by Abe Moss
After hugging both her father and Michael, her grandmother straightened, peered around in search of the one person she hadn’t hugged yet. She spotted Maria as she approached and brightened at the sight of her. Maria adopted the most convincing smile she could manage and opened her arms.
“Hi,” she said simply.
She put her arms around her grandmother. She was terribly thin. Nothing but bones under her flowy blouse. Including her chest. Despite that, her grandmother squeezed her tight as a bear. Through the conflicting emotions battling in her mind, Maria couldn’t resist the warmth she felt at her grandmother’s genuine satisfaction to see her.
“Oh,” her grandmother said in her ear, squeezing her tighter still. “You’re more beautiful every time I see you.”
“You, too,” Maria said, and cringed as the words left her lips.
Her grandmother laughed. She stepped back, holding Maria by the arms, getting a good, studied look at her.
“It’s the chemo,” her grandmother said. “Does wonders for the skin.”
She knew she was supposed to laugh, but all she could do was hide her horror with no expression at all. Her grandmother was too pleased by her own joke to notice.
“Well, Paddy’s inside getting things ready to start grilling out here. If you all want to come in for a minute, I’ll introduce you.”
Her grandmother led the way up the porch steps, followed closely by Michael and her father. Maria brought up the rear behind her mother, who held the door for her, and they exchanged sheepish, guilty grimaces as she stepped inside.
“Eva,” her grandmother said to their mother. “You want to give Michael a tour of your old childhood home, or should I?”
✽ ✽ ✽
Maria was introduced to her grandmother’s boyfriend. Paddy was his name—a big-bellied, rosy-cheeked man with an impossibly cheery attitude about him. Instantly likeable.
“I hope you all like food as much as I do,” he said. “Because I’m cooking a lot of it.”
After a quick tour of the house, Maria assisted in carrying things outside to a picnic table down below the porch. Behind the picnic table was a firepit, which her grandmother—much to Michael’s excitement—said they could light.
“Can we make s’mores?” Michael asked, exploding with his eagerness.
“Maybe tomorrow,” their mother said. “We’ll stop by the store and get some things.”
Maria carried a large bowl of chips in her arms down the porch steps when she heard voices nearby. She glanced up to see a group of boys standing idle near a neighboring trailer. To her initial fright, they were all turned toward her. Four of them in all. They appeared young, perhaps her age or thereabouts. Pausing with the bowl of chips held against herself, one of the boys waved. She turned away quickly, hoping they’d assume she hadn’t seen. They assumed nothing of the sort. Behind her came the raucous laughter of the other three boys, joking at the fourth boy’s expense.
Maria hurried and set the chips on the picnic table and then joined her mother and brother at the firepit, where her mother was attempting to get a fire started. Maria plopped down on a lawn chair there. She pulled out her phone—anything to appear busy—and texted Nick, wondering what he was up to.
Their mother got a fire going. Maria’s grandma soon joined them, taking a seat in the chair next to Maria. Meanwhile, Paddy and their father chatted by the grill on the other side of the picnic table, sipping beer and laughing in low voices.
“Grandma?” Michael asked. “Where’s your hair?”
Maria rolled her eyes.
Soon their father announced food was ready and helped Paddy serve up plates. Burgers. They sat around the picnic table, the firepit continuing to snap and pop beside them.
“Thank you, Paddy,” their mother said, taking her seat. “This all looks great.”
“Thanks! Sean, your husband here, had some helpful pointers.”
“Not true,” their father said. “I just drank your beer.”
For the next twenty minutes they ate and enjoyed some casual conversation. It was learned their grandmother met Paddy a year prior at the casino where she used to work, in the nearby town Maria’s mother had mentioned earlier. Fallon.
“And this sly grandmother of yours,” Paddy said, “put a note in my jacket pocket on the way out the door, which I wouldn’t find for another two weeks.”
Maria burst into laughter. “What did it say? Did you know who it was?”
“Oh, I knew,” Paddy said. “The note, which I still have, read: Dating sure is a gamble, but you’ve already won me over. Call me. And then her number, of course.”
The conversation went on, including the story of how Maria’s parents met—a story she’d heard a hundred times. Uninterested, she held her phone in her lap beneath the table, texting Nick who had only just responded to her previous message.
Not much, he said. How’s your trip so far?
Maria glanced discreetly around the table at her family, thinking.
Boring. Would rather be with you.
A minute passed.
We should have messed around in the car before I dropped you off, he replied. Reading his words, Maria felt a queasy, heart-pounding flutter.
We’ll just have to make up for it when I get back, she typed. She paused before sending it, considering. As she hit SEND, her insides stirred nervously—an oddly pleasant sensation.
“Did you see the necklace Maria’s wearing?” her mother said suddenly, startling her and bringing her attention back to her family.
“Oh, no, I didn’t,” her grandmother said. “Let’s take a look.”
The necklace rested against her chest under her shirt. She fetched it out to show her grandmother.
“Oh…” Her grandmother held it in her hand. “You still have this?”
“Of course,” Maria’s mother said. “It’s Maria’s now.”
Maria and her mother exchanged knowing smirks.
“You know where I got that?” her grandmother asked. “My mother gave it to me. My grandmother—your great, great grandmother—gave it to her. And I believe it was given to her by a real life Indian.”
“You mean a native American?” Maria’s mother corrected.
“Yes. Hand-made.” Her grandmother rubbed it between her finger and thumb a moment longer before letting it go, her mind far off, remembering things long ago. “It’s meant to be a charm of some kind. Spiritual protection, something like that…”
“Grandma?” Michael interrupted. “Is it true that cannibals live in the desert?”
Rolling her eyes once more, Maria discreetly checked her phone. Two messages from Nick.
The first: I’m so horny, this is going to be the longest week everrrrrrrrrrr
The second: Brian’s party tomorrow night is going to suck without you
Reading them over a handful of times, Maria pouted.
✽ ✽ ✽
They arrived back at their motel that night a little after ten. Another car had been added to the parking lot, and the room beside theirs was alight with occupants.
As Maria lay in bed later—Michael kicking and swimming under the sheets beside her, hunting for a comfortable position—she could faintly hear voices through the wall. A younger couple. Arguing.
Arguing late into the night.
✽ ✽ ✽
They slithered like shadows from the desert hills, cloaked and whispering. They watched the sleeping motel from a distance, with eyes as big and round as the silver moon over their heads. Scoping. Scheming. Eagerly awaiting the Pale Mother’s verdict.
From beneath their dark hoods they shared agreeable smiles.
The perfect specimen, so close and unsuspecting
Soon.
CHAPTER TWO
WELLWYN WEIRDOS
It wasn’t eight o’ clock the following morning before Maria’s mother woke her with a whisper, crouching beside the bed.
“Would you like to come with us now, or meet us at grandma’s late
r?”
“Later… please…” Maria grumbled. “I don’t think I slept at all…”
“Your brother keep you up?”
Michael lay beside her, still asleep. Maria nodded.
“Also… the couple next door, fighting all night long…” Maria grabbed her phone from the nightstand to see the time for herself. “You’re leaving right now?”
“Your grandma has some medical stuff I want to look over with her. Do you remember how to get there? It’s really not far from the motel…”
“I remember.”
“Your dad’s leaving money on his nightstand for you and Michael to get food, if you want. Just pick something up from the store down the street. I’ll have my phone if you need anything. When do you think you’ll be—”
“Maybe noon…” Maria interrupted.
Her mother blew air from her pursed lips. “Well, then. All right. Get some sleep.”
Maria closed her eyes, groggy and mildly ill-tempered.
✽ ✽ ✽
Maria took the money and motel key off their father’s nightstand and they departed a half-hour past ten. The sun was already high and hot in the clear, blue, cloudless sky.
Stepping out of their room, they paused as the door next to theirs opened. Before Maria even saw the young couple, their bickering voices traveled out to them, clear as the day. She and Michael watched as they stormed outside into the bright parking lot toward their car, never pausing in their back and forth battle of words.
“I could hear them all night,” Michael muttered.
Maria locked their door and stuffed the key into her pocket. They waited as the arguing couple backed out in their car, brakes whining shrilly, and then departed elsewhere.
“Let’s get breakfast,” Maria said, and led the way toward the street.
There was virtually no traffic to contend with. They jaywalked to the other side, toward a vacant building with a FOR LEASE sign in its window.
“We’re not eating at grandma’s?” Michael asked.
“No. Probably later, for dinner.”
They passed a quiet bar—the sign read ‘Grace’s’—where a single car was parked in the street. Maria peered through the window as they walked by, making awkward eye contact with the lone patron sitting at the counter within.
“Yeesh…” she muttered.
Today there were four vehicles parked at the grocery, which Maria imagined to be a busy day for them. Squinting their eyes across the parking lot, the sun heating the asphalt under their sneakers, they made their way to the front doors just as one of the four people inside exited with bags in their hands. An older, battered-looking woman. A lit cigarette hung from her mouth, pinched delicately in her lips as her hands were busy with groceries. She cast a narrow, unfriendly stare at them both as they passed, likely recognizing right away they were outsiders.
Maria leaned toward her brother. “I bet every person in this town knows each other by their first and last name.”
She smiled politely at the cashier as they entered—another older woman whose smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. Maria picked the nearest aisle to disappear into, Michael following close behind.
“Wow,” he said. “It’s like our grocery store except small and… clean.”
“What do you want?” Maria asked. “Something for breakfast.”
“I’m not really hungry…” Michael said. At the end of the aisle, along the back wall of the store were the freezers. “Oh, they have ice cream…”
“That’s not what you’re getting.”
“I wasn’t going to ask for that…” he answered solemnly.
After another ten minutes of walking the store, they finally stood in line for checkout, Maria with a bottle of cola and Michael with a chocolate ice cream bar. An older man was checking out ahead of them, making conversation with the cashier.
Michael gasped. Maria looked up, glanced to the entrance where Michael stared. She elbowed him.
“Really?” she said.
Michael had good taste, at least, Maria thought. A woman had entered the store. Long, dark hair. A gorgeous green sundress. Had they been back home, where people were plenty and something to get away from, Maria might still have marveled at the woman’s beauty She walked confidently from the entrance directly into the aisle she had come for—she’d shopped in this store before, apparently—and disappeared out of sight.
Maria faced forward once more, the customer before them leaving with his things. The cashier—whom Maria now noticed wore a ‘Manager’ badge—rather than greet Maria and Michael as they approached with their things, kept her eyes trained on the aisle the woman had vanished into.
“Pretty lady,” Maria noted, and the manager’s eyes flicked reactively to her, snapped back into the present.
“Yeah…” she said, and her voice was raspy and strong—a voice which would demand respect from any employee if she had one. A warm, cozy, smoker’s voice. “See her in here every now and again… and a couple others like her…” Maria wanted to know what that meant, but didn’t ask. “I’m guessing Vegas girls. Just passing through…” After a moment, the manager reeled her attention back in. “What brings you to Wellwyn?”
“My grandma lives here,” Maria said. “We’re visiting.”
“Who’s your grandma?”
Maria paused, and felt suddenly ridiculous and ashamed that she almost couldn’t remember her own grandmother’s name. “Ramona… um…”
“Ramona Ramirez?” the manager finished for her. “Living with that Paddy fellow over in Sunny Oasis Park?”
“Oh, is that what it’s called?” Maria said, not realizing the trailer park had a name—a misleading one, at that. “Yeah, that’s my grandma.”
“Interesting woman…” the manager said. She’d long since scanned both their items and was merely making conversation now. Maria couldn’t blame her. It made sense now why the store was so immaculate. There were only so many ways to spend one’s time on the clock in a place quiet as this. “Religion and that’s not my thing, but for some…” She paused. Maria, wishing to leave, handed her father’s money over, which the woman accepted and entered, the change drawer popping open. “I think your grandma has been here in Wellwyn as long as I can remember. I don’t live here myself. One town over. But I own the store, so…”
“You should wear a badge that says ‘Owner’!” Maria exclaimed, laughing politely. She grabbed her soda as the woman handed her the change. Maria nudged Michael toward the doors. “Anyway, it was nice meeting you!”
“Stay safe,” the manager said.
“I told you so,” Maria told Michael as they stepped out into the bright, warm parking lot.
“Told me what?”
“Everyone here knows each other by their full names.”
They took a seat on the curb below the storefront, a nice place to enjoy their ‘breakfast’ where they were shaded from the sun. Maria noticed there weren’t any additional cars in the parking lot. Minus one, actually, after the old man had left. She thought about that as Michael noisily unwrapped his ice cream bar beside her. She watched him disgustedly as he licked all over it.
“How can you eat that for breakfast?”
“You’re drinking soda for breakfast.”
“Yeah, it’s got caffeine in it, so at least there’s a reason.”
“You should drink coffee, then. Like dad.”
“Don’t judge me.”
Maria opened her bottle and took a sip. Her stomach grumbled. She realized she probably should have gotten them food of some kind, but whatever. There would be something to eat at their grandmother’s, she thought.
About when Michael was halfway finished with his ice-cream bar, Maria realized how badly she needed to use the bathroom. She set her soda on the curb and stood up.
“I have to pee,” she said. “Stay here.”
She reentered the store and approached the manager, standing idly behind her register with the eyes of someone trying desperately to
stay awake.
“Excuse me? Do you have a bathroom?”
“Over there, sweetheart,” the manager said, and pointed beyond the checkout area to a small hallway.
“Thank you.”
The bathroom was empty inside. Maria picked one of the two stalls and sat down. As she relieved herself, she browsed her phone and was disappointed to see she didn’t have any messages. Not from Nick or anyone else. She’d texted Nick the previous night before bed, a simple ‘goodnight’, but he’d never responded. She chewed the inside of her cheek as she read over their conversation again, felt those same butterflies.
She startled as the bathroom door opened and another pair of feet entered. She held her breath, listening. Not the manager…
They went to the bathroom sink and ran water for a time. Quite a long time.
Maria stood and flushed. She took a deep breath. Still the water in the sink ran freely. She unlocked the stall door and stepped out.
Her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of the beautiful woman in the green dress. Bent over the sink, the woman glanced into the mirror and they met each other’s gazes. The woman smiled amicably. Gentle and somehow graceful even in such a simple gesture. Maria smiled as well. As was the case with the number of bathroom stalls, there were also two bathroom sinks. Maria stood beside the woman and used the other.
“What brings you to this part of the world?” the woman asked suddenly.
Maria nearly coughed her heart out into the running water.
“Me?” she said dumbly, and felt her face aglow. “Visiting family.”
The woman finished washing her hands—was that all she’d been doing?—and pulled a paper towel from the dispenser to dry them. Maria continued watching her in the mirror, admiring her.
“I could tell you weren’t from around here,” the woman said in a playful way. “Most girls pretty as you aren’t.”
Maria laughed—an awkward, painful choking sound as she was bent over the sink, washing her hands vigorously as a means of distraction.
