Authors: Jeanne Skartsiaris
“You girls are like rats.” He sneered. “People know you exist but don’t want anything to do with you. I’m just making sure there’s no more trouble.”
“If you’d stay away, there wouldn’t be any trouble.”
“Why don’t we take a ride down to the station? I think you still have some charges against you.”
“No, I don’t,” Aja gasped.
He opened the back door to the cruiser and grabbed Aja’s arm.
“Stop!” she yelled.
“Are you resisting arrest?” He fumbled for his handcuffs.
Aja screamed, a bloodcurdling, gut-wrenching scream.
He’d almost pushed her into the backseat of the police car when Aja heard a woman’s voice.
“What’s going on?” It was the night security guard from the center.
“Help me!” Aja cried. “Call the real police.”
Clay pushed her onto the seat, and he turned to the guard. “I’m working. Do not obstruct my arrest, or I’ll slap some cuffs on you, too.”
Aja squirmed out of the car and ran to the entrance of the center, which was now unlocked. Through the window, Aja saw Tish’s head bobbing as she jumped up and down.
The security guard walked to the door and let Aja in, then locked the door behind her as she talked on a walkie-talkie. “Yeah, I got her inside. She was scared out of her mind.”
“What was she doing there?” the voice from the other end asked.
“I don’t know. I just came on.” The guard turned to Aja and asked, “Why are you here, anyway?”
Aja was trying to gulp in air. “I wanted to bring some books to Tish; then I’m going home. That guy keeps following me.”
“She came to see Tish.” The guard said into the speaker as she walked to the window and looked out. “I think he’s gone now.”
“Visiting hours are over. Send her home. I don’t want any trouble from the police,” the disembodied voice said.
“All right.” The guard clicked off and turned to Aja. “You’ve got to go.” But she hesitated. “How long has he been bothering you?”
“A few weeks now. Scary stuff. He attacked me.”
The guard looked at Tish, who was now pounding on the interior door. “I know he’s trouble.” She went to the door and opened it for Tish.
“I saw what he did.” Tish talked excitedly. “You okay? I can’t believe you ran, now you really gonna make him mad.”
“He needs to be stopped,” Aja said.
“That’s why I’m almost too scared to leave this place,” Tish said, then her voice dropped. “I make him mad a lot.”
“He’s probably waiting to pull me over when I leave here.”
“And they’ ain’t nuthin you can do about it.” Tish wrapped her arms around her own tiny body. “He’s like a mad dog.”
“You got folks you can call to come get you?” the guard asked, seeming to sympathize with Aja.
“Can I use your phone?” Aja hoped that Maggie was on her way to her house and wouldn’t mind stopping here first.
Chapter 40
Aja made it home just after six o’clock. She sat on the couch with her mom and Maggie.
“Okay, now calm down and tell me what happened,” Aja’s mom said, placing a cup of chamomile tea in front of Aja.
“He tried to attack me again, and I managed to run inside, and Tish was there and saw it.” Aja’s words spilled out faster than she could organize them. “And then Maggie got him good.”
“Whoa, Nellie,” Maggie said, smiling. “Slow down. We’ll get you to the station for a formal statement, but first take a breath and sip of tea.”
Aja picked up her cup and blew on her tea.
“You said you got charges against him?” Aja’s mom asked.
Maggie nodded. “Here’s the deal. The judge approved the restraining order this afternoon.” She turned to Aja. “Clay Richards may or may not have known that when he saw you at the detention center.”
“What was he even doing there?” Aja took a hot sip of tea.
“We’ll get to that,” Maggie said. “The judge agreed to look at the abuse case against Richards, but he has hesitations because of the report stating you were resisting arrest and running from him that day at the residence home. He would’ve been within the scope of police work by taking you down.”
“What about tasing me?” Aja’s mom said, rubbing her chest where the prongs had gone in.
“But I wasn’t doing anything to be arrested for,” Aja said.
“We’ll have to prove that,” Maggie said. “You were trespassing.”
“Tell mom how you saved me today,” Aja said excitedly. “Maggie made him back off. It was great.”
“Aja called me while I was on the way here.” She touched Aja’s knee. “I’m glad you did. I met her at the detention center and drove out behind her.”
“He was waiting to pull me over as soon as I got on the road,” Aja said. “He didn’t know who Maggie was.”
“I pulled into a parking lot and got out of the car with the restraining order in hand and told him he’d have to call another officer to take over.”
“He was so pissed!” Aja smiled.
“It took some convincing, but he finally backed down.”
“I thought he was going to shoot us both,” Aja said, sipping her tea.
Maggie opened her briefcase. “I had my investigator do some checking on Richards.” She hesitated before taking a file out. “It’s pretty rough stuff. The station should have never hired him, considering his record, but he is a decorated veteran and he grew up here. I think they made some allowances.”
“How rough?” Aja’s mom asked cautiously.
“While in the service, he had charges brought against him for sexual harassment against some female recruits. All three recruits were transferred out of his division and, unfortunately, I won’t be able to get the military records without a huge fight.
“But what we might have here are some statements of a few girls at the detention center that he arrested. Pretty much all the girls he took in complained of abuse.” Maggie looked down. “But none of the girls were believed because of their past.”
“Just like me,” Aja said softly. “What about the pictures we found? Were his fingerprints on them?”
Maggie shook her head. “No, they were clean.”
“Do you think we can stay here now that the restraining order is done?” Aja’s mom asked.
“It might be a good idea to spend tonight out. He was pretty mad. Give him some time to cool off.”
Aja’s mom nodded, then got a faraway look. “Hilary Lewis is coming tonight.”
“Did she call?” Maggie asked.
“No,” Aja’s mom said. “I just know.”
“We can ask her about Julia,” Aja said, not acknowledging the weird look Maggie had given her mother.
“Maggie, please stay for dinner. I’m making a lentil loaf.”
Aja scrunched her face. “Again? Can we call out for pizza or something?”
“What time are you expecting Hilary?” Maggie asked, a tiny note of sarcasm laced her voice.
“Oh, I don’t know that.”
“Trust me, Mom’s hardly ever wrong,” Aja said, a little protectively.
“With the psychic stuff?”
“Yes,” Aja’s mom said. “When I’m clearer, I’ll do a reading for you free. I so appreciate all you’ve done for Aja.”
“So you can’t see how all this is going to turn out?” Maggie half-joked and sat back on the couch.
Aja looked at her mom and said, “It doesn’t work like that. Usually you get a feeling from a spirit or sometimes you see things, like in a dream. They may or may not come true.”
Aja’s mom smiled and puffed with pride.
Aja went on. “Like the tsunami in Japan. I had a dream months before it happened. I saw a big wave going over a shoreline. In the dream, I didn’t know where it was. It was just a dream. But then, after it happened, I saw the exact same image on the news. It scared me, really.”
“Forgive me if I’m skeptical,” Maggie said. “I’ve never been a big believer in that.”
“Yeah, I understand,” Aja said and glanced at her mom. “Most of the time I try to ignore it.”
They heard a car pull up and a car door shut.
Aja’s mom looked at the clock. “That would be Hilary.”
Chapter 41
Early the next morning Aja rolled off Mrs. Wells’s couch before anyone else woke up. She managed to get a little sleep, despite Clara’s painting of a huge eye that was positioned over the couch. It seemed to watch Aja all night.
Aja wanted to get to school extra early to use the library’s computers, because she’d never gotten the chance to check out the scholarship website.
Navigating Mrs. Wells’s bathroom was a riot. There were old-fashioned perfume bottles all over the counter. Aja did not want to accidentally knock one into the sink. Clara had photos of old movie stars and cross-dressers all over the walls. Aja brushed her teeth and tried to figure out which ones were really men. All of Aja’s mom’s friends were on a scale of strange to bizarre. This was a woman who told everyone that when she died, she wanted to become a carbon diamond. Just like her personality. Fake, gaudy, and flashy, but on the other hand you loved having her around. Aja wondered if her mom had a siren song that attracted all the weirdos whenever they got to a new town.
Before classes Aja only managed to complete three of the scholarship forms by the time school started. She’d gone to all her classes, ignored all of Walker’s calls and texts, and headed straight home after school to finish the rest of the applications. She was looking forward to spending an evening at home. Clay Richards wasn’t allowed near her, and she had nothing else to do but study.
She came in the front door and saw that her mom had the door to her “temple” closed. Probably with a client. Aja put her ear to the door and heard her mom’s voice. She felt relieved, safe. It felt good. Even a full plate of lentil loaf sounded good.
Her phone rang, and Aja quickly punched the silence button. She didn’t want to make her mom mad during the reading. Aja glanced at caller ID. It was Lauren Jensen.
“Hello,” Aja whispered as she ran into her room.
“Aja, it’s Lauren. Can you come by and see Dad tonight?”
“I don’t know. What did Edna Jones say?”
“I haven’t asked. I’ll call her now. Can you come by?”
“Is your dad okay?”
“He keeps saying that Mom needs him. I think he’s becoming delusional. It’s like he’s talking to her.” Lauren quietly sobbed. “His mind has always been so sharp that it’s really hard to watch him decline.”
Aja didn’t want to tell her that her father was right. Mrs. Jensen was near her husband, wanted to cross over but was afraid to go alone. They’d always done everything together. Aja had an idea. She hoped her mom didn’t have another client tonight. “Lauren, can you come by my house tonight?”
“I don’t know. I hate to leave Dad.”
“He’ll understand. Go ahead and call Edna. I need to check on something here, so call me in about thirty minutes, okay?”
“All right, but what do you have in mind?”
“You’ll see,” Aja said. She unloaded her homework and sat at her desk, making sure the curtains were closed. Although Clay Richards wasn’t allowed near her, she still got creeped out thinking about him watching her.
Finally, after twenty minutes, the door to her mom’s office opened and Aja jumped up to ask her mom about Lauren Jensen. She was surprised to see Officer Smith turn and give her mom a hug. The officer dabbed at tears.
“Wow, I didn’t believe before. Thank you. I feel better knowing she’s at peace,” Officer Smith said, then seemed surprised and uncomfortable to see Aja. “Your mom has a gift,” was all she said.
“I know,” Aja answered. She sensed the presence of a spirit dissipating like a wisp of smoke.
“Mom, do you have anyone scheduled tonight?” Aja asked.
“No, I was going to make dinner.”
“Good, I need a favor,” Aja said, then turned to Officer Smith. “Is there any way you could use your police skills to find a person?”
“Depends,” Officer Smith said, warily.
“Do you remember the girl Julia that ran away from Ms. Lewis?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Aja,” her mom warned. “We’ve just had a session. I’m sure Officer Smith wants some time to think.” Her mom handed Smith an audio CD of their session. “That’s so you can listen later, too.”
“Thanks,” she said, and held it next to her. She turned to Aja. “I can’t go looking for someone unless I have a reason. I’m sorry.”
“I understand, but…”
Her mom cut her off firmly, “Aja, later, okay?”
Aja backed down while her mom showed Officer Smith out.
Her mom came in looking exhausted. Aja knew most sessions wrung her out and took a piece of her soul, like what Aja often felt when she allowed the spiritual feelings of others in.
“Let me clear my head, then can we do a nice yoga session before dinner?”
“Who’d she see?”
“Her mom.”
Aja knew not to ask details. Most of the time, her mom didn’t remember specifics about sessions since the spirits, memories or visions came to her as she read. Much of it forgotten after the meeting. She was only the vessel of communication.