STORM: IT'S A CURSE TO REMEMBER

by Gurpreet Kaur Sidhu

  Marvin left the room with confidence. Everything was set in motion. In less than two days, he would have Evan take his last breath and finally be with Shadow, the way it was meant to be.

  ***

  When Venice entered her office, she spotted Bruce standing by the window. She didn’t catch his attention until she shut the door behind her.

  Bruce turned around swiftly. “Hey.” Bruce pursed his lips as he moseyed his way toward Venice.

  “This is a nice surprise,” she said, laying her purse on the couch. She leaned in, wrapping her arms around Bruce.

  Bruce slowly pulled away, placing his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes.

  Venice immediately sensed something wasn’t right. “What’s wrong?” she asked, taking a step backward.

  Bruce took her hand, navigating Venice toward the couch. They both sat down, looking at each other face to face.

  “I don’t know how to say this, to be honest.” Bruce took hold of his head, as his elbow pressed hard against his knee, holding Venice’s hand with the other. He stared at the rectangular coffee table, feeling guilt and anxiety mixed with many other emotions he fought back. “I came here to say goodbye, for good this time.”

  Confused, Venice asked, “What do you mean ‘for good’?”

  Bruce cleared his throat. “I have to protect Evan.” Bruce forced a smile, trying to make the best of this moment but explaining it all to Venice was much harder than he had anticipated. “The agency I work for…is more corrupt than good. Shadow’s ex-fiancé is one of the agents that works at the agency and he’s after her for god knows what.”

  “And Evan is involved with Shadow,” Venice stated, her voice trailing off.

  “Yeah,” Bruce sighed. “He’s been keeping tabs on him too. It’s just going to be a matter of time before he gets to Evan. That’s why I’ve got to put an end to this.”

  “But why does protecting Evan have anything to do with you saying goodbye?”

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, Mom. The chances of me coming back are very slim. I don’t want to give you hope that…I don’t want you to wait around like before.” His tears were reaching the surface.

  “No…” She whimpered. “You can’t leave me again, Bruce,” she cried. “You can’t!”

  “I’m sorry for all the pain that I caused you. I’m sorry I didn’t come by as much. I’m sorry we’re in this mess to begin with.”

  Venice fell into his arms, feeling her world falling apart.

  For the first time, Bruce cried as he held Venice in his arms. “I’m sorry.” He buried his face in her shoulder, not wanting to let go. He’d gotten used to the idea he was finally going to come back into their lives and begin to make things right, but the universe took that chance away from him.

  Venice’s cry slowly turned into light sobs, which then transitioned into heavy sighs. She rested her head on his chest, wiping away a trickling tear.

  “Sometimes I feel our family’s been cursed. Every time something good comes along, something bad is creeping up around the corner.”

  Bruce let out a wailing sigh. He wiped away the moisture from his eyes with the back of his palm. “There’s something I need you to do.” He looked at her with a sorrowful face.

  “What is it?”

  Bruce pulled out two red envelopes, one addressed to Denise and the other to Evan. “I need you to give these to them,” he said, handing them to Venice.

  Venice looked at the names, then looked at Bruce. “What did you write in here?”

  Bruce clasped his hands together as his focus went back to the coffee table. “It’s my apology. I explained everything that happened and why I made the decision to walk away from my responsibilities. I left out the part about Geneva’s affair, though. They don’t need to know that. She wasn’t in her right mind. It’s only going to tarnish their image of their mother. I hope they understand at some point in their life.”

  His eyes flicked back to Venice, who held on to the letters.

  She bit her lip and smiled. “Okay,” she said softly.

  There was a moment of silence between them. They could hear Candice answering a phone call.

  “You know I love you, right?”

  Venice nodded through her glossy eyes, still wearing the smile. “Did you ever remarry?”

  “No.”

  “I think he loves her,” she said after a moment.

  “Shadow?”

  Venice nodded. “But loving her comes with a price. It seems like it always does.”

  “Love is a dangerous fuel for our soul. It can kill us, but in parallel, we all crave it.”

  Venice glanced over. “After today, I hope you get the peace you’ve been looking for.”

  Bruce pondered the thought for a moment. He nodded his head subtly.

  “Is there anything I can do for you? Is there anything else you need me to do?”

  Without any hesitation, he said, “I’d love it if you could spend the rest of the afternoon here with me.”

  “Absolutely,” she said. She got up off the couch. “Let me tell Candice to cancel my appointments.”

  Bruce rested his head back, feeling a sense of relief but also the pain of never being able to see Evan and Denise ever again. It still felt like a punch to his gut.

  ***

  When Friday afternoon rolled around, it had been a nice sunny day, aside from the fact it was still winter and the cold breeze was yet present. Evan stepped out of the shower, grabbed his towel off the towel bar, and dried himself off. With his palm, he wiped the fog off the window and hung the towel on the bar before heading off into the bedroom.

  He pulled out a fresh pair of briefs from the top drawer and put them on. As he shuffled through the next three drawers, he pulled out a black thermal and jeans.

  Later, as he passed by the garden, he appreciated the progress that was taking place. The grass and the bricks for the walkway were scheduled to be put in Monday morning. Meanwhile he was going to start getting everything else in order. Sooner than later, the garden would be finally complete.

  He’d imagined spending evenings with Shadow, having barbeques in the summer, sharing stories from their childhood—he’d pictured them growing old together. A part of him believed that no one was capable of taking that away from him even now though he knew who Marvin was and what Venice predicted.

  Before he headed to the front door, he made sure the oven was off and the back door was locked.

  He rang the doorbell and waited anxiously for Shadow to open the door. He heard the locks turn, then the door slowly opening away from him. Shadow stood in black booties and dark faded jeans, a royal blue military coat over her white blouse, and her wavy hair down to her shoulders. In her hand, she carried a black clutch.

  “You look absolutely stunning,” he declared with a hint of excitement in his eyes.

  Shadow thanked him as she stepped out and locked the door behind her.

  “How was your day?”

  Shadow thought about the pictures. As much as she wanted to share that part of her day with Evan, leaving it out felt necessary for now. “It was good.” She looped her arm into his.

  He broke into a smile as they walked out to the sidewalk where Evan had parked his car. He kissed her before he opened the door for Shadow, and to his surprise, she was taken aback by his gesture.

  A wide smile quickly appeared. “Aren’t you quite the gentleman?”

  “It’s hard not to give a princess special treatment.” He winked.

  “Oh jeez.” She blushed. “You really know how to make a woman feel special.”

  Shadow shook her head and chuckled under her breath. It had been a while since someone made her feel worthy of special treatment. And in the back of her mind, she remembered what she’d done to Evan.

  He smiled
, closing the door once she sat in the passenger side. He walked around, getting into the driver’s seat.

  “How was your day?” she asked, shaking away the thoughts.

  He looked at her as he pulled his seatbelt over his chest. “It just got better,” he replied. “How’s your wrist?”

  Shadow pushed back her coat sleeve. “It’s healing, slowly.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  Shadow leaned over, placing one hand around his neck, and pulled him in by the edge of his coat. She kissed him and ran her fingers softly through his hair before meeting Evan’s eyes. Every fiber in her body wanted to whisper the words “I love you” but the pictures from earlier made her hold her tongue.

  Marvin.

  Evan turned on the ignition and put the car in drive. He cranked up the heat before making a U-Turn and headed down Knight’s Drive. “I was thinking earlier…” Evan began. “There’s this creamery outside of Lake View. Have you heard of the city Brickwood?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head, “I can’t say I have.”

  “The ice cream at Zack’s is mind blowing,” he said. “It’s about a two-hour drive from here. They have a vineyard nearby too and a beach about twenty minutes away from a nice hotel. It’s actually where Denise and Ryan got married—I mean on the beach.” He glanced at Shadow, who’d been watching his facial expression as he spoke. “I was wondering,” he said, hesitating, not knowing exactly the kind of respond Shadow would give, “if you wanted to go away for a weekend and get away from everything…”

  Evan left Shadow speechless. Is this too quick? Is this what people do these days? She was hesitant. But just a moment ago, she found herself wanting to say those three words. The longer she pondered over the invitation, the less sure she was. Though, a weekend getaway with Evan sounded nice and romantic.

  “Do you mind if I think it over?” she asked, biting her lower lip.

  His forehead furrowed. “Oh yeah, of course,” he said, throwing a hand in the air.

  The dead silence filled the car. Shadow looked over, seeing Evan’s cheeks slowly fade from the color pink. She put her hand over his arm that gripped the steering wheel.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to go…” she said. “It’s just that I’ve never been treated like…like this before, you know?”

  The corners of his mouth lifted. “Start getting used to it then.” He took her hand and kissed her soft skin. “We can go whenever you’re ready. I’m not going to force you to do anything or go anywhere you’re not comfortable.” He wanted to make sure his intentions were not coming off the wrong way. He knew there was a large portion of trust that was taken away from Shadow. In order for Shadow to trust him, Evan wanted to make sure Shadow felt and knew she was in control.

  Shadow looked at their hands. They somehow interlocked with each other without her realizing. She smirked and fancied the way their hands looked together.

  “When is your vacation over?”

  His forehead wrinkled with uncertainty. “In three more weeks. In total, we get five weeks.”

  She nodded and turned her attention to the road. Then the car’s interior fell into silence once again.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Shadow’s eyes remained focused on the road ahead of her.

  Evan looked over at Shadow for a quick second. “Yeah, of course.”

  “Do you believe in reincarnation?”

  He thought about the memories. “Yeah, I do.” Evan’s hand slowly slipped out of hers. He looked over at Shadow, whose focus remained on the road. “Do you?”

  Shadow didn’t answer right away. She mustered her thoughts before saying anything.

  “Yeah,” she said quietly. “Don’t you ever wonder about the past? Like, who you were and what you did, the kind of life you lived?”

  Evan began to feel a little uncomfortable. It was almost as if the universe was presenting the perfect opportunity for him to come clean. “Uhmm…I do sometimes.”

  Shadow faced Evan. “What if you could remember who you were in your past life? Wouldn’t that be interesting?”

  “Yeah, it would.” He could feel his heartbeat thumping in his wrist.

  “I feel like it would be able to answer a lot of questions about things that happen to us in this life. Don’t you think?”

  “Maybe. You never know.” In the back of his mind, Evan entertained the thought of telling Shadow about his memories. He glanced over and asked, “What would you do if you did remember your past life?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I’d freak out and wonder what the reason was for being able to remember. It’s not like everyone is given that gift, you know? How about you? Would you want to know?”

  Evan puckered his lips, trying to find the best way to answer. “That’s a good question. I think it’s a pretty cool idea but I think I’d be better off not knowing.”

  Shadow let his words digest in her mind as she turned her attention back to the road.

  The streetlights shone through the windows as they entered the city.

  Shadow looked out the window. The town was alive with people, coming and going from restaurants, shopping, dancing at the clubs, enjoying a cold one at the local bars. Most of them were couples or groups of teens enjoying a Friday night on holiday.

  Evan drove down two blocks before moving over to the left lane.

  They pulled into the parking lot and drove down the lanes to find a parking spot. After a few minutes, Evan found a shopper heading back to her car and pulled into her parking space once she left. He navigated the gear into park and pulled the break. He pulled the key out of the ignition then peered at Shadow. She looked back with her sparkling blue eyes.

  “We’re finally here.”

  “I’m excited to try the food here.”

  “It’s really good. Hopefully it’s not too packed right now.”

  Luckily, they were seated right away. There were only limited number of tables that were still vacant. They sat at the table, draped with a white tablecloth.

  Shadow briefly read each item from the menu, then scanned over the list of drinks. Without taking her eyes off the menu, she said, “I heard there’s a fine ice cream parlor in Brickwood, Zack’s. Not sure if you’ve heard of it, but I was hoping you would want to go with me one weekend.”

  As she peered over her menu, Evan broke into a stifled laughter. He put the menu down. A wide grin dawned on his face. His eyes sparkled with amusement.

  Shadow slowly lowered her menu. She too was grinning.

  “I’d love to go with you.”

  “It’s a date then.”

  “Our first or second?”

  “That depends on how well today goes.” She winked.

  “All right, all right.” Evan chuckled and nodded. “Is there anything you like?” he asked, looking over the menu.

  Shadow’s eyes went down the first page as she held the menu in front of her. “The pasta primavera sounds good,” she said, scanning the other items. “What would you recommend?”

  Evan’s eyes shifted to Shadow and then his heart took a leap. His pupils were wide and he felt as if someone was beginning to suffocate him. Derek stood behind Shadow with the same malicious smile. His hands slowly wrapped around Shadow’s neck.

  The music in the restaurant stopped playing and the sound of the conversations around them fell in dead silence.

  Evan lunged forward. “Get your hands off of her!” Instead of grabbing Derek’s hands, he grabbed Shadow’s neck.

  Suddenly, the music and conversations came back to life. People turned their heads at Evan’s sudden outburst. All they saw was a man fighting off someone who wasn’t really there. It took Evan a moment to realize what was going on. One of the waiters rushed to Shadow’s rescue just as Evan let go of Shadow’s neck.

  Shadow gasped for air, terrified o
f what overcame Evan.

  “Miss, are you all right?”

  She looked up at the waiter, forehead creased and nodded. Her heart beating out of her chest, her eyes flashed back to Evan. His hands were gripped tightly around the table. His forehead wrinkled in terror. Evan slowly backed away from the table, his fingers now loose.

  The manager of the restaurant walked over to their table and shifted his gaze from Shadow to Evan. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

  Evan was in shock just as much as Shadow was. “I’m so sorry,” he said to Shadow, his voice hoarse.

  Evan walked out of the restaurant as onlookers watched, whispering among each other about what they’d seen. He didn’t care what they said about him. His mind was still trying to comprehend what just happened.

  Evan paced back and forth in the parking lot. He ran his hands through his hair over and over, frustrated with himself. He tugged at his hair, feeling Derek was somehow beginning to control his life. Something that was impossible began to feel possible and that started a fire in the pit of Evan’s stomach. This was all a delusion and Evan let it get the best of him.

  “Frustrated now, are we?”

  Evan turned around and there stood Evan’s demon. Derek.

  Chapter 20

  Bruce was in the kitchen pacing back and forth. He fought with his mind about his decision and the possibility of never being able to see his children again. Currently his main focus right now was getting rid of Marvin for good. Now, that was an easy mission but Marvin was a hard man to go up against. Marvin was almost half his age and he had more strength than Bruce. That was clear the day when the two of them had gotten into a brawl on the agency’s premises. The one major difference between Marvin and Bruce was that over time, Bruce had become slower. He wasn’t as quick to jump back on his feet as he used to. It took him a few seconds longer, and that made all the difference between the two of them.