Tommy Nightmare (Jenny Pox #2)

by JL Bryan

  He knocked on the door.

  The jowly, beady-eyed woman opened the door. She was in her late forties or early fifties, and she didn’t look friendly.

  “We ain’t buying nothing,” she said through the screen door.

  “We’re just here to visit Darcy,” Tommy said.

  “Who are you?”

  “We’re friends.”

  “Darcy don’t have no friends. They all died in the witchcraft.”

  “Mom!” Darcy ran towards the door. She was wearing a long-faded Fallen Oak Baptist Kids’ Kamp T-shirt, which didn’t cover her swollen pregnant belly. She also wore yellow rubber gloves and smelled like Clorox. “That’s Tommy Goodling!” Darcy beamed through the screen door at Tommy, but her smile fell when she saw Esmeralda.

  “Who’s the Mexican?” Darcy’s mom asked. “Bet she’s illegal!”

  Esmeralda gave her an angry glare.

  “Mommm!” Darcy said. She pushed opened the screen door. “Come on in, Tommy.”

  “You didn’t tell me you was having friends over.” Darcy’s mom eyeballed Tommy and Esmeralda with disgust as they walked into her foyer.

  “I didn’t know they were coming!” Darcy said.

  “Did you clean both bathrooms?” her mom asked.

  “Just about,” Darcy said.

  “Did you scrub the commodes?”

  “Mom, do you have to say that?” Darcy turned bright red, looking at Tommy.

  “Well, did you?” her mom asked. “You can’t go nowhere until you scrub the commodes.”

  “Okay, okay!” Darcy said.

  Darcy’s dad wheeled into the room. The man was obese, with a thick moustache and an angry look on his face. He was missing one foot. Tommy could hear Wheel of Fortune in the living room from which he’d emerged.

  “Who in Christ is this?” her dad demanded, staring at Tommy.

  “Language, Morris,” Darcy’s mom said softly.

  “Is this the boy who knocked you up?” Darcy’s dad growled. His hands balled into fists on his wheelchair arms.

  “No, Dad!” Darcy’s face was deep red now, and she covered her eyes with one yellow glove. “I told you a million times, it was Bret Daniels. He disappeared like everybody else.”

  “Pretty convenient for him!” he barked. “Now I got to pay for a baby with nothing but disability and the shit money your momma makes at the fabric store! When you gonna get a got-damn job?”

  “Language, Morris,” Darcy’s mom said.

  “I told you, I applied at the Hardee’s and the Wal-Mart already,” Darcy said. “Nobody’s hiring! So why can’t I just hang out with people for once?”

  “You can’t go nowhere until you give me my insulin,” her dad said.

  “And scrub the commodes,” her mother reminded her.

  “Okay! I’m doing it!” Darcy marched down the hall. “I’m scrubbing the dumb commodes!” To Tommy, she said, “You guys want to hang out in my room and wait for me? I’ve got a radio you can turn on, if you keep the volume below 3.”

  Tommy and Esmeralda followed her down the hall.

  “No boys in your bedroom!” her father yelled.

  Darcy turned around to face him, and cupped her swollen belly in both hands. “Oh, gee whiz, Dad, what’s gonna happen? I mean, get real.”

  “Don’t you tell me to get real!” her dad yelled, his face turning bright crimson. “I ain’t got no foot! That’s as real as it gets!”

  Darcy gave an exaggerated sigh and pointed to a bedroom door with a poster of Kermit and Miss Piggy thumbtacked to it. “That’s my room. I’ll be there in two shakes.”

  Tommy and Esmeralda stepped into Darcy’s bedroom, and Tommy closed the door behind them. A few stuffed animals sat on the bed, and there was a cartoonish plastic piggy bank on the end table. Tommy looked at the collage of pictures on the wall. Some of them were Darcy’s family, but more of them were pictures of Darcy with Ashleigh Goodling, or just pictures of Ashleigh. Darcy also had a few posters of Jesus and seemed to prefer pictures where Jesus was muscular, cut and bronzed like a movie star, his loincloth barely clothing his loins.

  Tommy sat in a small armchair by a window, next to a bookshelf crammed with C.S. Lewis and L. Frank Baum paperbacks.

  “So, that’s the girl.” Esmeralda kept her voice low.

  “She worships Ashleigh,” Tommy said. “It’s perfect.”

  “Let’s just get it over with.”

  Tommy felt a little hurt. He’d been so happy to find Esmeralda again, but he had to keep dosing her with fear, since she didn’t really want to help him.

  They’d driven straight across the country, eighteen hours a day, stopping once to spend the night in a cheap motel. He’d worried that she might find the courage to leave in the middle of the night—but Tommy was a light sleeper. In Bent River, you never wanted to sleep too deep.

  Esmeralda hadn’t even tried to leave, though.

  Now Darcy returned, sans rubber gloves, and hurried to close the door behind her.

  “Sorry, guys,” Darcy said. “My dad’s such a lame-o.”

  “It’s fine,” Tommy said.

  “He’s handicapped, you know. Type II diabetes got him.” Darcy looked at Esmeralda and forced a smile. “Hi. I’m Darcy.”

  “I am Esmeralda.”

  “Nice to meet you. So, I guess you’re Tommy’s girlfriend or…?”

  Esmeralda looked at Tommy, waiting for some instruction.

  “Oh, gosh, sorry if that’s an awkward question!” Darcy said. “I’m such a dodo about things like that.” She sank to the bed, leaving plenty of space between herself and Esmeralda, and she farted. “Whoopsie! Sorry. Being pregnant sucks. Anywho, what’s going on? Has anybody heard from Dr. or Mrs. Goodling?”

  “Darcy, I have to tell you something.” Tommy moved over to the bed and sat next to Darcy, so that Darcy was stuck between Tommy and Esmeralda. He smiled. Time to make use of Mr. Tanner’s craziness.

  He took Darcy’s hand, and he pushed fear into her. He tried not to do too much—he didn’t want her a panicked, gibbering idiot, but he needed her awestruck.

  “I am an angel of God,” Tommy said. “Can you see it now?”

  Darcy’s eyes widened, and her lips trembled. “Yeah. Yes. Yes, sir.”

  Tommy squeezed her hand.

  “Ashleigh’s work on Earth isn’t quite done,” Tommy said. “So God is sending her back from heaven on a special errand. But she can’t use her old body, since it’s ruined.”

  “Yes, sir,” Darcy breathed. “It’s way ruined.”

  “So Ashleigh needs to borrow yours,” Tommy said. “Just for a little while. This angel here can put her soul into your body.” He nodded at Esmeralda.

  “Okay,” Darcy said. “If that’s what God wants.”

  Behind Darcy’s back, Esmeralda frowned and scowled at Tommy.

  “But wait, sir,” Darcy said. “I’m pregnant.”

  Tommy didn’t know where she was going with that, so he just watched her quietly.

  “So,” Darcy said, “If you put Ashleigh’s soul in me…does that mean my baby will have Ashleigh’s soul? Ashleigh will be my little girl?”

  “Is that what you want?” Tommy asked. The gleam in the girl’s eyes when she talked about Ashleigh was unsettling.

  “Oh, holy cow, yes,” Darcy said. “I mean, if I can, sir. If it’s okay with God.”

  “Then that’s what will happen,” Tommy said.

  “Oh, wow,” Darcy said. “And is it okay to say ‘holy cow’ or is that swearing? Cause I’ve never been sure and I figured you would know, sir.”

  Tommy reached into his jacket pocket and took out a wad of tissue. He unwrapped one of Ashleigh’s finger bones and handed it to Esmeralda. Esmeralda grimaced, but she curled her fingers tight around it.

  “What’s that?” Darcy asked.

  “Are you ready, Darcy?” Tommy asked. “Are you ready to do this for God?”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Tommy released Darcy’s
hand. “Then let her do it.”

  Darcy turned toward Esmeralda. “You’re an angel, too, ma’am? Wow, two angels!”

  “Quiet,” Esmeralda said. She took Darcy’s hand in her own, and then closed her eyes.

  Darcy closed her eyes and bowed her head, as if praying. Tommy could feel something shifting in the room, like a huge build-up of static electricity thickening the air, waiting to discharge.

  Darcy shuddered. Esmeralda hissed and jerked her hand away from Darcy.

  Darcy’s eyes opened, and she scowled at Tommy.

  “Darcy Metcalf?” Darcy’s mouth asked. “Are you serious?”

  “Ashleigh?” Tommy asked.

  “Oh, God, look at this body.” Ashleigh looked down at herself, then around at the room. “Ugh. She smells so bad. But this is actually a good place to get to work against Jenny.”

  “Jenny?” Tommy asked. “The girl who killed you?”

  “Who the fuck else would I be talking about?” Ashleigh tried to jump to her feet, but Darcy’s body was too heavy for the move. She landed clumsily and took a few steps to regain her balance, and then she farted long and loud. “And what the hell has Darcy been eating? Smells like Hamburger Helper.”

  “I brought you here to answer some questions,” Tommy said. “Last time, you said something about past lives—”

  “Yeah, whatever, we’ll get to it,” Ashleigh said. She turned to Esmeralda, who looked frightened. Ashleigh’s voice turned sweet. “Oh, thank you so much. I’m sure Tommy’s explained the whole situation to you, right?”

  “Not really,” Esmeralda said.

  “That figures.” Ashleigh took one of Esmeralda’s hands, the one that wasn’t holding the bone fragment. For the first time in two days, Esmeralda visibly relaxed. There was even the ghost of a smile on her lips. “You see, there’s a girl in town. Jenny. And she’s a murderer. She has an evil power in her touch.”

  “Like us?” Esmeralda asked.

  “Just like us.” Ashleigh brushed stray hairs back from Esmeralda’s face and cupped her chin. “She killed hundreds of people, and she’s going to get away with it. She’ll probably kill thousands more, if we don’t stop her.”

  “Oh,” Esmeralda said. “I didn’t realize it was like that.”

  “Yeah,” Ashleigh said. “So you’re being a big help. And look, I’ve seen you do this before, in past lives. What you need to do is keep holding onto that little piece of bone. Never let it go.”

  “Never?” Esmeralda looked at Ashleigh’s finger bone in the palm of her hand.

  “You can hang it on a necklace, under your shirt,” Ashleigh said. “That helps me to stay connected to this world. You’ll keep helping us, won’t you?”

  “I don’t know…I should—”

  Ashleigh squeezed her hand hard, and pressed her palm and fingers against Esmeralda’s face, pushing Esmeralda’s head against the wall.

  “Please keep helping us!” Ashleigh’s eyes were big and tearful.

  “Of course! Yes!” Esmeralda said. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings.”

  “Good.” Ashleigh released her. “Now, first thing, let’s get out of this dump. We’re going to my house.”

  Ashleigh led the way to Darcy’s front door.

  “Whoa, whoa.” Darcy’s dad wheeled into the room. “Where do you think you’re off to?”

  “I have to help weed the flower beds at church,” Ashleigh said. “Nobody else is doing it, and we can’t let it look all grody.”

  “Who’s gonna give me my insulin?” Darcy’s dad demanded.

  “Jeepers, I don’t know,” Ashleigh said. “Do it yourself.” She opened the door, and Tommy and Esmeralda followed her out.

  “What? What did you say to me?” Darcy’d dad wheeled after them, but Ashleigh slammed the door before he reached it.

  They walked out to the driveway.

  “Wow, this stupid baby is heavy.” Ashleigh slapped her stomach. She looked at Tommy’s bike. “Okay, genius,” she said. “Three of us, one motorcycle. What were you thinking?”

  “I like the bike,” Tommy said.

  Ashleigh rolled her eyes. “I’ll go get the keys to Darcy’s mom’s car.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  At school, Jenny and Seth sat again under the old oak by the parking lot. Seth ate a square of school pizza.

  “Did you get a chance to research that stuff I told you about?” Jenny asked.

  “Huh?”

  “The Peloponnesian War?”

  “Oh,” Seth said. “Um.”

  “Hi,” a small voice said. Jenny and Seth looked up to see Darcy Metcalf standing over them, holding her own square pizza on a Styrofoam plate. “Could I...like…sit with you guys?”

  Jenny felt a little bit stunned. Nobody had ever asked her that in years, if ever.

  “Sure, Darcy,” Seth said. “Are you feeling okay?”

  Darcy sat on a fat tree root next to Seth. “Thanks so much!” she gushed. “I hope it's okay I'm here. I didn't want to bother anybody.”

  “It's fine,” Seth said. “Right, Jenny?”

  Jenny looked at Darcy. On one hand, Darcy had always sucked up to Ashleigh and tried to be part of her group—but so had most of the kids in school, because Ashleigh had a magic touch that made people feel love. Darcy had been a committed Cool Crusader and part of all Ashleigh's groups, and Ashleigh had treated her like a servant.

  On the other hand, Ashleigh was dead. Nobody was under her spell anymore.

  In a lot of ways, Darcy was like Jenny. Darcy was awkward and regarded as an oddball by the other kids. Plus, Darcy didn't have any real friends, and even her fake friends weren't around anymore.

  “It's okay,” Jenny said. “How are you taking all this?”

  “Gosh, the whole place is just bonkers now, isn't it?” Darcy took a big bite of pizza, and talked with her mouth full. “I mean, where did everybody go? Do you really think they're all dead?”

  “The news said only a few people died,” Seth said.

  “But so many people are missing!” Darcy said. “And I don't know what to think about Ashleigh anymore, even. Since she's gone, I feel so different. I don’t know why I tried so hard to make her like me. You know what I mean?'

  “Definitely,” Seth said. Jenny nodded.

  “But maybe that's good,” Darcy said. “Because I have to grow up and be a mom now.” Darcy patted her big belly. “Babies are miracles right from Jesus, aren't they?”

  Jenny thought of her own mother, dying of Jenny pox as Jenny was born, and she doubted it.

  “Anywho,” Darcy said, “Jenny, I've been praying a lot. And I know it's been kinda rough in school for you, with all us popular kids kinda picking on you.”

  Jenny wanted to smirk at the idea that Darcy considered herself “popular.” But she just nodded instead.

  “I mean, I don't know why you wear gloves.” Darcy nodded at the pink gloves on Jenny's hands. “But we're all goofballs somehow. I just want to make amends before graduation. Like, maybe we could hang out?”

  Jenny automatically distrusted Darcy. Darcy had been the last person Jenny spoke to before she died. Darcy had seen her drown, like all the other pregnant girls. But she was acting like that had never happened. Which was perfectly fine with Jenny.

  Though Darcy had gotten sucked into Ashleigh’s spell, Darcy herself had always seemed like a nice, earnest person on the inside, trying to do the right things, but also desperate to be accepted. She was probably just lonely.

  “Okay,” Jenny said.

  “Cool beans!” Darcy said. “So do you want to hang out after school today?”

  “I don't know,” Jenny said. “I've got some chores at home.”

  “I'll help!” Darcy said.

  “You don't have to.”

  “Come on, Jenny. I really want to make things up with you. I really think it's what God wants me to do.”

  “Well...” Jenny thought it over. She'd never really had a friend, until she met Seth. She woul
d have to be careful to avoid any skin-on-skin contact with Darcy, but she had a lifetime of practice avoiding contact with people. “I mean, if you really want to...it's cool with me.”

  “Yay!” Darcy pounded her sneakers up and down in the dirt, as if she couldn't contain her excitement. “This is gonna be so rad!”

  Jenny looked at Seth. He gave a slightly amused smile, but he didn't look worried.

  Jenny tried not to worry, either.

  At Jenny's house, Darcy really dived into the chores with enthusiasm, gabbing away while she helped Jenny straighten up, do the dishes, sweep and mop the floors. Her main topic was memories from church camp, but she avoided mentioning Ashleigh, as if aware that this might annoy or upset Jenny.

  Jenny tried to make her stop working—she hadn’t really intended to have Darcy do housework. Jenny hadn’t even really planned on doing any, it had just been an excuse to try and avoid being social.

  Darcy insisted on cleaning Jenny’s house for her, though. “That’s what friends do,” Darcy had explained.

  Jenny carried a bag of dog food out back to feed Rocky. Darcy trailed behind her, talking about the time she'd come to pick the tuba over the trombone when she joined the school band.

  Rocky stepped out of the shed, tail wagging. The moment he saw Darcy, he began to bark.

  “Rocky!” Jenny said. “Relax.”

  But the dog grew more agitated, jumping and barking.

  “Is he gonna chomp me?” Darcy said.

  “No, he's okay,” Jenny said. “He just don't like strangers. Rocky! Quit barking!”

  As they approached, Rocky darted off into the woods. He let out a long, low bay, as if he were frightened or hurt. Or had trapped a raccoon in a tree.

  “I don't think he likes me,” Darcy said.

  “He's just shy.” Jenny poured the food and filled his water dish from the garden hose. “I guess that's all my chores. Thanks for helping.”

  “No prob.” Darcy winked.

  “What should we do now?”

  “I dunno. What do you usually do for fun?”

  “I kind of do this pottery thing.” Jenny led her inside, to the dining room, where Jenny's old potting wheel was waiting. She showed Darcy the assortment of flowerpots she'd made, plus her attempts at sculpture, like a statue that was supposed to be Rocky but looked more like a mutant cow.