Over. (This. Is. Not. Over. #2) (5 page)

“I can
still hear you.” He rolls his eyes at me and waves me off. And then, I remember something very important.

“Wait, Gramps. You’re dead.”

“Does that mean I can’t enjoy a cup of coffee? Chicory blend?”

“Coffee is to help you stay awake, you died seven years ago.”

“I’m surprised you remembered, being that you weren’t there.”

“Oh, I was too. I was there when you called everyone by your bedside and made us sit there for three whole days, promising us that you’d be dying at any moment.” Actually three days was quite remarkable, Gramps was always the dramatic type and it only took him three days to die … much less aggravation then the entire family expected of him. We thought that when his time came, surely he’d contract a slow, lingering disease. He impressed us with his sudden heart attack.

“And were you there when I died?”

“Well leave it up to you to die when I run to the bathroom. You did that on purpose.”

“Death waits for no one. Not even for people on bathroom breaks.”

“Wait, Gramps, is she dead?”
He knows who I’m talking about, I can just feel it.

“You can’t find her?” Wow, Gramps just sounded a lot like Malcolm again.

“How did you do that?”

“Do what? Change my voice?” He sounds like regular Gramps again.

“Yeah.”

“It happens.” He shrugs.

“So is she dead?” I ask, nervousness creeping inside of me.

“Did you do the dee
d?” He sounds like Malcolm again.

“Did I do it
? Well, I tried to kill her but–”

“You can’t do shit right!” Gramps screams at me, sounding just like Malcolm.

“Gramps, the language!”

“Fucking great.” Gramps shakes his head at me. What’s gotten into him? Why does he sound like Malcolm?

“Gramps, just tell me what I’m supposed to do now. Should I confess? Should I run?”

“Don’t do shit because obviously everything you touch gets fucked up.” Gramps says in his Malcolm voice again.

“Does not!”

“Yes it does! She’ll be out there with no medication. None. You know how she gets off her meds.”

“Meds? Laura’s on meds?”

“Of course she is.” Gramps says in his regular voice.

“Wow, I had no idea. So what do I do now? Do I run?”

“Everything has to look normal.” He says in his Malcolm voice. Why does his voice keep switching back and forth like that?

“Wait, everything has to look normal? Does that mean she’s dead?”

“It’s the reason why doing the deed was so important.” He says in his Malcolm voice.

“I tried to do the deed! It’s not my fault she didn’t die! At least I tried!” The nerve!

“When I do shit, it gets done right the first time! The very first time! No excuses!” Gramps says in his Malcolm voice.

“Please! I’m not in the mood to hear that story about how you strangled some white man with your bear hands one evening after Sunday Mass, because I don’t believe that.  You don’t strangle someone who cheats at a poker game, you shoot them. Everyone knows that. I swear, this family gives no credit–”

“Red.” Rena says to me, but she sounds an awful lot like Malcolm too. I look
at her and see that she has her eyebrows creased. “Red.”

“Since when do you call me that? And why do you sound like Malcolm too?”

“Red’s in trouble.” Rena says to Gramps in her Malcolm voice. A rush of adrenaline shoots through me.

“Trouble? Why am I in trouble.” I ask.

“What’s going on?” Gramps asks but now he doesn’t sound like Malcolm, now he sounds like Jacob.

“She’s gone.” Rena says to Gramps in her Malcolm voice.

“I’m not gone, I’m right here.” I say to Rena. “What the heck is going on?”

“Did she say anything before she left?” Gramps asks in his Jacob voice, as he totally excludes me from the conversation.

“I’ve got to get out of here!” I say to them; my nerves are mangled.

“She kept mumbling something about black and red.” Rena answers. She’s ignoring me too.

“I’ve got to run!”

“Black and red? What the hell does that mean?” Gramps asks in his Jacob voice.

“I have no idea what black means,” Rena answers, “all I hear is red.”

“Red.”

“Run!” I yell as I jolt out of my sleep. I turn to see Malcolm kneeling beside me. Our eyes lock before he drifts them over to Jacob who’s standing by the cabin door. By the time he looks back at me, his face looks … different.

“We’ve landed.” He says as he squints his eyes at me. “Nightmare?” Goodness, he looks different. I narrow my eyes to concentrate on his face. I know that I’m looking at him like I’ve never seen him before, can he tell? He looks so different: bigger, wider shoulders, darker hair. But wait, did I have a nightmare? Yes, I had one … Gramps was there, Rena was there …but, shit … now I can’t remember what happened. All I can remember is the word ‘run’. Run. Did Gramps return from beyond the grave to give me a warning? I look around the plane, getting my bearings, trying to remember why I’m on this plane. The fire. That’s why. I’m on this plane because of the fire. Winnie and Jacob are at the cabin doors smiling at me, waving for me to come on. But for some reason, they don’t look like themselves. Their smiles look like the Joker face … no, like the
Scream
face. What the hell? “Are you okay?” Malcolm asks. His voice echoes in my ear, like I’m in a crowded stadium at a concert, and he’s speaking over a microphone. Crowded stadium … microphone … concert … Beyoncé … Dena. I look at Dena. She’s asleep and she looks like … an angel. This bitch would look like an angel. Nat’s whispering in her ear and nudging her awake. Damn I feel groggy.

The last thing I remember is Jacob h
anding Dena and me glasses of Malbec. Next thing I know, I’m dreaming of my dead great-grandfather and he’s warning me to get out of town because … did Gramps say something about Malcolm killing me? Wait, now that I think about it, I think he did. Oh shit! He mentioned something about death waiting for no one, something about running and I remember thinking about Malcolm. Oh. My. God. I was just given a warning from beyond the grave. Oh shit! Oh shit! I shoot another look at Malcolm and he’s looking at me like he has no idea what’s going on. I’ve figured you out Malcolm! That’s what’s going on!

“Wow, that smoke put me right out.” I hear Dena say. I look
at her and see that her hair is tousled, tiny wisps of hair are coming out of her bun. Anyone else’s hair would be called ‘messed up’, Dena’s is considered
tousled
. Dena is such a bitch.

“She’s such a bitch.” I accidentally say out loud.

“Who, baby?” Malcolm asks.  Uh-oh.

“Oh, umm …” Think Danielle, think! “Ella
… Fitzgerald.” Why the hell did Ella just pop in my head?  I think Ella is incredible. Oh no, now Malcolm’s giving me ‘The Confused Look’. No this son-of-a-bitch did not give me The Confused Look! It’s that look that we adults give children who are trying to tell us a story but we can’t, for the life of us, figure out what the fuck they’re talking about. At the end, the kids are either laughing hysterically or looking extremely serious and all we say is:
Oh yeah? … good.

“It’s all of the excitement.” Nat says as he helps Dena gather her things. 

“Yeah, I think that’s why I called Ella a bitch.” I say to Malcolm as he helps me up. “I’m just excited. Because to tell you the truth, Ella hasn’t done a thing to me.”

“Yeah, let’s get you home.” Malcolm says as he gathers my carryon bag and
points for me to grab my clutch. He wraps my arm in his and then he leans over and kisses me on my forehead. “Need me to carry you out of here.” He says, half-jokingly. I try to give him a smile and then shake my head no. “Sure?” He whispers in my ear, sending a terrifying chill through me.

“Yeah.” I whisper
. “I just need rest.” I look at Jacob and Winnie and they still have on their
Scream
masks. I look back to Malcolm and it seems like he’s grown another foot. He has to be at least seven feet, two inches now. Is that possible? No that can’t be possible. Something’s not right. Something’s off. Something’s wrong with them.

“Were you having a nightmare?” Malcolm asks me as he slowly walks me to the cabin door.

“Yeah, I was in Baton Rouge with Gramps.”

“Oh yeah?”  I stop walking. Wait … was that an
Oh yeah?... good
moment? Is he talking to me like I’m a child? Is he saying that he didn’t understand what I’ve just said? Is he saying that he’d rather not go through the pain of hearing it again, so he’ll just say
Oh yeah … good
to save him the headache and me the heartache? I own my own literary agency, how dare he imply that I can’t adequately tell a story!

“What didn’t you understand about that statement?” I ask with a slight attitude. Don’t patronize me Malco
lm. Don’t treat me as though I’m less intelligent than you,
Attorney
Blair. The hell with that law degree! Anyone can get a law degree these days! You’ve mistakenly grouped your law degree in the Barack Obama/Abraham Lincoln/Nelson Mandela category when clearly you’d be more in the Reese Witherspoon in
Legally Blonde
category. A fucking law degree from Yale, are you kidding me?

“Huh?” Don’t say
huh
if you’ve heard what I’ve said!

“I said that I was in Louisiana with Gramps. I think I relayed the dream clearly. I told you the location and who was in attendance and I think I did that pretty well. What do
you
think?”

“Uh … yeah, baby. You nailed it.”

“Oh yeah? Good.” Who does Malcolm think he is? I look at him just so I can roll my eyes and look away again. I catch him grinning. What’s the grin all about? I instantly feel my arm singe with goose bumps. My god, how can Malcolm’s grin, that sly expression that I always thought was confidently sexy, give me anxious goose bumps? I know why. Gramps was warning me about him. That’s what my dream was about. Malcolm is up to something.

“So Gramps, huh?” Malcolm says. “
Who dat
?” He smiles, as he uses the popular New Orleans expression.

“Gramps was my father’s grandfather. He’s my guardian angel now.” I raise an eyebrow to Malcolm. “He warns me of impending trouble, issues … murder plots.” Malcolm squints his eyes at me again and then begins to pull me along towards the cabin door.  “Ya know, legend has it, he once murdered a bullshitter after Sunday Mass.” I wait to see his reaction.
I’m not afraid of you! I’ll go crazy on your ass! I’ve got it in me!

“Damn
Danielle, what was that all about?” You tell me! Why are you trying to kill me over Laura? I thought you two were done. I thought you were over her. You don’t try to kill your new girlfriend, if you’re completely over your last one!

“I don’t know Malcolm, you tell me. I’d like for
you
to explain the legend of
Gramps, the Bullshitter and the Poker Tournament
.” Now he has the nerve to stare at me like I have a problem.

“Come on, I’m carrying you out of here.” And before I can protest, he whisks me up into his arms and proceeds towards the cabin doors. I’m so damn dizzy that I wrap my arm around his neck and clos
e my eyes. I will never drink Malbec again.

“Goodness …” I say as the
space around me keeps spinning in the darkness of my head.

“It’s alright, just nerves.” He whispers in my ear. “I think we’re all ready for a vacation.” He
then says loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Hilton Head, baby! Whoo!” Winnie screams out, throwing a fist in the air. Mind you, she and Laura are old college buddies. They dated a set of first cousins. Shouldn’t Winnie be sad right now? Shouldn’t she be worried about Laura?
I think that Winnie’s being inconsiderate right now and I won’t lie, I’m a bit taken aback. “We’re going to Hilton Head on Sunday and I for one, can’t wait. I
love
Hilton Head during the Christmas season. The summer is nice too but the Christmas season is the best.”

“
I’ve gotta agree with you, baby.” Jacob says while we all walk down the jet’s stairs and towards the awaiting limo that’s on the tarmac. Nat and Dena are whispering together, trailing behind us. Dena seems to be visibly distraught, holding her heart and closing her eyes, entwining her fingers within Nat’s. What a fucking drama queen. I swear, she’s as bad as Gramps.

Damn, I’m hungry. No, wait, I’m starving.

“When I get home I’m heading straight for the chips and dip.” I say.

“I bet you are.” Malcolm says smiling.

“Want a Mentos?” Winnie says holding up her handbag.

“No thanks.” I say. I’m not eating a Mentos from Winnie’s handbag! For all I know it could be laced with arsenic. No, I won’t be eating another Mentos from Winnie until I have it lab tested first.

Malcolm, Winnie and Jacob start talking about Hilton Head, the decorations around the Sea Pines Resort, the Christmas trees they’ll have to find, the local vendors who sell ornaments and on and on and on they talk.