Day 33 Read online

  “Hurry up” The Reverend whispered. Under her breath, Georgia wondered why The Reverend assumed she’d be ready for pick up, when she was unaware of his arrival. Evita stood in shock. The Reverend shouted, “What did you say to me?” which moved Evita from her standing place, backing away from her father. She began to shiver as Georgia stood in place, as if all the energy that had Georgia zapping all around the room suddenly jumped into Evita’s body instead.

  The Reverend charged toward them and suddenly there was no more space left in this small dwelling. The Reverend’s temper occupied it all, accompanied with Georgia’s unshakeable fear. As soon as she tried to explain herself and ask for forgiveness, The Reverend placed his hands securely around her fat neck and began to squeeze.

  Evita snapped out of her reminiscing, breathing so heavily that the dust flew off the front cover of the photo album. Evita looked around her, still in a sea of darkness lit by the single bulb, which seemed to be a clear metaphor of her current mental state. Her heart pounded so loudly she couldn’t hear Brennan coming down the stairs, and again, another frightening encounter would ensue.

  “I’ll have to tie a bell to your ass”, Evita playfully punched Brennan’s bicep.

  “Sorry babe, where have you been? What are you doing?” Brennan had been giving Evita space for the most part, attending all the local happy hours he could find.

  “I went to Kasha’s earlier. I’m sorry for overreacting, there are just things, memories, visions I’m having that are really…” Brennan grabbed her arms and pulled her close to him. This was a form of intimacy they never really reached. Evita was used to suppressing her problems and emotions, and this was the first time in her recent life that her issues began to spill over and out.

  Brennan never even had the chance of being there for Evita and if she did have a break down, he didn’t take it seriously. Evita and anger never really fit in the same sentence, so this was a trying time for the both of them. She’d always been so passive. Her father’s antics caused her to feel ashamed for expressing herself, her wants, and her needs.

  The Reverend invalidated her mother’s feelings, and actually her entire presence, and that’s how Evita went through her teen and adult years; feeling as though she didn’t belong. It was always as if her feelings didn’t matter to anyone. Evita for the first time in her life, felt protected, she felt like it was okay to fall into Brennan’s arms and to release all the feelings behind her vaguely traumatizing childhood.

  “I don’t know how to fix it, but I’m here for you” and that was all Evita needed in that moment to decide now was not the time to awaken the rest of those memories quite yet. The two headed upstairs to have a couple glasses of wine and watch a movie in the living room with the fireplace blazing.

  The two hadn’t shared romantic moments like this since after their first year of playing Society’s Dating Game. It was like the current tragedies brought Brennan and Evita together, forcing them to actually spend time getting to know each other. Maybe Evita’s past had something to do with them after all. She wondered how it had affected their bond with one another and how they respected each other’s feelings, hell, for their own feelings within themselves.

  It was the beauty of human nature; the ability to find love in the midst of tragedy. Brennan dozed off on the couch. The flames continued to crackle in the near distance as the credits began to scroll on the screen. She scanned the room for the remote, but it was all the way on the TV stand, which didn’t make much sense at all, and she wasn’t about to get up to get it. Left and right, Evita twist and turned to adjust her body in a comfortable position, but nothing worked.

  There was a faint knocking on the door, almost as if it could have been an accident, so Evita initially ignored it. Then the knocking grew louder, but not loud enough to disturb Brennan’s rest, of course. Being the ever-so adventurous young woman Evita had proven herself to be time and time again, she investigated.

  Evita slid from under the fleece blanket, careful not to uncover the man’s toes. She gently tapped hers along the hardwood floor as not to make a sound. Her hand was trembling as she reached for the door knob, tears forming in her eyes as she clenched them together in fear. The door glided open, almost out of her control and behind it stood the old lady. Her gray braids were draped in front of her dry, equally gray face. She quickly lifted her head, the braids parted ways to reveal a snarky smile accompanied by a frowning brow.

  A jolt of fright flashed through Evita’s heart as she was filled with shock. Another dream nearly killed her of a heart attack while she slept. She sat up again in her same 90-degree angle, as Brennan continued to snore peacefully behind her. Sweat dripped again from her forehead. The lines between dreams and reality were beginning to blur. Evita blankly stared across the room, to find the old dusty photo album, sitting comfortably on the TV stand, next to the remote.

  DAY 21

  EVITA’S knees touched one another just enough to hold the photo album in place. She jiggled her left leg to the cadence of her hyperactive heartbeat. The door opened and Diana stared over the top of her glasses to examine her new favorite client.

  “What do you have here today?” Diana comfortably plopped into the leather couch next to Evita, gesturing to the worn book.

  “An album”, Evita glared through the cover, wondering what was sealed beneath.

  “Okay, so, have you looked through it?” a smirk revealed the doctor’s slight pleasure she took in hearing Evita’s story. The situation was becoming a soap opera, and Diana had an objective view, allowing her to enjoy it in a different way than Evita’s agony. Something was telling the doctor that Evita would ultimately be okay, and that all of this was some sort of weird, inevitable, spiritual awakening that lie dormant within her. Evita shook her head in fear of opening the wretched book, as if there weren’t 10 others and dozens of letters she’d have to examine next.

  “Let’s look together”, Diana placed her notebook and pen beside her in the seat and secured her glasses on top of her nose. Evita was still unsure. She had already explained the dream she had last night over the phone. Diana was ready to dig deeper, and the hesitation only slowed Evita’s progress.

  Diana grabbed the front cover, and on the inside the album read “To: Vivian, From: Mom <3”.

  With another page flip, dust sprayed into the air. Pictured was a little girl in a hand-sewn, baby doll dress, covered in pink flowers with yellow leaves and branches. The girl held a lunch tote in her right hand and wore huge afro puffs on either side of her head. The caption was “Vivian age 6”. The photo was grainy, but the smile jumped off page; Evita could recognize it anywhere. Not only did it belong to her, but to the beautiful memories she had of her beautiful mother. A tear fell from Evita’s right eye, and confirmed what Diana already assumed about this girl’s identity.

  They continued to flip through pages and pages of faded Polaroid pictures. Vivian wore buns, pig tails, braids with barrettes, and a beautiful dress to accompany her smile in every photo. Evita could feel her happiness through the plastic slip covers. By the time she had reached the middle of the book, Evita could no longer hold in her sobs. She let out a large cry, covered her face with the palms of her hands, and fell into Diana’s chest.

  The doctor was taken aback, as she tries very hard to maintain a sturdy patient-client relationship no matter how comfortable they had become with one another, but something about Evita was different. There was something about Evita’s story that spanned far beyond anything Diana had ever learned in a college classroom. Evita spent about five more minutes sobbing and releasing water works onto the doctor’s suit.

  “You feel better now, I’m sure”, Diana has been pushing Evita to great lengths to get her to cry like this since they met.

  “She just looks so…happy”, Evita almost couldn’t believe this was the woman who married her father.

  “Why were you afraid to open this? I think this connects you to your mother in ways th
at a therapy session could never” Diana reassured her. Evita went on to explain the supernatural occurrences have been too much for her to handle. There were memories resurfacing that she never even knew she buried. The two women finally reached the back of the book and attached to the cover was a cardboard folder with two folded notes sticking above the brim. Diana reached for the notes, and Evita grabbed her wrist, “wait” she whispered.

  “If you’re not comfortable we – “

  “No, no I want to read them.” Evita slowly pulled her hand off of the doctor’s and allowed her to pull the notes from the folder’s grasp. The first note was on faded pink paper and addressed to “Little Miss V”, which of course, was Vivian.

  “To my precious schoolgirl, you grew up so fast. Hold onto these memories from your first year of school. Love Always, Momma”.

  “She seems so sweet”, Evita praised her grandmother’s tender words. Diana gently replaced the note and pulled out the second one. It was white with black edges from dirt or ashes, or something. It felt grimy between the doctor’s finger tips. Diana sort of frowned upon touching it. Evita’s smile slowly fell from her face. It looked and smelled like the envelope she found on her counter last night, like it was just recently placed in the book and hadn’t been there before. Diana continued to open the note. Dust fell from inside the crevices onto their laps. A red substance began to drip from the corner.

  “Help me!” the note seemed to scream at them in bold red lettering.

  “Is that blood?!” Evita jolted from the loveseat and frantically backed away.

  “Evita?” the doctor looked concerned. Evita snapped out of her trance and saw Diana still holding the second note, unopened.

  “I’m going to open the note, okay?” Evita nodded. As Diana opened the paper, dust fell from the crevices again just as Evita had imagined seconds before, but she convinced herself to keep her cool. The note was still in red ink, but it wasn’t blood, and it was still very much a warning.

  “Vivian, I care for you, and although you’re an adult now, as your mother I can no longer watch my child sell herself short”, Diana asked if Evita wanted to continue reading, and she did. “You’re caring for my granddaughter under the same roof as a man who has never been good to you. If you stay, you’ll not only endanger yourself, but also this child. Come home, please. Love, your mom.” She knew.

  Evita’s grandmother knew all along that Vivian was in danger. Evita wondered how The Reverend could get away with this for so long and how he was able to keep Vivian’s mother away. Diana explained that in abusive situations, the victim is typically held hostage from any outside contact and that it was a wonder we had any evidence of Evita’s grandmother at all.

  Being in a deep country town of Virginia, with not much surrounding their neighborhood, it was easy to keep Vivian in her place. She had never gotten a driver’s license or a college degree. No resource outside of The Reverend and that house was at her disposal. This explanation was nice, logical, and made perfect sense to Evita, but it didn’t ease the pain. Diana rubbed her back and told her they’d work through all of this.

  “Do you trust me enough to come somewhere with me?” Diana knew this was a long shot, but Evita immediately said yes. At the end of the day, Diana was the only one levelheaded and consistent enough for Evita to trust. Brennan’s love was newfound and Kasha was one of those friends you only saw every now and then for drinks and men. She still hadn’t been back to work and didn’t have many acquaintances there anyway, outside of Donald, who recommended the doctor in the first place.

  “Where are we going?” Evita asked with great optimism.

  “My home. I have something to show you.” Diana asked that her assistant reschedule her pre-marriage counseling session to tomorrow. She drove her BMW about 30 minutes down to southern Maryland. They reached a deserted gravel driveway that was about three miles long. Willow trees and evergreens almost blocked the sunlight completely. It was reminiscent of Evita’s childhood dwelling.

  They finally arrived to Diana’s modern-designed home, made of glass that was a few feet thick. The spotless windows covered three stories of geometrically designed goodness. Evita never would’ve pictured the doctor living in such a beautiful home because of how modest she presented herself in their meetings. Other than her Birkin bag and tailored suits, Diana didn’t wear much designer accessories and didn’t have the stereotypical attitude of a “rich woman”. Her suits however, were very visibly tailored exactly to fit her thin physique, and her heels had a point that Evita couldn’t even imagine standing upon.

  “You live here?!” Evita started to think maybe she paid the doctor too much. Diana looked at her and smiled. She put her luxury car in park and asked Evita to follow her to the front porch. Pine leaves covered the entire concrete staircase, there were two marble lion statues on either side. There was a huge, dark brown, polished door with heavy brass handles. Diana used a little extra strength to push through them. An alarm on the inside next to the door frame sounded and Diana pressed seven keys to turn it off. Evita’s eyes were filled with beautiful décor that put The Reverend’s renovations to shame.

  The two entered the foyer, which was covered in a gray marble floor with blue accents and the white walls were laced in ivory-colored trim. Ten five-foot towers made of selenite surrounded the area, five on each side, reflecting the light coming in through the glass windows all throughout the entryway. Above Evita’s head was a chandelier made of clear quartz crystals sculpted into candle holders and held electronic tea lights. Gold and white specks shined all throughout the room. Straight ahead lie a spiral staircase that didn’t seem to end. Large pink Himalayan rocks were on the sides of each alternating step.

  Diana hung her keys to the left of the door on a golden brass hook. “You can hang your bag here if you’d like”, she signaled to another larger set of hooks to the right of the door. Evita slowly hung her bag on the rack, afraid to mess up anything around her.

  “Relax, you’re okay”, the doctor reassured her with a smile and signaled for Evita to follow her lead. As they passed through the foyer, on the right there was a beautiful kitchen with labradorite countertops and two more clear quartz chandeliers; one over the stove and one over the glass dining table. The floors were a tint of white that Evita had never seen before and every appliance was a freshly cleaned stainless steel. Skillets and pots hung from a rack on the ceiling and brought a flashback of her mother.

  The purity in this kitchen had the same feel as it did the time she turned 11 years old, baking her birthday cake with Vivian. The Reverend was nowhere to be found in this memory; all she could smell was the sweet sugar and strawberries mixed with Vivian’s perfume. The radio was playing 90s R&B in the background and snow fell so peacefully onto the window sills. The oven provided just as much warmth as the smiles the two of them shared as they tasted the cake batter and mixed purple food coloring into a homemade icing.

  “What are all these rocks for?” Evita inquired about the glistening crystals. She’d seen them sometimes on the internet, but never used them.

  “They’re healing crystals, my dear. Just the beginning of what I want to show you”, Diana said as she continued walking forward. To the left, Evita could see a living room with walls covered in shelves filled with trinkets. There were masks, dolls, and figurines, all made by hand from African countries, outlining the entire fortress. A beautifully hand-woven area rug covered another gray marble floor. The backs of the chairs sat four feet tall and were adorned with gold plated trim and white silk cushions.

  Plants hung from the ceiling and flowers sat in a vase on every table top in the room, including the fireplace mantel. Strings of clear crystals dangled in between the plants above. An incense holder with lit sticks scented with lavender and eucalyptus filled the room with continuous aroma therapy. There were small sound bowls placed strategically throughout the room, as if at any moment, you may desperately need a sound bowl.

  Dia
na proceeded to a room behind the entire house that had obviously been an add-on. The glass in this room was tinted a dark brown, letting in very little sunlight, but enough to provide a little warmth. The doctor flicked a switch and lamps made of the same pink salt filled the room from corner to corner. Decorative pillows with tassels were spread throughout the floor.

  Bookshelves on either side of the walls were so tall, Diana had a ladder beside them, as if it were a library. There were small lamps that hovered over each column of literature. This room had a plush burgundy carpet, so soft Evita cold tell Diana didn’t let many people walk on it. There was more incense lit, but this time it smelled of sage and was even more calming than the living room.

  “Have a seat”, Diana made a hand gesture to the cushions on the floor to the left of where they stood. Evita was a little confused, but not uncomfortable. It was as if she’d been here before, she felt like she belonged. Everything was so inviting. Over on the other side of the room next to one of the bookshelves, there were cacti so tall, they poked the ceiling. There was a waterfall fountain made of stones that sat the back of the room. Droplets fell from the top corner down into the well whose floor was made of pennies and green-colored crystals.

  All throughout the room were small tea light candles, which Diana lit with a match. Hues of browns, greens, and oranges glowed all throughout and created a very grounding experience. A breeze fell down along the darkened glass walls and whispered a calm into the air. Tapestries and curtains dangled throughout making the room much cozier.