touch (7 page)

Walking home, I couldn’t help but smile.  Mom would flip and
probably not in a good way.  I paid attention to the time as I walked.  I made
it home in seven minutes, the walk brisk but manageable.

Gran was talking to Aunt Danielle quietly when I opened the
front door.  The book lay in her hands.  When they saw me, Gran smiled widely
and stood.

“You look much better.  Happy.  What happened?”  She took my
hat and mittens and put them in the hanging basket under my coat hook.

“I got a job,” I said with a small smile hanging my jacket
and then moving to the fridge to start pulling out dinner ingredients.  While
walking home, a bus passed me.  More time had passed in the Coffee Shop than
I’d realized.

I noticed Gran’s smile fade slightly.  She questioned me
with her eyes.

Setting everything on the counter I smiled widely at her
surprise.  Spontaneity wasn’t usually our thing.  We were careful people.  We
talked, planned, and then decided together if the plan would work.

“Seriously.  It was as if it was meant to be.  It’s only on
the weekends from seven thirty until one.  The owner, Mona, admitted the pay
sucks, but it seems like it’d be a good first job.  And it sounds like a few
kids left the job already so, if it doesn’t work out, I doubt she’ll be
surprised if I quit.”

Gran nodded and helped me put a salad together for dinner. 
When mom came home, she wasn’t as surprised about the job as I’d thought.  She
smiled saying she knew moving was the right thing.

*    *    *    *

The next morning, my bruise had faded enough that I could
hide the remnants with heavy concealer.  Having done my fair share of first
days, I wasn’t nervous.  Mom had stopped by the school last Friday to get me
registered.  Schedule in hand, I walked into the doors ready to try again.

The main entrance opened to a modest lobby that smelled like
wet sneakers.  Two primary hallways branched from the lobby.  I spotted the
office to the right and went to check in.

Another student already stood in the office, leaning comfortably
against the counter, talking to the secretary.  Dressed in a red, black and grey
plaid pleated skirt and solid grey sweater layered over a white collared
button-up, I wondered if this school encouraged uniforms.

The secretary looked up at me and I gave my name.  She
smiled in welcome and asked the girl to give me a brief tour handing us both
late slips.  Popping tutti-frutti scented bubbles between her teeth, the girl
nodded her mostly blonde head and motioned for me to follow.  The pink and
purple peek-a-boos contrasted her otherwise school girl look.

She introduced herself as Beatriz.  After showing me my
locker, we went down my list of scheduled classes finding each room in relation
to my locker.

Smiley and welcoming, Beatriz had me wishing again for a
friend.  Oh, I knew how to make friends… I just knew that I couldn’t keep
them.  Friends eventually wanted to come over, or go out at night.  They also eventually
asked hard questions I couldn’t answer.  At least, not without sounding crazy.

So, I smiled and thanked her, but didn’t start up any
additional conversation.  Instead, I turned and started putting my things in my
locker.  The tactic usually drove people away from me.  Not Beatriz.

“You know, I’m going to like you,” she said from just behind
me.

I glanced over my shoulder at her trying to figure out why
she was still there.  She studied each item I put in my locker.

“Simple things.  Nothing pretentious,” she nodded at the
things in my locker.

I glanced back at my school supplies.  Cheap and bought in
bulk, I’d never really given them much thought.  You do your homework in them
and move on to other things.  There and gone again.

“You can tell a lot about a person by their locker,” she
continued.  “I’m taking a guess here, but you keep to yourself and don’t really
care what people think about you.”

She didn’t give me a chance to answer.  “Come on.  We have
first hour together.  We can catch the last few minutes.”

It turned out that we had several classes together that
day.  She talked to me in the hall when she had a chance and introduced me to a
few other students.  Overall, it easily ranked as the best first day ever.  I
didn’t have to touch a boy once.

That night when my mom got home, she asked if I met anyone
interesting.  I mentioned Beatriz even though I knew she’d meant boys.  She
gave me a level look and told me I needed to put more effort into choosing.  My
seventeenth birthday loomed on the horizon making my time left to pick, short. 
I didn’t need the reminder.  They all looked at me expectantly and I nodded in
agreement while I wondered again, what would happen if I just didn’t choose.

The second day I didn’t fare as well.

Jess, a boy in my geometry class asked if I had plans on
Saturday.  I wanted to say I did have plans, but also knew I was running out of
time to make my choice.  In a friendly and hopefully non-suggestive manner, I
touched his arm briefly letting the vision wash over me before I giving my
regrets.

At first, I thought I hurt his feelings.  His face fell
slightly and a flush started to creep up his neck.  Then, it suddenly stopped. 
He stood straighter and his previously downcast gaze met mine directly.

“Tell me.  What did you see?”  His voice echoed.

I forgot to breathe for a moment and lights danced before my
eyes.  Nausea rose.

We stood in the hallway having just finished lunch.  The
majority of students milled around us.

“You don’t look well.  Come.  Sit.”  He motioned me into the
quieter cafeteria and waited expectantly for me to move.  I hesitated, not
wanting to do anything he suggested but knowing I didn’t really have much of a
choice.  He could jump bodies, follow me or possibly hurt the person he controlled. 
I didn’t want to risk anyone else.  I appeared to keep his attention well
enough that I wouldn’t need to worry about others if I listened.  A thought
struck me.  If I didn’t listen, could he control me?

Woodenly walking up to the tables, I faced him, not
sitting.  “Who… what are you?  What do you want?”  My voice came out strong
surprising me.  My insides felt like jelly.

“Don’t you know?” he asked.  For the first time, an
expression leaked through the face of the person he controlled.  He appeared
truly puzzled.  “Did you lose the book?”

My mouth popped open a bit.  Book.  How could he know?  He
watched me patiently his observant gaze never leaving me.  The lunch-ladies
started moving around washing tables casting us questioning looks.

When I didn’t answer, he clarified for me.  “I am here to
collect on the bargain Belinda’s father made.”

“What bargain?  What are you collecting?”  My voice rose in
fear.

“Excuse me you two,” one of the women boldly interrupted.  I
swung my shocked gaze her direction.  “You’ll have to take your drama somewhere
else.  The bell rang and we need to clean up.”

I barely managed a nod.  Turning back to Jess, he frowned at
me.  “How did we get here?”

Relief flooded me.  It’d left.  I knew I should have felt
something else though.  It had answers we needed.  Whatever it was, I needed to
try to speak to it and get them.  The thought made my stomach dip dangerously.

Jess blinked at me in confusion and, not wanting to ruin a
potentially good school, lied like a pro.  “Are you okay, Jess?  You asked me
if I had plans on Saturday and kinda blanked on me for a minute.  Want me to
walk you to the nurse’s office?”

It took effort to sound concerned and caring.  Bigger
problems floated around in my head.  Jess shook his head and walked off
absently.  I went to my next class.  I’d been right about the move.  Nothing
had changed, except for maybe keeping me safe from bullies… for now.

For the rest of the day, I debated about telling everyone at
home.  The guilt of not telling them about Clavin’s visit also weighed on me. 
I knew it hurt to keep secrets, but I didn’t think moving, which is what they’d
want to do, was the answer.  If it’d followed us from the other house, what
would keep it from doing it again?  But I worried that staying might mean that
it would find a way to hurt my family like it had Clavin.  I had to trust that
the precautions we’d been using, to lock up the house at night, and the chant
that they spoke would be enough to keep us safe.

When the final bell rang, I put my books in my locker with
relief.  No sign of the thing since lunch.  I thought about checking out the
school’s library.  There wasn’t much hope that this library would have more
than the other school, but asking for books about demon possession would cause
less suspicion here.  My reputation hadn’t yet had time to grow.  Plus, here I
could easily walk home instead of taking the bus.  I thought of the cold walk
home from the Coffee Shop and shivered.  Walking home from school would be just
as chilly.  If I saved what I made working, I’d talk mom into taking me to the
thrift store.  The image of a thick fluffy jacket popped into my head, but I
hesitated getting excited over it.  My current jacket had been a gift from
everyone at home.  Would getting a new one hurt their feelings?

“Doesn’t that hurt?”

I spun around recognizing both voices.  Beatriz stood beside
me, studying me.

“What?” I croaked looking around to see who stood close
enough to hear our conversation.

“Biting your lip.  Doesn’t that hurt?”  It tilted Beatriz’s
head looking pointedly at my mouth.

“Uh… I’m careful?”  I hadn’t even known I was biting my
lip.  It nodded as if it understood and I waited wondering what it would say
next.

“What did Belinda write in her book?”  It didn’t relax its
searching gaze or its alert stance.

Its question surprised me.  When it mentioned the book
before, I thought it knew something more than I did.  If it didn’t, then how
did it even know about Belinda’s book?  I wondered what I should reveal. 
Should I pretend I didn’t know what it meant?  Was there something in the book
that could hurt us if I shared the information?  I didn’t think so.  The fact
the information was unhelpful in my own search for answers prodded me to answer
honestly, yet vaguely.

“Rules and everyone’s first name.  Like a family tree. 
That’s it.”

“What rules?”

Talking about our weird rules in public, after a lifetime of
secrecy, unnerved me.  In my mind, I imagined everyone hearing my words, even
though I spoke softly.

Looking around again, I murmured, “Home before dark.  Close
up the house.  Sleep.”  I didn’t elaborate on that part.  “And choose a boy
before seventeen.”

It was quiet for a long moment, actually breaking eye
contact to look away, its gaze unfocused.  “Haven’t you ever wondered why
you’re choosing a… boy?”  It said the last word with contempt.

I wondered about its distaste for the word, but could only
nod.  Yes, I did wonder why.  I wanted to know badly, but wasn’t sure if anything
this thing said could be trusted.

It looked back at me and answered as if it had seen my nod. 
“I’ll sit with you tomorrow at lunch.  We’ll talk more then.”

Again, it left me feeling torn and dealing with a confused
person.  I walked outside with Beatriz pretending she’d just walked up to me at
the locker, hoping no one would mention us having a conversation.

Tomorrow would be a good day to stay home sick.

*    *    *    *

No matter how much I wanted to stay home, I couldn’t come up
with a good enough reason for my mom to let me.  I didn’t want to tell them. 
Imagining my mom telling her boss we needed to move already less than a week
after arriving, made me cringe for her.  How awkward would her relationship be
after that?  Especially, when he’d been so nice about setting up this place for
us.  No, I firmly decided to keep my problem to myself.  But I also didn’t want
to have to sit with that thing while eating lunch.

When the bell rang for lunch, I approached the cafeteria
with caution.  Beatriz caught up with me in line and we chatted about our
English assignment.

Covertly, I watched everyone around me trying to spot it. 
Beatriz sat next to me.  Jess seemed to consider joining us, but at the last
minute changed his mind.  Probably for the best.  With him, I would have four
kids in three years.  One set of twins.  He would die in a car accident,
leaving me heart broken.  I saw I would truly come to care for him and that,
along with leaving me with four kids, scared me.  None of the existing branches
showed four.  Three topped it.  The life expectancy of our men and the
gestation period made more impossible.

Since it was just the two of us, I watched Beatriz closely. 
It didn’t disappoint.  As soon as she took her last bite, it took over.

“You look well today,” it noted with an indecipherable look.

Maybe because I’d been expecting it, or maybe because I’d
already spoken to it several times, I didn’t feel the usual spike of numbing
fear.  Oh, I still scared me, just not enough to paralyze me.

“Thank you.  Not to be rude, but what are you?”

It quirked a smile at me.  “A creature created long ago when
nature was corrupt with other influences.”

That told me nothing.  I toyed with my fork, thinking,
trying to gain the courage I needed to be direct.  Given how quickly it tended
to disappear, I didn’t want to let this chance to get an answer, a meaningful
one, slip by.

With a calming breath, I asked, “What bargain were you
referring to?”

It reached over and removed the fork from my hands, a small
smile playing on its lips.  Setting the fork on its own tray, it leaned toward
me and explained, “Belinda grew up without a mother.  Her father, who loved her
very much, worked hard to provide for them both, but could never earn enough to
improve their circumstance.  He worried about what would happen to Belinda if
something should happen to him.  He tried to arrange a match for her, but she
didn’t like her options.  To be honest, I don’t think her father did either,
but with so little money, back then, there wasn’t much choice.  So he called on
me.  He asked for …”