The Pendants and the Mystery of the Wozniak Five Part I

by Stephanie Steele

  Valie and Trent opened the double doors to the school entrance and walked down the steps. The leaves had already started falling off the trees; the crisp, fall air was pushing the summer warmth away. Valie took a deep breath, appreciating the early stages of fall, when it was still lovely enough to appreciate before it stole all the beauty that spring and summer created.

  Trent unchained his bike from the bike rack, "You know we're going to be famous someday, right?"

  "Oh really?" Valie asked with a smile.

  "Yes, Valie. We will be famous. I'm going to invent something and you're...well, you're going to do something amazing too, as soon as you figure out what it is you want to do...you'll be the best at it."

  She laughed and walked next to him as he pedaled his bike slowly. He continued on talking about graduation. Valie was half-way listening, not because she didn't want to, but because something about that day, walking home from school with Trent made her want to breathe in the air a little deeper and appreciate her surroundings a bit more. It felt so wonderfully normal and nice. Nothing stuck out about that day, up until that point and it was the day that Valie would remember so vividly, mostly because it was the last bit of normal before things started to unravel.

  They lived only five blocks away from school in a white house in a small neighborhood. Flowers lined the walkway leading to a porch with a swing. It was very picturesque. Leon's tan mini-van sat in the driveway, just as it always had.

  Trent tossed his bike down in the grass and they walked into the house slipping their shoes off at the door. The home they lived in always smelled like apples and cinnamon. Leon loved the smell--candles, potpourri, air fresheners--anything that could create the scent, he had a stockpile of it. He told the kids that it reminded him of his childhood. Their home had never really had a "woman's touch" to it. Leon had let Trent and Valie do the decorating in the house, which basically meant there were framed pictures of them with their friends all over the walls, a large picture of Stonehenge hung over the fireplace and an orange throw blanket over the recliner that Valie had knitted for her uncle when she was 12. The inside of their home had an older feel to it. The couches and kitchen appliances all looked like they dated back to the '80s, and the furniture was worn from many of the friends that Valie and Trent had over throughout the years. No matter how dated, Valie loved it; she would never want to call any other place home. It was the place that she wanted to come back to someday when she was able to travel and explore what the rest of the world had to offer. As she started getting older, mostly into her teen years, Valie knew it was the home she would start to resent, though, if she was never able to leave.

  As they got into the house, Trent made his normal dash to the kitchen and Valie went towards the living room. As soon as she entered, her uncle stood up quickly, almost as if he got caught doing something he shouldn't. Leon Snevets was only 43 but looked about 10 years older. His hair was graying and receding; he wore his glasses on the edge of his nose, and dressed like he didn't have many options--mismatched suits and things. Leon had a very warm and inviting affect. He was the only father Valie had ever known, and for him, she was grateful.

  "Valie..."

  "Hey," She said cautiously, noticing the unfamiliar woman sitting on the couch across from her uncle.

  The woman stood. Valie looked at her curiously; she looked to be around Leon's age, her hair was brown, tied back in a ponytail. Dressed casually in a t-shirt and jeans, the woman stood and faced Valie. Something was weird; there was tension in the air and Valie could sense it.

  "Heads up, Valie!" Trent suddenly yelled from behind her. Valie wasn't really paying attention, so the apple he was throwing to her smacked the back of her head.

  "Trent!" She whirled around, rubbing her head.

  He laughed. "How was I supposed to know you wouldn't catch it for the first time ever?"

  They had done it for years; it was why Valie played softball and played it well. She was always able to catch a fastball or careening fruit- whatever.

  "Whoa...that's a stranger," Trent pointed, noticing the woman.

  Leon cleared his throat, "Okay, guys, this is Rory Nicotero. She's an old friend."

  Trent made a really loud crunching noise with whatever he was eating.

  "Rory, this is my son Trent and my niece Valie."

  Trent waved.

  "Valie...you're such a beautiful young woman," Rory said walking towards her.

  "Thanks," Valie said uncomfortably.

  She stepped closer, to which Valie leaned back a little.

  "Lovely," she whispered.

  Valie scrunched her nose. “Can you step back? You're kinda in my safe space.”

  “Valie!” Leon snapped his fingers.

  Valie's statement didn't seem to faze her. Rory looked at Valie's face carefully, almost as if she was inspecting her. Finally, to Valie's relief, she turned and looked at Trent, "And you, you have grown into a handsome young man."

  "Thank you." Crunch, crunch.

  "It's so nice to see both of you...to meet both of you," she said, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

  Trent and Valie looked at each other; both were thinking the same thing. Something like: 'who is this strange woman and why is she looking at us like she wants to eat us?'

  "Rory was just passing through and I've invited her for dinner.”

  "Cool.” Trent replied. Valie was still trying to figure out who the woman was. As much as she loved her uncle, he wasn't a particularly social person and he didn't have much of a life outside of teaching and their family.

  Valie and her uncle usually made dinner together every night; generally, he would unwrap the frozen pizza and she would put it in the oven. Sometimes they cooked actual meals, however, he wasn't much of a cook and Valie wasn't much of a learner. That night, Trent and Valie spent time outside playing catch--trying their best to avoid the odd woman.

  The two tossed the softball back and forth.

  “What's your deal?” Trent asked, throwing the ball.

  Valie caught it and turned it a couple of times in her glove, “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you're not usually rude to strangers... family and friends, sure, but never strangers.”

  “I wasn't rude.” She tossed the ball back.

  He caught it with ease, his long arms made playing catch pretty effortless for him. “Yeah, okay, Valie.” He said sarcastically, sending the ball back.

  After she caught it, she turned it over in her glove a few times again, knowing full well that she'd had an unnecessary icy demeanor to Rory. Valie wasn't usually rude to anyone. She was a kind and very caring person, but for a reason she couldn't explain, she didn't like the woman.

  “I don't need to be nice to everyone.”

  “Or anyone?” He chuckled.

  She tossed the ball back to him with extra force. He felt it when the ball landed in his glove. “Ow!”

  “I am nice, Trent.”

  “Yeah, okay.” He said back, throwing the ball out of her range so she had to leap to the side to catch it.

  “Jerk!” Valie laughed as she rolled in the grass after catching the ball. She stood and brushed off her knees. “Okay, maybe I was a little rude, but I didn't get a good read on her.”

  “You and your reads.”

  “They're never wrong,” she said confidently.

  “If you say so.”

  Valie called them her “reads,” Trent called them her “reads,” and her uncle called them “preposterous.”

  They were called in for dinner a few minutes later.

  When they all sat down at the table, the awkward tension didn't pass. Leon had made his specialty- spaghetti with garlic bread that starts frozen and pre-sliced.

  They sat at the dining room table. It was neatly put together, with the china that was only used on special occasions--even the dining room itself was only used on special occasions. No one had been saying much. Valie had been eyeing Rory suspiciously; she was wondering how Rory
knew her uncle. She went through the possible scenarios in her head. An old friend? Valie wasn't buying it, so she finally asked.

  "Oh, well...Rory and I used to work together," Leon answered carefully.

  "Where?" Valie asked.

  "In Milwaukee."

  "No, I mean what was the place- is she a teacher too?"

  Leon nodded.

  "What does she teach?"

  "Science."

  "What grade?"

  "Tenth."

  "For how long?"

  "Has to be nearly 20 years now...is that right, Rory?"

  Rory nodded and smiled.

  "What's the school called?"

  "Valie..." Leon cautioned, "You're being rude."

  “Shocker,” Trent coughed.

  "I was just curious." Valie said back quickly.

  "You know," Rory finally spoke up, "I have a daughter who is just around your age."

  "Really?" Trent said enthusiastically, clapping his hands together, "What's her name?" Valie saw through Trent's question, she knew he was trying to compensate, trying to get rid of the weirdness.

  "Her name is Maddy."

  "Interesting...is she a senior in high school too?"

  "Yes, she is...just about to turn 18 actually."

  "Lovely, that's just lovely, isn't that lovely, Valie?"

  "Lovely," she sighed. In Valie's mind, they were lying. She could see it, but she didn't know why. She secretly started to wonder if they had an affair. Or that maybe she was really a long-lost relative. Whatever she was, she wasn't a teacher. The way they were acting, they didn't seem like old friends to Valie. Everything was cordial, but it seemed so forced. Valie was confident that her reads on people were almost always right. One could call it intuition, a sixth sense, or even a gut instinct, but whenever Valie met people, she seemed to pick up on whatever energy they possessed. If they felt happy inside, but their face reflected sad, she knew they were really happy, as if she could see what was behind the curtain. Valie wasn't claiming to be psychic or anything like that, more so she was just in tune to the energy around her. Trent always teased that she was full of it, but mostly humored her. Leon told Valie that as gifted as she was, her “reads” could be attributed to the fact that she was just very perceptive. With Rory, Valie got a negative vibe from her mostly because Rory was nervous, not because she was shy, but because she was hiding something or there was something she was ashamed of that she didn't want them to know. Valie could just feel it.

  "So, um, Valie. Leon tells me that you have some neurological issues."

  This came way out of left field; something that was never really talked about by the family. Only Trent, her uncle, and close friends knew. To Valie, it was embarrassing. She felt completely, and quite dramatically, betrayed, and she knew the look on her face expressed that with her eyebrows furrowed and her jaw clenched, mouth scrunched.

  Trent wasn't nearly as surprised as Valie. He was trying not to laugh, so much so that his face was turning red.

  As if on cue, Valie's eyes started to well up with tears. It happened whenever someone asked her about it. It was a touchy subject for Valie.

  Obviously.

  She looked up at the light, as it usually helped. Something about the brightness was supposed to help suppress the tears.

  "Oh, I'm sorry," Rory said worriedly, reaching her hand across the table.

  "It's a thing where she just cries really easily. She's on medication for it, you know, so she doesn't, like, start hysterically crying if someone looks at her funny. It's actually pretty trippy, this one time she--''

  "Trent," Leon cut him off quietly, but forcefully. Trent shoved a piece of garlic bread in his mouth to help silence himself.

  "Chew it slowly, son," Leon advised.

  The light wasn't helping Valie, she was now openly sobbing- taking gulps of air and everything. Although what Rory said didn't make Valie feel sad, it was as if her tear ducts had a mind of their own, like they were somehow offended by the question.

  Rory offered her napkin, but Valie waved it away.

  "The medication really helps," Valie cried in between heaves then excused herself.

  Valie had what was called Pseudobulbar Affect or simply, PBA. She had it her whole life and it had caused some pretty embarrassing emotional episodes while she was growing up. People used to think that Valie was just extremely overly emotional or some huge crybaby, but finally when she was in eighth grade she was diagnosed and put on medication. Valie was never told why she had it--Leon explained that it just must've been something she was just born with. With medication, it improved, but the medication’s effectiveness had the tendency to wear off during the night time. For Valie, what made it worse, was that when she cried, there was no hiding it. The tears stained her cheeks, her nose swelled, her eyelids puffed out. She turned into a horrendous, sloppy mess. It could've been something that made her really sad, or just a little sad, or in this case, something that offended or embarrassed her.

  Valie stayed in her room for the rest of the night reading. Leon joked that her room was her safe place. The walls were painted light gray and the curtains, bedspread, and carpet were different shades of purple. They were supposed to be calming colors. Her nightstand and bookshelf were stacked with books. A string of white lights hung around the windowsill. Just above her dresser there was a shelf that held five trophies and seven medals. Most wouldn't know it, as the trophies were covered by a large towel. Once in a while, when she was feeling brave, Valie would look under the towel and admire the trophies from her years as a swimmer, but it was almost always covered. If people couldn't see them, then they couldn't ask about them, but she was too proud to stick them in her closet. This way, her prizes were on display for only her to admire.

  Everything in Valie's room was meant to keep her calm and "level." When medicine wasn't enough, going to her room helped, and when that wasn't an option, she would look up at a bright light, chew some minty gum, or look at the picture of her mom that she carried in her pocket every day. It was a picture from when Valie was a newborn. In the photo, Valie was wearing a purple dress, being hugged tightly by her mother. Her mother smiling widely, with red hair and eyes squinted shut from the sun. Valie carried it because it made her feel happy and she carried it as a reminder that she wanted to become the type of young woman that her mother would have been proud of.

  At the sight of Trent in her doorway, Valie set her book down. He came in and plopped down next to her.

  "So Rory seemed interesting..."

  "Did she finally leave?"

  "Yes, and you want to know something? You're not nice."

  "I am so, shutup."

  Trent leaned his head back and laughed, "You’re such a brat sometimes."

  "They were lying, she's not a teacher."

  "How do you know?"

  "I could just tell," Valie thought for a second, “but why lie?"

  "Oooo, lies, deceit, and a mysterious woman from the past. The plot thickens!" Trent said mockingly.

  "They didn't seem weird to you?"

  "Of course they did! The whole night was weird, it doesn't mean anything. They're old friends who haven't seen each other in a while. Retract the claws next time.”

  They sat for a moment in silence. One of Valie's favorite things about her relationship with Trent was that the two could sit in silence and it was never awkward. She could think clearly with him there and didn't have to rush. Their conversations always felt at ease.

  "You, my dear cousin, have a tough shell to crack."

  Valie shrugged, "I still don't believe she was a teacher."

  The door creaked open and Leon appeared, "Feeling okay?"

  "Yeah, I'm fine, I was fine, it was nothing,” she said, hoping he wouldn't notice the tissues sprinkled on the floor.

  "You," he pointed to Trent, "Out."

  "Sure, I know that look," Trent said with a smile, "good luck, cuz.”

  Trent went out the door and Leon came in, sitting at the
edge of the bed.

  "I'm sorry I was rude," Valie managed to force out before he had the chance to begin his lecture.

  “Well, that one had to hurt,” he chuckled, then took his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

  “What's going on?” Valie asked, sensing that he had something on his mind.

  Then, suddenly he said, "Do you know what your mother named you after?"

  The question surprised Valie and she shook her head. Valie had asked him a few times, but he had always told her that he didn't know. Leon never talked to Valie about her mother. Not about her death, not even about her life. He had never talked about Trent's mother either; who passed away shortly after Trent was born.

  "I thought you didn't know."

  He took a slow, deep breath, "I've kept things from you, because they were too painful for me to talk about and I'm sorry for that, kiddo. That wasn't fair to you. Not fair at all. Your first name, Helena, is a nice name, but it's your middle name that has the meaning, Valerie. Your mom wanted a name that meant “strong.”

  Leon took a shaky breath and Valie waited for him to continue. Whenever her uncle spoke, she listened, but in the moment she found herself listening especially carefully, clinging to every word because these were things that he never talked about.

  "When you were a baby, your mother knew how special you were. Right before your mother had you, we were worried about your health for a couple reasons, but Marnie said "her heart beats strong and that's all that matters" and she was right. When you were born, she looked at you and knew. The name suits you; you are an incredibly strong, young woman, Valie. In life, if you find yourself needing to be strong, remember that you have it inside of you. Don't ever forget it.”

  She smiled awkwardly, “Uh, am I in trouble for something or...?”

  “You have your mother's eyes too. Did I ever tell you that?”

  She shook her head.