Strange Folk, page 23
He greeted the kids formally, and they gave him dutiful hugs. He studied Meredith, who seemed thinner than usual but who now looked less like a woodland wraith with her body washed and her hair combed out. She was still quiet, but she assured him multiple times that she was fine.
Lee introduced Cooper to her family, and he was awkward in his attempt to seem personable and folksy. They smirked at each other, amused by his slow, simplified pseudo-hick speech.
Cooper sat with them for a few minutes, but Lee could tell he was uncomfortable. He didn’t like to be in someone else’s domain; he couldn’t stomach being the outsider. He made an excuse to leave and asked the kids if they wanted to come by his hotel that afternoon. He couldn’t wait to make his escape, even though he’d spent weeks away from them.
She walked Cooper out to his car.
“So, what’s the story? She just disappeared in a maze and returned a few days later with no explanation?”
“That about sums it up.”
“You’re seriously not going to tell me what happened.”
Lee didn’t respond.
He exhaled and put his hands on his hips. “I have my lawyer working on the divorce papers.”
“Fine.”
“I’m not giving up the custody case. The kids are in danger here, and I can’t have it. There should be another hearing in a couple of days.”
Lee felt her newfound fury rippling in the depths of her like a predator moving beneath the surface of a creek.
“If you and the kids come back to California, you can stay with them at the house while we work everything out. And then you can take your settlement and live somewhere safe that I approve. But not here, with these people.”
She refused to respond, and her silence enraged him. “You must see the logic here. Meredith nearly died, Lee. You are endangering their lives. You can’t be trusted to make decisions for them.”
“What would you know about making decisions as a parent? You don’t care about them. You just don’t want to look bad.” She moved closer to him so that their noses were nearly touching. “I warned you what will happen if you try to take my children. I will gut you like a trout, and we will eat you for dinner.”
He took a step back.
“You said it yourself. These people are dangerous. Why would you want to cross us?”
He grimaced. “I can’t believe I married you. Biggest mistake of my life. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.” He scurried to his rental car and got in before Lee could respond.
You do that. See what happens.
* * *
She hadn’t returned to the field behind the high school since the day she’d forced Otis to kiss her. It had lain overgrown and unused for decades, the dewy weeds coming to her waist as she got out of the car. It smelled honeyed in the bright morning fog. A vinyl sign stood at the entrance, designating it as a future site of Conway Development. It would probably be a Hampton Inn by the time she visited again. She looked out over its expanse and enjoyed its ability to just be.
She heard his jeep burrowing through the foliage behind her, but she didn’t turn around. Then Otis was next to her with his hand close to hers, but not touching. He looked out with her and waited for her to speak.
“I’m sorry about what happened to TJ. I never wanted him to die. I only wanted to protect people from him.”
“I know. I asked my sister, and apparently he’d been selling to her for years. I didn’t want to see it, but I knew he was into some bad stuff.” He ran his hand through his hair and clicked his tongue. “Sometimes I get so hell-bent on seeing what other people don’t that I miss what’s obvious. Not that he deserved to die, but I understand he could be dangerous.”
“I want you to know that you’re a very real, very valuable person to me. I’m sorry I made you feel like you weren’t.”
He smiled slightly. “You can’t make me feel anything. That’s my own stuff, too.”
She moved closer, but they still didn’t touch. She could feel the energy pooling between them.
“So, that shadow thing I saw at the ritual. That’s what killed TJ?”
“Yes.”
“I’m still having a hard time believing it. I’ve always been more into… rationality.”
“Me too.” She sobered. “It kept me from seeing what was right in front of me. Cliff warned me about the shadow the first night we arrived, and I didn’t believe him.”
“You had no way of knowing. I wouldn’t have believed it either.”
“But I should have kept my mind open to him. It’s something I want to work on.” She ruffled her hand over the tall grass.
“So what’s next?”
“Cooper’s trying to pressure me into going back to California. But he doesn’t get to make those decisions for us anymore. I have to think about what’s best for the kids.”
He nodded.
“Coming back wasn’t what I expected. I didn’t think this place would get inside of us like it has.” She smiled at her own naivete. “Objectively, terrible things have happened. But each of us has also found something special here. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around it when I’ve spent so many years rejecting this place and trying to give them a better, more elegant childhood.”
Otis turned his face back to the field, bristling in the sun-shot mist like a scene in a novel, and they both took it in. There was elegance here.
He finally bridged the gap between them and pulled her gently to his chest. They gazed at one another.
“I’m not gonna pretend I have any say over whether you stay or go.” He pushed her hair behind her ear. “When I’m with you, life feels like more. It feels like the best, most satisfying version of itself. And I hope we get a chance to explore that.”
She pulled his head down to hers and kissed him, and a natural euphoria surged through her. This was the first time she’d kissed him sober. She wanted him, but she didn’t need him to fill her like she’d felt since she got here. It was clean-burning transcendence that lifted her up, even if only for a fleeting moment.
She wanted to say something to him in return, but words failed her. She felt Granny Pallie’s locket against her chest, and she instinctively pulled it off over her head and put it over his. She tucked it inside his soft sweater. “For you.”
“It’s still warm.” He smiled down at her, and they kissed again.
“The sheriff wants to conduct an investigation into Meredith’s kidnapper, so we have to stay for at least a little while. But we all know where that road will lead.”
Meredith had opened up later that morning to the police when they were called. She described being taken by a figure in the maze, then waking up alone in a cave deep in the woods. When she tried to leave, it felt as if there was an invisible barrier keeping her inside. The cave had been relatively warm, and water poured from an opening in the rock that she drank when she was thirsty. She ate mushrooms that Belva taught her to forage, and that kept the hunger at bay. The figure never returned, and eventually she found a way out.
Did you see the kidnapper’s face? the sheriff asked.
No, she responded. Only their shadow.
A paramedic had done an exam, but Lee was told to take her for a follow-up with a doctor to see if she’d contracted parasites. Lee imagined what Belva would say to that. The only parasites are the doctors trying to charge thousands for a few minutes of looking and a blood test.
Lee and Otis stood there for a while holding each other, and then she released him. She needed to pick up the kids from Cooper’s hotel.
When she checked her phone in the car, she had a text from Billy.
Come to the hospital ASAP.
TWENTY-NINE
Lee took her children’s hands and squeezed them as they got closer to Belva’s hospital room, preparing them for what they might see.
A crash came from the room up ahead, followed by a metal tray skidding into the hallway. An older woman in scrubs came out with her hands thrown up and cursing in defeat. Lee ran to the room.
Belva sat on the bed with her face red and fierce and her arms held down by two orderlies on either side. Her breathing apparatus was around her neck, and her skin bled where the tubes had been torn from their veins. Billy stood in the corner with his arms crossed, looking amused, while Luann fluttered around the nurses attempting to calm her.
When Belva saw Lee, her eyes went darker.
“YOU! Did you put me in this death trap? Goddammit, lemme out or I’m gonna slap both your eyes into one!” Belva balled her hands into fists and struggled harder as a jolt of energy moved through her.
Cliff came from behind Lee and laid his small hand on Belva’s ankle. He looked into her eyes with his gentle face, and Belva became solely focused on him as if in a trance. Her muscles relaxed, and the red adrenaline drained from her. She looked around and took a calmer stock of the situation. Lee could see the pure misery in her expression.
Lee pulled one of the nurses aside and made eye contact. “Excuse me, can she go home?”
“The doctor wants her to stay for monitoring…”
“I mean legally, can she leave?”
“Well, technically, yes, of course. We can’t keep her against her will. But it would be very risky—”
“We understand. If you give us the paperwork, we can get out of your hair.”
The nurse looked around at the jars of water in the corner, the dirt scattered on the floor, the iron and dogwood bark that Luann had brought from the cabin crowding the nightstand. She stared at them as if they were nuts, the ones that couldn’t be helped. The kind of strange folk you had to give up on.
* * *
Kimmie and Dreama were a two-woman welcome committee when they arrived home with Belva. Kimmie wrapped her in a tight hug that nearly crushed her. Belva told her she was sorry about TJ, and Kimmie nodded and went misty-eyed and hugged her again. Dreama greeted Belva stiffly and handed her a tasteful bouquet of store-bought flowers. An odd gift, given the profusion of plants that surrounded them. Belva seemed amused but grateful for her presence.
Billy found a large wheelbarrow in the shed, and Lee laid some pillows down in the bottom. It wasn’t glamorous, but it moved. He and Lee pushed Belva around the land in it, one on each side to fight its natural cockeye, as she cooed to her bees and fingered the petals of her garden. A cloud of birds followed and fluttered in the air above them, and Meredith and Cliff ran around trying to touch them. Seeing Belva awake had reanimated Meredith, and Lee was relieved to see it.
Redbud came out of the house and stood a few feet away, waiting for permission to get closer. Belva beckoned with her one good arm, and Redbud walked furtively over. Belva seemed to be growing stronger, even in the few minutes since she’d returned to the land, and she was able to get to her feet with some help. She put her hands on Redbud’s forearms to steady herself and looked into her eyes.
“Baby Red. I—” Belva tried to get more out, but her voice failed her. Tears filled her eyes.
Redbud took Belva in her arms and let her rest her full weight on her shoulders. She whispered “I’m sorry, Mama. I’m so sorry” into her ear before her own voice gave out. They both stood there leaning against one another and soaking the shoulders of their sweatshirts.
Billy brought a chair over from the shed and helped Belva sit down. She took Redbud’s hand in hers and looked her straight in the eye.
“Red. I’ve been pure chickenshit all these years. I shoulda tried harder to help you. I let my own anger get in the way, and I gave up too easy. I’ve been an ignorant bitch, and I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
“No, Mama. I’m sorry for blaming you. I was so ashamed. I didn’t want you to see me like that. I couldn’t face seeing what I’d become in your eyes. I was the one who stayed away.”
Belva gripped her hand harder. “You got nothing to be ashamed about. When I look at you, I see a woman tougher than nails who’s been through the shitstorm and come out the other end.”
Redbud brought her hand up to cover her teeth and smiled into her palm. Belva reached over and pulled her hand down. “You don’t gotta hide from me, girl.” She turned more serious. “Even though I wasn’t there, I still protected you. From afar.”
Redbud wiped another tear and chuckled, showing the gaps between her teeth. “I know. Every time I almost died and came back to life, I knew it was you. I wanted you to stop so I could just be done with it. But now I’m glad you did.”
Belva put her arms around her, and they held each other again for a while.
Lee watched from a respectful distance. She was glad Belva and Redbud were reconnecting. She didn’t begrudge them that. But she’d been through this before.
She’d exchanged tearful hugs with her mother while she spouted sober epiphanies. She’d felt the glow of a new era dawning, where she could have her mother back and they could pick up right where they left off. But it never lasted. She’d always relapse, and then it was that much more painful to live with the other version. The one who acted as if she didn’t exist.
Redbud had accepted her shadow, and Lee wanted to believe that this time, things would be different. But she couldn’t ignore the bone-deep instinct warning her not to fall into the trap again.
Dreama and Kimmie started bringing out the food, and they set up a makeshift picnic in the garden around Belva’s chair, where Meredith and Cliff clustered around her.
Once everyone had their plates, Dreama sat down next to Lee on a blanket off to the side.
“I’m surprised you came,” Lee said. “I mean, I’m happy you’re here. Just… surprised.”
Dreama brought her face up to the sunshine and closed her eyes. “I’ve been away too long. I’d forgotten what it was like to be around people who’ve known you for a long time. It’s kind of nice.”
Kimmie came over and lay down on the other side of Lee, allowing the sun to warm her skin as well. She pulled her flask out of her bra and handed it to Lee, who took it without thinking. Lee could feel the liquid sloshing lushly inside. She handed it back.
“Oh, thanks, but I’m trying to stay clearheaded right now.”
“How’s that working out for you?” she quipped.
“Pretty damn well.”
Kimmie looked at her sideways with her hand shading her face. “Okay, girl. Look at you. I’m inspired.” She slipped the flask back in her bra without taking a sip.
“So have you decided? Are you going back to California?” Dreama asked. “I wouldn’t blame you.”
Lee watched from across the garden as her kids told Belva stories with animated hand gestures, their faces unguarded.
She had asked Meredith and Cliff what they wanted to do. It wasn’t just her decision. For too much of her own childhood, she’d been at the mercy of an adult’s bad decisions. They deserved to have a say over their own lives.
They both immediately said that they loved it here. Even after what happened, Meredith insisted unprompted. This place felt like home.
“I think we’re going to stay. For now. Cooper’s putting up a fight, but there’s no way I’m going to let him take my kids, or tell us where we can live.”
Kimmie smiled and pulled Lee into a tight hug against her soft chest. “You’s one of us now…” she said in a creepy voice as if they’d brainwashed her into becoming another murdering hill person.
Lee laughed. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Have you thought about where you might live long term?” Dreama had gone into Realtor mode.
“We’ll stay with Belva for now. I won’t have any money until the divorce goes through. We’ll take it one step at a time and see where we end up.”
“Well, when the time comes, there are some great houses left in the new Cradleburg development. Easy to get around the zoning if you want the kids to go to CVHS.”
“Thanks, Dreama, I’ll think about it.”
“I bet Otis will be happy…” Kimmie said, baiting her.
“Actually, it’s what the kids wanted—”
Kimmie slapped Lee’s arm. “I can’t believe you got a man already.”
Lee was quiet and awkward, willing this part of the conversation to be over. She wasn’t making this decision for him. This was about Lee and her children building a new life on their own terms.
The three women settled back into a comfortable silence and watched the family play and relax in the garden, recalling a time decades ago when they spent Sunday afternoons together whiling away the time. Lee noticed an owl sitting on a branch above them. It reminded her of the one she saw the night she discovered Mr. Hall and the girl. But the bird was serene in the afternoon light.
* * *
As Lee hugged the turns into town, the sun set in front of her and turned the scenery into a flat black silhouette. She put the window down and let the crisp air toss around her hair and beat against her cheeks. She pressed her foot a little harder against the gas, and her insides surged with it.
Lee texted Otis that she was there and waited outside of his door. When he didn’t answer immediately, she tried the knob and found it unlocked.
She stepped inside and was drawn into the kitchen, where a pot roast sat in the oven emitting rich odors. A few candles stood unlit in their silver holders on the kitchen table made up with place mats and old-fashioned crystal wineglasses. The back door was ajar, and she wondered if this was the game. She had the feeling since she arrived that she was being pulled by an invisible string.
She opened the back door, and the sunset was in full bloom on the horizon. Otis was lying in the strawberry field, watching it with his arms spread wide. Lee went to join him and kneeled into the thick clusters next to him.
His eyes were closed, and his mouth was slightly open as if in mid-speech. His was a stillness that she’d never seen in him before, even at his most stoic. The sweet, overripe smell of the strawberries began to rot in her nose and mouth, and she saw that he was covered with their deep red. She shook his shoulder, but he did not rouse. She could feel through his thin white T-shirt that he was still warm but cooling by the minute, like soil as the sun went down.
