Storm Warning

Parting Gifts

                    As I look Maddie up and down, I can’t say that I am all that surprised. She always acting on her impulses. She once hit a boy because he called me weird. She once cursed out a teacher who lost her assignment and said she had to redo it. She once kissed a boy on a dare. But you know… the first boy she hit for calling me weird might have made a fair point given the current direction of my life right now. Maddie also bought shoes that were THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS as a 13-year-old. She bought them to go with a dress that she was wearing to a party that the most popular boy in school was throwing a few towns over. Well, that same night, she jumped into a pool, fully clothed with her three hundred dollar suede shoes. They were ruined. I breathe deep to center myself and to bring myself back to the current conversation. “Why did you go there?”

                     She holds her hands out to me in placation. I look at her hands in confusion; since, it is what one does to try to block you from getting to close. “Wait…”. I step closer. Maddie screams and backs away while yelling, “WAIT!!!”

                     “Maddie!” I push her hands to the side. “Will you quit it? Relax! I am not going to hit you, hurt you, or whatever else you think I am going to do to you. There use to be a time when you didn’t back away from me in fear.”

                     Derek steps between us with both Maddie and I getting a clear profile view. “Arielle, I am sure that isn’t the reason she backed away.”  

                     She gives me a look that seems to say ‘well duh’. She shakes her hands in my face as she starts getting closer. “These aren’t scared hands. These are excited hands!”

                     “What’s next? Jazz hands?”

                     Maddie looks at me in exasperation as the pit that formed in my stomach dissipates. I didn’t know what I would do if she was scared of me. That thought never even occurred to me. “Smartass.”

                     I smile. “Okay. So, why are these excited jazz hands?”

                     Maddie jumps forward as she shakes her hands straight out in front of her face as she shakes her hands left and right. “These are not jazz hands.” She thrusts her hands to the side with unnecessary force and tangible agitation. She wiggles her fingers quickly. “These are jazz hands.”

                     “Why are we talking about jazz hands?”

                     Maddie bursts forward to get into my face as Derek steps between us with his face towards Maddie and his back toward me. He places his hands on her shoulders. “Maddie. Relax! She is joking. Probably payback for when she thought you were scared of her. Emotions are incredibly heightened right now. Sarah is dead. People are trying to kill her. You backing away as she came closer looked bad. Can you blame her? I even thought you were scared of her.” Maddie shoulders slump as the tension leaves her body. Derek turns to me, and I give But I know better than to say what I want to say: women be crazy." Maddie arches a brow at him while I give him my best look of feigned innocence. “And Arielle, you know she is excited to tell you what she found. Since you won’t let us come with you, we are doing our best to give you all the tools and support you need while you are here.” She shoulders slump similar to Maddie’s as I remember that very soon, we would be going separate ways.

                     With a nod, I sigh in sadness. “Okay. So, what did you find?”

                     With subdued tone of voice, Maddie continues with her news despite the excitement for it being long gone. The news that we are separating soon hit her just as hard as it did to me. “I went into town mad that you won’t let us come with, but I had just intended to get some of the things for your bag. When Derek told me that he had a hunch he wanted to follow about finding out which emotions trigger your power, I knew I had a little bit of time to follow my own lead. So, I had this lead, this idea that I was following. I was only intending to do reconnaissance. Anyway, I went to the library to see if there were train stations near us because things change so often. Well, turns out, there were two train stations about ten to twelve years ago when Sarah would have hidden the money, and luckily for us, no new stations were built; so, we don’t have a bunch of investigation to do. Being the Nancy Drew Junior Detective that I love to pretend to be, I went to both train stations. One is abandoned. I didn’t go in. I thought you might want to be there if and when we check it out.” I look at her crestfallen. If the place was demolished, the money would be long gone or destroyed in the demolition. “The other one was remodeled. Their locker system was demolished about five years ago.”

                     I sigh in defeat. “So, either way the money is gone.”

                     Maddie interrupts my mental tailspin as she excitedly shakes her head and dances from foot to foot. Nothing could ever hold Maddie down. She gets knocked down, and she get up again. I grin to myself. “WRONG!”

                     On instinct, I lean back as Maddie leans close to my face. “Okay. Do go on.” I roll my eyes at her as Derek and I make eye contact over her head. Derek’s is holding back his own eye roll but is sporting a small but private smirk.

                     “I went into the remodeled train station. I was looking around, but I had no clue where to look, and I mean, I couldn’t really ask ‘Hey. Psst. Did you see any stolen money around here?’.” I bite my lip as Maddie shrugs. “But then, I came across a man… cute, about Sarah’s age. He called my name. See, like I said earlier, with what has been going on, we need to stay in public spaces. So, I followed my own advice. We can’t be too safe right now. But he knew my name and asked why I was there. This was suspicious at first. I didn’t know what to do, but I was in public and was mostly safe if he turned out to be an assassin. ME being me, I decided to ask him how the hell he knew my name.” Smiling, she bounces on her toes with her heels hitting the ground and immediately back into the air. “Get this! He pulled out a picture out of his pocket of you, me, and Sarah. He said that he knew Sarah and that she was always talking to him about us.” I look at her with brows furrows, narrowed eyes, and a frown in suspicion. I don’t suspect Maddie on lying or not repeating the exact sequence of events. But this guy? This man? He could be planted like the cop if they think the trains are my way out of town… or if they knew she put the money there. Or… or… um, well, I don’t really know what else. But Sarah never mentioned anyone specific to me… and definitely not any guys. Did she even date? I can’t remember. Maddie continues as she ignores my sour expression, but her toe bouncing had settled and results in both feet firmly planted on the ground. “He said that he met her when she first came to purchase a locker. He said that she was with a young child. You… I’m guessing. He asked how he could help and got her set up with a locker. When she came back after this first time, she was always alone. He talked to her every time she came to the train stations, and he fell in love with her within the first few visits.” My eyes pop in surprise. Shaking my head, I wait for her to finish telling me everything. “They never really had a relationship. I guess, she was trying to protect him the way you protect me and Derek. Still, she went several times a week. Eventually, her motive to go to the train station switched from checking on what was in the locker to talking to him. Eventually, she just stopped checking the locker all together. They were close. He had a lot of pictures of them together. They were so cute. Arielle, you have to see them. This is where things got awkward. He asked is Sarah was coming to the train station.” A tear escaped the corner of Maddie’s eyes, and I can’t be sure if it is over Sarah’s loss or that she had to break another person’s heart. “I didn’t want to tell him. I didn’t want to be the one to do that to him.” Guess that answers that. “But I had to. It was cruel to keep it from him. I spent some time telling him about what happened to her… as many details as I could remember. I saw his soul fracture as I looked into his eyes. His face dropped. Everything that was happy before now showed devastation. His face completely changed. He looked away … to gather his pain, I think. When he turned back to me, he stood up straighter. He rearranged his clothes like he had a purpose. He said that I needed to bring Arielle to meet him tonight at the abandoned train station. He made a promise and said ‘I’d be damned if I didn’t keep a promise to the love of my life.’ I said that will be tricky, but he said that it had to be you with crazy intense emphasis on had.”

                     I look at her. “I don’t know if I trust him.”

                     “Understandable, but you won’t be alone.”

                     Without even thinking about it, I find myself asking, “What time?” I knew it was risky… and potentially dangerous going back into town. But I have to know what this man has to say. I mean, he knew my mom. I had to do this... for her. On the off chance that he did know her.

                     “9”.

                     I turn to Derek, who has since come over to stand by us. I turn Derek’s wrist to see his watch face. 7. Plenty of time.

                     I grab my jacket that Maddie packed before she brought me to Derek’s house a few days ago. Looking at the watch once again, I finally notice the day. I was taken to Derek’s place four whole days ago. Four days have passed since I was thrown clear of my own life. It felt like forever ago, but also like the days are all blending together. The reality is… time doesn’t mean anything to me anymore. Shaking my head, I say, “Let’s Go.” I grab my bag on the way out without any conscious thought.