Are You Listening to Me?

by Mary M. Cushnie-mansour

  Toby backed away, even though he knew the fence was secure, despite its rickety look. “Watch it, dog; I’ll scratch your eyeballs out!” He hissed.

  “Duke!” Emma shouted. “Bad dog.” She grabbed Duke by the collar and put him in the house. “You can come in now, Toby.”

  Toby crawled under his usual spot and was soon getting a lovely belly rub from his friend.

  “You are a funny old cat,” Emma began. “I wish Cam would let me have a cat. I love Duke and all, and Duke is actually more my dog than he is my brother’s, but he’s so big and––well, I’d just prefer a cat.”

  Toby rolled over and purred. Emma went back to pulling weeds from the flowerbeds. “You know, Toby, I’m a bit worried about my brother again.”

  Toby picked up on the word ‘again.’

  “He’s been acting strange lately. The other day when I came in from outside, he was upstairs in his room, laughing. It wasn’t a typical belly laugh; it sounded evil. At supper I asked him what was so funny, but he wouldn’t tell me.

  “He’s been getting a lot of headaches, too. I don’t understand; I thought he liked this town. We usually move when he gets these headaches, not long after they start. He always makes up an excuse that where we’re living isn’t good for his health. We were in Vancouver for eight months. He saw a doctor while we were there––Doctor Lucy. I met her a couple of times. She was nice and was helping Cam work out some of the stuff that happened to him in our childhood. He always takes everything to heart, and he’s always protecting me from issues––at least that’s what he tells me.”

  Emma was in a talkative mood and Toby decided he could learn a lot more by just sitting there and listening. “I don’t think the doctor actually helped Cam too much, though, as pleasant as she was. Eventually his headaches returned, and then we were moving again. This is the furthest we’ve ever moved, though. I’m hoping we won’t have to leave this place. I like it here. I like you, and I like Jack.”

  Toby rubbed his head against Emma’s leg. He purred as loud as possible, making sure he got across the point that he really liked Emma, too. She stood and looked at her watch. “Wow, I didn’t realize how late it is. I guess I should let Duke back out. Sorry, Toby.”

  Toby got the message and headed for his opening in the fence. His mind was filled with all the new information. He had definitely been right––there was something strange about Camden. But how was he going to get that point across to Jack?

  Saturday, June 6, 2009

  I

  t was raining when Emily woke up on Saturday morning. Dreary day for a gloomy day, she thought as she slipped into a pair of black slacks and put on a black blouse, then packed her gym bag because she figured a workout might do her good later. Emily had traded a shift with one of the other nurses so she could attend Mrs. Silva’s funeral. It was at eleven o’clock.

  The funeral was difficult for her because her boyfriend, Chris, was out of town on business for a few days. Emily didn’t have him to lean on in her time of need. He was due back later tonight. She was looking forward to his return because she had the feeling he was getting ready to pop a major question to her.

  After the internment at the cemetery, Emily opted out of returning to the funeral home for the reception. Instead, she drove to the gym. She noticed Camden was working, however, assuming Paige had passed her apology on, and not really being in the mood to talk to anyone, she walked by without acknowledging him. Her eyes didn’t even notice he tried to smile at her.

  Later, while she was working on the elliptical machine, Camden was emptying the garbage bin by her. She heard him speak but didn’t realize he was talking to her. Emily was thinking of Mrs. Silva. She failed to notice the look on Camden’s face when he walked away.

  Emily finished her workout, took a shower, and decided to get a smoothie before heading out. The other young fellow was at the counter. Camden was tidying up the front lobby when he heard Emily order a cherry smoothie. He also heard her being sweet to Graham. All she would have had to do today was be nice to him, too––that would have saved her. But no, she hadn’t been, and now her fate was sealed.

  “That was delicious,” Emily said as she finished the last sip of her smoothie. “I think I’ll have a large one next time.” She smiled. “Good night, Graham, see you tomorrow.”

  “I’m off tomorrow,” Graham said. “I think Camden is on.”

  Camden didn’t hear if Emily replied to that because he had moved on to tidy up around the equipment. It was upsetting him that he was doing more cleaning and less counter work, causing him to wonder what was going on. Maybe he would discuss this with Isabella.

  Emily headed for home. She wanted to prepare a late-night snack for Chris. She pulled a package of hors d’oeuvre from the freezer so they could thaw and then sat down and threw a video in. Within minutes she was asleep on the couch, which is where Chris found her when he arrived home at nine o’clock.

  “Hey, babe, wake up.” Chris leant over and kissed Emily’s cheek. “How’s my girl been doing without me?”

  Emily stirred. “Not so good, Mrs. Silva died. Her funeral was today.” She reached her arms up and pulled Chris down on the couch beside her. “I missed you.”

  “I’m sorry, babe, I couldn’t be in touch with you. My boss was strict about not having calls come in or go out.”

  “That’s okay. I don’t know why I’m so sentimental over this lady. I’ve witnessed so many deaths since working in the nursing home. None of them has affected me like hers, though. I might look for another job in the fall––maybe even go back to school for something.”

  “That sounds fantastic.” Chris reached into his pocket. He handed Emily a blue velvet ring box. “Why don’t you wait to get a new job until after we’re married? That way we can take a beautiful honeymoon without you having to beg for time off.”

  Emily opened the box. “Oh my God, Chris! Yes! Yes, I will marry you!”

  “Of course you will marry me; who else is there in your life that is better looking and more talented than I?” Chris drew her into his arms and held her close. “All your dreams are going to come true, babe. I’ll make sure of that. For now, don’t worry about a thing. Just close your eyes and rest. Tomorrow is another day.”

  It wasn’t long until Emily had fallen back to sleep. Chris picked her up carefully, carried her to her bedroom, and tucked her under the covers. Then he headed for his apartment. They had agreed, quite early in their relationship, they wouldn’t move in together until they were at least engaged.

  ~

  Just before bedtime that night, Camden sent an email to Emily.

  Sunday, June 7, 2009

  E

  mily woke early on Sunday morning. She felt warm and rested. Stretching her arms in the air, she noticed the ring on her left hand. She smiled and hugged herself. Chris was fantastic. She would let him sleep a bit longer before phoning and inviting him over for breakfast. Emily got out of bed and turned her computer on before going to the bathroom. It had been a few days since she had checked her email.

  When she returned to her room, she heard a voice say: “You’ve got mail.” She smiled. Chris had hooked that up for her. Emily sat down at her desk and pushed the email icon. She scrolled through the several forwards from friends and then noticed one that said: JUST FOR YOU. She double clicked it. “What the…”

  “Dear Emily: you are receiving this email because you have been very, very naughty. Do you know what happens to very naughty people? Think about it! When was the last time you ridiculed someone … ignored someone just because … blamed someone wrongfully? When was the last time you were nice to someone … really nice? When was the last time you helped someone … really helped? You are so pathetically naughty that I can’t stand it! Only you can turn this around and do something about it. I have given you the warning, now it is up to you to seek reconciliation. If you don’t, maybe retribution will come your way … if you have any friends who
are just like you, pass this on to them so they can get help too. For every friend you try to save the retribution on yourself will be lessened … you know the drill … six to ten, maybe you won’t die … one to five, you will … signed: 666.”

  Emily dismissed the email into the recycle box. In her mind, it was best to ignore such things. Besides, she didn’t want anything to upset her day with Chris. Today they would set their wedding date: she was happier than she had been for a long time. No sick email was going to take that away from her.

  Monday, June 8, 2009

  C

  amden was assured Emily had opened her email. He slipped down to the three-season room early in the morning, before Emma got up, and picked some of the seeds. Camden pulled a bag from his pocket and dropped the seeds in it. There was time to grind them up before he had to use them. He had decided to maybe give Emily one more chance.

  He heard Duke’s paws approaching. That meant Emma would not be far behind. Just as he was returning to the kitchen, his sister appeared.

  “You’re up early, Cam.”

  “Couldn’t sleep, so I got up and came down to look at your plants. Em, you sure have a way with them, a real green thumb.” He headed upstairs. “I’ll be back down in a sec; I forgot something in my room.”

  “No problem; I’ll get breakfast started.”

  ~

  Emily headed to the gym after her shift on Monday afternoon. She was still sparkling from her day with Chris. They had set their wedding date for September. They both wanted a small wedding, and since there were not too many relatives on either side, they knew that would be easy to accomplish. She would have her best friend, Candice, as her maid of honour; Chris was going to ask his brother, Derek, to be his best man. That would be it for a wedding party. Candice had insisted on accompanying Emily when she went dress shopping, and they had agreed Saturday would be a good day to start. Emily was deep in thought about her wedding when she walked into the gym.

  She swiped her card and kept going, not even looking up to see who was at the front desk. Unfortunately, for her, it was Camden. He began to wish he had some powder with him now so he could get on with what needed to be done. He would make sure to be ready tomorrow if she came in.

  On the way out, Emily ordered a large cherry smoothie. Paige was at the drink counter. Camden didn’t care; he’d just have to make sure he was there the next time Emily came through. Isabella came out of her office.

  “Camden, could you come in here for a few minutes; I need to talk to you about something.”

  “Uh oh, Camden’s in trouble,” Paige joked as she was whipping up Emily’s smoothie.

  Camden frowned. “I don’t think that’s funny, Paige. I’ve done nothing to be in trouble for, and you shouldn’t say things like that in front of the customers. You don’t want them to think I can’t do my job.”

  “Oh for God’s sake, lighten up, man!” Paige handed Emily her drink. “You don’t have a problem with Camden, do you? Even if he is getting into a little trouble?”

  Emily giggled. Camden took her reaction as her making fun of him. He stormed over to Isabella’s office. Emily picked up her drink, said goodbye to Paige, and headed out the door.

  “Close the door please, Camden, and sit down. Don’t look so worried. This is nothing major. It is just that a couple of the customers have complained about you loitering around their machines and it bothers them.”

  “I don’t understand.” Camden’s head began to ache. “I only go out there when I have to change the garbage cans or clean up around a machine if someone has left their belongings on it. I don’t waste time, Isabella. I’m a good employee.”

  “No one is saying you aren’t, Camden. I am just passing on what I have been told, and I am asking you to be a bit more conscientious about what you are doing when working around the clientele. That’s all. You may return to work now.”

  Camden stood and pressed his hands to his temples.

  “Are you okay, Camden? Your face is quite red.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he mumbled as he walked out of the office.

  “Weird boy,” he heard Isabella say as he closed the door.

  Camden was happy when his shift was over. He couldn’t wait to get home and send another letter to Emily. When he got home, there was a note on the kitchen table telling him his supper was in the microwave. Emma had gone to bed early; she’d been working all day in the garden. Camden took his dish and put it in the refrigerator. He wasn’t hungry.

  He had forgotten to turn his computer off that morning, but Camden knew his sister never snooped around in his room. That was one thing they respected––each other’s privacy. Too much of their privacy had been violated when they were children. He moved the cursor and opened his email box. Camden scrolled until he found the one he wanted, then copy and pasted it into a new email, changed the name, and sent it off to Emily. Then he crawled into bed, curled up into the fetal position and tried to go to sleep. But the nightmares returned; it was a restless night.

  Tuesday, June 9, 2009

  E

  mily crawled out of bed. It was early––five o’clock––too early for anyone to have to get up, but she was on first shift all week and had to be to work by quarter to six. She actually should have been up a half an hour earlier, but she had pressed the snooze button. The extra thirty minutes hadn’t helped, and now she had to rush.

  On the way to work Emily grabbed a coffee at the local coffee shop drive-thru. “This should keep me awake for a few hours,” she said to the attendant as she paid her.

  It was an overly busy day at the nursing home. Several of the patients were in need of extra attention. One of the nurses joked that it must be around full moon time, everyone was so crazy. One of the girls on the afternoon shift called in sick at the last minute, and the supervisor asked if anyone would like to stay a bit longer––until she could find someone else to come in. Emily volunteered. She figured she could forego the gym today and use the extra money to put toward her wedding and honeymoon.

  The shift ended up extending her workday another four hours; by the time Emily got home she was utterly exhausted. She turned her computer on and then picked up the phone to call Chris and tell him she was just going to have a nice bubble bath, grab a quick bite, and head off to bed. Not to worry about her because she was also going to unplug her phone so as not to be bothered with the evening calls by telephone solicitors. After hanging up, Emily went into the bathroom and turned the water on in the tub.

  While waiting for the tub to fill she decided to check her email. What she found sent a shock wave through her bones––‘ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME’, was in the subject line… “Dear Emily: you are still being very, very naughty. I told you what happens to very naughty people. Did you think about it? Did you ridicule someone today … ignore someone just because … blame someone wrongfully? Were you nice to someone … really nice? Did you help someone today, just because … really help? I doubt you even gave my message a second thought. Oh, believe it––you are so pathetically naughty that I can’t stand it! You might still be able to turn this around and do something about it. I am being generous giving you another warning … but it is still up to you to seek reconciliation. If you don’t, retribution will come your way … and don’t forget all those selfish, naughty friends of yours who are just like you. Pass this on to them so they can get help too … for every friend you try to save the retribution on yourself might be lessened … you know the drill … six to ten, maybe you won’t die … one to five, you will … signed: 666.”

  “This is one sick bastard,” Emily said as she was about to hit the delete button. “Actually, I think I’ll flush you in the garbage can, you piece of crap, so you’ll never be able to bother me again!” Emily moved the email to her ‘blocked sender’ list, shut her computer down, and then headed to the bathroom for her bath.

  ~

  Camden was disappointed Emily hadn’t shown up to the gym. Whe
n he got home from work, he checked his emails to see if she had opened the last one he had sent. Nothing. He headed downstairs and told Emma he was going for a walk before supper.

  “But dinner is ready, Cam.”

  “I need to go for a walk,” he shouted. “I’ve been cooped up all day in that building … I just need some fresh air. Eat without me if you can’t wait.”

  “Would you like me to come with you?”

  “No! I want to be alone!” his voice was almost a high-pitched scream as he slammed the door on his way out.

  Duke growled and went and stood protectively by Emma’s side. She patted his head. “It’s okay, boy; Cam probably just had a bad day at work.” She sat down and ate her supper, worried about her brother and concerned about the feeling she was getting that they may be pulling up stakes soon. She didn’t like this. Things had never moved this quickly before.

  Thursday, June 11, 2009

  E

  mily didn’t make it to the gym until Thursday. She and Chris had decided on having dinner out on Wednesday night, so she had gone home straight from work to get dressed for their date. There was no one at the front desk when she swiped in, but Camden caught sight of her as she was going into the ladies’ change room. He had been coming in the back door from having taken out the garbage. He smiled and patted his pocket. The powder had been freshly ground last night. It was time.

  When Emily finished her workout, she headed for the drink counter. To her surprise, Camden had her cherry smoothie waiting for her. “How nice of you,” she said as she took a sip. “And you remembered my favourite flavour.”