Ars Goetia - Chapter One

"Well, what do you think?"

Quick, say something nice... anything... okay, so it has just been a full two minutes without you saying anything. She's going to notice. Just say the first thing that comes to mind. Unique. Okay, let's not go with that. Click. Boom. Thank goodness. She got out of the car.

I relaxed back into the leather seat of my mom's Honda CRV and released my held breath. I mean, what did she expect me to say? The house was... hideous. It was so hideous that trees and vines were trying to engulf it down to the center of the earth. This can't be the right place. This can't be what my mother had pined over and cried for during the many court dates with dad. It was all she harped on and dad just seemed to hand it right over. Who wouldn't? And the thing is she was happy about it, like she accomplished something. I mean, I literally watched as she smiled up at the decrepit hut, shielding her eyes as if she were being drawn to it. She placed her other hand on her hip and continued to marvel at the place. All I could do was watch in disbelief.

"Aren't you going to get out too?" My little sister asked as she sat up from the backseat and rested her chin on my shoulder.

"No... no I'm good. I'm just hoping that mom got the wrong house. I'm waiting for her to do that thing she does when she gets something wrong. You know that thing where she tenses up nervously and scratches the back of her neck while shrinking away. Yeah, I'm waiting for her to shrink away and return to the car so we can go find the right house." I replied, a little uneasy.

"Em, I think this is it."

"Oh, Justine don't say it out loud." I cringed. "If you say it out loud, it makes it true." I whined while covering my eyes with my arm for dramatic effect.

"I don't think, it's that bad. I've always liked Victorian houses. And it's so cool because now we live in the historical district. Remember, you said you liked the historical district."

"Yeah, to drive through and gawk at, not live in. God," I said while dropping my arm into my lap. "That thing looks like the doll house you had when you were five. We're living in an overgrown doll house." When I said it, I realized it was true. It matched that God awful purple color and everything. I was astonished by the resemblance.

"Guys!" My mother called turning towards us. "I don't want to go in by myself!" Her voice was muffled by the glass.

"Mom!" I called. She was actually inviting us in. I couldn't let this go on any longer. I waved her towards the car door. She rolled her eyes but I didn't care. This had to end now.

When she reached the window she squatted with a bit of annoyance in her demeanor. "What is it? Are you planning on staying in the car all day or are you going to get out and check this place out?"

"No...I was planning on getting out...it's just...do you think you could possibly have the wrong house?" I asked, picking my word choice as carefully as possible. She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. I shrank away. Not as carefully as I thought. "I'm just saying. Ten seventy-one can just as easily be mistaken for twenty forty-one." I said with a shrug. And it could. No one's perfect.

"Trust me, I'm not mistaken." My mom said dryly. "This was the first house your father and I owned together. He brought me here right after our honeymoon. And the best part is this is the exact house where your brother was born. This house has so many memories and is a symbol for great starts. After the divorce don't you think we could use such a powerful thing like that in our lives?"

I could hear the tears in her voice. "No, we're strong people mom. We don't need symbols. So come on." I coaxed as I pushed the driver's side door open. "Let's go back to Inglewood Drive and pretend this little trip never happened. Come on." I encouraged.

All she did was stare at me with one of those contemplating should-she-hit-me-or-not kind of stares. All I could do was put on an angelic smile and pat the seat in a 'come hither' fashion. It didn't work. She just slammed the door in my face. Okay, maybe I did come off a little mean. She did just almost pour her heart out to me. And to be honest she had been taking the divorce hard these past few days, but come on. Wasn't she the one who said that when you hit rock bottom you have to start over fresh? How is this starting over fresh? You don't move into a home you owned with your ex. You take all his property, fix it up, sell it for all they're worth and buy you an even bigger house. A prettier one even.

Mom wasn't getting it. And by the looks of it she was serious too. She had walked up to the house and pulled out the key from her front pocket. I gave up. Once my mother was determined there was no stopping her. I sighed and fell back into my seat. "This is all dad's fault. He knew what he was doing when he left this house to mom in the divorce papers. He totally got the better end of the deal. Mom should have gone with the house in Connecticut or the flat in Rhode Island." I griped.

"Well, mom didn't want us to move away from here." Justine said with a trace of disappointment. "Especially since you're in your junior year of high school."

"I'd rather suffer at a new school then stay in this one and have everybody know that I live in some reject doll house." I can just hear Xavier and Bethany now. Well, not so much Xavier because I can just knee him in the nuts and be done with it but Beth is my best friend. I can't go around kneeing her in the nuts. Not that she has any to knee.

"Come on Em, you heard mom. She needs this place. The divorce is tearing her apart. Just, love it for her. It's not always about you, ya know." Justine explained as she opened her car door.

What was this? Was she actually trying to lecture me? I turned around completely in my seat and watched as she unbuckled her seat belt. "Whoa, since when did you get all grown up? Tryin' to talk big because you started eighth grade?" I teased. She had gotten in the habit of tryin' to boss me these past few days. Especially after her 14th birthday.

"Unlike you sis, I know how to look out for other people's feelings. You should try it sometime." The little brat said as she crawled out of the car and walked towards the house.

Great, now she was committed to this place too. I turned and plopped into my seat. The eyesore didn't take long to creep back into my line of vision. The monstrosity stood out like a sore freakin' thumb.

"But why do I have to suffer for it? Her happiness means my humiliation." Okay. I must admit that after saying it out loud, I regretted it. I did seem a bit selfish but still it was the truth. If he were here he would understand. Mom would probably listen to me then and reconsider. I sighed and dug into my pocket for my cell phone. I pulled out my red Samsung slider and went into my menu options until I found my text message outbox. Okay. So I had sent it. I knew I wasn't crazy. He was just being a jerk. I clicked on the last message, I sent and reread it for the thirteenth time. 'Come home quick. Dad has made a fool of mom again.' I slid my cell phone shut and returned it to my pocket.

Closing my eyes I said, "What's the point anyway? He never responds or calls. He's worse than dad." I frowned and opened my eyes, hoping that the house had at least changed color. I looked up to it. Nope. Still purple. Fine. "If he won't come home then Justine is right... I gotta do it for mom." Easier said than done.

I rolled my eyes and opened the car door. I looked down at the cobble stoned parkway, reluctant to step out. Even it seemed hideous. I would have to let my vintage flats suffer against its grime. I shuddered and let out a small whine when the ball of my foot met the ground. I didn't have to let my whole shoe suffer. I got out of the car successfully on my tiptoes. I shut the door and fell back a bit causing one of my flats to slip off my heel and connect with the cobble stone. No! I told mom these flats were too big but did she listen? No! Now look what happened! I decided to take them off for preservation sake. Still on my tiptoes my black peacock feather designed stockings got sullied instead as I moved up the driveway. I had two pairs of these so it didn't bother me as much. As I inched my way towards the house I looked about the neighborhood just to make sure nobody was watching. I half expected, the yearbook committee to jump out and snap pictures. Careful, yes. Paranoid, maybe just a little.

But as I looked about the neighborhood, I had to admit it was pretty nice and quaint. The yellows, reds, and oranges of the autumn trees that lined the main road made it seem as if we were on some commercialized set for a car commercial. You know the one where the woman is happily driving along in her little minivan and humbly stops for the traffic director who waves all the little eager school children along. The other houses though were kind of the same, just different in size, color, and some in style. I half expected a little church down the road where everyone goes for town meetings to discuss how Mrs. Pepperidge Farm still had her trash cans by the side of the road or how Mr. Wells Fargo hadn't cut his grass in months.

I chuckled to myself but stopped abruptly when I heard the snipping of a blade against the leaves of a bush. I snatched around and caught an old man dead in his tracks. Mr. Wells Fargo no doubt. He looked at me surprised, hedge trimmers open in hand hovering over one of the unkempt bushes. What was he doing? His bushes looked like he hadn't trimmed them in ages. Now all of a sudden he wanted to come and fix them. I bet he just wanted to get the latest scope so he could run back and tell what he found at his little town meetings. I wouldn't let that happen. I turned towards the house and dashed up the cobble stoned stairs. Behind me the sound of the bushes being clipped picked back up. Yeah, just go back to hedging.

When I reached the front door, I could hear my mother's frenetic voice seep through. I grabbed the old-fashioned handle and had to push the door open hard to jostle it off its hinges. The house greeted me with one of those eerie squeaks from the door. Great. Ugly and creepy.

"Oh, Justine, what do you think?" My mother's voice sang, echoing through the house.

"It's...nice." Justine's voice hesitated.

Okay, Justine was being more than nice. She was being a freakin' saint. The place was horrendous. As I inched my way in my feet met with the dusty, rickety, mahogany floor boards. I could see where Justine and mom had walked towards the kitchen.

The place felt like an oven and smelt as if it had been closed up for fifty years. I wrinkled up my nose at the floral print wallpaper that looked as if they wanted to run from the walls as much as I wanted to run from the house. Then as if to add to the cliché the place was filled with old, dusty, 18th century lookin' furniture. Everything seemed ancient and it was impossible not to see a spider web hanging from somewhere.

"Who would guess? It's hideous on the outside and the inside." I said to myself as I tried to maneuver through the house without letting any part of me or my peacoat and dress come in contact with anything.

"Now, I know what you're thinking." My mom's voice continued to flutter. "It is looking a bit out of date but mind you it won't be like this for long. Our things will arrive tomorrow and the interior designer will arrive with paint and crew."

By the sound of the banging I assumed they were still in the kitchen looking through the cabinets.

"It's going to take more than paint and crew to fix this mess." I chuckled, saying out loud what I was thinking accidentally.

"Emeline, why don't you just go upstairs and check it out? I've put up with your sarcasm far enough and I want you to take it far away from me before I do something I might regret." My mother snapped as she walked up beside me.

I jumped back from her sudden presence and from the fact that she had heard me. Either this place has great acoustics or it's just dangerously small. "Mom! You scared me. And I didn't mean for you to hear that. I wasn't being mean deliberately. I was talking to myself."

"I don't care. Get as far away from me as possible. Now!" She commanded.

I scoffed. I apologized and everything and yet this? I said I didn't do it on purpose. My eyes met with Justine's as she rounded the corner behind mom. She shook her head at me with that disappointment of hers and returned to the living room.

"Fine. Whatever." I said as I rolled my eyes.

Without another word my mom walked back into the living room with Justine. I looked towards the staircase to my right. Reluctantly I walked towards it and wanted so much to run to my mom and apologize again. The narrow mahogany stairs ascended into darkness. Only one beam of light dared to shine down against the wall, illuminating specks of dust that swam and glistened in the still air. I looked back towards the living room, more than willing to throw myself at her feet.

"Get a hold of yourself Emeline. There's nothing wrong with this place. Sure it seems shady but that's all it is. Appearances." I shrugged nonchalantly but even I wasn't convinced.

I swallowed back the lump that began to swell in my throat. I would just have to suck it up. I moved towards the stairs and settled my foot on the first stair. I expected to hear a creak much like the one from the front door but none came. Thank goodness. I took another step and still no creak. I continued this process up the two flights of stairs until I reached the twelfth and last stair. I peeked around the walls and looked to my left and right, studying the long, dusty hall that seemed to stretch endlessly.

"Come play with us Emeline. Play with us forever." I said to myself in a child's voice. Funny as it was I still creep myself out.

I laughed it off and decided to go to the right first. The first door was to my immediate right. I decided to take a look. When I pushed it open the baby blue walls jumped right out at me. It was a nursery. I couldn't help but smile. It was all so cute. The theme was airplanes and teddy bears. All the light tan, wooden, baby furniture seemed to be made by hand. To my left against the wall was a baby changing station, further along the wall continuing to the left was a large rocking chair sitting kind of cater-corner to the wall, then following that sat a crib all made up with a frilly blue liner and a blanket to match. Inside the crib sat a small pillow that caught my eye. I walked towards the crib, dodged the cute, wooden, airplane mobile that hung over it, and grabbed the pillow. The satin had been dusted over but the red embroidery still stood out against it. NLH, Nathaniel Lee Hunt, my older brother's initials.

"So this was his room." I said to myself. "Why would mom leave something like this here?"

I looked out the window that sat above the crib. The view was amazing in its own way. A tree grew dangerously close to the window, its branches tapping against the pane beckoning me to open it so that it might stretch its bony fingers inside. Beyond the fingers and past its golden leaves you could actually make out the neighborhood below, all cute and charming in its own way.

"I should've known that this would be the place to find you." My mother's voice rang from behind me. I turned quickly, a little startled. This small match box was going to take some getting used to. "You're practically magnetized to all things your brother." She joked.

I couldn't say anything. It was the truth. I was practically joined at the hip with the guy. It's not like we were twins or anything, you know with that creepy bond they got going on with talking in unison or finishing each other's sentences. It was just... he's my older brother. He took care of me and stuff. Not only that but he was the only one who could get me, completely. He knows everything about me so it's easier to talk to him than anyone else. He accepts all of me; my selfishness, my skittishness, my sarcasm, and even my flat out rudeness at times. Well...maybe tolerated. Ever since he left for college two years ago I haven't heard a word from him. I don't even know if the guy is alive. And I can't even begin to understand how mom is cool with it. If he were my kid I'd be raising hell all up and down Penn State. But all she says is that I should have faith. That she can feel that deep down in her heart that he was alive and well. She calls it, 'Mother's Intuition'. I call it 'snail mail'. Just because you get report cards mailed to you with A's and B's doesn't mean anything. She clearly doesn't know the full potential of college students.

"Oh my goodness." My mother clasped her mouth with her trembling hand. "That's his pillow. That's my baby's first pillow." She said with tears in her voice. She moved to me and I handed it to her. I watched quietly as she ran her fingers over the dusty, red letters as if she had just unearthed some rare jewel. "I had been looking all over for this. I thought I left it here. I didn't want to believe it but it was true."

"How did you leave it behind? How did you leave any of this behind?" I ventured to ask softly. I wasn't sure if I could talk to her just yet.

She scoffed, "It was your stupid father's fault. I was sitting in here rocking Nathan to sleep one day and the idiot came running in like the house was fire. He had half of his face covered with shaving cream and the other half shaved. He was half-dressed, running around like a chicken with its head cut off, screaming that we had to move. He couldn't tell me anything. He just kept repeating that we had to get out now. I was in such a frenzy with trying to calm him down and calm Nathan down, who now started crying from all the ruckus, that I must have left it."

"That was weird." I raised a brow.

"Tell me about it." She dried her tears.

"So you guys just left?"

She nodded, "Left everything behind, moved to uptown Massachusetts, and never came back."

"What was that about?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. And every time I would ask him he'd turn ghost white like something spooked him."

"Strange."

"I know."

"So... is it safe for us to be moving back in here?" My mom scoffed and shook her head. "No. Don't misunderstand. I'm asking for my general well-being not because I don't like it." I clarified.

"Yes, it's safe." She said with a little bite in her tone. She didn't believe me. "Your father was just being an idiot."

I didn't say anything. I felt that my very voice would tick her off. I contemplated leaving but as I watched her trace those letters continuously as if it would be the last thing she would ever see. I felt like she would fall apart if left alone. So I just stood there, stranded on a mine field - make the wrong move and it could all go up in smoke. I felt bad though. Dad was dragging mom through a pile of mud these past few months and I wasn't helping at all. Maybe Justine was right.

"I - I'm sorry mom." I finally decided to say, sincerity riddled throughout my tone.

My mom smiled down at me. A weak smile but still a smile. She wrapped her arm around me and held me tight, planting a few kisses on the top of my head.

"Things are just happening so fast. You guys are just growing up so fast." She said, voice still trembling.

"Well, you can't think about that. Think of the here and now." I said in a lively voice. I rubbed her back and pulled away. "You have us now, so use us now. Because trust me mom, this place needs a lot of work. This seems like the only place in the house whose paint or walls aren't chipped, cracked, or falling apart." She laughed. Thank God she was laughing. "Do you know what you're going to do with the place?" I asked as I walked back into the hallway.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe something chic. Or oh! I could make it old Victorian. You know, keep up with the theme of the place." She jabbered excitedly while following me into the hallway.

"Mom. No." I said blankly. What she was saying was crazy talk.

"No? I think it's cute."

"What's your definition of cute?" I opened the next door across the hall and ran smack dab into a spider web. I screamed and fell back against the wall behind me. I thrashed about wildly, jumping around and screaming as my hands rustled my hair and smacked the invisible web off my clothes. Not one of my proudest moments but you have to understand, bugs, period, scare the crap out of me-butterflies, lady bugs, snails, wasps, and yes, spiders will send me in a fit of screams and a sprint in the opposite direction like none other. "Get it off! Get it off!" I cried.

My mom rushed to me and grabbed me firmly, "Emeline, hold still!" She commanded.

I did my best to control myself but only reduced my jumping to a fit of squirming. "Is it on me?" When my mom didn't answer it only made it worse. Her silent probing was a nightmare. "Mom! Mom! Is it on me? Mom!"

"No! Emeline! There's nothing on you." She finally barked.

Her words were like a tranquilizer. I dropped my hands and looked at her skeptically. Then suddenly she burst into laughter. How could she laugh at this? That was a life or death situation. I felt like crying.

She dried her tears and stepped back, "See? Even the house doesn't like ugly." She jabbed.

"Ha. Ha." I still didn't see the humor.

Justine finally scaled the stairs and joined us. She immediately shook her head at me with a smug grin as if she knew what had happened all along. I pushed off the wall and proceeded to fix myself.

"So mom, what are all these rooms?" Justine asked.

"Well behind me is the nursery. Emeline discovered the bathroom." She giggled. "Then that door on the end is a bedroom. Down the left of the hall the first bedroom is on the left. Continuing around is a bathroom, the Master bedroom, and then the Master bathroom. The two bedrooms have a door that connects to the bathroom. The nursery is the only one that doesn't have its own bath."

"I call Master!" I announced.

"You wish." My mom quipped. "You can have the room by the nursery."

"What? Are you kidding me? And be by myself? Nuh uh!"

"I thought you wanted your privacy? This way you can have a whole hall to yourself."

"Well yeah, I want my privacy but not in some creepy house with a creepy fixed up nursery next to it."

"Emeline, this house isn't creepy."

"Says you. This place breathes haunted mansion."

"This is home." She stated firmly.

"This is creepy." I whispered back.

My mom folded her arms, "So you'd put your younger sister by herself in this creepy house?"

"She can suck it up. What, she can talk big but she can't take the heat?" I asked shifting my gaze to Justine who just watched.

"Wow Emeline. I know I raised you better than that." My mom kind of growled. I shrugged. "End of the hall. By the nursery. Your room. Discussion over."

She didn't even give me time to respond. She just turned and went back down the stairs. Justine just followed right along, shaking her head along the way.

"Well, I'll just stay at Beth's! Then we'll both be happy!" I yelled after. There was no response.

I turned and looked back towards the room that was supposed to be mine. Out of all the times for mom to listen to me she choose now to do it. It was like she was conspiring with the house to get me alone, so it could turn me into some possessed freak who does weird back bends or whose head does some sick 360 move. Maybe this was her deranged way of punishing me. And trust me, it was working. I was scared shitless to the point where I'd do all of my chores with a Stamford wife smile and wait to have sex till I get married which would be in another thirty years.

I stepped towards the door hoping and praying that I wouldn't find bloody smear marks on the wall or another spider web. If I could find another painted up nursery I could deal. I reached the door and rested my hand on the door knob. I could feel my heart catapult from my chest and sink down into the depths of my stomach. I turned the knob and braced myself. The door fell open and revealed what looked to be mom and dad's guest room. And to my relief there was absolutely nothing haunting about the place. It was a pretty reasonable size room. Straight ahead to the wall were two windows, one on either side of the room that overlooked another part of the neighborhood. Mom had placed a full-sized sleigh bed in the room which wasn't too bad of a choice, its head-board rested up against a wall to my left and the rest of the bed jutted out into the room. To the right was a giant wardrobe. Then sitting against the wall between the two windows was some kind of make-up mirror desk thing. It clashed horribly with the modern design of the bedroom set that came with the sleigh bed but mom probably decided that it was cute so kept it. It was a definite wrong move. The make-up mirror thing was cute enough but if you want to keep it you have to decorate with it not around it. I most definitely wouldn't let mom decorate by herself. She would only make it worse.

It wasn't that bad. I could manage in a place like this. All I would need to do is spruce it up with a little of my flair and it would actually be worth living in. Now all I would need to do is get rid of that nursery. Maybe if I smiled more and bit my tongue, more often I could maybe convince mom to knock down that wall and transform that room into my very own walk in closet! Now that would be worth doing. But knowing her she'd turn her nose up at the idea saying that it was my brother's room and he deserved a place to come home to. Then she would proceed to filling it up with all his junk and a furniture set that she'd think he would like but I know he would hate. I rolled my eyes at the idea and shook my head.

Beep! Beep! Beep! I heard the sound of a large truck backing up.

"No! No! It's not today! I said tomorrow! Tomorrow!" I heard my mom's voice scream, a bit muffled for the closed windows.

I walked to the closest window next to me and peered out down below. A large moving truck was backing up in our drive way with another truck following suit. By this time my mom had rushed out the front door and made it to the end of the drive way where she stood jumping in place and flailing her arms about her. The truck lurched to a stop. My guess, the driver finally took notice of the maniacal woman down below.

"What do you think you're doing?" My mom shrieked. "My appointment isn't until tomorrow! To-mor-row!" I knew by this point my mom's voice was doing that cracking thing it did when it went up so high, an octave that was physically impossible for a human to produce. Thank god for the shatter proof glass before me.

"Well we got a call saying the delivery should be changed to today!" The trucker yelled back through his window, a considerable distance from him and my mom. And if he knew what was best for him he should keep that distance.

"Call? I didn't make any call! You must be mistaken!"

"Look." He said in a matter-of-fact way. "Is your name..." He disappeared into his truck and returned with a clipboard. "... Margaret Hunt?"

"Margaret Jones but that will do." My mother snapped, placing her hands on her hips.

"And is this 1071 Grant Circle Marblehead, Massachusetts?" He continued as if she hadn't opened her mouth.

"Yes as a matter of fact it is."

"Then I'm not mistaken. Early this morning at 8 a.m. to be precise my boss got a call from Mr. Hunt's residence saying that your stuff was to be delivered today."

"Well why would he do that?" She said out loud, more to herself than to the driver.

"I don't know ma'am I'm just following orders." It was one of those lines you'd expect someone like him to say in one of those condescending tones. Even though he didn't have one you could tell it was implied by the smug look on his face. I opened the window. Well...struggled to open the window. The stupid thing was rusted shut. It was like trying to lift the wall itself over my head. It just wasn't going to happen. That thing wasn't going anywhere. After several attempts filled with me grunting, shaking, and I bet ya veins popping, I managed to get the dang thing open all the way. A cool autumn breeze rushed to meet me and I grabbed the front of my dress and started pulling at it back and forth to cool me. I broke out with a sweat and everything. Opening that thing was like a workout. My arms felt like freakin' noodles.

"Give me a minute please." My mom's voice said more clearly now. I could tell she was getting flustered. She turned from the truck and dug in her pocket for her cell phone. Calling dad no doubt. She started plucking at her clothes and pacing back and forth in that nervous way that she did once this whole divorce thing started. She sucked at confrontation and would lose her ground every time she talked to him on the phone. It was like watching a slow and painful death. I watched her intently and sent her telepathic messages. Be strong mom. Don't fall apart. That's what he wants. You have to be strong.

"Hello? Robert?" Her voice kind of broke. "Oh. Nanilee." God, it was his girlfriend. "Hi. Is Robert there? Can I speak with him please? No? Tell him it's important. He doesn't care?" She began to shriek. "Then you tell him, he has no right to change the date of my move! Where does he -" she fell quiet. Her face twisted into confusion and her pacing came to an abrupt end. "You changed the date? But why-child support? What does my having child support have anything to do with you? Your child? But-! Look! I didn't call to speak with you! Put Robert on the phone! I don't need your permission to speak with him! He's my husband!" Suddenly she bit her tongue. Either it was because her last sentence was totally off or because Nanilee just hung up the phone. As she dropped the phone from her ear, I guessed it was a little bit of both. I watched as she stared into the distance. I hated seeing her like this.

"Ma'am?" The truck driver called, reluctantly and uncomfortably. "What would you like us to do?" He asked gently, all smugness and condescension gone. I could see the sadness in his eyes as he looked down on her. I hated it. She didn't need his sympathy. Especially not after the way he treated her before.

She wheeled around and smiled. Her body tensed nervously, her hand scratched the back of her neck, and she shrank away. "Uh. Yes. Just go ahead and start unloading in the living room. Thank you."

The man nodded and started shouting commands to his crew. The sound of the ramp from the trucks and the metal doors sliding open seemed like a bunch of white noise in the distance. Mom looked like she wanted to fall apart and them being here wasn't helping. I watched as she started to direct them. The best thing I could do was stay out-of-the-way. I turned from the window and stopped. Justine stood in the doorway not saying a word. She didn't have to. I knew what she was feeling and thinking. She did this all the time when we were growing up and mom and dad got into a fight. I smiled and walked towards her.

"Want to explore the neighborhood with me?"

"Sure." She said as strongly as possible.

"Follow along brat. And you better keep up." I said teasingly as I mussed her hair with my hand.

She giggled and smacked my hand away. We skipped down the stairs and out of the house.

"Hey mom! We'll be back! We're walking around the neighborhood!" I yelled as I raced down the street, Justine laughing and running along after me.

"Wha-? Okay! Be careful! And stay together!" She yelled after.

Justine and I raced down the open street weaving in and out of the road as cars drove by. The cool breeze felt good against my skin and the warm pavement beneath my feet sent chills up my spine. Justine made a mad dash past me and led the way. In a moment like this was the only time for us to escape from it all. We knew Grant Circle. It was a huge neighborhood that twisted and turned with never-ending streets that made...well a circle. We rode through it enough to call it home. In mere minutes the neighborhood parted and revealed a small community playground in the center of a ring of backyards. We bolted to the swing set and jumped on the first seats we came to.

"You beat me girl. You've gotten faster. There was a time when I could smoke you." I wheezed, struggling to disguise the fact that I caught a painful cramp in my side. There was no way I was going to show her that she had the upper hand against me.

"You're getting old." Justine joked, winded as well. She kicked off her shoes. The sand between her toes was her favorite thing to feel.

"You wish." I said as I stood in the seat, pumping up and down to swing myself.

Justine laughed as she began to swing. "You were right Em. That house is creepy."

"I told you! Why didn't you say anything? You made me seem like a jerk."

"Like I said, I look out for people's feelings and you don't."

"Whatever you little brat."

For the rest of the afternoon we played at the park and talked. It wasn't much but it sure did take our mind off things. And for a moment I felt as if we were back home. When we were tired of playing and exhausted to the point of blacking out we climbed the jungle gym, stretched out on top, and watched the sunset.

"It's no fair. In one year you're going to leave me here all alone." Justine turned her head. Her remark came out of nowhere and stung me deeper than I thought it would. Was that all the time I really had left? Undoubtedly she was thinking of mom and dad's situation and if she would be able to deal all on her own.

"Don't worry. I won't go far. I won't abandon you guys like Nate." I brushed it off, placing my hands behind my head.

"Yeah right. You're just like him. You'll disappear."

"Jeez, give me some credit."

The breeze about us grew colder and nipped at our skin. My toes were beginning to prickle from the cold. Night was coming and mom would worry. I dug into my pocket for my cell phone. I looked at the time. 6:30. I sighed and sat up. Immediately I froze and looked towards the trees that lined the outskirts of the park.

"Whoa. Was he always there?" I whispered to Justine.

Justine sat forward and followed my gaze. "No. I don't think so."

Among the trees stood a young boy about my age, just lurking. He had short, wavy, dark brown hair that was kind of unkempt and slicked back, stopping somewhere behind his neck. He was slender in form, kind of athletic build. He wore a loss fitting maroon shirt that read 'Too fast to live, Too young to die' with a picture of a skull and cross-bones in the middle. Over that he wore what looked to be a black suit jacket. His pants were close-fitting with rips up and down the legs and he wore a pair of black and white Converse. Draped around his neck was a strap to a digital camera that he cradled in his hands. Something about him was familiar as if I'd seen him before. I tried to put my finger on it but before I could he raised the camera and snapped a picture.

"Did he just take a picture of us?" Justine whispered, a little uneasy.

"I don't know and I don't intend to find out." I whispered back as I eased off the jungle gym.

He moved as I moved and disappeared into the trees.

"Let's go. Last one home is a dead S.O.B." I said as I jumped down and grabbed my shoes. The whole vibe of this place was unnerving. Why did mom have to move here?

After Justine slid off and grabbed her shoes we flew home. This time there was no laughter, no fun. We were just trying to haul ass before the sunset. Our house inched into view and I never felt happier in my whole life. The moving trucks were gone and mom's car was still in the drive way, which was a good thing. It meant she wasn't so freaked to the point of going on one of her 'man hunts', which usually meant a grounding for me. But as I approached the house something was off. The front door was still wide open. I stopped before the drive way and caught my breath. Justine spurted past me to the front door. She skipped up to the doorway and froze. Every horrible thought known to man surged through my mind. Was mom lying on the ground half-naked and raped by the moving men? Had someone come and kidnapped her after the moving men left? Or worse! Was she dead?! I skipped up the stairs and stood behind Justine. My nerves settled and I swallowed my heart back down my throat. She was okay. Well alive at least. She sat up against the wall holding her cell phone against her chest. She stared at all the brown boxes that filled the space around her. I mussed Justine's hair and stepped inside the house.

"Mom?" I called gently.

"She said that I was a self-righteous, greedy bitch. And that I was trying to take every ounce of money that he had." My mom spoke as if she was in a trance, eyes searching the landscape of boxes. "She said that she changed the date herself to today because there was no reason for me to wait till tomorrow. That there was no need for me to continue taking money away from her child just because I can't move on... it was just a mere ten bucks extra for them to hold our stuff at the storage unit." She kind of chuckled. "I could have paid that. I'm the one who moved out so she could move in. Your father was the one who offered to pay the storage unit. And after fifteen years of marriage, he's going to refuse to speak to me because he has to pay child support for his children? After fifteen years he's going to let some woman talk down to me like that?" I could hear the tears worm their way into her voice. I couldn't stand seeing her like this. I joined her on the floor and could think of absolutely nothing to say to her. She turned her eyes to me, finally taking notice of me. Her eyes turned to glass. "He abandoned me." She spoke once more, stopping to swallow her tears. "He abandoned me for her. How is it that they get to be mad at me in this situation? How is it that they get to be mad at me?"

She could no longer hold back. The tears fell from her eyes and dripped onto her hand. I didn't know what to do. I felt helpless. Every word that I thought of saying seemed wrong. I wanted so bad to call up dad and give him a piece of my mind but that seemed wrong too. I settled for holding my mom's hand and hugging her close, guiding her head to my shoulder. It wasn't much but I could at least show her that I was there for her. She fell into a silent fit of tears. Her body trembled against mine and her warm tears stained my coat. I looked to Justine who still remained frozen at the door. Her eyes searched mom as if she were a stranger. When she looked to me I could see she wanted to burst into tears herself. I held my hand out to her and smiled. She finally entered the house. She took my hand and joined us on the floor, nestling against me and grabbing mom's hand. We remained this way until the sun bled from the sky. The silence of the house engulfed us; only breaking from the sound of my mother's sniffling.