FicWad

The doorbell rang again. I heard Felicia sigh and step toward the stairs, going for the door.

"I'll get it!" I called hastily.

"Okay. You sure?" She called back. The woman was gone by now. So I thought.

Running down both flights of stairs, I heard it ring again.

"Okay, okay! I'm coming!" I swung passed the railing, going straight for the door.

It rang again.

"Hold your fucking horses, already." I mumble, swinging the door open.

He had dark brown, almost black, hair. It sat on his head in a thick wad at the front and smoothed down the back and sides. He had to be at least six-foot-four. Broad shoulders, long legs. He had a head that didn't match his body, as it was too small. His facial features were small. Small almond-shaped brown eyes, wide nose and smile.

He spoke.

"Uh-Hi! I'm David Tiller," He stuck his hand out. In the other hand he had a pie pan. "I was in the same platoon as your brother in-law, Daniel. I thought I should come by and introduce myself. We were pretty close." I took his hand slowly, shaking it and letting go. I felt an odd chill. He feigned a macho tone. Making his voice deeper than what it really was.

"I'm Gerard." I said softly. He seemed nice, but his smile said otherwise when I noticed Felicia was standing behind me. His eyes had bulged out of their sockets when her presence graced the room.

"Who's at the door, Gee?" She came behind me resting her left hand on my shoulder. I went to speak as David stood on his toes, stretching his arm out passed me impolitely.

"David Tiller, but you can call me Dave." He spoke exuberantly. Almost out of breath as if she was the first woman (besides his mother) he's seen in years.

She stood back nervously sensing that he had been too cheerful to meet her.

"Felicia Way." Her eyes darted to mine and then back to him. She smiled faintly.

"I was in your-"

"Brother's platoon. I know." She finished. "So why are you here?" She caught him off guard.

"I-uh...I wanted to introduce myself and tell you how much of a stand-up guy your brother was." She nodded.

"Being his sister and all, I kinda already knew. Believe it or not." She chuckled sarcastically. But he didn't care. He stared her up and down like a hyena in heat. His tongue almost stuck out in admiration as his soft pants came to a head. His eyes wander up her torso and to her breasts. I cleared my throat.

"This pie ours?" Halting his filthy train of thought, his eyebrows rose.

"Y-Yeah." He laughed nervously. "Sorry." He handed the pie to me. The three of us stood there silently.

"So is that all you came to do, introduce yourself?" It was obvious that she was becoming annoyed.

"Uh-" He began nervously. He ran his long, thick fingers through his hair hastily. "I just thought I could be of help." He nodded. She really made him nervous.

"Well, we appreciate the gesture but we're doing just fine coping with it by ourselves." She nodded, turning away to put the pie in the kitchen. She was never really that rude. It wasn't because she was pregnant but that she grew increasingly annoyed with everyone's fake condolences. I knew exactly where she was coming from.

"I'm gonna leave the two of you alone for now. She seems a little upset." He stepped back slightly.

"Yeah. Thanks for the pie."

"No problem. See you guys later."

"Yeah." With that I shut the door. Not even worried the least bit if he may have still been on the porch. Something about him, other than the warning I had received earlier, something just wasn't right with that whole family.

I walked into the kitchen to Felicia holding a steak knife up behind the pie as if something was going to jump out.

"Five dollars says it's poisoned!" She placed a quick bet. The pie still sat with the foil over it, untouched.

"I'll raise you an extra five, ten?" She put the knife back down on the marble slab.

"Ten sounds great!" She wrapped her arms around me tightly. Resting her head on my chest. "I'm sorry I came off so mean. I just get aggravated when people talk to me like I never met my brother before. It just pisses me off." She squeezed a little tighter.

"Clearly," I laughed. "But I don't think they understand how they come off, and then they don't understand why you react the way you do." I stroked her long hair.

"You know, I should start paying you for therapy sessions."

"Nah."

"Speaking of which," She separated herself from me slowly. "I wanted to go visit Mom. Tell her about the baby." She looked to me for approval. Really, I didn't know how to respond. Recapping the last visit in my head, I already knew this wasn't a good idea. It always lead to her being disappointed with her mother never responding or just completely ignoring her.

"Do the doctors say she's getting better?" She turned away to sit at a stool from the island.

"I don't know..." She threw her hands up. "I just want her to be happy for me, really. It's all I ask." I sat next to her. She hadn't been crying yet, just simply trying to reason with her emotions.

"Baby, she hasn't spoken to anyone in almost eight years." I reasoned. "And every time you visit her, you only set yourself up to come back disappointed. You get so distraught and I don't wanna see you like that. It's not good for you or the baby." She heaved a heavy sigh.

"I know, I know Gee. But she's still my mother. She doesn't even know about Erica and I doubt she knows that Danny's gone." She was fully facing me right then.

"Look," I gulped, taking her small hands in mine. "If you want to take the kids up and visit her, I'll support your decision. I'll even come with you. Just don't be surprised if she freezes up on you again." She nodded comprehending everything I meant.

"It's inevitable." She shrugged, embracing me once more. "Thank you, so much." She whispered.

"You're welcome."

•••••

An hour later, I was washed and completely dressed. Felicia finished getting the kids together to go out to breakfast and I idly wandered around the house. Still not being able to shake the feeling I got after I saw that woman.

I walked quietly down the hall seeing Erica's door agape. Looking through, she had been feeding Crystal, her pet lady bug, a leaf. I walked in fully as she turned her full attention to me, smiled, and then twisted the whole ridden cap back on Crystal's jar.


"Morning, Daddy!" Running up to me, embracing me in a tight hug.

"Good morrow, Lady Bug." giving her a small kiss on the cheek. "How's Crystal?"

"She's growing! I think she may be ready to lay eggs. She eats like a starving elephant!" She enthused. I chuckled going to a her dresser and grabbing her brush. I sat on the edge of the bed as she sat on my lap. Brushing the sides and back of her hair, gathering it up in a long ponytail. Her hair was getting darker as she aged. It was almost black now.

"Are you excited about your new baby brother or sister?"

"Mhm! I hope she has twins! That way she could have a boy and a girl!" Having twins meant everything we went through with Gia and Erica, but doubled. But I'd be overjoyed if she had twins, nonetheless.

I grabbed the purple hair tie and twisted it around her ponytail. It matched her purple cardigan with black polka dots.

She turned around to face me.

"Daddy, are they gone?" Her tone tensed as if she was speaking of something of a serious matter.

"Who?"

"The boy and his family? Are they gone?" I paused realizing she hadn't forgotten.

"Erica, how often do you see-" Trying to find the right word for 'ghost' to use when asking a six year-old. "People like the boy and his family." Her eyes darted elsewhere as she thought.

"Just sometimes..."

"They can't follow us, baby." I pulled her into a hug.

"What about the naked lady?" She said almost disgusted. I pulled her away from me.

"What lady?"

"The lady...She has blond hair, it's short. She doesn't have any clothes on and I tried to tell her she'd catch a cold but-"

"What did she say to you, Erica?" She thought for a moment.

"She said she needed to talk to you. She said you need to help her." Her innocent voice squeaked.

"Did she tell you her name?" She shook her head.

"No. She just told me to tell you." How was she so calm? I was a full year older than her when I saw the woman in my grandmother's attic and I lost it! She sees a little boy, his family covered in blood and a naked woman--and she's not panicked at all!

"She didn't hurt you did she?"

"No, no, She's really nice. Do you see them also?" I thought at first, trying to decide if I should tell her or not. I nodded.

"But it's between me and you, okay?"

"Okay!"

I had to tell Felicia about this. I was hesitating because I was afraid she'd panic and force us to move. I thought if I explained it to her as if the woman wasn't a threat, she'd understand. But I couldn't determine how malevolent she was. I needed to speak with my grandmother.


•••••

"I'm officially full!" Gia declared. Tucking her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. She sat right across from me in the deep green, leather booths of the diner. Her plate of eggs, bacon and french toasts was completely cleaned. Erica, who sat next to Gia, was almost done. She was still picking at her fruit salad. I looked over to Felicia who had demolished a slice of cherry cheesecake after eating her meal. I looked down to my plate noticing I hadn't touched much of anything. A little bite of everything, here and there, but that was it. I lost my appetite.

"Gee, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just not that hungry." She frowned. "I'll just get a doggy-bag."

"Is there something we need to talk about?" She whispered. Slowly, I nodded. She gave me a quick nod and then turned back to the girls. "You guys ready to leave?" They nodded their heads in unison. I could tell they were going to take naps as soon as we got in.

"Yep!" Gia answered pushing her plate forward. The waitress, Janelle, came back to the table. Taking the plates politely.

"I'll be right back with your check and a carton for your food, sir." She smiled.

"Thanks."

"I still need to go to the Pharmacy and pick that prescription up." Felicia softly lied her head on my arm.

"If you want, I can go in and get it for you."

"That would be great! The doctor already called it in, so it should be there. Thanks honey." She sighed, looking up to me with a wide smile.

"No problem." Janelle came back with a small black book and a white Styrofoam carton. I opened the book to see the check. I got my wallet out and placed my credit card in. Felicia scraped all of the food from my plate in the carton and closed it. "Thanks." She took a few pieces of Turkey bacon and slid them in her mouth.

"What? I'm eating for two!" She mused. Rubbing her stomach.

After we got out of the diner, we drove to the pharmacy where Felicia's prescription had been sent. It wasn't very far from the diner. In fact, it wasn't far from home.

I parked seeing that not many spots were being occupied. It was around noon when we arrived.

"So, I'm just getting your prenatal vitamins, right?" She nodded.

"Yep! Unless you want to fill my birth control prescription which is useless now, you can do that too."

"Very funny." I gave her a small kiss on the cheek before looking to the back seat and seeing Gia and Erica stretched out. "Look." I laughed in a hushed tone.

"Damn, I thought they'd at least wait till we got home." She laughed.

"Be right back, honey." I opened the driver's side door and hopped out after giving her another kiss.

Walking into the pharmacy, hands buried deep in my leather jacket pockets, I noticed that I was the third person in there. Other than the two woman her were working the counter. Going passed the wooden panel walls, I reached a freezer with beverages. I grabbed a water bottle and walked up to the counter.

"Welcome to Dayton Pharmacy. I'm Sarah. How may I help you, sir?" She was about twenty-two years-old. She talked in a monotonic tone and she popped her gum at least three times through the greeting. Her dirty blond hair hung around her pale face. Her thin lips purced, waiting for me to respond.

"Yes, I'd like to pick up a prescription for Felicia Way." She turned away, going to the back where she flipped through the different medications.

"Way spelled W-A-Y?" She stood there with one zip-lock bag pulled out.

"Yes."

"Prenatal Vitamins?" She slapped them on the counter.

"Yes, please." She took the bottle out of the bag and surveyed it carefully. She paused.

"Did you guys just move in?" I stood puzzled by the question completely.

"Well yeah, I guess you could say so. Did you know the old owners?" She raised one eyebrow.

"That house has been abandoned for almost two years." She said as if I had previously offended her.

"Oh..." She punched certain numbers in.

"Felicia and Danny are brother and sister, right?" This was becoming increasingly weird.

"Yeah. Did you know Danny?"

"Me and him went to high school together before my parents moved out of the city. We were pretty close. He told me a lot about you guys." She looked down, scanning the pill bottle and water. "Too bad what happened to him. You know, with the Parry girl, and everything but I know he had nothing to do with it. She was a slut anyway. Danny wouldn't go for that..." She realized she trailed off.

"What?" Her eyes snapped to me in horror. She'd said too much. She laughed nervously.

"You know, I-I think I have my people mixed up." She put it in a small paper bag and handed it to me. "Have a nice day!" Quickly she walked out of sight. I stood there with bag in hand, completely dumbfounded of what I just heard.

Maybe Daniel was there because he couldn't crossover for a reason. Maybe the Parry girl was who warned me.

Maybe I was finally losing my mind...