Crossroads

by Alexie Aaron [Aaron, Alexie]

“Enos is looking into it. We suspect someone stole it from a crypt.”

  “Poor Mia got the scare that was meant for me,” Paula said. “How is she?”

  “Cid says she seems fine. But she was rattled. I’m upset because now the cops are involved.”

  “It was going to happen sooner or later. The crime family has big pockets. Did you see the ghost?”

  “We have film of something clearing your shelves.”

  “That happened last time. Do you know, I thought my Derek was doing it in his sleep? I regret the arguments we had over it.”

  “You said there was pizza?” Burt asked to change the subject.

  “You’re in for a treat. I’ve made my mother’s secret sauce.”

  “Thank you for doing all the cooking. Tomorrow, I’ll make breakfast.”

  “You’re on.”

  Burt walked and circled his car with salt. He poured salt to seal off the gate and poured a line of salt as soon as he closed the door.

  “It seems so simple,” Paula said.

  “But it works. I’ve seen it stop most ghosts in their tracks. Here, along with the crushed brick, reminds whomever has come to call that they better be friends, or they can just walk on by.”

  Noah looked up from his show and waved.

  “I’m surprised he hasn’t memorized that video,” Paula said.

  “What did you do today?”

  “Oh, laundry. Noah and I walked around the yard, and he named all the big rocks that he could see in the water. We sat on the deck and dozed in the chairs. It was like I was on a vacation in the tropics.”

  “You have a great imagination. I can see where Noah gets his artistic talent from.”

  “I used to sell my paintings in fancy shops in New York City.”

  “I would love to see you paint.”

  “The marshals warned me against showing my work. They worried that someone would recognize my style and put two and two together. I do however knit. It calms me. Next year, I’m going to get a job while Noah is in school.”

  “Do you have any idea what you want to do?”

  “I can’t do anything with art since that is somewhere the client’s thugs may look for me. So, it has to be outside of my normal experience. But also, here, there are not as many full-time jobs that will take on a new employee without a work record.”

  “I thought the marshals make up a resume for you.”

  “For my husband they did. Me, they have no obligation, except for five more years of rent. But if they get wind that I have, in any way, broken my agreement to stay silent, then it will all be gone.”

  “It doesn’t seem fair.”

  “Burt, not many criminals go after the families after the whistleblower has died, so there isn’t anything that the marshals can do.”

  Noah walked over. “I’m hungry.”

  “I’ll put the pizza in. Why don’t you show Mr. Hicks what you were working on today.”

  Noah waved Burt into the guestroom. “Enos said I could use his drafting table. He lowered it so I could stand and draw. I do a lot of my art standing.”

  Burt nodded and approached the drafting table. Noah had used Burt’s techniques on quite a few shapes. “I had trouble with this one,” Noah said, pointing to the donut. “Brian says this is called a torus.”

  “It looks like a donut or a bagel or… You know, Mia has a swim ring in this shape. Tomorrow, after school, I’ll go and buy some bagels, and you can see how the natural light falls on them.”

  “I’d like that. We only have three more days of school, then summer camp starts.”

  “Are you looking forward to summer camp?” Burt asked.

  “Yes, Brian says that it’s less structured. There are college kids studying us. Wait until they get a look at Brian.”

  “Is Brian your best friend?”

  “Yes. He’s very smart and stupid at the same time.”

  “And you?”

  “I’m very artistic and stupid.”

  “I’m sensing a pattern.”

  “Brian showed me what a pattern was.”

  “Can you show me?”

  Noah drew two circles and a triangle and two circles and a triangle. “This is a pattern. If I draw two more circles, what is the next shape?”

  “A triangle.”

  “Yes.”

  “Pizza is done!” Paula called from the kitchen.

  Burt walked in the guest bath, and both washed their hands. He thought about patterns. “I think there may be a way of anticipating what’s going to happen next using patterns,” he said.

  Noah didn’t really understand, but he had learned to nod sagely when Brian confused him, so he nodded.

  Ted picked up Burt’s call. “Hello, please tell me I have somewhere else to be.”

  “Sorry, we’re still banned. However, I would like to talk to you about patterns.” Burt went on to talk about the things that went on in the two previous houses. I have been questioning Paula, and I’m sensing a pattern. Maybe we can use it to our benefit.”

  “I’ll talk to Mia. I notice it’s Paula and not Mrs. Glynn.”

  “She is living in my house.”

  “Mia’s house.”

  “I’m paying… some… okay, Mia’s house.”

  “I’ll get back to you.”

  “Wait, before you go, Brian is teaching Noah about shapes, in particular, a torus.”

  “And…”

  “It looks a lot like a swim ring, and I’m a wee bit worried that he will…”

  “Good catch. The last thing I need is Brian in Big Bear Lake or one of the rivers in a swim ring, testing out a theory.”

  “Don’t tell him where you got the information. I don’t think Noah knows he may have ratted out his best friend.”

  “I won’t. Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll sit down with Mia and see if we can come up with any way to use the patterns to PEEPs’s advantage.”

  “I have pizza waiting on me. Have a good evening.”

  Ted sat down at the kitchen table and contemplated his next move. Mia walked out of Nanny Berta’s room with Varden. She looked over at Cid, who was so busy putting together the family meal that he needed at least four more arms, and then over at her husband who was focusing on a point far beyond Woodlands.

  “The girls are finished nursing, and Nanny is going to put them to bed. What can I do?”

  Cid looked over at Ted and then said, “I’m running slightly behind. How about you give the Martins a tour of the house?”

  “Excellent idea. Let’s go, Varden, we have a mission.”

  Varden took her hand, and Cid smiled as they boldly went in to face Reg and Millie alone.

  Reg looked up to see his daughter-in-law, sans the babies. She was walking with Varden, who had seemed to be attached to Mia since they arrived.

  “The girls may just nap through dinner, crossing my fingers. How about I give you a tour of Woodlands? Your son, Cid, and a dear friend designed the house. I think you’ll be impressed.”

  “Won’t we wake the girls?” Millie asked.

  “They are with Nanny Berta in her quarters. This will probably be the best time to see their rooms,” Mia encouraged.

  “I’m in,” Reg said. He held out his hand to his wife.

  Millie, who would rather slip away and stare at the babies while they slept, begrudgingly got up. Brian appeared from behind the couch where he had been reading. He took his grandmother’s other hand. “Would you like to ride the elevator or use the steps?” he asked.

  “Steps. After that long trip, my legs are itching for some exercise,” Millie told him.

  “Why do you call it the Woodlands?” Reg asked. “Why name a house at all?”

  “Cid, who you know works on old homes, thinks that when you give a house a name, it seems to take on an identity. It becomes a home. We call it Woodlands because we thought that the house felt like being in a happy forest. Here in the foyer
, you can look up and - right now the light is fading - but those windows give you the idea of looking up through a tree canopy.”

  “The walls are pretty bare, Mia,” Millie noticed.

  “We lost all but a few things in the fire,” Mia said. “And if I’m patient, I think my sons will produce some artwork to brighten the place up a bit.”

  Varden beamed.

  As they took the stairs to the second floor, Mia asked, “Maybe once you see the guest suite you may change your mind and move in here instead of staying in the RV? We’d love to have you.”

  “We don’t want to get in the way,” Millie insisted.

  “Extra hands are appreciated, especially since we just about doubled our family overnight.”

  Millie smiled.

  Mia felt a softening of whatever attitude her mother-in-law had arrived with.

  “Why the nanny?” Reg said. “Isn’t that an extravagant expenditure?”

  “I think a very necessary one, as is Lazar managing the house. Your son needs to keep his mind on his inventions, and honestly, I can’t handle all this alone. We’re not going in the red, and just recently, I was made aware of more funds coming in from a new poster.”

  “You didn’t pose in a bikini again?” Millie said, disgusted.

  “No. I was at an art gallery. It was a candid shot.”

  “Good for you!” Reg said.

  Cid heard the conversation, and he saw Ted ease himself into the stairwell to hear more. He came back in and shook his head. “I don’t know what’s the matter with my mother?”

  “Age-old dilemma that the daughter-in-law will never be good enough,” Cid said.

  “Every problem, no matter the source, is put at the daughter-in-law’s feet,” Nanny Berta said. “It’s the same in the birdman culture.”

  “That’s why I’m not bringing Robin home to my parents until I’m sure they won’t scare her away,” Lazar said.

  “Mia’s doing a bang-up job being a mother and a hostess considering she gave birth a little over two days ago,” Ted said proudly.

  “I think your mom wanted to find a disaster here,” Cid said.

  “Thanks to all of you, there isn’t one. That’ll fix her,” Ted said. “What can I do to help you, Cid?”

  Cid almost dropped a pan he was so surprised.

  “I’m not sure if I put the butter out for the rolls.”

  “On it,” Ted said, leaving the room.

  Cid, Lazar, and Nanny looked at each other.

  “It’s just a phase. Don’t get used to it,” Cid warned.

  “Aren’t you afraid they will fall off?” Millie asked looking down at the drop off the third-floor patio.

  “The boys are always supervised,” Mia said.

  “That’s Mom’s special place,” Brian said. “Dad built it for her. I have my own room and so does Varden.”

  “Come, Grandma,” Varden said, tugging on her arm. “I want to show you my torn-paper collages.”

  “Why torn paper?” Millie asked.

  “I’m too young for scissors.”

  Reg put a hand on Mia’s arm to indicate he wanted to speak to her privately. She looked up at the man and appreciated that this was how Ted was going to age. His eyes were enhanced by the laugh lines, and his deep brown eyes had a twinkle in them.

  “She’ll never tell you. It’s not her way. But she is very happy our Ted is married to you. You have given us a multitude of grandchildren, and Ted seems settled.”

  “I’m not sure settled is a good thing for Ted. Recently, he turned down another opportunity to go to space,” Mia said. “I don’t want to be his anchor. He has never been mine.”

  “I’ll talk to him. How are you? Are you feeling that your talents are being appreciated?”

  “I just retired from supervising a rather large group, and I’m loving being a stay-at-home mom. I know that we’ll still do some investigations. It’s something Ted and I like to do together. It’s never the same when we’re not linked. The destruction of our home taught me that you can’t take things and people for granted.”

  “How are you doing cash-wise, really?”

  “Ted’s got most of our money invested in land. He has a few patents ready to be auctioned, and I have the poster thing that surprised the crap out of me.”

  “Surprised?”

  “Let me tell you the story.”

  Varden handed Millie a landscape.

  “You’re going to have to explain what you have going on here. I’m not very good with modern art,” Millie explained.

  “I’ll do it,” Brian volunteered. “This is the day our grandmother Amanda died. My mother’s heart broke. She has many friends around her, but nothing will ever replace the loss of a mother. Her father is over here,” he said, tapping the paper, “and he is looking at his hands because he always took care of Grandmother Amanda, and now that she’s gone, he has to find another use for his hands.”

  “How sad,” Millie said. “I had forgotten.”

  “Aunt Hallie, Connie and Raedelle are lucky to have a mother who loves them. My grandmother had something wrong in her head. She couldn’t express love to my mother. She was kind to us boys, but she always found fault with our mom.”

  Millie took this information in. She would later regret some of the cutting remarks she had said to Mia, but right now, she concentrated on her grandsons.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mia and Lazar were having a competition doing the dinner dishes. Cid sat back and watched as a frustrated Mia tied Lazar’s prosthesis to the counter leg with tea towels in order to make it impossible for him to put away the dried dishes. It was all in good fun. Lazar managed to splash a casserole full of warm sudsy water down the front of her apron.

  “Great, now I’m having birth flashbacks,” Mia said, standing in the puddle.

  Cid untied Lazar and handed him the mop. “You two are bad examples.”

  “I’m going to change. Ted wants me to spend a little time researching the feasibility of ghosts traveling, after I get the boys settled down. One only has to look at Murphy to know it’s possible.”

  “But, how can this ghost know where the family has been moved?” Ted asked, leaning on the doorframe.

  “Good point,” Mia said.

  “I’m going to be working on the data Burt has collected to see if I can find a pattern and see if we can use it to predict what will happen next,” Ted said.

  “I’m going home and forgetting you people exist,” Lazar said.

  “Thanks, we couldn’t do this without you,” Mia said.

  “I know, cousin, I know.”

  Varden walked in the kitchen carrying a stack of napkins. Mia grabbed them and walked them into the laundry. Varden followed her and stood on the stepstool, watching how things were done.

  Mia had decided a long time ago, if one of her boys wanted to help, no matter how much extra time it took, she would let them.

  “No bleach, these are colored,” Mia said.

  “What about this spot?”

  Mia handed him the prewash spray.

  He worked slowly and carefully. Mia sat on the top of the dryer and watched him.

  “When I was your age, I helped my dad, but I don’t remember being as conscientious.”

  “Uncle Murphy says every job, no matter the size, deserves your full attention.”

  “He’s right. Would you like to go to the aerie with me later? You can fall asleep on the couch while I’m working.”

  Varden’s eyes lit up. “Yes. But what about Brian?”

  “You can ask him, but I expect he would love to have the room to himself to read. He has school tomorrow.”

  “When can I go to school?”

  “Maybe this fall. We’ll have to see.”

  Varden smiled.

  “Now go and enjoy your grandparents while I change into something drier.”

  Varden climbed down and skipped out of the
room.

  Cid walked in and added a few dishrags to the load of laundry. “This is me out of here.”

  “Thank you, the meal was, as usual, fabulous. I hope to be able to return all these favors sometime.”

  “Care for me in my old age,” Cid said. “Don’t put me in a home with Ted.”

  Mia laughed. “I’m not putting Ted in a home.”

  “You say that now. Wait until he burns that big brain out and all you’re left with is a drooling mess.”

  “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. And if you’re not cared for by your future children and or wife, I’ll be there for you Cid. You know I will, if I’m still alive.”

  “Between you and Murphy, my dotage is secured,” Cid said. “Rand dumped me.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “My own fault. I’m too slow to commit, gone too much, and she says I’m cheap.”

  “You’re careful,” Mia said. “I’m going to the aerie if you need a shoulder to cry on. Varden is going with me, but his eyes will be closed approximately ten minutes after we arrive.”

  “I think I’ll wallow for a while in private, but thanks for the offer.” Cid walked out the back door, and Mia felt sad for him. She liked Rand, but Cid’s baggage made him a tough guy to get intimate with.

  Mia walked around the ground floor picking up this and that. She smiled and turned off the lights. She found Varden in his room putting on his pajamas. Brian reassured his mother that he didn’t want to go to the aerie tonight. Mia quickly changed, and she and Varden walked out the door. Maggie joined them, and soon the three were making their way up the hill. The night was warm, and the stars shone in a crescent-moon sky. Mia stopped.

  “Listen. I can hear the creek.”

  “Me too.”

  “I guess that’s what they mean when they say babbling brook,” Mia mused.

  “Dad found Brian’s torus.”

  “His what?”

  “It’s what he calls your blowup swim ring.”

  “Oh.”

  “He was going to sit in it and see if he could safely go over the falls.”

  Mia put her hand on her heart.