(Mis)fortune

The truck began to slow, and I spotted a rutted, gravel path marked with a battered, metal mailbox. Emmitt eased onto the tree lined drive. I nervously clasped my hands in my lap and listened to branches scrape the truck as he followed the bumpy trail. After a distance, the trees gave way to an impressive view of a huge and slightly rundown house. Wider than it was tall, the building had a wrap-around balcony on each of its three levels just as Emmitt had described.

Emmitt followed the driveway to the rear of the house and parked near the back porch steps. Turning the key to cut the engine, he smiled down at the boys.

“Welcome home.”

Home. My stomach lurched in a worried way while my heart excitedly fluttered.

He looked up at me, his smile fading slightly as if sensing my turmoil.

“Everything will be fine. I promise you’re safe here.”

Hope surged until Blake’s crazed and determined face resurfaced in my mind. The building hope fell. I needed to remember my own words to Emmitt. They wouldn’t stop looking for me. Emmitt had mentioned other people living here. Would my presence jeopardize them? Yes, it definitely would.

I nodded to show that I’d heard him; and despite knowing I was being selfish, I opened my door, hopped down from the truck, and turned to help Aden. There was nowhere else for us to go, and this man was willing to help. But, telling myself that did little to ease my guilt.

Aden and I looked around as I set him on the ground. Trees boxed in the spacious yard on three sides. A garage, set back from the house, listed to the side within the overgrown grass.

Everything smelled so fresh. I breathed in deeply and eyed the green expanse of lawn. It had to take hours to mow. I itched to sit down and run my fingers over the blades. It had been over a year since I’d felt grass tickle the bottoms of my feet. Richard had let me walk outside in the moonlight as a reward after an exceptionally profitable premonition. The reward had lasted less than a minute, long enough for David to call Blake. I shut out the memory and took another deep, slow breath.

Liam slid across the seat and joined us in our rapt study. Like me, they had rarely been allowed outside. If the boys liked this view as much as I did, we’d never spend time inside.

A man dressed in jeans and a dark fitted t-shirt opened the back door, disrupting our awe. The boys moved closer to me, and I gave them a reassuring squeeze. I easily recognized the man as Emmitt’s brother from the picture in Emmitt’s wallet. He stood about six feet tall with enough muscle to nicely fill in the height. He wore his light brown hair a tad shaggy, which looked good on him. An impressive tan covered his arms and face, and I guessed he spent a lot of time outside. His wide, welcoming smile reached his grey-blue eyes as he stared at Emmitt.

“Emmitt! About time they let you go,” he said as he sprang down from the porch. The brothers greeted each other with an enthusiastic hug. Emmitt pulled back and grinned widely at him. Then, they both turned to look at my brothers and me at the same time.

Emmitt’s eyes locked with mine. “Jim, this is Michelle and her two brothers, Liam and Aden. Michelle, this is my brother, Jim.”

Before either Jim or I could respond, an older woman stepped out onto the porch. Her long white hair, twisted into a thick bun, lay pinned to the back of her head. Dressed in tan slacks, white blouse, and pink cardigan, she looked the picture of someone’s loving grandmother. I felt a pang of envy. We’d never had a grandmotherly figure.

She marched straight to Emmitt and pulled him into a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you,” she said. Then she turned to us.

Her warm smile grew as she looked at the boys. “I’m Winifred, but everyone calls me Nana Wini.”

“This is Michelle,” Emmitt said, introducing me. I held out my hand, and she clasped it affectionately. She emanated strength.

“I’m so glad he brought someone home with him.” She turned her attention to the boys and bent to pull them both into a tight hug. Surprised by the brief embrace, they didn’t even have time to think about fighting it before she straightened again. She looked back at me with a twinkle in her eyes. “I have to say, I always thought it would be Jim who brought someone home first.”

Emmitt looked slightly embarrassed. “Nana—”

“But, I’m very happy. How long have you two been together?”

I looked at Emmitt helplessly while my face flushed scarlet.

“Two blissful days, Nana,” Emmitt said dryly. “Michelle and her brothers need a place to lay low.”

Nana looked over her shoulder at Emmitt, her expression unreadable.

Emmitt’s expression turned quietly serious. “She needs us,” he said.

“Of course she does,” Nana said turning back to me. She smiled mischievously and winked. “Since you’re not with Emmitt, would you be interested in going out with my nephew Cameron?”

“Nana!” Emmitt said in an exasperated tone.

She laughed. “It’s good to have you home, Emmitt. Jim’s been good company, but these young men are going to be a welcome distraction from the monotony around here.” She held out a hand for each boy. “Let’s go in and have dinner. After that, I’ll see if I can find any of Jim and Emmitt’s old toys. Believe it or not, they used to be smaller, like you two, and liked playing. Still do. So you better keep an eye on the things I give you. They’re likely to try to convince you to let them play, too.”

The boys looked back at me. I could read the hesitation in their faces as Nana waited patiently with hands outstretched.

“We’ll follow you in,” I said with a tentative smile, instead of encouraging them to take the hand of a stranger. I hoped she didn’t think me rude, but I couldn’t ask them to do what she wanted, which was to openly trust. Their exposure to the outside world had been limited to television. Their exposure to people had been limited to me, Richard, David, and Blake. They didn’t have a good base for building trust.

Nana led the way to the house. Emmitt and Jim trailed behind us as we stepped inside. The oversized back door opened to a grand entrance, and our footsteps echoed on the newly refinished wood floor. The entryway was completely barren except for a sweeping staircase that led up to the second and third floors. At the base of the stairs were two doors, one on each side of the steps. Further along the walls, I could see more signs of the remodeling Emmitt had mentioned. Someone had patched two large, door-shaped places with plaster.

Nana moved toward the open door on the right and walked into a cozy living room decorated in rose and cream colors. Knick-knacks adorned the bookcase, and pictures of nature scenes hung on the walls.

She waved for us to follow her into the kitchen. Lemon yellow accent towels matched the color of the walls perfectly. The aroma of warm chocolate chip cookies enveloped us as soon as we entered. The boys eagerly looked around.

Nana laughed at their expressions and handed Aden forks.

“If you help set the table, I’ll give you the big cookie I made for Jim,” Nana said to Aden. Then, she handed Liam the plates with a promise that he’d receive the other big cookie she’d made for Jim.

Liam and Aden looked to me for approval before doing as she asked. I gave a slight nod.

Jim pretended to pout as he and Emmitt sat at the worn, light oak table. The two men playfully “helped” set the table by moving things around when the boys weren’t looking. Neither boy knew quite how to react. Liam tentatively reached out to straighten the fork he’d already placed.

“Can I help with anything?” I said, turning back toward Nana.

She shook her head. “You just sit.”

After all the driving, I wouldn’t have minded standing but didn’t argue.

Emmitt paused his antics and nudged out the chair beside him. His warm, inviting smile tugged at my stomach, and I felt a flush creep into my cheeks. I tried ignoring it, hoping he would too. He didn’t look away until I sat beside him.

It felt weird to sit while someone else did all the work. Nana removed a pan of baked chicken from the oven along with a side of rice and buttered corn.

“If you’re lucky, they’ll leave some for you,” she said with a laugh when I gave the enormous amount of food a questioning look.

Jim mumbled something that sounded like “maybe” as he winked at Aden.

“Liam, Aden, you had better pass your plates down. I’ll fill them before Jim fills his,” Emmitt said.

It turned out most of the food did go to Emmitt and Jim. Aden, who sat between Jim and me, kept a suspicious eye on Jim after his first piece of chicken went missing. To Jim’s credit, he kept a straight face while he finished his meal. When both Emmitt and Jim leaned back in their chairs, not a crumb remained.

I couldn’t remember a meal that had been so pleasant. Breakfast and lunch under David’s scrutiny had been tolerable at best. The dinners…I shook off the thought, not wanting to ruin the pleasant feeling this meal brought.

After we helped clean up, Jim offered to give us a tour of Emmitt’s apartment. I’d thought it odd that Jim would provide the tour until Emmitt confessed he hadn’t seen the apartment yet. The boys ran up the two flights of stairs with ease then solemnly turned to watch us. At home, David would have yelled at them for running and closed them in their room for the night. Neither Jim nor Emmitt said anything about running as we followed them up.

Jim opened the apartment door with a flourish. I stepped back to let Emmitt through first, but he shook his head.

“You and your brothers can stay here,” he explained. “I’ll stay downstairs with Jim. So go ahead and have a look around.”

The boys stayed beside me, waiting for permission. I stood there, stunned. Our own place? I’d said we would take things one day at a time, not intending to impose on them for too long. But the more I saw, the longer I wanted to stay. We’d just found a secluded place to hide with an awesome yard, two good-looking neighbors—I wasn’t blind—and the grandmotherly figure I’d always wanted. And now he threw in our own apartment. I couldn’t say no. I gave a slight nod, trying to mask my hopeful excitement, and stepped through the door.

The main door led to a living room similar to Nana Wini’s. Unlike Nana’s place, no wall divided the kitchen and the living room. While I looked around, Jim mentioned he’d been the one to decorate.

In the living room, a battered sofa helped fill some of the space. A single lamp was on the floor beside the sofa. I couldn’t picture how it’d even be useful from there. A tube television sat on an old breakfast cart with wheels.

The kitchen lacked a table but did have a breakfast bar with two mismatched stools. I could eat standing up while the boys sat. A new queen-sized bed occupied the smaller bedroom, and I felt guilty that Emmitt wouldn’t even be the first one to sleep on it.

I overheard Jim tell Emmitt he’d made the master bedroom into a weight room and office. The huge grin on Jim’s face puzzled me until I saw free weights on the floor and an office chair in the corner. Nothing else.

Emmitt smirked at his brother and shook his head. They obviously shared the same sense of humor; Emmitt was just a little more reserved about it.

“We’ll get better furniture soon,” Emmitt said when he caught me watching.

“No, everything’s perfect.” And I meant it. I’d lived in a home furnished with the best money could buy and had been miserable. So what if the sofa had a few lumps, or I stood while we ate a meal. Because of Emmitt, the boys and I were together and free. I just hoped it would stay that way.

“I’ll run down and get your things,” Emmitt said pushing Jim out the door. Jim waved goodnight to the boys, who stood staring after the pair. They didn’t close the door behind them so we all heard Emmitt chase Jim down the stairs. My brothers looked up at me. They were unused to that kind of play. I shrugged. I wasn’t used to it either.

At some point during the night, I woke with a start. I lay sandwiched between Liam and Aden. Breathing quietly, I listened for what might have woken me. The apartment remained quiet.

After several minutes of silence, I tried going back to sleep, but my imagination wouldn’t let me. Every time my eyes closed, I saw Blake’s face peering through the window, his canines extended like vicious, ivory blades.

I knew I wouldn’t sleep again until I checked the apartment. Heart hammering, I untangled Aden’s fingers from my hair and crept from the bed. I was still dressed from the day before. It made me feel safe. Ready. Despite my overwhelming desire to stay, I knew I needed to limit our time here to protect these people.

My wild imagination drew me toward the window. There, I stood torn. I had to know, yet I feared what I would see. Heart thumping painfully, I slowly pushed the shade to the side. Blackness filled the window frame. I panted with relief and let the shade fall back into place.

I left the bedroom and went to check the apartment door. There was no peephole so I pressed my ear against the panel. I didn’t hear anything but that didn’t stop my imagination as I gripped the knob. Would I open it and find Blake there? Maybe David again?

A light tap on the other side of the door almost made me pee myself. A startled squeak escaped me.

“Michelle?”

I recognized Emmitt’s voice and opened the door with shaking hands. Emmitt stood barefoot, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

His dark eyes roamed my face, and a worried frown creased his brow.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I heard someone moving around up here and wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

My stomach did its flip routine, which I ignored. “The walls are that thin?”

He shrugged. “I have good hearing and couldn’t sleep either.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I stared at him while the silence and my discomfort grew. His eyes never left mine.

“Do you want to come down for pancakes tomorrow morning?”

I nodded. I hadn’t thought about what we would eat while we were here.

He smiled, just a slight tilt on one side of his mouth. “Okay, then. I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned and quietly went back down the stairs, his steps somewhat reluctant.

I closed the door and went back to bed, oddly reassured that Emmitt listened below. Smiling slightly, I realized that for the first time in four years someone had made me feel safe. In spite of that happy feeling, my mind wandered to thoughts of the things we needed like food and clothes, to the envelope on the floor next to the bed, and to everything that tied me to the life from which I ran.