Whispers in the Wind

by Veronica Giolli

  “Did she sound like she was about to kill herself?” Sunny asked, thinking that his last conversation with Gina sounded like hers.

  Victor took a swig of Coors. “No, it doesn’t make sense. Not with the kids there. She wasn’t depressed. She was mad, as in furious. I don’t know what she was thinking.”

  Rita reached down to pick up Floyd. “No it doesn’t, not at all. And why didn’t Jesse mention anything about Gina getting a divorce? Why so closemouthed? I don’t understand him either.”

  Sunny listened to everything and turned it over and over in her mind like rocks in a tumbler. She still had more questions than answers.

  Victor finished his beer and said good night. “I’ll be in touch.”

  Rita and Lee said their goodbyes and left too.

  Lee was very quiet as they headed for his apartment. Rita didn’t talk either. She thought he acted tired. Maybe he liked his space and didn’t like her staying with him. But it was his idea. If he didn’t want her there why didn’t he tell her? He had acted different lately. She didn’t know what was going on with him, but didn’t feel comfortable about it.

  After everyone left, Sunny helped Barry pack for his trip home. “I don’t want to admit it, but I hate to see you leave.” She half smiled and turned her face up to him.

  “I’ll be in touch every day.” He looked in her eyes, and brushed a lock of hair over her shoulder. “You know, I’m only three and a half hours away. If you need anything …”

  “Feels farther.” Her eyes started to mist.

  “You and Rita, be careful what you say and do. Please. I don’t know what’s going on, but I agree with you that things aren’t adding up.”

  “Thanks. I thought it was just me.”

  “I understand you have to find out why Gina killed herself, babe. But I don’t think it was your conversation with her. She had a lot of other things going on. Why not look somewhere else?”

  She had mixed feelings: sad, mad, and confused.

  “How about we spend the rest of the evening thinking of something else?” He flashed his grin, the one that always made her feel warm inside.

  He’s right. I don’t want to feel like this. Not tonight. Tonight I need to forget everything and get lost in the moment.

  Barry got into bed and Sunny crawled in and snuggled next to him. She felt his body heat surge through her.

  They sared a good last night together, and after they were spent, they lay there talking over the events of the day before both fell asleep.

  Sunny bolted upright screaming. Barry reached for her. “Sunny, Sunny, wake up, you’re okay. I’m right here. I have you.” He held her close and stroked her back.

  Her breath came in gasps. “I had a dream. A nightmare!”

  “It’s all right now. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

  “It was terrible. I heard Gina crying. I tried to go to her. She sat on her couch drenched in blood. It was everywhere; pools of it overflowed onto the floor, and started to bubble, then boil. I felt the heat. I checked my arms and feet. They had blisters. It was horrible.”

  “You’re okay, I’m right here.” He took her arm, “Look babe, no blisters.”

  She held up her hands and turned them over. Satisfied there were no blisters, she nestled against his chest.

  “Try to go back to sleep.” He rocked her in his arms.

  Her dream faded away and soon she was asleep.

  FRIDAY MORNING

  Barry was in the kitchen when Sunny came in.

  “How are you feeling?” He got up and kissed her cheek.

  She smiled and gave him a hug. “Fine now, but what a terrifying dream.”

  “Sit down, I poured your coffee, and fixed your favorite blueberry bagel.”

  She couldn’t help looking once again at her arms, “Just making sure no blisters.”

  At nine a.m., with their breakfast finished, Barry sat and fiddled with his keys. “Are you going to be all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine now.”

  “Are you sure? I can fly home, and leave my car for you. I’ll ride BART to work.”

  “No, you might need the car. I’ll rent one. Besides, I have errands to run and don’t want to depend on Rita.” Sunny grabbed the phone book and looked up the number for Hertz.

  In the industrial part of the city, they pulled up to the nondescript buildings next to the airport. The sun peeked around the clouds as they walked to the small building, with a yellow-and-black overhead sign. Hertz Rental Cars.

  “How long are you renting it for?” Barry asked.

  “At least a week.”

  “What! I thought you were only going to be here a day or two.”

  Exasperated, she blurted out, “Barry!”

  He threw his arms in the air. “All right, all right. We’ll talk later.”

  She fiddled with her scarf. “I’ll go in and get the car” At the office door she pivoted to face him. “Meet you back at Rita’s.”

  When Sunny pulled in, Barry was on the porch smoking, wearing the ugly blue parka she detested. He greeted her with, “What’s this about? Let’s have it. Why did you rent the car for a week? You didn’t have any intention of staying just long enough to buy the headstone, did you?” He threw his unfinished cigarette in the dirt, meeting her eyes with his.

  “Please don’t get so upset. It’s just that I know this thing with Gina isn’t right. With my neck and the tingly feelings, I can’t believe she’d kill herself, especially with her boys so close by. She wasn’t depressed, so that can’t be it. I have to get to the bottom of it, Barry. Please don’t be mad.”

  She put her arms around him and nestled her face on his chest. “I don’t want for us to be apart, but I have to do this.”

  “You don’t know how much I want to stay. Last night felt like old times.” He pulled her closer.

  She inhaled deeply of his wonderful male aroma: shower soap and Old Spice, the woodsmoke smell in his shirt. It felt like old times to her as well.

  She nodded and kissed him goodbye. “Will you think about what I said before? Please, Barry. Your drinking’s too much for me.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Sunny relaxed in the recliner with Floyd snoozing on her lap. Her head back, eyes closed, she was thinking of Gina and what could’ve happened. Maybe it wasn’t me. Why didn’t Jesse tell me Gina was leaving him? Or was she?

  The door banged open. Startled, she opened her eyes. Rita rushed in, her face ashen, and eyes wide.

  Sunny sprang up and dumped Floyd off her lap. “What’s wrong?” Sunny asked. “Sit down. Did you and Lee have a fight?”

  “No. I had a terrible dream about Gina. It scared the heck out of me. Gina spoke to me. She said, ‘I didn’t do this. It was—’ then Gina’s hand flew over her mouth, and she said ‘Don’t let … get away with it.’ She covered her mouth again. I hollered, ‘Who? Who, Gina? Who did it? Tell me!’ I couldn’t get what she was saying. I woke up sweating and upset.”

  “Her spirit is restless. She can’t pass over until we know the truth,” said Sunny, sitting back down. She reached for her cigarettes and lit one. “Maybe we should use the sage to help her spirit.”

  “Good idea. I have smudge sticks in my room,” Rita shouted to Sunny. “I’ll get them. I have one in an abalone shell, along with the feather.”

  Outside, Sunny struck a match to the bundled, tied sage. “I wish I knew what Gina wants. What is she trying to tell us?” She held one end of the burning sage in her hand, then blew it out. The sweet fresh scent found its way to her nostrils. Rita’s large eagle feather fanned the smoke into the four corners of her house. It formed a white cloud in the shape of a long tail. They smudged both inside and outside the house, including all the rooms and each other. They said a prayer of love to help Gina on her journey for peace and to cross over.

  After the ceremony Sunny opened her eyes. “I almost wish she would come to us first and help us find out what happened before she crosses over. She’s having
a hard time, and fighting. There is something I have to find out.”

  The phone rang and Rita ran in to answer it.

  Ending the smudging and seeing the smoke encircle the house, Sunny picked up the abalone shell, went in, and put it away. “Who was that?”

  “Another hang-up.”

  “I wonder what’s going on. It’s been happening a lot.” Sunny headed into the kitchen, stopped, smiled, and crossed her arms. Once again, Floyd was in her favorite chair. “Get out of my chair.” She grabbed the cat and dropped him on the floor. He stared up at her with his tail in the air, and gave a loud, long, resentful mee-ow before sauntering away.

  Rita giggled at Floyd and, pulling a chair next to her mom’s, plopped down and leaned in close to the table.

  Sunny looked at her watch. “It’s getting late. We should go see about the monument before they close. Will you dial Jesse for me? I want to ask him what he wants on her headstone.”

  Rita punched in his number. “Hi, Jesse.” She jerked the receiver away from her ear and looked at it, then scowled before returning it to her ear. “Uh … my mom wants to talk to you. Hold on a minute.”

  Sunny took the phone from her, grabbed Rita’s arm, and mouthed, What’s wrong?

  Rita shook her head.

  While she spoke she watched her daughter. “Jesse, I’m going to get a headstone for Gina. Do you want anything special on it?” She was just being polite. She didn’t really care what he wanted.

  “I guess you could put her name … oh … and her birth and death dates.” He hung up.

  Sunny stared at the mouthpiece in disbelief. “Asshole!” She hung up and looked at Rita. “What did he say to you?”

  “I was surprised. He called me ‘my babe,’ like he was coming on to me. What does he think he’s doing?”

  “With him who knows? Maybe he’s drinking.” Sunny remembered Barry telling her to be careful. She checked her watch again. “Come on, grab your coat, and let’s get going. It’s almost four o’clock.”

  Rita struggled with her coat. “I’m just going to ignore him. I never know what’s going on with him or Eva.”

  She locked her doors and they left.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The wind howled as tumbleweeds raced across the road in front of them. Sunny drove to the south end of Reno, pulled up, and parked in front of a brown shingled building. A sign read, Nevada Monuments.

  She pointed into the air. “We’d better hurry. The wind can bring rain or snow to the valley floor before we know it.” They grabbed at their coat collars, holding them closed beneath their chins.

  Along the walkway of red rock slabs, they strolled, looking at monuments propped up against the building: granite, bronze, and marble.

  Sunny found an oyster-colored granite monument with an angel etched into it. “What do you think of this one?”

  Rita bent over and looked closely at the angel. “Perfect.”

  In the office, Sunny brought in the tag that described the headstone. She requested the headstone be engraved with the inscription May Grandfather Spirit Guide You On Your Journey.

  Sunny filled out the form with Gina’s name and the dates of her birth and death, and then added Mother and Friend, deliberately leaving out Wife.

  Rita picked up the form. “You left out—” Sunny stopped her.

  She cocked her head and shrugged. “Jesse said, ‘Only her name and dates.’ So that’s what I did. Only her name and dates … so far as he’s concerned, anyway.”

  Sunny gave instructions to the clerk and arranged to have the headstone delivered to the minister at the church on the reservation.

  FRIDAY EVENING

  By the time they got back to the car, the rain had started. The streets were dark and slick. The only sound was the soft music from the radio and the slapping of the windshield wipers. The rain caused Sunny to slow down on the freeway.

  Bright lights in the rearview mirror caught her attention. “What the heck?”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “The car behind us has its high beams on. It’s coming up on us too fast.” As she sped up so did the other car, coming closer and closer. Her eyes widened, her heart raced.

  Rita squirmed around in her seat to look out the back window. “Mom, get in the other lane and let them pass.”

  The panic in Rita’s voice unnerved Sunny. She swerved into the other lane, tires squealing. But the other car was right on her bumper. Sunny moved over into the near lane. Back and forth, no matter what she did to shake it, the other car followed.

  Sunny’s heart was pounding. “Look, they won’t pass. They’re right behind us.” All she could see was the glare of lights on the road. The rain made it impossible to see who the driver was. Sunny watched in shock as the headlights came racing toward her car.

  “Oh my God!” she screamed. “They’re going to hit us. Hang on.” They lurched forward as the car hit them from behind, causing them to fishtail. She fought the steering wheel to stay in her lane and keep the car on the road.

  “Mom!”

  “Hang on!” Sunny’s hands gripped the wheel; she changed lanes again.

  The car behind them slowed, changed lanes, and speeded up. Bang! Another hit from behind. Heading toward the guard rail, fighting the wheel, she pumped the brakes. The streets were wet and slick.

  Rita grabbed the hand grip above the door as her body jerked forward.

  “I can’t see! Damn it!” Sunny’s hands tightened, her knuckles white. “The lights are blinding me!”

  “What the hell? Move over, Mom! Move over!”

  Sunny watched in the rearview mirror. She thought the car behind her slowed down and turned off as they passed an exit. The rain came down in sheets, visibility was nearly zero.

  Rita looked again out the back window. “I think they’re gone.”

  Sunny looked for a turnout, pulled over, and stopped. She could hardly talk. Her mouth felt dry. Her hands shook. She wasn’t going to worry about the bumper or the damage right now. Besides, the fierce rain kept her from stepping outside. She tried to slow her breathing but was badly shaken.

  “I thought they were going to run us off the road.”

  “Me too.” Rita patted her chest and took a deep breath. “I think they tried.”

  Sunny gasped. “That scared the crap out of me.” Adrenaline rushed through her like a train racing down a track. Her hands on the steering wheel, she put her head between them. A long sigh followed. She concentrated on taking deep breaths and waited to calm down.

  She looked at Rita. She had leaned her head back, eyes closed. “How are you doing? Y’ okay?”

  “I think so. Just scared.”

  When Sunny felt able to drive, she started the vehicle again. She looked behind her, to make sure the other car hadn’t returned, and pulled out.

  Rita held tight on the hand grip. “Dang! I’m still shaking.”

  They discussed how scared they were and whether the repeated impacts were on purpose. “Could it have been kids, or a drunk? Is that possible?”

  Sunny began to relax. “I don’t know who would want to do that to us. I can’t report it to the police because I wasn’t able to see what kind of car it was, only I think it was a smaller model. I couldn’t tell if the driver was a man or woman. I know I’d need some kind of facts. What could the police do?”

  As they got closer to town and the rain let up, Sunny felt more comfortable.

  Rita let her hand off the grip and shifted the topic. She told her mother how uncomfortable Jesse’s words made her feel. “Maybe I’m overreacting but it bothers me. He never called me ‘my babe’ before, and the way he talks to me now is different. He’s called me more times than I’ve told you.”

  “You think he’s drinking more now? Could he be the one responsible for all those hang-ups?” Sunny questioned Jesse’s innocence. “Why would Jesse do something like this to us?”

  “Who knows?” Rita shrugged. “Nah, I can’t see him banging into our car.�
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  They drove on in silence until Rita spoke. “Can we stop by Lee’s apartment? He asked me for a loan.”

  “Really? How often does he ask for money?”

  “A lot lately. He uses my car once or twice a week, and he’s always short of cash. I don’t know what’s going on.”

  “You loan him money and your car? Doesn’t he have a job?”

  “Yeah, he’s a shift supervisor at Harrah’s.”

  “Then he should have money. What’s he doing with it? Gambling? Drinking? Drugs?”

  “I don’t think so. But when he takes my car it always comes back empty. So far he hasn’t paid me back any money I loaned him.”

  Sunny kept her eyes on the road. “That’s rude.”

  “Sometimes I can’t get a hold of him, or he doesn’t call when he says he will. If I ask where he’s been he cops an attitude. He’s not like he was when we first got together. He seems cold. Standoffish. I wonder what I’m even doing with him. It’s hard, never knowing what mood he’s going to be in.”

  Sunny tried to lighten things up. She didn’t want to badger her daughter. “How’d you meet this guy?”

  “I was in the bank and dropped my deposit slip. He was behind me and picked it up. We started talking.”

  “Maybe he thinks you’re loaded. Or it could be he needs a little space. You’ve spent every night with him. Things might be better now that you’re home.”

  Rita rubbed her finger across her nose. “Could be, we’ll see.” She hurried out of the car.

  While Rita was in Lee’s apartment, Sunny got out of the car, using the light from the carport to check the back bumper. She ran her hand across a large dent. She also noted smaller dents that hadn’t been there before. “Damn, the asshole dented my car.”

  Soon Rita came back, chewing on her bottom lip.

  Sunny knew that sign. Rita was upset. “Why so quick? Is everything all right?”

  “He took my money, thanked me, and acted like he wanted me to hurry and get out. I wonder what the deal is with him. He seems so weird. I don’t seem to know him anymore.”