Twist of Fate

by Sheri L. Brown

  “My daughter is dating your daughter and she’s only seventeen. I need to find her.”

  “Well, I’m sorry to hear that you’re not paying close enough attention to your daughter’s activities. The only thing I can do is give you Felicia’s phone number and her address in the city, but I really don’t see….”

  “That’ll be fine,” Sarah said.

  Alice Rivers disappeared for a few minutes and returned with a piece of paper with a phone number and address on it.

  Alice hesitated and said, “You know, I was thinking, maybe I could take down your number, just in case I hear anything.”

  Sarah smiled. It was the first sentence she heard from Mrs. Rivers that didn’t sound either judgmental or apathetic.

  “That would be great, Alice, thank you. The bottom number is mine.” Sarah handed her one of Earl’s business cards containing both their numbers.

  Sarah and Claire walked away thanking Mrs. Rivers for her help. They drove home in silence, wondering what their next move would be to find Skylar. Claire imagined Skylar never knowing about Zia and missing her funeral. She imagined Skylar living in a dirty studio apartment with no running water or electricity in a bad part of town. She imagined lots of parties and drugs and Skylar getting persuaded into doing things she wasn’t sure about. And the worst part, the absolute worst part, was Claire’s dream of leaving for Vanderbilt this week was completely shattered. There was no way she was going under any of the circumstances. Zia was gone and so was Skylar. The only option was for her to go to New York. As soon as the thought entered Claire’s brain her stomach flipped. There was no way her parents were going to let her ditch college to try and find Skylar.

  Claire grabbed a couple of mugs out of the cabinet and turned on water for tea.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Claire and Sarah said to one another in unison.

  “Well, honey, you go ahead,” Sarah said.

  “No, maybe you should go ahead, Mom.”

  “Claire, I think it’s important that you talk first because there’s no way around how selfish I’m going to sound.”

  “Mom,” Claire said calmly, “I can’t leave right now.”

  “I think we need to talk to your father.”

  “That’s it?” Claire asked.

  “I just need a second opinion, that’s all,” Sarah said, “you know, your Dad is good at logistics.”

  “Well, what’s your opinion? Is this idea totally fucking crazy?”

  “No.”

  “Why? What were you going to say?”

  “I don’t think you should leave.”

  “Holy shit,” Claire said.

  It was one thing for her to think about not going, but it was another thing for her mother to say it. Claire tried to recall the day she got her acceptance letter. She tried to recall the days when she and Skylar talked about taking Tennessee by storm. Claire wasn’t sure now if they were her memories or someone else’s.

  “Look, you can go if you feel like you’re ready. I’m just saying the circumstances in just the last day have changed so drastically. Zia dying is one thing, but your sister missing is another ball of wax.”

  “Well, I agree” Claire said, “I won’t go anywhere until we find Skylar.”

  “It’s time to talk to your Dad, we need his help. We have a lot of planning to do over the next few days. Don’t forget, honey, we still have to plan a funeral in the middle of looking for your sister.”

  “Well,” Claire thought for a minute, “you should stay here and plan everything. I should go to the city and start looking for Skye.”

  Claire picked up her phone and looked to see if either Skye or Ryan had tried to contact her. She looked at the piece of paper Felicia’s mother had given them and dialed the number.

  Hi, this is Felicia. You know what to do at the tone.

  “Hi, Felicia, this is Claire and I’m looking for Skylar. We have a family emergency and we have to reach her. She’s not answering her phone, so… just let her know I’m trying to find her, kay?”

  Claire stood up, “Mom, we can’t just sit here. I’m totally freaking out.”

  “That’s why we need your Dad, he always has a cool head about things.”

  “You’re right. When does he get home?”

  “Any minute now. Let’s come up with a plan,” Sarah said.

  Earl walked in a few minutes later, “Hey, what day did you say you had to pick up the girls from camp?”

  Claire looked at her Dad. He was a good guy and didn’t deserve to hear what she and Sarah were about to dump on him.

  “Honey, the girls are getting a ride home with their friends’ parents. And now that Zia has left us, I may need to go get them from camp early… I mean, depending on the day we can have the funeral.”

  “Well, I’m sure it’ll all work out. How you doin’, Clairebear? I’m sure this is tough on you.”

  Earl put his arms around Claire and squeezed her. Claire felt bad getting this kind of attention mourning Zia when there were more pressing matters at stake. She looked at Sarah around Earl’s arms, trying to signal to her that they needed to say something.

  “Earl,” Sarah said, “we need to talk.”

  “Well, that sounds a little foreboding. What going on?”

  “We think Skylar ran away with Felicia,” Claire said.

  “No, she wouldn’t do that. There’s gotta be some misunderstanding.”

  Claire started crying. She wasn’t sure why. Yes, she was devastated by the news of Zia’s passing. She was certain she was still in shock over it. But now she was significantly more concerned about Skylar running away and it no longer mattered if her argument about Skylar had some legitimacy. Skylar was gone and Claire felt overwhelmingly responsible for it.

  “I think she left because of me, Dad.”

  “Oh, honey, I think you’re overdramatizing things,” Earl Said.

  “I know you both know I have the tendency to do that, but you need to know I broke our sister bond. I broke something so precious and sacred. It’s hard to explain. All I can say is that it’s special. I never should have opened my mouth about anything… any resentment or jealousy or perceived favoritism about Skylar’s situation. I should have brought it up with her alone… and I didn’t. And now she’s gone.”

  “Claire,” Sarah said in a calming voice, “don’t you think it’s possible Skye would have done this anyway?”

  “I suppose, but it didn’t help that I crushed her the way I did. We have to find her. If anything happens to her I will always blame myself.”

  Sarah stopped listening when the phone rang.

  “Hello? Okay. Thank you Mrs. Rivers. Yes, please stay in touch.”

  “What was that about?” Claire asked.

  “Mrs. Rivers found a note Felicia left.”

  “And?” Claire asked.

  “Well, Felicia didn’t mention Skylar. She just mentioned that she wouldn’t be available to housesit for them next month and she was going out of the country on a special assignment for work.”

  “Well, Skye can’t go with her, she doesn’t have a passport,” Claire said confidently.

  “I don’t know, Claire. She could get one.”

  Sarah filled Earl and Claire in on her conversation earlier that day with Rachel and how Skylar had called her to tell her it was fine to enroll her in a public high school in the city. Everything was adding up that Skylar had a plan to exit for quite some time and it had nothing to do with the fight she and Claire had had the night before.

  “She never said anything to you about leaving, Claire?” Earl asked.

  “Well, the only thing she mentioned was wanting to get out of high school and away from the small-minded people in our town as quickly as she could. But she didn’t mention anything specific. I’m going to take the train into the city first thing tomorrow, Mom. I can tell you everything you need to know about Zia’s funeral arrangements. Can you call Rachel and let her know I’m coming?”

  “Oh, we
didn’t get to that yet, Claire.”

  “Get to what?” Claire and Earl asked in unison.

  “I was at my wits end today and called my Mom for support….”

  Claire and Earl looked at each other and then at Rachel with wary eyes.

  “I know, I know, but she was actually really helpful and supportive. She suggested you defer your enrollment at Vanderbilt and go and live with her, but this was before Skylar disappeared.”

  “I’ll do it.”

  “What?” Earl asked, “I leave for work for the day and everything is turned upside down... missing kids and a college drop-out before she goes to college? Sarah, shouldn’t we talk about this?”

  “At this point, I think we should all talk about it together,” Sarah said, “what’s the point of planning things for our kids without them around? They’re going to do whatever they want anyway.”

  “Oh, Mom,” Claire said apologetically, “I would be okay going away with Ryan and Zia gone, but I can’t leave right now not knowing where Skye is. Surely, Dad, you can understand that.”

  “Just contact the school and find out how much damage it might do to your college career.”

  “Okay, fine. I’ll do that. So, I can go to New York, then?”

  “Yes, but only for a short time to find your sister. You have to have a plan to get back into school as soon as possible, Claire. You worked way too hard to throw your future away.”

  Claire smiled and pretended to be in agreement with her father. But the truth of the matter was Claire was oddly excited at the prospect of going to New York. Maybe she needed a little adventure of her own. And maybe the thought of being only a short train ride away from her family made her feel like she wouldn’t be as homesick. In New York, she’d find Skylar and maybe a little part of herself.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Claire ignored her phone while she picked up her small suitcase and backpack and got off the train at Grand Central Station. She was anxious to see if it were Ryan or Skylar, but she was already getting looks from fellow passengers about her bags. There was no need to slow herself or anyone else down. She found an empty bench in the beautiful vast space and sat. It was a strange feeling to be sitting in Manhattan by herself. She took a deep breath and soaked in the vibe. She loved arriving at Grand Central. The architecture alone blew her mind, but people-watching was equally as entertaining.

  She wasn’t a total country bumpkin, despite the fact that New Yorkers define upstate as anywhere north of the Bronx, including Westchester. But Sarah had made sure the girls spent enough time in the city to feel comfortable being there and feeling as though it was their City. The beautiful smaller cities and towns dispersed throughout the Hudson River Valley had distinct charm and some culture, but nothing compared to Manhattan. And after all, Sarah was raised in lower Manhattan, so Claire felt like a New Yorker. She was the daughter of one, after all.

  This was Claire’s first time in Manhattan alone. It was funny, she thought, remembering the things her mother told her as they did all the touristy things—the Circle Line, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, shopping at Macy’s and eating at Tavern on the Green—don’t look up or around, the muggers will know you’re a tourist; don’t make idle conversation with people you don’t know and wear your purse over your shoulder and around your body, so no one can snatch it from you. Claire rested her arm on her backpack next to her and made sure her suitcase made contact with her leg as she sat.

  She pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw a text from Sarah asking if she made it okay. No word from Ryan or Skye, she thought. She texted her mom back and told her she was sitting in the train station enjoying her people-watching.

  Rachel is sending a car for you, it’ll be there in ten minutes… xo, mom.

  Claire thought it was endearing that her mother always signed her name to text messages as though she wouldn’t know who was texting her. She picked her bag up and slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed for the door.

  The smell of the air at 42nd Street made her feel like she was home—part exhaust, part grime and part subway steam mixed in with the smell of the weather on the verge of changing to fall. Because she was still out of sorts and extremely worried about her sister, Claire didn’t spend too much time ruminating over her immediate surroundings. She tried to stay focused on the situation.

  Her plan was to go to Rachel’s, drop off her stuff and head to the address Alice Rivers had given her. She saw a pretzel cart on the corner and made her way over to it, making sure to look around for a care hire. The thought of a New York pretzel with yellow mustard… reminded her of Skye. She needed a reality check. The idea was to come to New York to find Skylar and then she could go back to her life… maybe. No hot pretzel for now.

  Claire spun around when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, but my boss told me to pick up a young girl by the name of Ms. Sinclair, I’m hoping that’s you.”

  “Who’s your boss?” Claire asked.

  “Well, Ms. Goldman… she said you’d probably have a suitcase and a backpack… and, uh, probably have a little attitude, too.”

  “Hm, all right then. I do have luggage and a little attitude. Rachel Goldman is my grandmother, she knows me well,” Claire smiled as he opened the car door.

  The driver gave Claire an odd look that she was unable to decipher. She got into the car and then she remembered. She broke the cardinal rule of calling Rachel her grandmother. But surely she looked like a grandmother. Or maybe Claire was too forthcoming in admitting she had an attitude—not the best thing to say to someone who was from New York. Maybe that’s what rubbed him the wrong way, she thought. She didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot with Rachel’s driver. He held her life in his hands, after all, driving around the busy streets of Manhattan.

  It wasn’t a stretch limo, but it was close. It had a darkened glass divider to create privacy between her and the driver. She leaned forward and knocked on the glass. He rolled it down.

  “How can I help you, ma’am?”

  “Are you Rachel’s driver?”

  “I am, Ms. Sinclair.”

  “All the time?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Can you call me Claire? I’m going to be here a while and you might be seeing a lot of me.”

  “Sure thing, Claire.”

  “Look, I know I gave you attitude back there, but I needed to be sure you weren’t some random driver trying to pick me up.”

  “I understand, Claire. You can’t be too careful in New York City.”

  “Yeah, it’s true. Especially for me, you know. My mother was born and raised in Manhattan, but moved upstate before she had me. So, I’ve been coming in and out of the city my whole life, you know, to see my grandmother, but I still feel like I have to be more careful and a little more bitchy to fit in here. More than upstate, for sure.”

  Ben, the driver, couldn’t help but chuckle.

  “What’s so funny?” Claire asked.

  “Claire, I’m so used to attitude livin’ here. I gave you a look because I didn’t realize Ms. Goldman was a grandmother.”

  Claire laughed, “That’s what I first thought when I saw that look on your face! Rachel really prefers we call her Rachel. It’s funny, ya know? We don’t call her Grandma, so she doesn’t exactly identify herself with that role. Hey, what’s your name?”

  “Ben, Ben Walker.”

  “Well, nice to meet you Ben. I’m here on a little bit of a mission. Maybe, if it’s all right with Rachel, I can hop a couple of rides with you around the city if I need to get somewhere in a hurry.”

  “Well, talk to Rachel and we’ll go from there. I am at your service if it doesn’t interfere with her schedule.”

  Claire was appreciative that Rachel sent a car for her, but it meant she would miss out on strolling toward lower Manhattan through all the cool neighborhoods, which is what she had always done with Sarah. She wanted to hail a cab on her own
or maybe take the subway, but making a beeline for Tribeca and settling in was most important. She had to hit the pavement to start her search for her sister.

  As they drove by NYU Claire started thinking maybe should apply there for spring semester. She had talked to an academic advisor at Vanderbilt and after a long conversation without elaborating too much on the circumstances; Claire was able to defer her enrollment one semester without losing scholarship money. NYU was looking appealing in the moment and attending Rachel’s Alma Mater seemed romantic to Claire.

  Claire looked out the window and tried to remember the last time she was in the city. Their regular visits had dwindled over the last few years ever since Rachel decided to make the trek up to ‘no-man’s-land’, as she referred to it, for family visits.

  Ben pulled up in front of Rachel’s building and opened the door for Claire.

  “Thanks for the ride, Ben.”

  “Thank you, Claire, for the conversation.”

  Claire turned to the doorman and let him know who she was. He gave her a big smile and told her they were expecting her.

  “Would you like some help with your bags, Ms. Claire?”

  “Oh, God no, I just have one bag. I’ll be fine.”

  “You just go inside and take that elevator up to Ms. Goldman’s apartment.”

  “Thank you.”

  Claire didn’t remember the elevator going up to Rachel’s apartment, but maybe more time had passed than she thought since she had visited last. The elevator doors opened into a foyer, rather than a floor. Claire walked in and her mouth dropped when she saw the view of the city from Rachel’s massive living room windows.

  “When the hell did Rachel move to the penthouse?” She asked out loud.

  Claire pulled out her phone and texted both Sarah and Rachel to let them know she arrived safely. She stood and looked at the view for a few minutes and went to the bathroom to freshen up. Claire really wasn’t sure what to do next other than head out to Greenwich Village to look for Skylar. She had a short window of time to find her before she had to leave for Zia’s funeral back upstate.

  She was confident Sarah could handle the arrangements for Zia without too much trouble. The job really belonged to Rachel first and maybe Sarah second because they were officially the grown-ups closest to Regina. But Claire knew Regina better than anyone, and she knew how important rituals were to her. Rachel and Sarah could easily gloss over a specific request, thinking it seemed superfluous or nit-picky, not realizing how Zia might have valued it.