The Blacker House

by Nicole Mulloy

  “Of course. It was nice to talk to you two. Come and see me again,” she said, smiling.

  Kate smiled back as they headed for the door of the office.

  “Mrs. Entwhistle,” Patrick said, as he stopped and turned to face her. “The house must have been left to Lily’s sons in her will, correct?”

  “Yes, but her boys wanted nothing to do with it.”

  “Why didn’t you live there? Or why didn’t someone else in the family buy it? I mean, the Blacker place has been your family for so many years. It’s such a beautiful house.”

  “I already have a house. The Blacker place is just too big, I guess. Too old.” She pursed her lips tightly and asked, “Is there anything else?”

  Patrick shook his head. “Thank you again, Mrs. Entwhistle.”

  “My pleasure.”

  Patrick and Kate walked down the steep, narrow stairway, away from the tiny attic office, silent and contemplative.

  *

  In Pre-Cal class, Patrick and Kate found their desks. Luckily, Patrick was assigned to the seat right next to her. She was glad. He felt like an ally now, like the only person who understood.

  Kate leaned over to Patrick’s desk. “So, tell me what you know about the big flood.”

  Patrick folded his hands in his lap and leaned back in his chair. “Well, you know that big ugly wall that separates the city from the river?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That wall was built after the big flood. Everybody hates that freakin’ wall in the summer, fall and winter, but every spring when the river starts to get high, they love it.”

  “That bad, huh?” Kate replied.

  “Worse. I guess that year was a really wet spring, the rain just kept falling and the river just kept rising. I guess there was some effort to set up sandbags, you know, to save downtown. But then a dam burst upstream. There was too much water. It blew right through. Anything not tied down was washed away.” He lowered his voice as Miss Salinas entered the room in noisy high heels.

  “Even people?” she asked, thinking of poor Pansy.

  “Yeah, hundreds of them. The water just kept rising, and since Huntington is built on a flood plain, it just swallowed up downtown, the university, everything that was in its path.”

  “Including my house?”

  “Well, if you look at the walls of most of the houses, they have a waterline on the bricks that shows exactly how high the water got. Take a look when you get home. I bet you’ll see a water line.” Patrick said.

  “Huh, I never noticed, but I’ll look after school,” Kate promised. The teacher was looking right at Patrick and Kate.

  Kate looked down at her books.

  “Is your conversation finished?” Miss Salinas asked, tapping her foot on the linoleum.

  “Yes, ma’am. Patrick was telling me about the fascinating history of Huntington. Specifically, the flood of 1931,” Kate sputtered.

  “Miss Gilbert, this is not history class. This is Pre-Calculus. You do realize that, don’t you?”

  “Yes ma’am.” Oh, boy.

  “And I presume that your homework is completed?” Miss Salinas asked. Kate didn’t like the way this conversation was going. She should have just kept her mouth shut.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Good. Come to the chalkboard please and demonstrate problem number one.”

  “Oh, crap,” Kate whispered under her breath. Chris, who just beat the bell, chuckled as he made his way to his seat.

  “Mr. Adkins.” Miss Salinas turned her attention to Chris. “You may do problem number two.”

  12.

  To her surprise, Kate found that she really started to enjoy Jane Eyre. It started a little slow, but once it got going, it turned into a passionate love story, with a good mystery on the side. She couldn’t wait for Jane to finally get her man. Kate only had few chapters to go. In fact, she was actually ahead of schedule in her reading. Ms. Dobbs couldn’t complain about that.

  But Ms. Dobbs could always find something else to complain about. Kate had never been a teacher’s pet, but she always managed to stay on their good side. She was a good student with good manners. Sure, she talked to her friends too much, but otherwise, she did well.

  Ms. Dobbs, on the other hand, always seemed to be picking on her. On more than one occasion, Kate had been singled out and embarrassed in front of the whole class for some minor infraction. Her eyes bulging from their sockets, Ms. Dobbs would yell:

  “Ms. Gilbert, why is your book still in your backpack?”

  “Ms. Gilbert, stop the chattering!”

  “Ms. Gilbert, don’t waste my time with sloppy work.”

  “Ms. Gilbert, I cannot read Chinese. Rewrite this paper in legible handwriting.”

  It shouldn’t bother her, because everybody in the class got their share. They never knew when Ms. Dobbs’ eyes would pop out and she’d shriek “Detention!” Some poor soul would be doomed to spend the afternoon in Ms. Dobbs’ room, writing “I will bring a proper writing utensil to Literature class,” a hundred times. But still, Kate felt more picked on than the other students. She winced every time Ms. Dobbs even glanced her way.

  On Thursday, Ms. Dobbs walked into the room more harried than usual. The students groaned in unison. This meant she was in a particularly bad mood.

  She was dressed all in black today, which couldn’t be good, Kate thought. Her black hair, usually smooth and shiny as a raven’s wing, today looked frizzy and tousled. She stomped to the front of her desk, crossed her arms and stared at them.

  “Don’t even stay in my class today if you haven’t done your reading,” Ms. Dobbs announced in her high pitched screech. “I don’t want to see your face or hear your voice if you haven’t. So, if you haven’t read up to page 158, leave now.” Her eyes bulged ominously. She stood quietly before the class, her gaze burning into each nervous face, trying to see through them. Nobody moved.

  “Alright, then. Ms. Gilbert....”

  Oh no, Kate thought, not today!

  “What is Rochester hiding? What is his secret?”

  “His crazy wife is living in the attic,” Kate said blankly, not wanting to elaborate, lest she say something wrong.

  “Yes, his wife. Now, if you were Jane, a woman in love with Rochester, what would you do?”

  “What would I do?” Kate said quietly, unsure about how to answer this question. Was it a trick? Was it a test? “Um, I don’t know.”

  Ms. Dobbs sighed in exasperation. “Come on, Gilbert. You’re in love with a boy, then you find out that he’s got another girlfriend. It’s not that hard to imagine. What would you do?”

  “Um,” Kate said, trying to buy time as she searched her brain. She thought of Jacob, imagined him seeing another girl at college. Suddenly, Kate grew very cold. “I would probably break up with him,” she said quietly.

  “Exactly. Which is what Jane does. She does more than that, she leaves town altogether to start a new life. Mr. Stephens, tell me about Mr. Rochester’s wife.” Ms. Dobbs turned away and Kate was relieved to have the spotlight elsewhere, but the icy grip remained on her heart.

  Was Jacob seeing someone else? He had been so brief on the phone last time. She felt sick to her stomach.

  *

  After school, Lucy and Kate met by the back door as usual. Chris passed by.

  “Bye, Kate,” he said with a wave. “Bye, Lucy.”

  “He knows my name?” Lucy said, beaming after him.

  “Of course he knows your name. He is a friend of mine. We do talk about things.”

  “Oh, my gosh. I can’t wait to tell Melissa! Although, she might get jealous. She’s absolutely in love with Chris. Don’t tell him, but she takes pictures of him when he’s not looking. Her phone is full of them.”

  “That’s creepy,” Kate said. Freshmen are so pathetic.

  They pushed through the double doors and out into the parking lot. It was overcast and gray, threatening to rain.

  “Kate.” It was Bryan Cummings agai
n, along with his usual posse of senior guys.

  “Hi, Bryan.”

  He pulled her to the side and spoke softly. “You don’t have a date for the Autumn Ball yet, do you?”

  “No, but I’m not going.”

  “Oh, right, the college boyfriend. Just forget about him for a second. I think you should go.”

  “With you?” She glanced at Bryan’s pinched up face, the wild red hair, the uneven teeth.

  “Oh, no. I’m flattered, but you’re really not my type, honey. No, no. Look over there. Do you remember my friend Will?”

  “Will?” She glanced at the guys standing against the school building. They all kind of looked the same, except one. He was small with bushy eyebrows and looked extremely nervous. “Let me guess. He’s the little one, right?”

  “So you do know him. Great! Listen, he really wants to take you to the Autumn Ball, but he’s kind of shy. He won’t try to feel you up or anything. He knows you have a ‘college boyfriend.’” Bryan made quote marks with his fingers. “He just likes you. I mean, he really likes you. It will make his day. No, it will make his whole life if you’ll go with him.”

  “Kate?” Lucy called out. She stood at the sidewalk, waiting.

  “Just a second, Lucy,” Kate called back impatiently. “Listen, Bryan. I really do have a boyfriend that I’m madly in love with, okay? I’m not going to the Autumn Ball. Nothing against your little friend, but I’m not going.”

  “Well,” Bryan rubbed his hand over his chin where a few straggly red hairs grew, “I heard that at Paul Rizzo’s party you made out with some guy. So, I figured you and your college boy were over.”

  Kate’s throat tightened. “I didn’t….he….” Kate felt fury rising in her chest. She turned and walked away.

  “That’s just what I heard,” Bryan called after her. “Think about the Autumn Ball, okay?”

  “What’s wrong, Kate?” Lucy asked.

  “Nothing. Let’s just get out of here.”

  *

  High school sucked. Kate threw her books down on her bed, scattering them across the rumpled sheets. It was a perfectly fine day, then Bryan Cummings had to open his big, stupid mouth. Now, she felt terrible. Her gut wrenched with guilt and embarrassment. Everybody knew? She wished she had never gone to that party.

  She flopped down on the bed, stroking Ace’s fur. She lay like that for a while, listening to music, then decided to do her homework now, to get her mind off everything. Kate poured herself into Jane Eyre once again. By the time she glanced up at the clock, it was nearly dinner time. In fact, slight wafts of roasting meat were reaching her nose, even up here on the third floor. Her stomach growled.

  Kate put the book down and decided to call Jacob now. She deserved it, after her terrible afternoon.

  “Hi, Kate! How are you?”

  “Terrible,” she pouted.

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  Kate took a deep breath. “Well, a boy asked me to go to the Autumn Ball today.”

  Jacob was silent.

  “Don’t worry, I said no,” she added.

  “Well, I should hope so.” He sounded a little jealous, which made Kate feel instantly better.

  “The thing is, when I said no, he said that there were rumors going around the school….”

  “What kind of rumors?”

  “He said that I made out with somebody here.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was part truth. Jacob didn’t need to know the rest about, what-was-his-name? Tom. Butthead Tom.

  “What? Who’s spreading rumors about you? I’ll come down there and kick his butt!” Jacob really sounded furious. It made Kate smile, even though she knew it shouldn’t. “What a bunch of jerks. Do you know what? I am going to come down there. They can’t treat you like that! I’ll come down there and pound every last one of them.” He went on, threatening the entire school, town of Huntington and State of West Virginia. She knew he wouldn’t really do anything. He had never “pounded” anybody, except on the football field, but it made her feel loved and protected to hear him say it.

  “Oh, Jacob. You’re being silly. It’s just a stupid rumor. I’m sure it will die out soon.”

  “Yeah, well, you let that guy know that your nineteen year-old boyfriend is on to him. I won’t let anybody treat you that way.”

  “You’re my hero,” she whispered softy into the phone.

  He sighed. “I wish I was there to hug you right now.”

  “Me too. I totally need a hug today.”

  “God, that makes me so mad,” he went on. She let him. It was good to hear somebody so passionate about her, looking out for her, even if it was from far, far away.

  “Kate! Matt! Dinner!” Marie’s shrill voice came up the stairwell. “Is Seth up there?”

  “I gotta go,” Kate said. “Dinnertime.”

  “Just tell them you’re busy.”

  “It doesn’t work like that here. You know that. Would your mom put up with that?” Kate thought of the imposing woman and nearly shuddered.

  “Well, I don’t live with her anymore. I can eat whenever I want to.”

  Kate paused. She wasn’t sure how to take this, so she ignored it. “Anyway, thanks for making me feel better.”

  “Kate, is Seth up there?” Marie yelled again.

  Kate pulled the phone away and yelled back. “How should I know? I’m on the phone! I’ll be down in a minute!” She put the phone back to her mouth. “Listen, sweetie, I’ve got to go.”

  “Yeah, alright. You just got me all mad now. I made you feel better, but who’s going to make me feel better?”

  “Oh, sorry about that.”

  “Maybe I’ll go work out for a while.”

  “Oh, okay,” she said, but when he didn’t respond, she purred, “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” he added gruffly. “Bye.”

  And he was gone. Kate sat holding the phone to her ear for a moment longer, feeling a thousand different emotions at once. How do things get so complicated?

  *

  The rain that had threatened on Thursday afternoon kept good on its promise. All day Friday it poured. Kate and Lucy, after negotiating puddles as big as lakes, arrived at school wet and uncomfortable. Their tiny umbrellas couldn’t withstand the deluge.

  Kate felt sick all day, thinking that people were saying things about her, thinking she had cheated on her boyfriend. She couldn’t bear it.

  After school, Kate and Lucy walked out into the school parking lot, popping their inadequate umbrellas open for the short walk home. Bryan Cummings and his friends weren’t in their usual spot, chased away by the rain probably, much to Kate’s relief. She didn’t want to deal with them today.

  “Bye, Kate. See you tonight!” Chris called out as he ran past her, without an umbrella of course. “Bye, Lucy.”

  “Tonight? Are you going out with Chris again?” Lucy asked. Kate could see she was a little jealous.

  “No, he’s coming over to our house, but you can’t hang out with us, okay? So, don’t even ask.” That’s the last thing Kate needed tonight, Lucy floating around, bugging Chris.

  “He’s coming over!” Lucy beamed. “Oh, my gosh. I’ll have to call Melissa and tell her. She’ll be so excited!”

  They made their way home, avoiding huge puddles as they went. As soon as they walked in the door, Lucy went upstairs and started blow drying her hair, getting ready for Chris’ arrival.

  Kate checked the mailbox and found, to her surprise, two letters from Jacob. She brought them in the house and sat down on the bottom step of the staircase. The first one was much like the last one she received, news about school and homework. The other one was what she had been waiting for.

  Kate, I miss you so much. It’s late and I’m sitting here thinking about you. You’re so

  much fun to be around. I miss your laugh and your smile, not to mention your kisses. I

  want to hold you so badly right now. I don’t know if I can make it another day without

&nbs
p; you here with me.

  It went on like this for two sweet, wonderful pages. Kate read it three times, tears welling in her eyes. He still loves me, she thought and smiled. She brought the letters up to her bedroom, where she read them both again.