“I’m not lying!” she shouted. “Why won’t anyone believe me?”
“I believe you,” Anton said, rising. “I had a different Daddy before too, but he died and so did my first Mommy. Do you want to play cars with me?”
“Anton, n-no. D-d-don’t.” Tina could barely speak for all the tears that were choking her voice.
* * *
Elizabeth hoped Theo would think about all the girl had said and know that she and their daughter were doing just fine. Still, she was now less certain than ever if what she had done was right. Had it only caused more pain? Reopened old wounds?
As for the girl’s parents, the journey had come to a destructive end. They stopped at a tiny roadside motel late into the night to get some rest, and spoke to each other in whispers so as not to wake the young girl they now feared.
“I thought maybe Abuela was speaking through Floramaria, or perhaps God. I was scared but also proud that maybe my daughter was a prophet, but no. She has only caused pain. And if the Lord has not led her down this path, given her this information, then who else could it be but Satan himself?”
“My daughter is not evil.”
“Nor is my God.”
“Perhaps she will grow out of this.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Neither seemed to know what to say. The room fell quiet for a few moments as the parents settled into sleep. Elizabeth alone remained alert and on watch. That is, until four familiar angels entered through the garishly painted walls to join her.
“We told you this was a bad idea,” spat Alexis, the lead angel of their household. “What did you expect to happen?”
“Is true. Why you no listen?” Vlad asked in his heavy accent.
“I know it’s hard to let go, but you’ve just gotta for her sake.” Julio pointed to Floramaria sleeping soundly on the motel sofa. “For all of their sakes.”
“She’s not going to recover from this,” Julio said with a sigh. “I can tell. It’s one thing to hurt your own charge, but do you realize what you’ve done to each of ours? Bad things are coming.”
“Yeah, and it’s all your fault,” Alexis huffed. “So, so selfish.”
* * *
The angels, regrettably, were right about everything. Back at home, Floramaria’s mother grew distant, having become fearful of her own child. Her brothers picked on the little girl, called her crazy for talking to ghosts, yelled at her for upsetting their mother. Only her father remained on Flora’s side, yet he worked such long hours that he was never around to stick up for her.
Despite it all, Flora remained a happy and imaginative child, although she tended to keep mostly to herself. She often found herself alone, but never seemed to mind.
“Do you want to play?” she said to her dolly.
Elizabeth watched with interest as the girl and doll danced about the room in the most graceful of waltzes. “See, it’s not so bad to be alone,” she whispered to the girl. Even though she couldn’t hold direct conversations with her charge, she still enjoyed talking to her the way one spoke to a treasured object or favorite pet.
“But I’m not alone,” the girl murmured back. “You’re always with me.”
Elizabeth froze. Had Flora just answered her back? It was impossible. But then she remembered… Yes, this had happened before—at Theo’s. Hadn’t it? She’d never been able to communicate with her directly when she’d been Daisy, and it had been years since Flora had grown too old to see her any longer.
Still, she wanted to know for sure, so Elizabeth leaned in once more. “Do you know who I am?”
The little girl nodded. “You’re my angel, and I love you.”
Excitement overcame Elizabeth. Was this really, truly happening? Then to Floramaria, “How long have you known I was here?”
“Since the beginning.”
“And you aren’t afraid?”
“Why would I be afraid? You’re here to keep me safe… right?”
“Right.” The air around Elizabeth pulsed. None of this made any sense, yet here they were. Did this mean Floramaria had come to the cusp between her world and the next? Was another horrible step in the plan approaching?
Luckily, Floramaria did not seem privy to these thoughts that worried Elizabeth so. “You held me when I died the first time, and I held you when you died the last time. Do you remember?”
“Of course, I remember.”
Flora smiled, but did not look happy. “You were my mom before.”
“And now I’m your angel, which is even better.”
“How can you be both my mom and my angel, and how can I be both Flora and Daisy? It’s kind of confusing.” She giggled, and Elizabeth joined in.
“You’re right. It is confusing. Who you are is so much more than either Daisy or Flora. You aren’t your body, you know. You’re the soul inside it.”
“But you don’t have a body.”
“I don’t have one anymore. I did once. If you can’t see me, then how do you know I’m here?”
“I can feel you with me always, but I can kind of see you, too.”
“Even though I don’t have a body?”
“I know where you are, because…” She chewed on her lower lip. “Well, because I just do. The air looks different where you are. More shiny, I think.”
Elizabeth thought about this for a moment. She saw the other angels in human form, but she doubted that was what they really looked like, whether they actually had a set appearance or if their images—and her own—were decided by those who looked upon them.
Daisy picked up her brush and began to run it through her doll’s beautiful blonde hair, such a contrast to her own dark locks. “Why are you here with me?”
Elizabeth didn’t need to think about this one. There was only one answer, had only ever been one. “To protect you.”
“And why am I here?”
“That’s a really good question, one people much older than you don’t have the answer to, and often don’t even think to ask.”
“That’s not really an answer. Do you not know?”
Elizabeth realized she had figured out the answer as she watched those she loved from afar. She’d known ever since she first laid eyes on Daisy, and she knew it now standing here with Floramaria, too. “I’ve thought about it a long time. If you ask me, the meaning of life is love.”
“I figured,” the little girl said, then returned to dancing with her doll.
Part VIII
Elizabeth seemed to be the only one who liked spending any time with Floramaria at all. The more the girl spoke of her past life as Daisy, the more her family—especially her mother—grew to fear her.
“Why don’t you just put the memories aside? Make new ones?” Elizabeth asked her one day, but Flora refused to hear it.
“They’re part of who I am. You don’t just turn your back on what makes you you.”
And truly the girl was wise, although not always intelligent. She soon took to carrying out her conversations with the angel no matter who else was around to hear them. One day, a teacher referred Floramaria to the school guidance counselor.
Her parents were called in to discuss Flora’s special needs.
“You see,” the counselor said, steepling his fingers and tapping them against his chin. “Floramaria’s a very… special… girl, and she’ll need some extra attention in order to excel in the classroom. I believe she may be schizophrenic. She’s calm enough now, but if she were to have an outburst and hurt one of the other children…”
“We understand,” her father said. His shoulders slumped, his spine curved in. If he’d had a tail, it would surely have gone between his legs.
“The district’s special education program is one of the leading programs in the state. Floramaria will be in very capable hands.”
The girl’s mother sobbed and hid her face behind her palms. A charged silence settled between them, and finally the parents left murmuring their thanks and apologies.
That was when Pete
r appeared to Elizabeth.
“You have done so much harm here.” He shook his head sorrowfully. “There will be consequences. This is only the first of many.”
He snapped his fingers and they appeared together in Floramaria’s bedroom.
“Hi, Elizabeth,” the girl said with a big grin. She either didn’t sense or didn’t acknowledge the other angel.
Peter gestured toward the girl. “You should tell her. It will be better coming from you.”
Flora turned a page in her book, oblivious to Peter’s presence. She looked so happy, so at peace. Was her life really about to turn upside down all because of Elizabeth’s inability to let go of their shared past? Still, she enjoyed their talks, liked being an active part of the girl’s life rather than simply an invisible observer. How much harm would really be done if…?
“Quit stalling,” Peter said. “Her parents will be home soon. Would you prefer she heard it from them?”
“Darling, there’s something you need to know,” Elizabeth began. Then to Peter, “How do I tell her?”
“Tell her the truth. That’s all anyone ever needs.”
“But the plan…?”
“Isn’t set yet. She needs to claim her power to decide while it’s still available to her.”
Flora set her book aside. “Is everything all right?”
“Not exactly.” Elizabeth paused. Peter had mentioned consequences. Would they be for her or for Floramaria? Too late she realized that he had been right about everything. She’d taken away the girl’s power over her own life. She’d held on too tight and had strangled Flora’s autonomy. She gulped, then continued. Perhaps if she just focused on the facts, she could get through this.
“Life is about to get much more difficult for you, dear one. They say there’s something wrong with you, even though there’s not. If you were to just stop talking to me, then—”
“No!” The words came out loud and fierce, catching Elizabeth off guard. “You’re my best friend. I love you.”
Elizabeth’s voice caught in her throat. “I love you too, Flora, but…”
“Then what is there to question? You’re the only one I need, the only one I’ve ever needed.”
Why was she fighting this? Couldn’t she see that Elizabeth was trying to do the right thing here? Trying at last to put her own needs aside and focus only on what would be best for Flora? “You need other people too. You can’t just depend on me for everything.”
“Why not? You’re the one who is always here when I need a friend. When I’m with you, I feel happy. Other people make me feel sad. Isn’t it better to always feel happy?”
Peter placed a hand on her shoulder. “She doesn’t want it. It’s too late.”
She shoved him aside. Why had he forced this confrontation if he knew it wasn’t going to accomplish anything?
“Flora, don’t you understand?” Elizabeth cried. “I can still be here for you, still protect you, from the background. If you’d just put some distance between us, your life could be so much easier.”
The girl shook her head slowly. “I need you. You’re the only one I need. I can’t let you go.”
“Okay,” Elizabeth said. “Get back to your reading.” She turned to ask Peter what would happen next, why he’d guilted her into this talk that he must have known wouldn’t lead anywhere, but he had already disappeared, as if into thin air.
* * *
Flora grew to despise school, a bright girl forced into remedial classes. When finally she graduated, she refused to even consider the prospect of attending college.
“Why bother?” she said. “After all, it’s not like my parents will pay for it.”
And she was very right about that, for, on her eighteenth birthday, her parents served her an eviction notice, visibly relieved to finally be rid of their embarrassing and haunting burden.
Flora took it all in stride. “They’ll be much happier without me around, and frankly I’ll be happier without them too.”
She went out and interviewed for a job as a cashier at the local super store, and the conversation with the hiring manager went well, until…
“Any history with substance abuse or mental illness?” He raised an eyebrow at her as if it were so very ridiculous that he’d even have to ask this question.
“Yes,” she said pertly. “I’ve been diagnosed with schizophrenia.”
His eyes bulged. He adjusted his tie and shifted his gaze to the floor.
“But I don’t have it,” she assured him.
“The diagnosis was overturned?” A relieved smile spread from cheek to chubby cheek.
“No, they only think I have it because I talk to my angel.”
“You speak with… with angels?”
“Just one angel. Her name is Elizabeth.”
He scrambled to his feet, knocking the clipboard and pen to the floor. Reaching his hand out to Flora, he sputtered, “Th—thank you very much for your time.”
He scuttled away, and Flora burst into giggles.
“What was that about?” Elizabeth asked, not sure if she was more confused or angry.
Flora shrugged. “I didn’t want that job anyway. Did you see how unhappy all the cashiers looked? The greeters too.”
“But, Flora!” Elizabeth protested. “You need a job. That’s part of life!”
“Why? Because it’s expected? You know very well I’ve never done what’s expected.”
She had a point. What she didn’t have was a job, a home, or any prospects for either. Luckily, she didn’t seem to mind much, if at all.
Ultimately, they found themselves taking up residence in the local homeless shelter. Flora continued to do things her own way even if others began to systematically avoid her as a result. After all, the only thing worse than a homeless lady was a crazy homeless lady—and as far as anyone knew, Floramaria fit the part perfectly.
Although she pretended it didn’t bother her, Elizabeth knew the girl must be lonely for some earthly company or that she at least needed a break every now and then from their prying eyes and furrowed brows. Every evening, Floramaria would take a walk through the city. She said she liked watching the sparkling lights of commerce come to life in the darkened sky, but Elizabeth knew their nocturnal adventures were more about privacy than anything else. It was at these times that they’d have their deepest conversations.
“What’s it like in Heaven?” she asked one evening. It was not the first time the topic had come up, but Elizabeth’s answer never seemed to give her what she needed.
“White. Big. Warm.”
“Is that all? It seems you’d have a lot more to say about Heaven.”
“Well, I’ve never actually been inside, just near it. For all I know it’s completely different on the other side of the Gates.”
“Okay then, what do you think it’s like?”
Elizabeth mulled this over as she and her charge drifted through the urban nightscape. “I think it would be bright like the sun, and soft like a fleece blanket, and…”
A woman rushed by hugging a rich fur coat tight to her chest and crossed to the other side of the street to avoid them, but not before shooting Flora a dirty glance.
“Doesn’t it bother you, how other people react to seeing you?” Elizabeth asked, watching as the woman’s patent red heels clicked down an adjacent alleyway.
“Nope, I got used to it a long time ago. Anyway, Heaven—”
A scream raced toward them through the dark air. Elizabeth immediately knew it must belong to the woman they’d just passed.
“Run, Flora. It’s not safe here,” she commanded.
“No, she needs my help.” Flora said with a determination Elizabeth hadn’t often seen in her.
Elizabeth watched helplessly as the girl raced down the alley where she found the woman pressed up against the dumpster by a man holding a knife in his teeth. His hands clawed at her dress. Her beautiful fur coat was tossed in a nearby puddle, the contents of her purse scattered across the pavement.
The man glowered at Floramaria. “You want to be next in line, sweetie?” he growled, then pressed his mouth to the woman’s exposed breast.
“L-leave her alone,” Flora’s voice shook, but she stayed rooted in place.
“So you wanna be first, huh?” He sniggered and reached out to grab Flora while keeping one hand clamped to the wrist of his other victim.
He was fast, but Elizabeth was faster. She reached toward Flora’s arm and used it to deftly grab the man’s knife from between his teeth. With one more sharp, fluid motion, she leaned in close and pressed the blade to his Adam’s apple. Elizabeth had never been so thankful for the dodge ability, neither in this life nor the last.
He raised his hands above his shoulders and tried to take a step back, but Flora was ready for any attempts toward making an escape.
“Hey, hun. Calm down, all right? I was just having a little fun.”
“Call the cops,” Flora shouted to the woman who had already leaned down to retrieve her cell phone from the pavement.
“Take my coat,” she ordered after the call had been placed, carefully shrugging out of one sleeve at a time. The woman’s coat was covered in rain water and her dress was torn, exposing her naked upper body.
A few minutes later the police arrived and Flora slipped away into the night as the other woman recounted the details of the attack and the officers cuffed their new prisoner.
“Weren’t you scared?” Elizabeth asked as the scene replayed again and again before her eyes.
“Kind of, but what’s there to be scared of when I know there’s life after death? That woman needed me, and I was in a position to help, so I did. And you know what else? I feel like finally I have a reason for being here more than just getting in everyone’s way, like I can make a difference, do some good for others, the way you do for me.” They made it back to the shelter, and Flora sank into an open bunk.
Diving for Pearls: The Complete Collection (The Pearl Makers) Page 7
