It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...

by Kurtz, Matt; McKenzie, Shane; Strand, Jeff

  Death—that was it. It was the only answer.

  He had to stop in at the deli to pick up razor blades since all he had at home was a Bic, but he did it. And as he slipped into oblivion, he thought, “Take that, Bob. You can never get me now.”

  Unless… But that occurred to Martin precisely thirty-seven seconds too late.

  ***

  Scratch. Scratch, scratch.

  Martin opened his eyes. It was dark at first until—Scrrraaapppe— the lid came off the casket.

  Bob was smiling down at him. “I told you you couldn’t fight us, Martin.”

  He dumped a sheaf of papers into Martin’s lap and threw him a ballpoint pen and pocket calculator.

  “If you start working it off now…” He consulted a small calendar and made a few notes. “Shouldn’t take more than a couple of months. That’s our one advantage here—no expenses.”

  Work it off. What else could he do? It didn’t seem there was any other way out of it. He sighed, and resigned himself to it. He’d pay this one last debt and then he’d never have to deal with it ever again.

  “And when I’m done with these? Then I can rest?”

  “Well…” Bob looked around helplessly. “Dave, do you want to field this one? I don’t know how to tell him.”

  “Hi, Martin.” A friendly-looking face appeared beside Bob’s. “I’m Dave Glass. I represent the Great Lakes Savings Company?”

  Great Lakes. The name alone made Martin freeze in fear.

  “Ah yes, I see you haven’t forgotten. Neither have we. Martin, today I’m here to talk with you about your student loans.”

  Pabst Blue Ribbon Moon

  by Vic Kerry

  Marrisa watched Simeon as they drove down Interstate 65, heading to Pensacola Beach for spring break. She couldn’t believe it. She and Simeon Wolfe, the hottest man she’d ever known, much less dated, would be sharing a room for a whole week.

  She’d never spent an entire week alone with Simeon. To think of it, he’d only stayed the night with her maybe three times during the six months they had been dating, and she had never stayed with him. It surprised her when he asked her to go to his family’s condo in Florida and stay the weekend on their farm, somewhere in way back Alabama.

  A McDonald’s emblem blazed on the green reflective paint of an exit sign. They’d not eaten anything since leaving Nashville and her mouth felt dry.

  “You think we can pull off and get a bite to eat?”

  Simeon looked at the clock on the stereo. His blue eyes sparkled. “It’s not that long until nightfall.”

  “We can’t eat until after dark?”

  “My mom’s cooking for us this evening, and I told her we’d be there before the moon rose.”

  She looked at him. The late afternoon sun shown in through her side of the window, but it caught the highlights in his short cropped hair. His strong jaw flexed.

  “What’s the matter?” she said.

  “Just nervous.”

  “I’m sure I’ll love your parents, and I know that they’ll like me.” She played at being overly narcissistic. It always got a chuckle.

  Simeon stared at the traffic ahead of him and continued to gnash his teeth.

  “Want me to flash you?” she said. “That might calm you down.”

  A small grin stretched across his lips. “That’d be okay.”

  “Well, I’m not. I don’t want you wrecking before we get to the beach. I don’t want to spend my spring break in…” She gazed out the window at the passing road sign. “Evergreen, Alabama.”

  “It’s not that bad of a place. Not really a spring break location though.”

  Now she smiled. He hadn’t said much since the trip started, but he seemed to be loosening up. Usually, she couldn’t get a word in edgewise with him.

  “What’s got you so worried?” she said.

  “Full moon’s tonight.”

  Marissa hadn’t realized that it was the full moon. Simeon told her that he had a rare disorder where the intensity of the gravitational pull of the full moon gave him severe migraines. He’d hole up in his apartment for three nights, wouldn’t answer the phone or reply to text messages, and said there was no medication for it.

  “Are you already feeling a migraine coming on?” she said.

  “Not yet. They don’t start until the moon comes out. That’s why Momma’s expecting us before then. She knows I can’t keep anything down once I get one.”

  “This is going to be interesting, Mr. Wolfe. I’m finally going to get to see you on a full moon. Who knows, it might bring the beast out in me.”

  “I’ll be locked up in my bedroom tonight. I can’t stand lights or noise. I can’t describe how bad this…these headaches get.”

  Marissa got migraines occasionally. They were a symptom when she had a really bad cycle. She didn’t remember them being quite that bad though. She remembered her grandmother would go numb on one side when she had a “sick headache.”

  “Does anyone else have migraines like you?”

  Simeon nodded as he took the exit off the interstate. “My daddy gets them really bad. My sister and my brother too. I guess they run on my daddy’s side. The Wolfe side.”

  ***

  A deep orange light hung over the tops of the pines as Simeon and Marissa drove down the gravel driveway to the Wolfe farm. Marissa stared out the window as they drove over a small bridge. Water swirled around rocks in the shallow stream that cut across the front fields. The house loomed over the fenced-in yard with a flagpole in the middle. The flag blew in the light wind, its colors glowing in the dying light.

  Simeon parked and Marissa climbed out and stretched. The air had started to chill with the coming twilight. A flood light flickered on, bathing the flag in bright white.

  The deep musk of animals filled up her nostrils. Somewhere, wood smoke penetrated the other odors with its gamy smell.

  She took a chance to study the façade of the house. It might have been from the set of some old Civil War movie. The driver’s side door slammed, and she looked over at Simeon. He smiled.

  “We’re here.”

  “Yes, we are.”

  She walked around the back of the car and hugged up to him. He put his arm around her, but then pushed her away.

  “We need to get the stuff out and into the house.” He popped the trunk open.

  Marissa tried not to feel slighted as she pulled out two small periwinkle suitcases. Simeon reached past her and jerked his black gym bag out. He smiled as he took the larger of her two bags from her.

  “I figured Rueben would be here by now,” he said.

  “Your brother is coming in from Troy?” she said. “I didn’t know they had spring break the same time as we do. You should have invited him to go with us to the Gulf.”

  Simeon pushed down on the trunk lid. “He’s not on spring break. He always comes home at the full moon.”

  Marissa picked up her bag and followed Simeon up the brick steps, to the gate, and into the yard. It seemed strange that his brother would drive all the way home just because of migraines. Troy University wasn’t as far away as Vandy, but it still seemed inconvenient. “Why does he do that?”

  “He lives in the dorm, and getting away from the noise and lights would be hard. If he stayed, it would be torment for him.” Simeon pushed past her and up the steps to the large front porch. “I used to do the same thing when I lived in the dorms my freshman year.”

  “You drove all the way from Nashville once a month for a year?”

  Simeon sat her bag down on the plank floor and rang the doorbell.

  “Yeah.” The door opened. A woman with Simeon’s eyes smiled out.

  “Momma.” He hugged her. “Momma, this is my girlfriend, Marissa Ross.” He turned, smiling to Marissa. “This is Momma.”

  “You can call me Mrs. Wolfe or Darlene. It’s your choice.” She stuck her hand out.

  Marissa took it. Mrs. Wolfe shook hands like a man: hard grip and powerful up and down mo
tion.

  “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Wolfe.”

  She took Marissa’s bag and pulled Simeon through the door. “I can’t believe y’all came on a full moon weekend.”

  “I figured we could get here before moon rise,” Simeon said.

  Marissa stepped into the house’s entryway. A staircase disappeared to the next floor, and a grandfather clock with a large crescent moon carved into the top sat in another corner. The whole place smelled like fried chicken.

  “Supper smells good,” Simeon said.

  “Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and biscuits—your favorite,” Mrs. Wolfe said closing the door behind her. “I figured that it’d be a good meal for everyone.” She looked at Marissa. “You like fried chicken, don’t you, sweetie?”

  Marissa nodded. “Oh yes, that’ll be fine.”

  “Y’all come on into the kitchen. I’m just finishing up. You can help me get the table and everything set.” Mrs. Wolfe walked down the hall and into the next room.

  Simeon took Marissa by the hand and followed. The hallway opened into a large living room. A sectional sofa took up most of the central floor space. Three large portraits covered one of the walls. She recognized a younger Simeon dressed in a tuxedo with a black bowtie. A girl with shoulder length hair and a black velvet collar was in the middle picture—she looked like Simeon. The last picture was of his brother, Reuben. She’d seen his picture in Simeon’s apartment.

  “Those are our senior pictures,” he said. “You’ve probably never seen a picture of Dinah. I don’t keep any of her around. I don’t like for my buddies up at Vandy to see her. They always want me to hook them up with her.”

  “Why not?” Marissa said.

  “Have you met my buddies?”

  They laughed as they walked into the next room. A dining table sat between the wall and a counter bar with several oak chairs surrounding it. Mrs. Wolfe stood in the kitchen on the other side of the bar with her head stuck in the oven.

  “Biscuits are almost ready,” she said, turning out to face them. “Go ahead and start setting the table.”

  “How many places do we need, Mrs. Wolfe?” Marissa said.

  “Six.”

  “Why so many?” Simeon said. “Is Reuben bringing somebody with him?”

  Mrs. Wolfe took the biscuits out of the oven. “No, Dinah’s coming home this weekend too.”

  “All the way from Ole Miss?” Marissa tried not to sound so surprised. “Is she on spring break too?”

  “She’s started coming home on the full moon since moving into her sorority house. She can’t get a moment’s peace. We told her not to do it, to stay in her apartment, but you know her.”

  “These must be some horrible migraines your children have, Mrs. Wolfe.”

  “Migraines?”

  “Yes, Momma. You know the full moon causes us all to have horrible headaches,” Simeon said.

  Mrs. Wolfe fluttered her hand and screwed her eyes up like she’d just remembered something. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me. We don’t usually call them migraines, Marissa dear. We call them moonaches, and have for years. I just had a slip.”

  “I think I’m starting to feel a twinge of one now,” Simeon said. “Could you go get me an Excedrin from the bathroom, Marissa? Just go back into the hall and take the door by the clock.”

  Marissa walked away. She found the bathroom and probed into the medicine cabinet until she found the green bottle of migraine medicine. She took the whole bottle back with her. As she came to the doorway into the dining room, she stopped and stood in the shadows. Simeon and his mother whispered on the other side.

  “I can’t believe you haven’t told her the truth,” his mother said.

  “Believe it or not, I’m not sure she’d take it well. I mean think about other girlfriends who have found out. A few of them almost died.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic. You know that I’ve tried to protect every girlfriend and boyfriend you and your brother and sister have had.”

  A hand took hold of her shoulder, and Marissa jumped and dropped the bottle of Excedrin.

  “I’m sorry.” The voice was deep, almost a growl.

  Marissa turned around and looked into the deep blue eyes of an older version of Simeon. He smiled with long white teeth.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said. “I’m Jake Wolfe. You must me Marissa, Sim’s gal.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said, trying to sound relaxed and at ease.

  Simeon came through the door. He looked at his dad and then at her. She saw the look in his eyes and felt guilty.

  “I was about to sneeze,” she said. “I stopped to keep from doing it near the set table.” She smiled back at Jake Wolfe. “I guess you scared it out of me.”

  “I knew that would stop hiccups, but I never heard of it handling sneezes,” he said, still smiling. “We got the table ready, Sim? I just saw Dinah and Reuben pull up.”

  “We’re all ready.”

  “Good. I like to get finished eating before the moon rises.” He handed Simeon the bottle of medicine after picking it up from the floor. “I hope your headache isn’t already starting.”

  Simeon rubbed his temple with his empty hand. “I’m feeling a little tension pain starting.”

  “Better take some of those pills then.” He patted Marissa on the shoulder. “Let’s get on in there and get everything ready. Reuben comes in like a ravenous tornado and might eat the table otherwise.”

  ***

  Marissa sat a pile of plates down beside the sink. Mrs. Wolfe turned off the water. Suds frothed to the rim of the sink. Jake, Dinah, Reuben, and Simeon sat around the table.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to help you wash the dishes?” Marissa said.

  “No, go spend some time with Simeon and the others. You won’t see them again until tomorrow morning sometime. They’ll sleep late. Those headaches always take their toll on them.”

  Marissa walked back to the table. She started to scoop up the knives, spoons, and forks. “Don’t start washing yet. I’ve still got to bring you the silverware,” Marissa said.

  Everyone at the table hissed. It sounded like each had been slapped on a fresh sunburn.

  “We don’t call it that,” Mrs. Wolfe said from the kitchen.

  “I’m sorry.” She tried to keep the confusion out of her voice.

  “We call it flatware,” Jake said. “It’s bad luck to say silver.”

  Marissa walked back to the kitchen and set the flatware beside the plates.

  “It’s an old Gypsy thing,” Mrs. Wolfe said. “I’m the only one that will say it without cringing. I’m also the only one who will wear it.”

  “So you are of Gypsy descent?” Marissa said.

  “We prefer Romani to Gypsy, but yes,” Jake said.

  She walked back to the dining table and sat beside Simeon. “You never told me that.”

  “You never asked.”

  “Can you read palms and that sort of thing?”

  Dinah made a psst noise and rolled her eyes. “That is so cliché.”

  “It may be, dear, but we can do it,” Jake said. “Mind you it’s not a genetic thing.” Everyone at the table chuckled. “It’s a learned behavior. It’s part of our culture.”

  “Just like stealing babies and swindling people,” Reuben said.

  “Hush.” Simeon popped his brother on the back of the head. “We don’t really steal babies.”

  Marissa patted him on his hand. “I know that, but I never knew you could tell fortunes.”

  “Sim is good with the palms,” Jake said. “Reuben reads the tea leaves, Dinah’s an expert with the bones, and I use the Tarot.”

  “You’re pulling my leg,” Marissa said.

  Jake looked at the clock over the stove in the kitchen. The black cat, whose tail flicked and eyes blinked the seconds, said it was seven o’clock. Marissa could see through the kitchen window that the night had come on, but the moon had not risen.

  “We have just en
ough time,” Jake said. “I’ll go get my deck. Dinah, get some of the chicken bones from supper, and Reuben, let Marissa fix a cup of tea.”

  Jake left the room, and the two others gathered their items. Simeon sat with both hands on the table. He drummed his fingers.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea,” he said to no one in particular.

  “Why not? It’ll be fun,” Marissa said.

  “For you perhaps, but I can feel my headache starting.”

  “Come on, Sim. She’s got to learn about us sometime,” Dinah said, placing a plate with several chicken bones on the table.

  “Especially if she’s going to stick around.” Reuben put a tea cup with steaming water in front of Marissa. He set a tea bag beside her. “Go ahead and start dipping.”

  “No really, we should save this for tomorrow, or never,” Simeon said.

  “Son, she’s going to find out one way or the other,” Mrs. Wolfe said.

  “We still have nearly an hour, yet,” Jake said as he walked back to the table. He shuffled a deck of cards. “Dinah, you start.”

  Marissa let her fortune be told. She first did what Dinah instructed and found out that a great mystery would be revealed to her, but the bones could not say what. Next, Reuben read her tea leaves. He saw a fuzzy glimpse into the future. Love would either grow stronger or weaker, he couldn’t tell. He decided that he should have used Earl Grey instead of Lipton. Marissa let Jake read her cards. She drew five: death, the lovers, the two of swords, the devil, and seven of coins.

  “I don’t like the look of those,” she said.

  “Do not worry. Things are often different than what they seem,” Jake said. “Everyone worries when they get the devil and death, but those, in your case, are positives.”

  Marissa looked down at the figures printed on the cards, every one of them wolf-like in appearance. Death wore his black cloak, but his hand was furry and clawed. The lovers were two rampant dogs, and the devil was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. All had dripping, ravenous fangs. Jake stared into the cards as if he were reading a great novel.