Books of the Dead (13 page)

“Kimberly!” The old couple called out to her and the waitress looked up at them.

“Yes Mrs. Jenkins,” she asked.

“Is there a problem?” they asked.

This time Nora grasped the situation that the couple had mistaken the conversation for a spat. Nora had been part of restaurants brawls and was aware of how they turned ugly at times, and locals tried to prevent it. This time, it was no different and Nora needed to handle the situation fast, so before any more words were exchanged or things turned around, she asked, “Can I have a look at today’s newspaper?”

“Ah, sure, Miss, why didn’t you ask before?” the waitress handed her the local newspaper and Nora took the first bite of the cold pancake. They taunted her taste buds, but she had only herself to blame, and Nora decided to finish the food quickly and get out of the place. There were no significant incidents that she found in the paper other than small feats and environmental news, and at that moment, she understood why the story about the Keaton sister had caused so much stir in the first place.

Soon Nora was out of the diner and made her way towards the Internet café. She checked the address again to make sure she was going the right way, and after a turn and going a few blocks, she was standing in front of the café. Nora made her way in. There was a handsome young manager sitting at the front desk and Nora’s eyes caught the details of piercing in his ears and small ink marks around his wrist and arms. The person caught Nora looking at him and although Nora was mildly embarrassed by her own reaction, she didn’t let that show in her face.

She walked up to where the manager was sitting and saw that he was about her age. “I want to use one of your computers.” The manager guided her towards an empty spot before getting back to what he was doing. Nora looked up at him once, but by then he was already busy with his work. Nora then looked around her to see if there was anyone else working in the café. There was one young girl with head phones on humming to some music in one corner, and a middle-aged man sitting opposite her, but immersed in his computer screen, and Nora wondered if they knew about her as well.

At first, she tried checking about the town’s history on the internet and about its people, local schools and restaurants or places to visit, and then she read about the local library, but nowhere was there any mention of the Keaton siblings or the incident that locals said that put them on the map. Nora tried searching again, but came up with similar results all the time. Exasperated, she hit the key buttons too hard and it made the young manager and the man sitting opposite her take notice.

“I am sorry” Nora said. She looked down and gave a last try to find something, but her efforts were all futile. There was no information on what she wanted to know.

Nora then remembered to call the number that was copied in her notebook to see if she could get an appointment, but she had to inform Merly as well. She noticed a phone on the manager’s counter and brooded over whom to call first, and while she stood there thinking, she saw the young manager looking and smiling at her. She smiled back in return, but didn’t make any phone call.

“Hi, I am Larry. You new here?” he asked.

Nora was about to offer her pretend name, but she was in a town where everyone was unfamiliar to her, and there wasn’t many who knew her yet. They knew her by her face, and she thought it was pointless to offer another false name. Although she did want to tell him her real name, she couldn’t. Instead, she paid what was due in cash, offered a gentle smile again and walked out of the door.

Pondering over something was never Nora’s thing, so this time, she didn’t want to either, but her mind went back to Larry’s face. He looked puzzled when she didn’t give her name in return, and for a fleet second, she wanted to make amends with that, but it was too late. Thus, Nora kept walking in search for a PC or a shop where she could use the phone without anyone noticing. Her wish was granted when she saw a little hardware store nearby There must be a phone in there, she thought and walked into the shop. It was a typical store full of hardware supplies and men and women going about their business, some buying and others looking at the products. Nobody noticed her while she walked. She went directly near the payment counter assuming there would be a phone, but while walking there, she felt a little awkward and thus turned back and decided to get a few things before asking for the phone.

Nora found a shiny green screwdriver and decided to buy two of them. She took them to the counter, and like the café, she decided to pay in cash. After the deal was done, she asked if she could make a phone call and offered an explanation to the cashier that she had left her phone behind. The cashier didn’t tell her anything to make her feel uncomfortable instead directed her towards where the phone was kept. She reached up to the phone hastily and knew that she was inching closer to the information that she was hoping to receive. She took out her notebook and looked to see if someone was watching her. She scolded herself for being so suspicious lately, but then Mr. Kippler’s words rang in her mind about how he had asked her to be careful the other day. Nora dialed the number and waited for someone to answer. No one answered, and Nora tried again and again until finally, she heard a woman’s voice on the other end.

“Hello, who is this?”

Nora heard an accent which made it hard to understand, so she remained quiet until the person asked her the question again. Nora was glad that someone finally picked up the phone, but the voice on the other end didn’t sound to welcoming.

“May I speak with Mr. Joseph?” Nora asked

“Who is calling?” The voice on the other end demanded sharply.

Nora was intimated a little, but she didn’t gave up her cool. She looked around again, and then calmly said, “I am a reporter and Mr. Joseph is one of the oldest folk in this town, so it would benefit me if I am allowed to interview him.” This time Nora hoped for the voice on the other end to believe her lie.

There was silence for several minutes before she heard a sound and the lady spoke. “No, you cannot, because he is sick and does not wish to speak to anyone.” Without saying anything else, she slammed the phone down.

Nora was stunned and was holding the receiver in her hand when the cashier asked if she was done with the call, but she was not. She had to get that appointment, but there was no way of getting it with that lady in the way.

Maybe I should seek the help of Mr. Kippler again.
Nora didn’t want to bother him over and over again.

Nora tried the number again, and this time she braced herself, but the moment the lady heard Nora’s voice, her tone changed. She clearly intended not to convey the message to Mr. Joseph and insisted that he had no desire to speak with her whatsoever. Nora couldn’t understand why the lady was reacting in such a manner. “Mrs. Shindel, I got this number from her.” Nora said and hoped that this name would work, but the lady seemed unmoved by it. She was obviously displeased by the phone call and asked Nora not to bother them anymore. There was no point wasting time in the store, the cashier was giving her looks every now and then. For Nora, walking out was the finest option.

“I should just go to Mr. Kippler,” Nora said then looked at the screwdriver in her hand and laughed at herself for buying those for no reason. She looked for the nearest dumpster to throw them away, but when she didn’t find any, she stored them in her back pack.

The road to Mr. Kippler’s house was in the opposite direction and having been to his house the previous day, Nora thought she knew where it was, yet at the same time, the roads seemed too similar. She asked a couple of people passing by to verify if she was going in the right direction. It took her nearly twenty minutes to reach his house, and although there was a slight chill in the air, Nora felt her throat parched. She crossed the lawn, which was covered with brown and orange leaves and then climbed up the porch of Mr. Kippler’s house.

This time, Mr. Kippler opened the door himself with his wife standing beside him. Nora gave a knowing smile to him and his wife, but she didn’t return it to her. Mr. Kippler sounded exceptionally happy to see her.

“Dora, my girl, come inside. You look hungry, would you like something?” he asked.

“I’m fine, Mr. Kippler, and I am not here for the food,” Nora sounded desperate.

“Why don’t you sit down,” he suggested.

“I can do with some water,” Nora politely said as she was in no position to speak with her throat so dry.

Nora gulped down the water, and Mr. Kippler waited for her to finish it.

“What brings you again today?” Mr. Kippler asked without any deliberation. “So you need my help, lady?” he asked kindly.

Nora looked towards him and nodded her head. “As much as I didn’t want to bother you, the truth is that I do. I am at a loss and stuck; I don’t know what to do.”

“What happened exactly?” Mr. Kippler questioned.

“The lady at Mr. Joseph’s residence refuses to give me an appointment, and I called twice, but she dismissed it completely and strictly forbid me to call there again. I gave Mrs. Shindel’s name, but it was of no avail. She refused to recognize anyone and stated that she doesn’t care. What am I supposed to do in this situation?”

“What do you want me to do?” he asked instead.

“Perhaps you can get an appointment for me, but I hope I am not asking much.” Nora was sure that he would refuse. Mr. Kippler was a stranger and he had already done so much for her, and it was not like he was young. Age had gotten the better of Mr. Kippler, as well. However, Nora believed that she might get the help and Mr. Kippler looked the type who would help her in the vortex that she was caught in at the moment.

Mr. Kippler didn’t say a thing, and listened to every word that Nora said, and Nora saw a little sadness in his eyes. A long silence followed and Nora could feel the silence up to her bones. The silence was of sadness, it was of loss.

“Sit here and I will be back.” He left without saying anything else. Nora couldn’t interpret why she saw the sadness in his eyes, but her query was answered when Mr. Kippler came out with a photograph of a young girl, a little younger than Nora, smiling cheerfully in the photograph.

“Who is she?” Nora asked half-knowing the answer herself.

“She is my daughter, Emily, and you remind me so much of her that I cannot help but assist you.

A sense of guilt struck Nora; she regretted dragging this old man in her mission, but offering her apology in this situation seemed unfair, so she remained quiet.

Mr. Kippler was the one to break the silent first. “I am fine and I will help you, young lady. Give me the number,” he said.

“Here, take this.” Nora handed her notebook to Mr. Kippler.

Mr. Kippler took the notebook from Nora’s hands and lifted his glasses to view the number and then dialed it. Like it happened with Nora, there was no answer in the beginning, but then Nora heard a harsh voice from the other end, but then Mr. Kippler simply said his name and Nora could hear the voice on the other end calming down slowly.

Mr. Kippler wrote something down on the notebook and thanked the lady before putting the receiver down. He asked Nora, “Do you wish for me to accompany you?”

“No, I don’t want you to bother anymore. You have done too much for me already and I am indebted to you.” Nora was more than thankful towards Mr. Kippler, but she didn’t want him to accompany her to Mr. Joseph’s house. Her curious mind wanted to know what prompted the otherwise gruff lady to allow an interview with Mr. Joseph.

Nora couldn’t contain her curiosity anymore and asked him, ”What made her agree with you? She didn’t even want to listen to me not even when I said that I got his name from Mrs. Schindel, but then you talked to her and everything is set. This is just amazing … how did you do this?”

“I know a little secret of his,” Mr. Kippler said cheekily, but he didn’t elaborate on it.

“There is a secret?” Nora repeated. “Mr. Joseph seems to be a quite mysterious person.”

“No more mysterious than you are, Dora,” Mr. Kippler suddenly said and it caught her off-guard.

“What do you mean by that?” Nora asked, but in reality, she did understand what Mr. Kippler meant by that. She was really not telling him who she was. Nora felt a little guilty and she hated lying this time. Especially, as this stranger was doing so much for her, but her hands were tied. She had come a long way with her lies and even if she told the truth, Mr. Kippler probably wouldn’t believe her.

Nora kept her head down and tried to act innocent, and asked again what he meant by what he said.

“I think you should go quickly before she changes her mind and cancels the meeting,” he said.

“What is her name?” Nora asked before leaving.

“We call her Jennifer or Jenny, at times. She is not like she sounds, in fact, she is very nice in person. She might have been a little shaken when you called this morning, so her response was not all that polite, but this time I am sure it will be different.” Mr. Kippler sounded very sure when he uttered those words, and Nora believed him.

However, before walking out of Mr. Kippler’s house, she wanted to say who she was, but when she turned back, he was already out of the room. She lost the opportunity to tell him anything. Once she was out of the house, Nora checked what was scribbled in the notebook and found the address written with the directions, and Nora estimated that the house could possibly be far and it would take her time to get there. There was no car in sight and Nora didn’t want to hitchhike, so she started walking when Mr. Kippler stopped her when he called her name.

He tossed her his scooter keys and asked, “Do you know how to ride, young lady?” Nora stood there looking at the keys and nodded her head. “Good, then you will need it,” he said. “I have parked it there,” and showed her where the old-fashioned scooter model was standing. “It will take a long while if you walk, so take this.”

“Oh, Mr. Kippler, you are so kind. How can I ever repay you?” Nora asked being completely overwhelmed.

“Save it, and you better hurry,” he said one final time before leaving his keys with her.