, reaching for the portrait that stood still in the shadows beside the lamp.
Guilt sliced through me as I stared at Meg and our daughter. If I had listened to her, I wouldn”t have ended their lives so prematurely. It had been four years, and every night since the accident had been a painful reminder that all I’d had to do to prevent this was listen to Meg.
I kept asking myself why I’d survived. It was all my fault; it should have been me, not them. Tess had sustained a major injury to her head and hadn’t wasted even an hour to give up. Meg, on the other hand, had lasted long enough to tell me she loved me.
I lay back on the bed, feeling less motivated to start another day without either of them. Not until the thought of the bronze earring crossed my mind. Keeping something that valuable might look like theft. I recounted my meeting with the lady, the owner of the earring. What would she think of me? Why did I care?
After spending another hour contemplating, I pushed myself out of bed, took an exhilarating shower, and made a quick breakfast while enjoying the dense silence of my environment. It wasn”t always this quiet; it used to be filled with happy chatters and the laughter of my family. Now, the chirping of birds from the woods and the constant susurration of trees became the only entertaining sounds around.
There was the usual daily paper at the foot of the door. Folding it into a pipe, I stuffed it in my pocket and wandered away through the route that led to the popular Serenity Springs antique store. It was normal to get the look of pity from the townspeople while walking on the streets—I hated it; it made me feel helpless. Which I was, but would never agree to.
”You”ve been sad for too long; let”s help you overcome your grief,” Meg”s friend had pleaded two years after the incident. I had cut them all off for trying to help. This was my grief to bear, my cross to carry, and I didn”t think I needed their help with it.
“Good morning, Jack,” the woman at the tie-dye store greeted.
“Hmmm,” I grunted in response, not sparing a glance.
Moving a little farther, I met Flora, the owner of the flower shop in the town center. “How was your night, Jack?”
I ignored her at first, wishing that sometimes I could become invisible while walking along these streets to avoid this concern that the people of Serenity Springs desperately wanted to show. Although, I wished I could actually talk to someone about this heavy guilt that I”d been carrying around.
“Jack? Are you okay?” she pressed.
On second thought, I paused, turned around, and answered “Fine,” nothing more. I could feel her eyes behind my back. Like every other person in Serenity Springs, she would be watching with precision, perhaps with the fear that I might stumble and fall out of grief.
I quickened my steps, becoming desperate to exit the street and get to my store, where I could hide behind my mirrored door from the watching eyes of people. I would bury my head and write thousands of elegies for Meg and Tess. I could admire those antiques that had survived ages on earth, departing from their makers and crossing countries just to sit in my store now. I could derive strength from those art pieces.
I slowed to an abrupt stop in front of my store at the sight that waited for me. It was the lady from the previous day. She was standing there in a blue jacket, black pants, and boots, and a smile sliced across her face that gave her a nice look. I could say she was beautiful.
I stared at her in silence, unsure of what to say. Well, she was the one in front of my store so early in the morning; perhaps she had something to say to me, so I waited, and even though waiting brought an awkward silence upon us, I waited still, having become one with silence.
“Hi Mr…. umm… Good morning,” she finally started.
“Hmmm.” I nodded in response. “It’s Jack,” I added brusquely.
“Okay, I… I think I dropped something here yesterday; I don”t know if you saw it. I”m not saying it has to be here, I”m just checking around the places I went yesterday…”
I walked past her, cutting her off and reaching for my keys in my pocket. Unlocking the door, I held the door and nodded my head for her to enter.
“Should I come in, Mr. Jack?” When I didn’t reply, she said, “Okay then, I”m just going to come in,” then followed in. I turned on the lights and opened the window drapes, letting in sunlight.
“So, like I was saying, I think I might have dropped my earring here yesterday.” She was following closely behind me.
“I checked my car this morning and it wasn”t there…”
I turned around sharply and she almost bumped into me.
“Sorry.” She shifted uncomfortably.
I brought out the earring from my pocket and held it out to her, cutting her off again. Her face lightened into a sweet smile as she collected the jewelry.
“Oh goodness, thank you very much, this is very important and I don”t know what I would have done if I didn”t get it back. Thanks,” she blabbed.
“Hmmm,” I mumbled, looking straight at her, my hands deeply buried in my pockets.
I watched the smile depreciate from her face. A new look of seriousness took over; I didn”t understand why.
“Are you always like this?” she asked.
“Like how?” I was surprised.
“Like this. You don”t do more than grunting, do you?” she said, and I was speechless. I hadn”t expected such a question from her. I didn”t know exactly what to say.
“You haven”t said more than five words since I met you yesterday. Why”s that?” She placed both hands on her waist.
“There”s nothing to talk about.” I found my tongue.
“Isn”t there? I greeted you and you responded with a grunt.”
“I answered you.” I was moving away from her to my desk.
“No, you didn”t.” She followed behind.
“What do you want?” I couldn”t help asking.
She stumbled to a stop, looking startled.
“I”ve given you your earring, what else do you want to talk about?”
She blinked rapidly as her lips parted in awe.
“Umm… Okay. I guess I should get going then since there”s nothing to talk about.” She turned and made to leave.
“No, wait,” I called her back. “Don”t go. I mean, not yet,” I added.
I wasn”t supposed to call her back; I didn”t know why I did. I just felt drawn to her in a different way. At least she wasn”t looking at me like some helpless widower. She wasn”t talking about how to help me get rid of my sorrow. So, she could stay.
“You mean that?” She turned back.
“Yeah. Come sit, please.”