Oscar’s World, Episode 126: Ella and Oscar

Ella was in the creekbed a I rode across the bridge, so I stopped to talk to her.  I leaned my bike against it’s kick-stand and took a step toward her. 

She called up, “so I exist now?”

I looked down at her, confused.

“What?” I finally managed.

She threw a small rock she had been contemplating down  the dry creek bed and watched it bounce away.  Then she turned her dull, interested gaze toward me.

“Now that Her Majesty has departed, you remember your real friends.”

I was taken aback.  I had no idea she didn’t like Mandy until that moment.

“Come on, Elle,” I said, “it’s n-n-not l-l-like that.”

Stammering again.  I winced.

Ella just rolled her eyes and said, “You really DON’T know nothing.”

Her voice sounded a little sad but mostly resigned.

I considered saying something mean, or simply getting on my bicycle and going home.  Instead, I climbed down into the creekbed with Ella.

She punched my shoulder and said, “Goober.”

Then she smiled.

House Chapter 6 Episode 1

Raven threw her head back and laughed.

“You just told me, Sugar!”

Jennifer’s face reflected her puzzlement.  Raven’s laugh simmered to a giggle.

Raven took Jennifer by the hand and lead her over to the table, saying, “Spill it, Baby Girl.”

Jennifer shook her head. 

“Not until you tell me how you know about him,” she said.

Once again, Raven laughed heartily.

“I didn’t know for sure until just now,”  she said, placing the camera on the table.

“What?” Jennifer was still confused.

Raven produced a card from the back pocket of her jeans and handed it to her friend.

“You left this on the counter,” she said. “Special Investigations, Ha!  That’s a good one.  The fact that you have a crush on him was a guess. You been alone long enough, I felt it was a safe one.”

Jennifer blushed, causing Raven to laugh even harder.

Jennifer slowly shook her head, “He is kind of cute…” She suddenly looked serious. “DO you really think it’s… Something weird?”

“I have no idea what’s going on, but I’m certain that ‘weird’ is somewhere in the description!”

“I’m certainly not going call for “special investigations”, no matter how cute he is.”

With that, Jennifer crumpled the business card and threw it toward the trash can between the refrigerator and counter. It fell two feet short of it’s target.

That’s when the scream came from the other room.

Episode 125 Fowl Business

I rode my bicycle to McAllister’s farm and spent the rest of the morning watching the turkey roam around in the dirt. I felt horrible and not even the fowl could do much to cheer me.

I stayed there pining over my lost love until Mrs. McAllister called me in to share lunch with them. This time we had stew and cornbread with tea to wash it down. After her husband went back out to work, the woman placed a Little Debbie and a can of Coke in front of me.

“Here you go, Sweetie,” she said, taking her seat across the table from me. “I’ve been watching you this morning.”

She looked over both shoulders in a conspiratorial fashion, then pulled a change purse from her apron.

“I know how worried you are about that turkey. I mean, turkey’s are only raised for one thing, right?”

I stared at her, confused. What was she talking about? She pulled some bills from the small purse and returned it to her apron. She gently took hold of both of my hands, slipping the money into my palms.

“Here,” she whispered. “You give this to Mr. A and tell him it’s to square the bill on the bird.”

She giggled like she had told a funny joke, but her eyes remained on me, serious and concerned.

I opened my mouth to protest, to tell her that I haddened been upset about the turkey, but all that came out was a tiny squeek. Tears began to flow.

She quickly moved around the table to embrace me, saying, “There, there, Dear. No need to thank me.”

She held me as I wept into her bosom.

House, Chapter 5 Episode 4

Jennifer had opened her mouth, crinkled her brow then closed her mouth again. She had no idea what to say.

“I’m telling you, Sis,” Raven was saying, ” this just ain’t natural.”

Jennifer continued to stare at her friend. She had no reason to doubt the story she had been told, but couldn’t imagine how it could be true. Finally, she went to the sink and wet a paper towel. She rejoined her friend at the muddy footprints.

“Not yet, Baby Girl,” Raven said as Jennifer bent to clean the floor. “I’m taking pictures of this.”

“Why?” Jennifer asked, returning to her full height.

Raven gave Jennifer a “are you really asking me this” glare as she pulled a small digital camera from her purse.

“Documentation, of course.”

“Documentation for what?” Jennifer frowned.

“Your future boyfriend the ghost-hunter,” she said, as she began snapping pictures.

“What? How did you….?” Jennifer was honestly confused.

Raven chuckled, “Girl, you’re as red as my blouse right now. Shut your mouth before you start catching flies.”

“How did you know about Mr. Cannon?”

Episode 124 Bad News

The next morning I was eating breakfast when Michelle came in from the garage where she had just started the washing machine. She poured herself a bowl of corn flakes and sat down next to me. She accepted the remaining half of my banana with a smile and cut it up into the bowl.

“Are you going to miss Amanda?” She asked casually.

Milk flooded my sinuses as I took an ill-timed breath. My sister pounded me on my back until I waived her off.

“What do you mean?” I finally managed to gasp.

“Didn’t you hear? Mike and Amber told me yesterday. Mandy flew home this morning. I really thought you were standing right there with us.”

I was shocked. A bomb had exploded in my gut. How could this be? I had a hint of a memory of talking with Mike, but I couldn’t remember anything that was said.

“She…” I began. My voice refused to cooperate.

I cleared my throat before trying again.

“She’s all ready gone then?”

Something about my face or voice must have shown Michelle how upset I was. She took my right hand in both of hers.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

I tried to smile my gratitude as a single tear tracked down my cheek.

House Chapter 5, Episode 3

That night Jennifer slept for the first time in months. She and Raven had spent the afternoon at the kitchen table catching up. Raven spoke briefly of her small but flourishing practice, but mostly listened intently as Jennifer spoke of her mother’s last days, then the following months watching the decline of her father and hero. She told of how his mind kept “slipping”, causing him to forget where and sometimes who he was. More than once Jennifer broke down sobbing, especially when Raven made her “sit down and rest, Sis,” while she went to tend to the old man calling for “something to drink ‘fore I die of thirst.”

Raven had offered her a pill to let her sleep after promising to tend to the patient throughout the night. Raven was true to her word, and Jennifer slept for a total of twelve hours, not even rousing when the old man began to call out shortly after two in the morning.

“GET OUT OF HERE!” The old man screamed.

Raven jumped up from where she had just dozed on the couch. She took the four steps to his bed.

“Hey, Pops.” she said, pushing the hair back from her eyes, “Mr. Curtis, you having a bad dream, Sweetie?”

He started. He raised a weak right arm, pointing toward the kitchen.

“Tell that no good salesman to get out of my house and leave my Gwen alone!” He was trembling.

From the corner of her eye, Raven saw a man standing in the doorway. She saw that he was a tall man in bib overalls and a flannel shirt. It was her turn to start. When she jerked around to confront the intruder, however, he was gone.

She stared at the empty kitchen, feeling as if her heart might jump from her chest.

“Shouldn’t be HERE!” The old man screamed, raising up from the bed.

Remembering her patient, Raven came back to herself. She grabbed his shoulders and gently pressed him back down to the bed.

“Shhh….” she said, “he’s gone now, Sweetie. Get some sleep, Love.”

Raven spent the rest of the night soothing the old man whenever he awoke, and convincing herself that she had imagined the scruffy looking visitor. SHe had almost succeeded until she went to make coffee the next morning.

That’s when she discovered the muddy footprints in the doorway. What startled her the most was that there was no mud leading to or from the doorway, just in the spot she had almost seen the man watching them.

House, Chapter 5 Episode 2

Jennifer was just finishing up giving Dad his sponge bath when the doorbell rang. 

“If it’s that blasted salesman again, Gwyn, tell him your husband is loading his shotgun!” 

The old man’s hair had been combed down, preventing it from waving.  Jennifer missed the chaos of it.  She smiled.

“Oh, calm down, Daddy.  It’s an old friend of mine,” she said.

He seemed to immediately relax.

“Oh,” he said blinking.  “Don’t just stand there, Jenny.  Let her in.”

She patted his hand, grateful to have a lucid moment with him.  The doorbell rang again as she walked toward it.

Raven was waiting on the other side of the door, and exchanged a squeel with her old friend as the door opened.

“Oh, Sweetie!  How are you?” She asked.

“Come in!” Jennifer  said, but hugged her before giving her the chance.

“I’m good,” she continued. “How are you?  How was your flight? Here let me get a couple of those bags.”

“I love you, Sugar, but if you don’t take a breath, you’re liable to pass slap out,” Raven laughed.

The two of them carried Raven’s two large bags, carry-on and purse into the house.

“Jennifer!”

Raven smiled at her friend then stepped around her into the other room.

“Hello, Mr. Jennifer’s Dad!” She called to him.

“Raven?  Is that you?  Get over here give an old fart a hug!”   The old man glowed with joy.

House, Chapter 5 Episode 1

The phone rang for the third time.  Jennifer was considering hanging up when someone answered.

“Hello?”

The voice was soft and sleepy.  It also had an unmistakable southern drawl.

‘Crap,’ Jennifer thought. 

She looked at the clock on her nightstand.  It was 7:15, which meant it was only 5:15 in El Paso.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” 

The voice was slightly more alert this time.

“Raven, this is Jen,” she felt heat rise to her cheeks.  “I’m sorry to wake you…”

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

She suddenly sounded fully awake.

Jennifer began to cry.  Over the next several minutes, everything that had happened since college, her career, her promotion, her mother passing of congestive heart failure, her resigning to care for her father, as well as her father’s failing health and subsequent dementia, came flooding out.  She couldn’t be sure her old friend would even be able to understand it all.

For Raven’s part, she listened quietly, only speaking to offer the occasional, “Bless your heart,” and “you poor thing.”

When Jennifer finally trailed off into quiet sobs, Raven asked, “Where are you now, Sweetie?”

“Um, Dad’s house,” Jennifer answered.

“Where does he live?” Raven probed.

“Chattanooga,” Jennifer answered.

Raven said, “What’s the address, Love?”

Jennifer blinked, then answered.  She felt confused, so added, “Why?”

“Because I’m coming to stay for a few days.  I’ll see you this afternoon.”

The phone was dead before she could protest.

Raven Ellis was on her way.

Episode 123 Missing Something

I couldn’t think clearly.  Mom was telling Aunt Rachel how much she adored her while Michelle stood close by.  Aunt Rachel, Mom’s oldest sister, had dropped by unexpectedly.  Mom had Michelle slide the clothes she had been folding over to her feet so that it looked as if Mom had been folding them.

After a short visit that I barely participated in, the three were now standing at the door exchanging pleasantries.

I tuned in as best I could.

“I love you, Sis,”  Mom nearly purred.

“You too,” Aunt Rachel said.  “It was good seeing you, too, Shelley, B.J.”

“Bye, Aunt Rachel,” Michelle and I said.

As soon as the door closed, my mother exploded.

“I HATE that woman!”  Her tone was a controlled tantrum barely contained within a stage whisper.

Violence flashed in her eyes.

“How DARE she check up on us?” 
She picked up the nearest object- a fly swatter- and threw it across the room.

The rest, for me, was blank.

House Chapter 4, Episode 4

Jennifer dreamed of her old life that night; of being the rising star at Windsor & Cummings, of hard work and good pay.  The hours were long and the reward satisfying.  She was living the life she for which she had always longed.

Then there were the men.  She was consistent in insisting she was too focused on her career to trifle with men, but she did enjoy the attention.  She truly enjoyed the attention.

She dreamed of Randall Coffman again:  The weekend in Orlando, the two weeks on Tybee Island to celebrate his promotion, and the weekend in Colorado celebrating hers.

She dreamed of telling Randy goodbye again.  He had cried as she explained they were just too different to make it work.  He had pretended to agree and she didn’t look back as she left him at the airport.

Then the dream shifted.  She was in the house.  Her father slept downstairs.  Jimmy was somehow in her room looking down at her.  She wanted to protest, but seemed hypnotized by his marble eyes and warm smile.  He leaned down over her, caressing her cheek as his lips approached hers.  She could feel the warmth of his breath and smell his skin as her mouth ached to touch his.  She wanted to feel him; to taste him.

Just as their lips brushed together, he suddenly jerked back.  Jennifer raised up, confused.

Jimmy’s eyes were saucers of shock and pain.  Clawed fingers were wrapped around his neck, and what appeared to be a large bone spike stuck from his chest.  He slumped to his knees.

Behind him stood the most frightening sight she had ever seen.

Jennifer awoke sitting straight up in bed, screaming.