by Mav Skye
Jenn sat back in her seat and gave him a funny look.
Did she know? Did she truly expect?
She said, “Chill out, I know you’d never do anything like that.” Then, she messed with the radio channel, and Simon glanced back at the kids. Tony whispered, “See?”
Rietta's face contorted into one of frustration. She shushed him and nodded.
Jenn exclaimed, “Oh! Oh, it’s David Bowie. Do you hear this, Simon? They play David Bowie in Texas!”
Their conversation must have completely left her mind because she was singing at full volume with Bowie about being heroes for a day.
He might have sung along, too, but already guilt set on his shoulders. How could he be honest with Jenn and keep the truth from her? Especially when Tony already suspected. It was only a matter of time before he had to come clean. He rubbed his sweaty forehead a headache was starting. Migraine. Wrestling with his conscience always brought them on. And there was only one way to clear his conscience, to confess his sins, not to the statue of Mary or Christ, but to the woman he’d fallen in love with. Despite her past, Jenn was purer than any church he had ever entered.
The thought made him blush and grow rather uncomfortable.
Thankfully, the cabin was straight ahead.
Jenn burst out like a child. “We’re here! We’re here! Look at that. It’s gorgeous!”
Tony leaned over Jenn's shoulder to look. “Looks stuffy to me.”
Jenn turned to him. “We’ll open the windows. It’ll be great. Rietta?”
Rietta stared out the window, her face hard. She shrugged. “It’s better than being in this car.”
“True!” Shrieked Jenn. Simon had never seen Jenn so happy. As he slowed to a stop, Jenn burst out the door and ran to the tiny stucco house. She tried to gaze through the lace curtains by the front porch, and then ran around the deck leading behind the house.
He switched off the engine, glanced at the kids in the rearview mirror. Henrietta stared out the window while Tony folded his arms and glared at him.
Simon climbed out of the car and stretched. Oaks and mesquite surrounded the little vacation home. Their long branches swayed in the warm breeze. Cactus spotted the desert land, and pre-spring wild flowers of every color filled between them. Cicadas had already started their mating buzz, and grackles sang their jungle calls. Dozens of mourning doves fluttered between the mesquite; peace in the desert.
Jenn came running back around the deck of the house. “You have to see this! There’s a lake back there! Tony, Rietta! Come on!”
Tony, all bad guy conspiracies forgotten, jumped out of the car and scrambled after Jenn, once more looking like a little boy.
Simon laughed, then bent and peeked inside his window at Rietta. She hadn’t moved and looked lost in her own world.
“Rietta, feel up to helping me pack some of this stuff inside?”
She nodded and opened her door.
They grabbed a few bags, and walked up the porch to the front door in silence. He put his bags down and fiddled with the door lock.
Rietta said, “Father?”
Surprised, he turned toward her. He knew she meant father as a religious title, but for a split second, he thought she was addressing him as a parent. He smiled warmly at her. He had the urge to tuck her hair behind her ear and smooth her rumpled hair. The blood had washed out easily, but along the back of her head was a large lump. He could see it even through her long hair.
She said, “I know you’re not a bad man.”
Surprised, he juggled the bags and adjusted his attention from the door lock to the not-so-young girl. She seemed so much like a daughter to him this very second. “Thank you, Tina, uh, Rietta, sorry bout that. I’m not bad, but I’m not perfect either.”
She shrugged. “I’m not either, Father.”
Simon could tell something else was on her mind, so he waited a minute before opening the door.
She said, “Father, did you sell children for money?”
You'll regret this. Simon pushed the thought away. “No, God, no!” He murmured a prayer for taking His name in vain. “I’d never do that. Never have done that. I swear with my hand on the Bible, Rietta.”
She nodded. “Aunt May says you got the money doing bad things.”
“Your Aunt May? You see her too?” Simon shook his head. May had long passed, and yet it was as if she was still with them in the here and now, everyday. He worried about Jenn’s psychosis. As far as he knew, she took her pills regularly, but for Henrietta to start taking part in Jenn’s fantasy life? You’ll regret this.
Rietta said matter-of-factly. “She’s dead. But, she still talks to me. She talks to Aunt Jenn, too. Just ask her.”
He felt a cold chill down his spine, like a ghostly finger, not that he believed in ghosts. Other than the Holy Ghost.
“Okay.” He turned back to the door, unlocked it and opened it, then stood uncomfortably with the girl. After a few seconds, he said, “Know this, Rietta. I care greatly for your Aunt Jenn and would never hurt a hair on her head.”
Rietta looked him in the eye and must have seen the sincerity on his face, because she nodded. “Are you going to marry her?”
Simon nodded. “If she’ll have me.”
Rietta smiled, the first in a long time. “I think she will.”
Simon grinned back at her. “I hope so, kiddo.”
Rietta said, “Aunt Jenn always calls me that.”
“I know.”
They brought the bags inside, and Rietta became solemn and thoughtful once more. “Are you going to tell Aunt Jenn what you did to get the money?”
He sighed and set down the bags. From the mouth of babes.
He turned to Rietta and put his hand in the air like a Cub Scout. “I solemnly swear to tell her.”
Rietta giggled. "Put your hand down, Father. I prefer to shake on it."
They shook.
Right then, Tony burst in the front door soaking wet. “Rietta, Rietta, you have to get out here. We’re swimming in our clothes!”
Rietta dropped her bags and scurried after him.
Simon peeked out the living room window. Jenn was floating on her back in her jeans and tight red shirt.
Tony and Rietta jumped off the deck, splashing water all over her.
They giggled as she leaped up and splashed them back. He spotted a sliding glass door and opened it. “Careful of the rattlers!”
“What? Where?” Jenn looked around. “I found one! Grab him, Rietta!” They both grabbed Tony and tickled him.
Simon laughed and went to get the bags. He inspected the three bedrooms and decided to leave them for Jenn and the kids. He set Jenn’s bag on the queen bed in the largest of the three rooms. The paint was a funky green color, and he noticed a poster on the wall. David Bowie. Yeah, definitely Jenn’s room. Then, he moved onto a baby blue room with a painting of a black bear swiping a fish out of the river. He thought Tony would like it, so he tossed his backpack in the small closet and went on to the third room.
It was cream with a dark purple comforter and drapes. He left Tina’s backpack in the closet, and then walked into the living room.
He nudged his duffel bag of money behind the couch, hoping the kids wouldn’t notice. The curtains hid it for the most part, and he hoped that would be enough. He sat down on the couch. It was lumpy, but it would serve as a bed just fine.
His eyes were drawn to the deer head above the fireplace. Its eyes spoke of death and darkness. Bone white horns reached for the ceiling. You'll regret this.
Shut up, he thought at it. Shut up! He thought about putting a blanket over it. Or better yet, take it down.
Jenn and the kids laughed outside. It was the best sound in the world. He stood and walked over to the sliding glass door and leaned against the frame. His eyes settled on Jenn, the swells of her breasts in the now soaked and almost see through shirt.
CHAIN ME-FREE ME-LOVE ME. Simon was pretty sure she would win a wet t-shirt contest. He adj
usted his gaze and his thoughts back to the kids, their happy faces.
Simon felt light again. His migraine was gone. He had promised to come clean to Jenn. And he would.
And best of all, for the first time in his life, he had a family. A real family.
20
Dangerous Things
Tony dried his head with a towel, feeling better than he had in days. But having fun with Auntie Jenn and Rietta in the small lake hadn’t changed the way he felt about the priest.
The whistling was back, but only as an annoying faint screech, not the high-pitched shrill he’d experienced a few days before.
It started the second he had set foot inside the sliding glass door after getting out of the lake. He wondered if Aunt Jenn had heard it, too because she had walked inside laughing, dropped the towel she was holding, and gasped.
He had glanced up at Jenn only to see her staring at the fireplace in the living room. He looked too. It was a deer head. Not the one from Auntie Jenn’s closet, but similar. It had the same black eyes, the thoughtful expression.
And then, the faint screech turned into words. The deer head said things. It said Tony was right. Father Wraith wasn’t just a bad man, but the evilest one of all. It said Tony knew what bad guys deserved and that Tony knew what needed to be done. It was his turn.
He had to do what Rietta did to the wolf man. He had to do what Auntie Jenn and what Auntie May did at the bad pig guy’s house.
The whistling deer head said that only then would Tony have the power to be free, free from all the scary things of this world. The words stopped, and the faint whistling resumed.
Tony tossed the towel over his bed frame and still naked, marveled at the room. He’d never had his own room before. A painting of a black bear sat above the lamp by his bed. He liked it.
He looked inside his closet and found the small bag he had packed from when they saved Aunt Jenn from wolf man and Rietta from the hole.
That seemed like such a long time ago, even though it had been just a few days. The memory faded in his mind, and soon he supposed it would disappear just like most of his other memories.
He unzipped his bag and drew out the wolf mask and unicorn dagger, he was glad he had taken Aunt Jenn’s dagger instead of the Bowie. It gave him super strength—like a superpower.
The whistling changed to words again.
The deer head said, This is what you must remember: To escape the beast, you must become the beast.
He put the mask on and picked up the unicorn dagger. He turned to himself in the mirror on the closet door. He startled and screamed when he saw himself, completely nude with the mask and dagger.
A gentle knock rapped at the bedroom door. “Everything okay, kiddo?” It was Auntie Jenn.
Tony dropped the knife and covered his privates. “Um, yeah, but don’t come in. I’m still getting dressed!”
He heard Auntie Jenn laugh. “Just making sure.”
He heard her footsteps bounce away. She sure was happy these days. It was almost as if she thrived on danger. Tony didn’t care for this. All he wanted was to be safe. And with Father Wraith around, he did not feel safe.
Sure, the priest acted like he cared, but Tony knew deep down that he didn’t. That he sold and murdered kids. He probably buried them in the graveyard behind the rectory, why else would there be so many dead people there?
The worst part was that Auntie Jenn seemed to like him. A lot.
He heard whistling, then the deer head’s voice. Perhaps that makes Jenn dangerous, too. You know what needs to be done to dangerous people.
Tony shook his head and took off the mask. “No way, I’d never hurt Auntie Jenn.” And that was true. He loved her with all his heart.
Never say never, said the deer head.
Tony squeezed his eyes closed, anticipating the whistling, but it never came. He picked out some clothes from his bag and put them on. He wished he could have brought his Buzz Lightyear pajamas, but he’d left them behind at the cabin, smothered in bad guy’s blood.
Auntie Jenn knocked on his door again.
“Tony? I’m heading to the store to pick up some groceries.” She paused, then said, “Do you need anything?”
“Yeah, some underwear! I forgot mine.”
Auntie Jenn snickered, “No promises, but I’ll see what I can find. You can always wear your sister’s.”
“No way!” he yelled back.
The whistling deer head spoke again, Here’s your chance…become the beast. Kill the priest when she leaves.
Tony caught his breath and looked at the floor at the mask. His lower lip trembled.
Auntie Jenn tapped the door again. She said, “Tony, wanna come with me?”
Tony let the air out of his chest. “Sure do!”
He tossed the wolf mask and knife into the closet, and then burst out the door.
Auntie Jenn laughed as he rushed out the door and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Whoa, kiddo, where’d this come from?”
“I love you, Auntie Jenn.”
She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a slight squeeze. “I love you, too.”
“Do you like kittens?” he asked her. He suddenly remembered how he’d promised her a box of kittens if she’d wake up. And she did. He’d have to find some somewhere.
She nudged his chin up and gazed into his eyes, her eyebrows cringed like they did when she was worried, but then her face brightened. She grabbed his hand and said, “Come on. You can pick out the soda.”
He fell into place beside her. “Grape. Grape is my favorite.”
They passed the deer head in the living room. Tony inspected Auntie Jenn as they passed it, and she seemed to intentionally look away from it.
She’s dangerous, too, said the deer head.
“No!” he yelled at the deer head.
Auntie Jenn glanced at him, startled. “You don’t have to get grape pop.”
He nodded at her, and then looked sheepishly at Rietta as they passed her in the kitchen.
Rietta raised an eyebrow at him.
Tony mouthed the word, Later, and waved at her, but she only frowned back at him.
They bought chicken legs, a bag of salad, broccoli for Rietta (on Tony’s insistence), milk, and grape pop, popcorn, eggs, bread, and bacon. He’d help Auntie Jenn make French toast in the morning.
They sang along with Johnny Cash’s Ghost Riders in the Sky the whole way back. He didn’t know all the words, but he pretended like he did, and this made Auntie Jenn laugh. He liked the sound of her voice when she was happy.
It made him feel happy, even though the faint whistling was still there, in the back of his mind.
Tony shoved away all thoughts about the wolf man and dangerous things. He told himself to be nice to the priest that night because Auntie Jenn wanted to play card games. He wanted to behave for Auntie Jenn.
If the priest could play a wolf in sheep’s clothing, then Tony could, too.
21
Stargazing
Rietta lay in the pretty bed with the soft, purple comforter and stared at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It flipped to 3:11. She plumped up her pillow and turned towards the window facing the lake.
She had slept with Tony in the loft for months. She’d become accustomed to his snoring. It comforted her—the old her. Also, knowing he was safe and by her side had been a necessity to Tina.
Now that she was Henrietta, his lack of presence didn’t bother her as much.
But, she did miss their shared storytelling and stupid whispered jokes. Now she was in her bed in the prettiest house she’d ever been in…on a lake! And she was more disturbed than ever.
That night, after cards, they all had gone out on the deck by the lake. They’d spread a large blanket out and sat down to stargaze as they'd always done with Aunt Jenn. Father Wraith had pointed out a few a constellations that even Aunt Jenn didn’t know about.
When Henrietta had gone inside to look for a snack, Tony h
ad followed her inside.
As they waited for the popcorn in the microwave, Tony had told her that the deer head had been talking to him. It told him that the father was a dangerous man and that he’d needed to be gotten rid of the same way Rietta had gotten rid of the wolf man.
Henrietta didn’t feel much these days, but that had stunned her. She told Tony what Aunt May had told her. That the father was a good man, that good people make mistakes like the rest of us. But, Tony said he didn’t believe in Aunt May anymore.
Henrietta had almost slapped his face. The blasphemy! Out of all people, she expected Tony to believe in Aunt May. But she kept her temper in check and hadn’t replied.
A moment later, in a quiet voice, Tony said something else that had equally stunned her. He said the deer head had told him that Aunt Jenn was dangerous, too.
She had shut him up right then and there. She shook his shoulders and called him ridiculous!
Tony had started crying, and ran out with the bowl of popcorn.
It nagged at her. Worried her.
She had known he was thinking dark thoughts about the Father, that the man in the wolf mask had done more than just scare Tony, it had changed him.
What was he capable of? She thought of the teeth and claws she had discovered in his treasure box. But those were just animals. Could he truly hurt Aunt Jenn, the woman that had rescued them? Who cared for them like a mother?
May’s voice came to mind, No matter what happens. You survive. You protect your Aunt Jenn.
Henrietta flipped again, then brushed the comforter aside, and sat up. She walked over to the window, pushed aside the curtains, and opened it. The moon poured in with the sounds of Texas. Crickets chirped, toads croaked by the lakeside, and the occasional bird peeped, but mostly the wind blew. The air was humid and heavy, but the wind felt nice.
She brushed aside her sweaty hair, considered putting it up when she heard another noise. She paused.
Henrietta heard quiet voices. Aunt Jenn’s and Father Wraith’s. The sounds were different from talking or whispering. They were outside, but not in the lake.
