104. The Two Ladies

Kelsey and I have an intense, moving conversation in art class.

“Hey,” I say.

Hey in this case means Look, I’m really exhausted since this guy I’ve been trusting turned out to be a liar and knocked me unconscious and ended up burning down this inn I work at along with Oh, and yeah, I just learned I’m failing half my classes and need to take summer school.

“Hi,” Kelsey says back.

Hi in this case might mean I had a really great dance with you the other night and have been thinking about it ever since and really hope that maybe we can have that dance again.

I’m not saying this because I feel really good about myself. But I see it in Kelsey’s eyes and in everything about her. I saw it on her face the other night.

The same way she saw it on my face.

That’s the gist of our conversation. Deep, insightful.

At the end of the class, she continues our conversation.

“See you later,” she says.

Which means Why didn’t you bother to ask me anything at all about the rest of my night or my weekend and why don’t you bother talking or walking out with me because I’d really enjoy that but oh well that’s your loss.

“Yeah, see ya,” I say.

Which means just that.

I’ll see her again, sometime.

If I see Poe, a very big if since I have no idea what happened when I went by her house yesterday, it will end up going very differently from the limited interaction I had with Kelsey.

I take the bus home and then ride my bike out of town, heading to see Poe.

When I get to her house, I honestly expect it to be empty.

But as I put my bike on the driveway and start to walk to the door, Poe opens it and rushes toward me. She hugs me for a long time. Not saying anything, just hugging me. Then she tells me to come on inside before someone sees us.

I need to tell her about what happened, but I also need to know what happened to her.

“Who is this?”

The man speaking must be her father. I offer my hand and am about to say my name when Poe interrupts me.

“This is Steve. From school. A friend.”

The guy doesn’t shake my hand. He just looks at me with suspicious eyes, as if I did something or am about to do something.

Look, baldie, I’m not the problem here.

“He should leave before your mother gets back,” Poe’s father says to her as if I’m not even in the room.

“Fine.”

She leads me to the family room, where we sit on the couch.

“I saw her. Pictures of her.”

I shake my head, not understanding what she’s talking about.

“Jocelyn.”

“Pictures of Jocelyn?”

She shakes her head and begins to cry.

“Poe, what?”

“Somebody came here and threatened me.”

“Who? How?”

So for the next ten minutes or ten hours, I can’t really tell, through tears and gasps of air and confused dialogue, Poe tells me what happened. She says certain things in barely a whisper, not wanting her father to hear.

Someone sneaked into her house Sunday after lunch while her parents were gone. They came up to her room and opened the door and forced her to look at pictures of Jocelyn. Pictures of Jocelyn after she died.

I ask who and what they wanted and why, but Poe just ignores my comments and continues her story.

Whoever came to her house was wearing a Halloween mask, but she could tell it was a man. Probably a young guy. He showed her the pictures and then said that’s what happens to girls who hang around with guys like me.

“They said my name?” I ask.

It was a warning. Whoever came in wanted her to stop everything and anything to do with me. As if they were watching. As if they knew what we were doing.

“Did you tell—”

“I told my parents someone came in and threatened me. I told them everything except the part about you.”

“Poe—”

“Shhh. He doesn’t know. Mom is gone to Walgreens to get some meds the doctor prescribed for my nerves. I think she’s going to take half the pills herself.”

I no longer want to tell Poe what happened.

I can’t.

“The guy said one thing before he left, Chris. One thing that—I didn’t tell the police. But you need to know.”

“What?”

“He said that this is what happens to those who get close to you. It happened to Jocelyn. It happened to the lady at the inn you worked at. It’ll happen to me.”

“Iris?”

The word explodes like a firecracker, leaving a burning scent in the air.

“Then he told me that we’re all going to die. We can be afraid, or we can embrace our last breath. Something like that.”

I don’t say anything.

“Chris?”

I know exactly who sent this guy to threaten her. It’s as if he’s begging to be found out. As if there’s no mystery about who’s wearing the mask, who’s behind the dark curtain.

It’s like he’s wanting you to go to him.

“Chris, what is it?”

She knows. She can see it on my face.

I’ve made up my mind.

That’s exactly what I’m going to do.