The Brown House

by Christy Sloat

  “She came back to do what Pearl?” I already knew what she did. I knew the terms of the so-called contract with the Barclay sisters.

  “She cut herself. I cried a lot, and I tried to wake her up but there was too much blood. I knew Mommy was gone. When I finally let go of her, two girls walked in my room. They were nice to me. One took Mommy away and the other told me to lie down and she would make everything okay. So I did. She said some words as I closed my eyes. When I woke up I was like this.” A smile formed on her lips and I could tell she was happy to be free of that room.

  I took a minute to think about what she had just said. The two girls must have been the Barclay sisters. One took her mom for the blood payment and the other took back their gift. The gift of life that they gave to Violet. They had given Violet her daughter back and she broke the promise. So they came in like repo men and took back Pearl’s life. It made sense to me. Who would want to live like Pearl did anyway, locked up every day because your father thinks you’re evil.

  “I’m sorry you lived a life like that Pearl.” I spoke the truth. I wanted to help her somehow. I didn’t even know where to start. How do you help a ghost?

  “You have to go Brylee. I shouldn’t be talking to you. When the others find out that I can talk to you, they will not leave you alone. You don’t want to talk to them. Go to bed. I will visit with you when it’s safe.”

  And just as easily as she appeared, she disappeared. Dropping back into a puddle and then blowing away like mist.

  The lock to the bathroom door clicked behind me and I ran to my room. I didn’t know what to expect after that encounter. Would she be back to talk to me tonight? Would she be watching me at all times? I crawled up on the window seat and looked out at the trees and the shadows they cast on the ground below. Funny how things can go from really good to really crazy. I had just been talking to Ephraim and then I encountered Pearl Brown.

  I woke up with my head mashed up on the window. The sting of the cold morning air burned my cheek. I sat up dizzy and looked at the time. It was still a few more hours before my alarm would be going off. I moved to my bed, my back aching from sleeping in a weird angle all night.

  As soon as my head hit the pillow my phone buzzed.

  “Ugh,” I said to myself.

  I rolled over to my nightstand and my phone lit up. I pulled it toward my foggy eyes and saw one new message. I didn’t know who the heck it could be at this hour. I clicked on the text and tried to make out the words.

  Please remember me.

  Always.

  It was Ethan again. It was way too early to be texting or even thinking about him. I wouldn’t forget him, but I did need to move on. And so did he. I texted back.

  I won’t forget you. But we will always be friends. There are too many miles between us now.

  It was the most honest I could be without being mean. I waited for a reply but fell asleep waiting.

  “Brylee, Brylee wake up.” Mom shook me gently until I woke up. I sat up and didn’t know what was going on. Mom and Dad stared back at me with ashen faces. They looked terrible, tired, and sad. Had they experienced the Brown’s too?

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Honey we wanted to tell you right away. But well, we didn’t know how to tell you. Your dad thought we should wait, but I feel it’s best to tell you now.” Mom looked like she had been crying. Maybe they had called and told her she didn’t get the job after all. Or maybe Dad lost his job again. I remember that discussion. It wasn’t the same as this, but Mom had been crying.

  “Brylee,” Dad began, as he sat next to me on the bed. “There was an accident. And I want you to know it was just an accident. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

  “What? Now you’re scaring me,” I admitted.

  “It’s Ethan honey, he died yesterday.”

  “What! No way I just talked to him…” my throat constricted and I couldn’t finish my sentence.

  “He was driving home from his surfing session and he crashed. It all happened so fast, he didn’t suffer,” Dad spoke softly.

  “No!” I cried the tears were coming now. “Where. Was. He?”

  “He was coming home Brylee, he was on the freeway. He was going just a little too fast. A car came up beside him and he didn’t see it when he put on his blinker. He swerved to avoid hitting her and he drove into the guard rail,” Dad said somberly, but giving me all the details he knew. I fell into his arms and cried until I couldn’t cry anymore. I finally sat up and questioned the text I got this morning. Mom left the room and I could hear her sobs upstairs. Mom had been close with Ethan’s mom in high school and I know she mourned the loss of a friend’s child. Also she mourned for me. Because Mom knew how much I liked Ethan, as a friend, and as more than a friend.

  “I want you to know that his family called us first thing this morning. They are having services next Friday for him. They wanted you to be there, but honey I can’t send you.” I understood what Dad meant, he couldn’t afford the plane ticket.

  “It’s okay.” I mumbled. I did want to be there, but I couldn’t. I would just have to say goodbye in my own way.

  “Brylee we know this is tough news. But people die, and it was his time. His life was brief and it’s tragic and sad. We will remember him in our hearts right?”

  “Right, Dad,” I told him blankly. I was still in shock.

  “Okay, well I will leave you. Come downstairs when you’re ready. I want to take you to the flower shop so we can pick out a nice bouquet to send to his family.” Dad left the room and quietly pulled my door closed. I fell into my pillow and cried. Why Ethan? He was so good, so pure. Too good to die so young. It was tragic and it wasn’t fair. I wanted nothing more than to see his face one more time. Or talk to him again. I grabbed my phone and pulled up a picture I had taken the last day I saw him. Our date, he was standing in front of the whale tank at Sea World. His blonde hair hanging in his eyes and his smile was so big. Just like his heart. He loved whales and he had said if surfing didn’t work out he wanted to work with them. He wanted to be a marine biologist, now he never would get the chance to be anything.

  I stared at the picture for the longest time. Then I scrolled through our texts together. Starting at the very beginning, as if it made the news not real somehow. Like if I read his words he was still alive. All the texts made me smile and made me feel like this wasn’t true. Then I came to our last set of texts.

  Please remember me.

  Always.

  Sent this morning at 6:03 am my time, making that 3:03 his time. No way, this had to be wrong. Maybe my phone sent it to me late. Maybe he sent it before he left the beach. Maybe he sent it while he was driving. No he wouldn’t do that.

  Maybe one of his friends sent the text to me to be nice. No, that wasn’t right. I lay back on the bed and thought about the prospect that maybe Ethan sent it after he died. It was very possible, especially after my meeting Pearl. I knew she was real. This text could be a real thing as well. He sent it to me after he died because he didn’t want me to forget him. I rolled to my side and stared at his picture on my phone for a while, before I got up and headed down to talk to my mom.

  She was at the kitchen table looking over pictures of kitchen ideas in a magazine. She looked up at me and smiled looking awfully beautiful today. New Jersey had done my mom some good. She was very happy here and it showed. She looked full of life, even though I could tell she had been crying.

  “Hey honey, want some tea?” I nodded and she started the kettle. I sat at the table and sighed. I wanted to tell her about the text but I didn’t want her to freak out like she had the time before. I decided there was no easy way of going about it I just had to do it.

  “Mom, do you think there is life after death?” She stopped what she was doing, her back to me, and holding two cups for our tea. It took her a moment and then she spun around. I could see her eyes tearing again.

  “Of course, don’t you?” She sat the cups down and put the tea ba
gs into them.

  “Yeah.” I played with her magazine and looked at the pictures she had circled. Ideas for our empty kitchen.

  “I just asked because of this,” I sat my phone on the table and she glanced at the open text. “I got it at 6:03 this morning. You and Dad said he died after his session. That meant he died sometime yesterday morning, early before school. How do you think I got this text this morning, if he died yesterday morning?” Mom stared at the phone, picking it up to see it better. Her face changed and she looked puzzled. For once my mom didn’t have the answer. I didn’t know if that was a good thing, though. The kettle sang and she sat the phone down. She poured the hot water in the cups and brought them to us. All the while thinking about her answer. She sat and stirred her tea and looked at me.

  “Well, I think the phone is wrong. I think that maybe his phone didn’t have service after he sent the text. Sometimes I send one and it doesn’t get to your dad right away, especially if I have bad service.” It was a very good explanation. “The matter of the text is very upsetting. I know he cared about you Brylee. I know it’s hard to get a text like that, especially after he died. Oh Brylee, I am so sorry for your loss.” She reached across the table and held my hands. I fought back the stinging tears and tried not to let them fall. We sat like this for a little while, and then she released my hands and took a sip of tea.

  “I met Mrs. Mayhew, she came over yesterday. You should have told me her son was driving you to school.” She wagged her finger at me, but she was only teasing. “She is very nice. She lost her husband and she is raising those kids all alone. I feel for her.”

  “Yeah, me too. Sorry about not telling you, I should have. But he is a responsible driver,” I added.

  “Well I want to meet him and I want to help her out. I told her every Saturday I will make dinner for her kids. No child should go making their dinner every night. I think they deserve a home cooked meal at least once a week. So they’re coming over here tonight.” My mouth hit the floor. She was inviting Lyn and Ephraim over every Saturday night. I liked the idea but my stomach gurgled with nerves. “I want you to go over and talk to them and see what they want tonight. Carole, their mom, said they like just about anything, but I want to make them something nice. Oh, and the cabinets are going in today so stay out of the kitchen until they’re done doing their work, okay?”

  “You’re getting your cabinets?” I was excited she got what she wanted for the kitchen. I was a little less excited hearing strangers were hanging in our kitchen for the day.

  “Yep! Your dad said now that I’m working we have the extra money. I’m going to head to the grocery store so text me once you find out what they want.” She finished her last sip of tea and put the cup in the sink. Turning around and looking serious she said, “Don’t hide anything like that from me. What would have happened if he got into an accident? I wouldn’t know.” She was right, I should have told her about Ephraim driving me to school. Now with Ethan’s car accident my mom would be extra worried.

  “It won’t happen again.” She kissed my forehead and grabbed her purse.

  “Mom,” I called after her. She turned just before heading out the door. “I love you.”

  “I love you times a million Brylee.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  I walked slowly over to see Lyn and Ephraim. Stopping to pick up leaves every once in a while. They were beautiful; red, yellow, and orange. I had never seen fall for real. It was gorgeous and I wanted to lie in the leaves and make angels. Ethan’s death had been jolting news, and I felt drained, but I knew in time I would feel better. It was almost better for it to happen now anyway. Not that it was okay for him to die, but it was better that I lived here when it happened. I think I would have been unable to breathe if it happened when I lived back home. Being here in New Jersey, I felt like a sort of armor surrounded my heart. Keeping me safe from heartbreak. I would miss him, but I missed him anyway. I realized when we moved away from everyone it was sort of like a death.

  I reached their house and I could smell hot chocolate in the cold air. I shoved the leaves into the secret pockets of Ephraim’s coat, that I was now wearing, and I knocked on the door. Lyn answered looking exhausted, but brightened when she saw me.

  “We’re having dinner at your house every…”

  “Saturday night, yes I know,” I interrupted her.

  “Yeah, what’s wrong? You don’t want us to come over?”

  She didn’t know about Ethan, how could she? I started crying right away as she pulled me into her house and out of the cold. We sat on her couch and she wrapped her arms around me tightly. If anyone knew how to comfort, it was Lyn. She was a great hugger, as silly as it sounds. But she didn’t move or squeeze any less or any more. She was a solid rock of comfort as I told her about Ethan through sobs.

  “What happened, are you okay?” Ephraim came in protectively. He was dressed in an ugly camouflage outfit with a bright orange hat on his head. It made me laugh. I had never seen anyone dress that way. He pulled the hat off and sat next to me.

  “Her friend died in a horrible car accident yesterday,” Lyn answered. She kept out the fact that my friend had been a boy that I had feelings for. I sat up and Lyn let me go.

  “Oh Brylee I am so sorry, are you okay?” His concern was genuine and real just like he was.

  “Yeah, I will be okay, what are you wearing?” I laughed a bit, mocking his horrible attire.

  “These are my hunting clothes. I was hoping to get a doe today, but I think I made too much noise in my stand because one saw me and ran.” Complete and utter confusion washed over me. I had no idea what any of that meant.

  “Um… okay please explain,” I demanded nicely.

  “He hunts and he has to wear that to stay hidden from the deer,” Lyn answered.

  “Deer? Then what’s dough?” I asked, sure that I sounded like a fool. They laughed at me for a while. I sat there getting slightly annoyed.

  “A doe is a female deer. I hunt back in the woods behind the house, I have a tree stand, and it’s a stand where I sit up high off the ground. I wear all this like Lyn said to keep me hidden.”

  “Then, why the orange hat?”

  “It’s for other hunters to notice me just in case,” he answered.

  “So you wear your camo to hide you and an orange hat so other hunters don’t shoot you?”

  “Yep exactly.” I was still a bit confused about the whole thing, but I sort of got it. Although I didn’t like the fact that he was killing Bambi’s mom. I guessed that is what people did out here as a hobby. I did see them dead on the side of the road a lot.

  “Oh shoot, I was supposed to see what you guys wanted for dinner tonight. My mom is going shopping.” I guess the thought of deer on a plate made me remember.

  “Dinner, hmmm, well how about pork chops?” Ephraim said. It was a good enough request so I texted Mom. She sent back an ‘okay’ and Lyn led me into the kitchen while Ephraim headed upstairs for a shower. I sat at their table and watched Lyn take out a package of something from the fridge. She grabbed the scissors and opened it, taking out a huge chunk of jerky and handing it to me.

  “This is deer jerky isn’t it?” I knew it had to be, because we were just talking about it. I sniffed it and it smelled sweet with an edge of spice. The first bite reminded me how hungry I was and how my emotions were making me miss meals. I had almost eaten the whole bag when Lyn asked me how the house was.

  “What? Things are fine, nothing strange is happening.” I was immediately defensive. I didn’t know if she knew or could sense my fear of the house. I had seen and spoken to a ghost and I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. She was becoming my best friend and I was forced to hide this secret. She would be coming over every week for dinner. If I told her about Pearl she would never come and she would be even more terrified of the house.

  “I just meant how it is coming along. I saw a van pull in just now from a cabinet store. Is your mom getting cabinets?”

&n
bsp; “Oh yeah. They’re installing them today.” I glanced over and saw the men get out of the van. My dad came out and started talking to them. I remembered we had to take a trip to get flowers to send to Ethan’s parents. I had to leave, even though I wanted to stay here with Lyn and Ephraim. Just then he bounded down the stairs, stopping at the kitchen entrance, smiling at me. His hair was still wet and dripping on his shirt.

  “Like the jerky?” He had a smug smile.

  “Yes, even though I think it’s sad. They are yummy little things.” We all started cracking up. I was so happy to have good friends. Even if Ephraim and I didn’t work out I would be happy just being friends with him. I sat up from the table and wiped my face, now sticky with brown sugar from the jerky.

  “I have to go get flowers for my friend’s family. But, I will see you tonight.” I gave Lyn a hug, trying to mimic the one she gave me. As I let her go Ephraim took me by the arm and hugged me. His hug was intense in a good way. Making me feel like all my sorrows would soon disappear. His wet hair dripped down my shoulders and I didn’t mind. As long as I was in his arms I was a happy girl.

  “Let me walk you home.” I nodded and we headed out the door. He grabbed my hand and rubbed my shoulder as we were on the front step.

  “Like the coat?” he asked.

  “I like it, it’s warm and cozy.” He smiled and seemed proud that I was wearing it. “It should be warm, it’s a Carhartt. My dad bought it for me a while ago. I really need to get a new one, so you can keep it for as long as you’d like.” I felt special that he gave me this jacket. This jacket must mean a lot to him. Now it meant a lot to me. We walked down his long driveway and I felt the need to tell him all about Pearl. Something told me to trust him.