The Brown House

by Christy Sloat

  “Well, let’s go back to the kitchen and go up those stairs. These are a bit dark,” he suggested.

  “You really have to get that fixed, Dad.”

  “Yes, I know Brylee.”

  We walked back toward the kitchen and he showed us the entry to the basement. He opened the door and a gust of cold air hit us.

  “This is the basement. There is an old coal furnace down here that used to heat the house, but it doesn’t work anymore. Just a bit of history on the house.” He closed the door tight and I felt better with it that way. Something about that room gave me a really bad feeling. I followed them up the stairs, which was well lit, to the second floor. I saw the second set of stairs that led to the third floor and they were dark as well. The layout of this floor was very odd. We stood in a bedroom, there was no door leading to it, and the stairs just ended here. I couldn’t imagine picking this as my room. There was a large walk-in closet, but there would be absolutely no privacy. Adjacent to this room was a door that led into another bedroom. It was decent in size and it too had a bay window. I liked this one the best so far.

  “Wow, I really like this room,” I announced as I sat down on the window seat. I could imagine myself sitting here drawing in my notebook and looking out the window. I loved to draw. It was my escape; it took me away from life and its realities. Lately, all I seemed to draw were palm trees, birds, our old house, and Ethan’s smiling face.

  “Well there are four other rooms to look at so don’t make a definite decision just yet kiddo,” Dad said, pulling me up off the window seat.

  Once out of this room there was another door that, I assumed, led to another room, but I was wrong. It was a huge bathroom and it was exquisite. A claw foot bathtub sat in the middle of the room. I also noticed the beautifully ornate sink with golden fixtures. The wallpaper was not peeling; instead, it looked as if it had just been added. It was white and pale blue striped and it flowed with the Victorian style of the bathroom. I couldn’t wait to take a bath in the tub. I would miss showers, but I could get lost in a tub like that.

  My dad pointed out that the tile flooring was real tiles and not the peel and stick kind you can buy at the dollar store. I just nodded, as if I understood or cared. This bathroom had two doors, one to get in from the first half of the floor, and the other to take you to the other half. We went through the other door and saw three rooms and a dark stairway we chose to pass up. The bedroom to the side of the bathroom was another great room. It too didn’t have any privacy, as it was an open room with no door. The next room to the right corner of the house was the biggest of all the rooms on this floor. It had its own fireplace and a huge closet; but there was no bay window. I had to make a choice. Which room was better?

  The last room was in the left corner of the house. Its doorway was inside the stairway. I shivered as I reached for the handle. It was locked. I jiggled it around, hoping that somehow I could open it, but no luck.

  “This door doesn’t open. The landlady says there is no key and she can’t get a locksmith who can get it open,” Dad told me.

  “That’s weird, a door that no one can open, a room that no one can use. What a waste,” I exclaimed. Not only was it a real waste, it was simply strange. I wouldn’t have picked this room anyway, simply due to the creepy stairs.

  So overall, this floor plan was pretty whacked out. You had two rooms with no privacy. One large bathroom that was beautiful, but acted as the entryway to the rest of the rooms. It was like a hallway and bathroom in one.

  “So now that you have seen all the rooms, which one are you thinking about choosing?” Mom asked me eagerly. They had agreed to let me pick my room. We had talked about it the day Dad came home from his little “investigation of New Jersey” trip. I think it was their ploy to get me to be okay about moving here. I didn’t know which room I liked the best; did I like the fireplace room or the room with the bay window?

  “I don’t really know. I think one night I will sleep in the room with the fireplace. Then the next night I will sleep in the room that has the bay window.” It seemed like an excellent plan. I would give them each a chance and then make my decision later.

  The third floor was mom and dad’s floor. Another thing we had discussed before the move. It was pretty wide open, with another open bedroom coming off the landing. Dad said this would be his TV room and Mom laughed. There were two good rooms downstairs for TV. A small hallway led to two bedrooms across from each other. I peeked in them and saw a bathroom with a shower. They both had fireplaces and bay windows which, I felt, was very unfair. A little down the hall there was a pretty big open room for maybe Mom’s office or pottery room. Mom loved making pottery. That was something I had not seen her do in months. Mom stood in here and spun around to face Dad and I. “So, this is the house.”

  “Yep this is it. I know you are disappointed about the kitchen Evelyn, but we can fix it up. I promise we will get it beautiful.” He leaned in, kissed her forehead, and held her in his arms. That was my cue to leave, so I went down the creepy stairs.

  Chapter Two

  I tried to walk as carefully as I possibly could. It was so dark, and I was simply going by feel. I held onto the railing to help guide me down the stairs. When I finally reached the bottom step, I felt a cold rush of air blow past me. I shivered. There must be a window open upstairs.

  I noticed a door in the second living room that I hadn’t seen before, so I went through it. It led to a screened in porch that sat at the front of the house. It looked like a great spot to sit and draw. There were four plush, velvet chairs lined up against the wall. I pulled one away and sat in it. A cloud of dust blew up and swirled around me. I coughed, waving it away from my face. It was really dark out there in the woods. I didn’t know how far we were from the street since I was asleep when we pulled up. I listened for signs of traffic, but didn’t hear anything, so I figured we were a bit of a distance away.

  I could hear something though. It was not cars, or animals. However, it sounded strange, almost musical. I perked up my ears and listened harder to it.

  It sounded like water, in fact it was water, and it was a rush of water. I stood up, looked out of the screen, and tried to focus my eyes on the outside. That was when Dad came out to join me.

  I jumped around to face him.

  “You scared the heck out of me!” I exclaimed. He just laughed, grabbing his stomach.

  “Sorry kiddo. I didn’t know you were out here.” He continued to laugh and I walked toward the door. If he was going to make fun of me, I would just go unpack.

  “No, don’t leave Brylee. Come on sit down with your old man.” He pulled me down to the chair that I already had been sitting in and then he sat next to me.

  “So, what do you think of the house?” he asked, as he too experienced the cloud of dust.

  “It’s kind of old,” was all I could say.

  “Yes, it is old. But do you think you could grow to like it?” He smiled at me. “I know this is tough for you, but just know that in time things will get easier. Just wait until the morning, we will go look around town and you can see what this place looks like in the daylight.”

  “Yeah. By the way Dad, where are we going to sleep tonight? We don’t have any beds here.” We had been sleeping in hotels on the trip and we even spent one night in the car.

  “I guessed we would sleep on the floor. Besides, it’s only one night Brylee. Tomorrow all of our stuff will be here. We can camp out in sleeping bags in the living room if you want.” He sighed and looked out into the night. “Mom is making some sandwiches from the left over stuff in the cooler, so come on in.”

  Yummy, deli meat and cheese from a cooler that has sat in the car all day long; I could hardly wait. He stood and sighed, I could tell he was tired. “Okay, let’s go eat,” he announced. I got up slowly and followed him in. Sure enough, Mom had a quizzical look on her face when we entered the kitchen.

  “What’s wrong?” Dad asked.

  “The meat smells fu
nny. I don’t think we should eat it.”

  “Does it really? Let me take a whiff.” As if Mom didn’t know what she was talking about, Dad smelled the meat. His nose wrinkled and he set it on the sink.

  “Well, who’s up for a little drive?”

  The pizza place was down the road a ways and I realized our driveway was pretty far from the street. I noticed we were not only enclosed in trees, just like I had thought earlier, but basically smothered by trees. It must have been a busy night at the pizza joint because we could not find a good place to park. Finally, Dad pulled off to the side of the street and we walked to the restaurant.

  The smell of the pizza hit me as soon as the door opened. It was unlike any smell I had ever encountered. Our pizza places back home never smelled this good. Dad found us a table and he said he would order a large pizza for us. My mouth watered as I looked at the people eating around us.

  I didn’t realize how hungry I had been. The last thing I had to eat was a drive thru breakfast biscuit this morning; so my tummy was completely empty. I noticed some kids about my age sitting at a booth. They laughed and talked and I wished I knew them so I could go sit with them. Maybe they would get me into a better mood. At this point, after seeing the house, I felt like things were going to go downhill from here, and fast. Our house was at least a hundred years old. It was drafty and scary and whoever had designed it must have been on some serious hard drugs. It was seriously screwed up.

  One of the kids at the table turned and looked at me. She was tiny with short hair, like a pixie, and it was electric blue. I was jealous at her bravery for being so bold as to have hair that color. Sure, I could dye mine brown, but a color like that took major courage. She smiled at me and I returned the smile. I felt almost scared that her being so nice was some sort of trick to make fun of me; like she was smiling at me to pretend to be so nice.

  Dad returned with the pizza and it was as good as I had hoped. I devoured four slices then sat back in my chair, defeated. I was officially stuffed. The pizza here was like magic or something. I had never tasted anything so good. I would be returning here to get more very soon. While I relaxed, Mom and Dad talked about the house a bit. Mom expressed her ideas about the kitchen, and Dad talked about the yard and how a few trees would need to come down.

  I sat dazed, staring at the group of kids and the blue haired girl, when my Mom interrupted my thoughts, “So are you okay with the house Brylee?” What a question to ask. Like I had any choice in the matter. This was it. This was our new life and I had to adjust. Even though I felt a pain in my heart for leaving the only home I knew, I had to give New Jersey a chance. This was my new home.

  “Yeah, it’s a house. I mean, what choice did we have? We have to do what we have to do.” She was a bit taken back by my answer. I could tell she expected me to express my concerns about how it looked. Or maybe about how creepy it was. My parents had gone through hell the last few years, with dad losing his job and all, they were doing what they had to do to survive.

  “Well at least we will be together.” She leaned forward, “I am proud of you for not complaining.” It wasn’t as if I complained a lot. You could say I had been a complete spoiled brat up until Dad lost his job. I had everything I ever wanted. Clothes, shoes, electronics, you name it I had it. Our house wasn’t huge, but was plenty big enough. I had a walk-in closet in my room. We had a pool and a spa that overlooked the ocean. I went to the best school in the district. I had tons of friends. I was very popular, and it came to an end all too suddenly. One day my grandma pulled me aside and told me something I will not soon forget. She said, “Clothes, shoes, and material things will not replace your dignity, for if you lose your dignity you lose yourself. And Brylee, I don’t see you anymore, I see a spoiled rotten little girl who owes herself more respect.” At first, I was a little sore that she would say such a thing to me. Nevertheless, after a while it started to settle in that she was right.

  I was a brat, and I didn’t have any respect for myself, or the people around me. So, that’s why I quit cheer and I started to help Mom and Dad a lot more. I even started babysitting the next-door neighbor’s kids. They paid me well and I gave the money to Dad. At first, he refused, but then he started taking it. I told him it was our money. It wasn’t much and I know it didn’t help, but I wanted to pitch in. I felt like I was helping by doing that.

  We left the restaurant and, as we did, the blue hair girl waved to me. I waved back and the others at the table just looked at me shocked. Like they wondered why I was waving to them.

  “Who are you waving to Brylee?” Mom asked.

  “The girl with the blue hair.”

  “I didn’t see a girl with blue hair.” She said.

  I looked again and the girl was gone. I stopped and looked once more through the windows once we were outside.

  “She must have gotten up, but she was just sitting with those kids. She waved so I waved back.”

  Mom smiled, “Oh good, maybe you will make friends soon.”

  “Yeah, I hope so.”

  We returned to the house and I felt so extremely exhausted that I didn’t even care if we were camping out tonight. I could sleep anywhere. Dad laid out the sleeping bags and our pillows. I assumed my position on the floor. He turned on the heat and the loud pangs from the radiator filled the room. It sounded almost like someone screaming. It was definitely something I would have to get used to hearing. Mom and Dad cuddled up in their sleeping bags and we all told each other goodnight. I closed my eyes and tried to think about anything besides this house.

  It was still dark when I opened my eyes. I had to pee so badly that I just could not hold it any longer. I unzipped my sleeping bag and when I got out I noticed it was unusually cold in the room. I wondered if Dad had turned down the heat or if it just stopped working. It was only the beginning of fall here and I could only imagine how cold the winters would be. Back home it was still at least eighty degrees. I tiptoed to the bathroom in the kitchen. It was so dark I could barely see. I felt around, feeling for the door handle. Finally finding it, I switched on the light. The bathroom was frigid and the floor was like walking on ice. The toilet seat was even colder.

  I washed my hands and dried them on my pants. When I reached for the door handle the door opened on its own. I froze, baffled at what had just happened. I was too scared to move, I just stared at the door.

  “Dad?” No one answered. No one was there to open the door. How did it open on its own? I ran back to my sleeping bag, somehow not running into anything in the darkness. I zipped myself back into it and buried my head inside.

  Chapter Three

  The sound of talking woke me up. I looked around and saw that Mom and Dad were not in their sleeping spots. I stretched and yawned, pulling my legs from my cocoon. I had slept like a rock, even though the floor was like sleeping on stone. I walked over to the living room window and saw our moving trucks in the driveway with the movers unloading our stuff. Uncle Keith and Aunt Leona were talking with my parents and sipping coffee. I wanted, no, needed coffee. I looked down at myself. I looked like a wrinkled mess. I walked to the bathroom and ran water over my fingers, then tousled my hair. I washed my face and changed into some clean clothes.

  I stepped out into the kitchen and came face to face with a mover. He had a heavy box and looked at me as if to say, “Where should I put this?”

  “Put it anywhere,” I said and walked past him. I didn’t care where he put the stuff. It would all have to be put away at some point anyway. I walked out to see my aunt and uncle and I hoped that I would get a coffee.

  As soon as they saw me, they smiled. I hadn’t seen them in at least a year. The last time I saw them was when they came to visit for a week last summer. Aunt Leona loves and misses Cali summers. I remember how she laid out at our pool almost every day. We also did a ton of shopping. I ran to her first and she hugged me tightly.

  “Welcome to Jersey kid,” she said in my ear. She pulled me back and looked me over. She was
as tall as I was. I got my height from Dad’s side of the family. It was nice to be with another tall woman. She understood how pants never fit and shirts are always too short. She spun me around and whistled. My cheeks burned with embarrassment.

  “Looking pretty beautiful, even at nine in the morning,” she exclaimed.

  “Hi, Brylee what do you think so far?” Uncle Keith asked, as if I even had a chance to make an assumption of New Jersey. We just got here. I looked around at all the trees. Birds were everywhere. I loved birds. These I had never seen back home. It was kind of beautiful here. The trees were green and had a hint of red on the leaves. They were turning for the fall. That was another thing we didn’t see back home.

  “It’s okay,” I shrugged. “I haven’t really seen much of it yet. But maybe today we can get out and see the town.” It was more of a suggestion. I was hoping my aunt would get the hint and rescue me. I didn’t want to stay here all day and unpack; that was the last thing I wanted to do.

  “Oh, I am sure we can make it out for lunch today. We also need to do some food shopping,” Mom replied. Damn! I would be stuck here unpacking.

  Aunt Leona handed me a nice hot cup of coffee and I thanked her about a million times. After that, I decided to inspect our new yard.

  After about five minutes of walking I looked back to see how far the house was and it was pretty far. The yard was huge and the trees were thick. I saw some squirrels and heard some other noises. Other than that, it was just a forest. I found a fallen tree and sat down to enjoy my coffee. My mind started to wander and I remembered the bathroom door handle, recalling it opening by itself. I wondered if I had dreamt it or if it really happened. It was definitely unreal so I wrote it off as a dream.