Sheltered

by Debra Chapoton

  “Wait a second,” Ben left Emily alone on the couch and sank down next to Chuck. “Uh, Chuck and I just found Emily floating in the basement. Did you do that, Cori?”

  “No way. I was with new girl, up in my room. You knew that.”

  “I told you,” Emily whispered, “it was demons.” She shuddered.

  “I can believe that,” Cori pulled roughly on Emily’s hand. “Get down here. We’re all gonna sit around this thing and see what the problem is in this house.”

  The five of them sat still. For a few seconds the room was normal, as if five teens had decided to play a simple board game on a wintry afternoon. Then the spectrum of light changed, imperceptibly at first, and then slowly the room reddened. Megan placed the planchette in the middle of the board and left one finger balanced on the end.

  “Everybody, put your finger on an edge. What should our first question be?”

  Megan had hardly voiced the last word before the pointer rose beneath their hands. Even the guys gave little gasps, but everyone kept their hands engaged as Cori announced each letter aloud that the pointer passed. After every few letters Megan repeated the word that was spelled.

  “What . . . is . . . in . . . the . . . trunk – oh, my gosh! I asked what our first question should be and it answered that we should ask what’s in the trunk.”

  “Weird,” Ben said. He pulled his finger away first, thinking of what he had in his car’s trunk.

  Cori and Megan lifted their fingers, thinking of the trunk in Cori’s room that they hadn’t finished searching.

  Chuck pulled back his hand, wondered if Adam had hidden more weapons in his car trunk. He slowly pulled himself up off the floor. “Stupid,” he said and left the room.

  Only Emily’s finger remained on the planchette. She whispered to the Ouija board, “Do you mean the trunk in the basement? The freezer?” She kept her finger lightly touching the top of the pointer as it began to slide to the far side of the board. She had to lean to reach that far if she wasn’t going to let go. It was heading toward the NO. Her sleeve caught on the edge of the board and it was drawn back. She reached with her other hand to pull the material back down, but not before Ben yanked her wrist and twisted her hand over.

  “Em, are you hurt?” He reached for the edge and folded the cuff back, revealing a series of slices criss-crossing back and forth from her elbow to her wrist. “Em, no . . .”

  Without thinking Emily whispered, “Cori did it.”

  Ben and Megan together took hold of Emily’s arms and raised the sleeves on both arms as high as they would go. Emily stayed unresisting like a toddler getting his shirt changed.

  Megan looked from the wounds to Emily’s face to Ben and then to Cori.

  “I didn’t touch you, you lying creature!” Cori had no reason to conceal her anger; her pale complexion tinged to scarlet in an instant. She lunged forward over the board and Ben and Megan closed ranks over Emily and pushed Cori back.

  “How do you explain these cuts?” Ben held his hand in front of Cori’s face.

  “She’s a cutter, you idiot.” She raised her timbre a couple notches. “Psycho-girl . . . haven’t you noticed?” She glared at Emily who brightened rather than faded.

  “You did it,” Emily claimed again, eyes down.

  “Liar!” Cori picked up the board and pointer and rose to standing. “She was right the first time when she said ‘demons’. Obviously she’s possessed.”

  Emily’s lips quivered. She didn’t want to smile, had nothing to smile about, was ashamed at herself for lying, yet she had no more control over the smile that stretched her mouth than she did over the words that she had uttered. Maybe she was possessed.

  ***

  Ben got up when the kitchen timer beeped. He left Megan to comfort poor little Emily while he dished up the lasagna. It should be an interesting family meal. Quick, too. Everyone had jobs to get to. He plated the sixth piece when Megan came in.

  “She’s gone up to her room,” she said. “Hey, why the piece for Adam? We all know now that he doesn’t exist.”

  Ben handed her a plate. “All of us except Chuck. Do you want to be the one to tell him his brother is a figment of his imagination?”

  “Ben . . . this is all so screwed up. What are we going to do about Emily? And Cori? And, and everything?” She followed him into the dining room. They sat at adjacent corners and picked at their food.

  “I think,” Ben began carefully, “I think our brains are accepting this stuff little by little. It’s like there’s a whole new reality . . . weirdness . . . that we can accept or reject, but we’re slipping into acceptance. I’m not sure I’m making the right decisions anymore.” He took a bite and gave her an opportunity to comment. She didn’t. “Things were so clear-cut when I came up with my big plan.”

  “What big plan?”

  “Now, looking back, it wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done.” He looked at her eyes, got a lump in his throat, and couldn’t tell her the truth. He switched subjects. “About Cori and Emily . . . I think she lied. I think Em cuts herself as a way to cope. We haven’t been able to find her mom and brother.”

  “So you don’t think she’s possessed?”

  Ben shook his head no. “I have an advantage over you – a little more perspective on her problem. I don’t get why she’d lie about Cori, though, unless it’s to get back at her for a bunch of little things. Cori has bullied her from day one.”

  “But she’s got to know that Cori will retaliate even more.” Megan put her fork down. “You know, I was sort of getting along with her up in her room. She’s not a total bitch.”

  They heard Chuck come into the kitchen, grab a plate, and retreat.

  “But the demon thing . . .” Megan let the thought hang for a second. “It would explain the levitation, Chuck’s attack, the Ouija board, the smells.”

  “What smells?”

  “Oh, well, maybe that’s just my imagination.”

  Soft steps, another plate claimed, another retreat, but this time it was Emily.

  Megan lowered her voice, “Somebody once told me that there’s a lot of demon possession in other countries, but not so much in America, because it’s a Christian nation. Well, supposedly. But anyway, people like Emily would be susceptible to it because they’re so fragile . . . and don’t have any faith.” She watched Ben give a little nod of agreement and then she asked, “What faith are you?”

  “Me? Uh,” he put his fork down and started cracking his knuckles. “Oh, sorry, habit. Um, I guess I’m Christian. My dad took us all to church when I was little.” He smiled at the memory. “My mom’s family wasn’t anything, but my dad and his parents, my grandparents, were . . . are Christians. We prayed all the time. My dad prayed with me before bed and I remember that we would go to these fellowship dinners and I got to run around the church basement with some other kids. It was fun.”

  “Sounds nice,” Megan said. She took her last bite of the lasagna.

  “It was. And I went to Sunday School. I don’t remember anything about demons, though.”

  “Talking about me?” Cori burst in from the kitchen, slammed her plate down on the table and pulled out a chair at the opposite end. “I didn’t cut that little twerp.”

  Megan waited until Cori sat down. “We didn’t think you did. She’s got serious problems. Be nice to her.”

  Cori closed her eyelids to the involuntarily eye roll, shoved a forkful of lasagna into her mouth. She chewed as if she were in a competition and scarfed down half of her dinner before Megan and Ben took their dishes to the kitchen.

  They were standing side by side at the sink when Emily came in with her empty plate and spoke to Ben. “I forgot I have to work tonight, Ben. Can you drive me?”

  “Um, sure, Em. When do we need to leave?” He glanced at the kitchen clock.

  “Now.”

  Ben shrugged at Megan and said, “I can make it back in time to drive you like I promised or–”

  “You don’t have
to. I told you I can walk. No big deal.” Megan smiled.

  “I was going to add . . . or . . . you can come now and we can talk some more after we drop her off.” The dimples spread wide and deep and Megan nodded.

  “Just give me one sec.” She raced upstairs.

  ***

  Emily put her coat on and bolted out the door. It had begun to snow again and there was nearly an inch on the ground. She got into the back seat of the car – it was where she belonged now. She saw the way Ben and Megan looked at each other. A troubling image formed in her memory; she squeezed her mind shut to the thought. She stared at her wet shoes, watched the snow slide off onto the floor and melt into the carpet. She encouraged her soul to embrace the ache that wept in her heart. It wasn’t hard. The new cuts on her thighs were ready reminders, tingling still.

  She thought about her lie, the one she told about Cori cutting her. She had felt sanctioned for a brief moment when the others had believed her. Her second claim was weak and forced and did not intensify the pardon as she had hoped. And then her secret was out, her lies interpreted. The worst part was how Ben’s gallant protectiveness collapsed into pity.

  The car doors opened and the two lovebirds got in without a word to her. Ben started the car and then the wipers. She watched him from the corner of her eye as he got back out and brushed the snow from the windshield with his coat sleeve. She bowed her head and let her hair fall over her face. What good would praying do her now? She was hopeless. She would never pray to God again.

  The short drive to the main road took forever; Ben drove slowly on the slick snow-covered street. The main road was much better, but still he was cautious. Emily waited for them to say something, even if it was merely to have their own cute little personal conversation, but they were dead quiet. The swish of the wiper blades and the slushy sound of the wheels on the snowy pavement had no rhythm. Her own breath came in shallow puffs, amplified by the silence inside the car.

  The farther they went, the lighter she felt.

  As he pulled up in front of the store she knew she could work a four hour shift without a problem.

  “Pick you up in four hours?” Ben asked.

  “Yes, please,” she said in her smallest voice, sad, contrite, withering.

  She walked away without a word to Megan.

  ***

  Megan watched Emily go into the store. “That was weird,” she said. “Do you think she’ll be all right?”

  “Not really,” Ben signaled left and pulled out into the main street traffic. He drove with a more anxious determination, hurrying to get to the Steak House Grill.

  Megan held the seat belt strap away from her chest, an old habit, and ran her glove up and down the edges. She turned her whole body towards Ben and watched him concentrate on his driving. He had to put the wipers to their fastest speed to keep the snow from accumulating.

  “What should we do about her?” Megan’s voice reflected the genuine concern that she felt.

  “We?”

  She smiled, engrossed in the right side dimple that appeared when he said the word. “Yeah, I feel like I belong at 328 Elm. We should help one another . . . right?”

  Ben didn’t answer right away. He cut over to the right lane and to the road that led to the back of Megan’s restaurant. He found a parking spot and pulled in, noting the time on the car’s clock. “We have forty-five minutes to spare. You’re stuck here with me until your shift.” He turned off the wipers but left the engine idling.

  A nearby lamppost’s light threw a beam that caught the sparkle in his eyes. Megan’s eyes fluttered from his eyes to his dimples to his lips and back around again. She released her grip on the seat belt and unbuckled it. “I wouldn’t say I’m stuck with you,” she teased back, “more like assigned.”

  “Huh?”

  “Like we have a group project and we’re partners. Our goal is . . . wow, our goal is a tough one: number one – get help for Emily. Number two – get help for Chuck.”

  “I see where you’re going with this. Number three – get help for Cori. Right?”

  Megan nodded.

  “And number four . . .” Ben undid his seatbelt, reached for her hand, and pulled off her glove, “number four is get help for Megan.” He squeezed her fingers and leaned forward to kiss her.

  Megan didn’t miss an instant of the kiss. She brought her arms around his neck and let herself sink into his warmth. “Yes,” she breathed when their lips parted for a moment. The second kiss was longer still and both of them heightened the potent energy between them with anxious gasps.

  Suddenly Megan pulled back, straightened herself in the seat and looked out the passenger window.

  “What’s wrong? What did I do?” Ben’s voice harbored an honest plea.

  “There’s something you should know about me,” she sighed.

  Chapter 13

  Ben watched her face, tried to keep his own from twitching. The wrong reaction now would spoil things. When he had written the letter as Mrs. Kremer inviting Megan to live in a supposedly adult supervised rooming house, he had no idea that he would become so infatuated with her. This was not part of the big plan.

  “Go on,” he said. He reached for her hand again and held it tightly.

  “I made a huge mistake. Um, the end of my freshman year I started dating a senior. I thought he was going to ask me to prom, but . . . anyway, I was stupid. I, uh, got pregnant.”

  Ben rubbed his thumb and fingers over the back of her hand, hoping he was giving her the right signals. He wanted to tell her that he knew some of it, knew she had a baby, knew she was trying to get custody.

  Megan didn’t draw her hand away. She continued, “I kept the pregnancy secret until I started showing. My parents were furious.” She took a moment to think what she wanted to say next. “I . . . we, uh, we had a huge argument. I’m not pro-this or anti-that but my parents wanted me to get an abortion and I positively couldn’t kill my baby. I called the guy, Brian, and told him and he said it couldn’t be his and he told me not to bother him again. He was off to college, up at State.”

  “Wow,” Ben interjected, “that was harsh.”

  “Yeah,” Megan glanced at him and then stared at their hands, “I guess.”

  “So? What happened?”

  “Uh, I told my mom I wasn’t going to get any financial help from the baby’s father . . . my parents are far from rich, by the way, and all of a sudden I found myself out the door. Literally – pushed out the door!” Her voice got a little higher pitched as she struggled with some old emotions. “I went to a friend’s and snuck back the next day for my clothes and some stuff. Then I went to Brian’s house, to talk to his folks. Simon’s their grandchild after all and I thought they might help me.”

  “Simon?” Ben said the name with a little tilt of his eyebrows and a slight smile. It was getting darker in the car as the snow covered the front and back windows.

  Megan grinned. “Yeah, you should see him. He’s ten months old now and he’s absolutely adorable. People say he looks like me.”

  “Does he have freckles?” That got a laugh out of her and Ben was glad.

  Megan covered her nose with her left hand. “No, silly, babies don’t have freckles.”

  “I know,” Ben laughed with her. “So . . . where’s Simon now?”

  Megan let out a huge sigh. “In foster care. You see, what happened was . . . even though Brian didn’t want to have anything to do with the baby, his parents did. They let me live with them, paid all the medical expenses, drove me to school and stuff, and then, when Simon was born they wanted to buy him from me . . . and adopt him.”

  “But . . .”

  “I know, but they have money. They got a lawyer. Everything got really weird, really fast.”

  “What about Brian?”

  “That was the worst part. I’d be there when he came home from college and he’d swear at me and call me names whenever his folks weren’t around. But when they could hear him he was all nice and every
thing, but insisted the baby wasn’t his and that they shouldn’t try to get custody–”

  “Well, that’s what you wanted, right?”

  “Right, but then Simon was born and they thought he looked exactly like Brian when he was a baby and then they insisted on a paternity suit and when I checked the lawyer websites online it seemed like a good idea . . . because then I could get child support.” Megan’s knees started to shake and she pulled her hand out of his and slipped her glove back on.

  “Are you cold?” Ben turned the heater up to the highest notch. “Or . . . I could put my arms around you . . .?”

  She scooted closer and gave him a shy smile. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his cheek against hers and whispered in her ear.

  “I already knew about your baby.” He felt the smallest shift in her posture and hugged her more tightly. “I’ll help you. But . . . there’s something you should know about me, too.”

  ***

  “You could have picked me up. It’s a blizzard out there!” Cori stomped and shook the snow off her coat as soon as she entered the tattoo parlor.

  Jason twirled in the client chair and laughed. “Babe, I had a customer. It was a $300 job with an awesome tip.” He waved a wad of twenties at her. “Besides, who’s gonna watch the store? Can’t just lock up for ten minutes.”

  Cori dropped the plastic bag she was carrying and took off her coat, hung it on a peg. “Let me see the appointment book.” She stepped to the counter and ran her finger down the page. “Shit. I’ve got a five o’clock and a six o’clock and whaddaya wanna bet they both cancel because of the snow?”

  Jason stuffed the money in his pocket, got up and stood behind her, groped her, and chuckled. “They’re only ear piercings. Big deal. They’ll be back tomorrow.”

  Cori turned around into his embrace, gave him a peck on the lips, and scrunched her nose at the sourness of his breath. She put her hands on his shoulders and shoved him away. “I need money,” she stated. “And I’ve gotta find another place to live. That house is too crazy.”

  “Babe . . . too crazy for you?” He kept his hands stretched out, wiggling his fingers as if he were enticing her back into his embrace. Cori ignored him and picked up the plastic bag. “What’s in the bag, babe?”