Heaven or Hell (15 page)

She dialed his number again, and again her call went straight to voice mail. “JJ, it’s Mom. Call me at once when you get this message.”

Teresa looked around her store and decided to reorganize the front shelf while she waited for JJ to call her back. No need to alert Aunt Jessie or anyone else until she spoke to her son. Soon, she moved from the front shelf to the back shelves and then eventually she pulled out the vacuum.

Teresa was ready to throttle JJ. He hadn’t called her back, nor had he even acknowledged her text: A full hour had passed.

Finally a text message from JJ:
What’s up?

Teresa dialed his number, and at the click of the phone, before he could even say hello, she pounced on him. “Why haven’t you called me back? I’ve been trying to reach you for over an hour. What’s wrong with you?”

“Hello, Mom?” JJ asked.

“Yes, yes, sorry. Listen, JJ, where are you?”

“What do you mean? I’m at Seth’s. Why are you acting so crazy?” he questioned her.

“Well, open your wallet and tell me if your learner’s permit is there.”

“Oh, that. Well, I lost it last weekend. I’ll pay the ten dollars to get the new one. Calm down, Mom.”

“JJ, don’t tell me to calm down. What do you know about this car in my parking lot?”

“Car, what car? You’re acting crazy.”

Teresa heard it in his voice—she knew her son was lying to her.

“Okay, listen.” Teresa spoke in a low whisper, as if the police in the parking lot could hear her on the phone. “The parking lot is full of police. A stolen car is in the lot and it was searched, and it looks like your learner’s permit was inside the car.”

“What car, Mom?”

“Don’t even try it. I can hear it in your voice. I’m locking up right now, and I’ll come and get you. Stay put.”

Teresa set her alarm and locked the back door. A tow truck had just arrived and a crime scene van was leaving the lot. The dark powder on the outside of the car led Teresa to believe they’d fingerprinted the stolen vehicle. She also noticed only one police car remained. The officer nodded at her as she walked by.

Teresa made her way to Seth’s house and found JJ sitting on the front porch with his backpack at his side. She thought about Greg, her ex-husband, and wondered if she should’ve pushed him into being more involved with JJ. For so long she’d been a one-woman show, financially and emotionally, for her son. Maybe he needed a male influence in his life.

JJ slouched in what appeared to be a defeated walk as he moved toward the car. “Hi,” he said as he plopped into the passenger seat.

“Hi? That’s it?” Teresa responded. “I think you have some explaining to do.”

“I thought I told you I was going to Seth’s house. You just didn’t hear me.”

“No, you didn’t. Why would you send me a text when we were both in the same house? What is going on with you, son?”

“I’m sorry, Mom. I really thought I asked.”

“I’m not talking about Seth. I’m now talking about grand theft auto.” Teresa’s mouth tightened and her face filled with heat as she drove the car through the neighborhood.

“What? Nobody stole a car,” JJ said.

“Well, then why was it reported stolen?” Her voice rose as she spoke. And for some reason she put her palm up to quiet JJ’s response and decided to access their home messages remotely—something that she rarely did. With one hand on the steering wheel, her earpiece in her ear, she managed to dial the access code and listen while driving. Sure enough, the police department had left a message for the parent of Joseph John Reynolds and asked for a return call immediately. Because the voice on the machine made it seem as if JJ had been in a fatal accident, if the boy hadn’t been sitting right next to her, she’d have called back that instant.

Teresa hung up her cell phone and turned toward JJ, who was busy texting on his phone with a smile. Something about his nonchalant attitude disturbed her and before she realized it anger filled the space between her ears until she saw red. Teresa slammed her foot down on the brake pedal, hard. The car jolted to a stop. JJ’s phone flew from his hands and landed between the dashboard and the window.

“Geez, Mom. What the …”

Teresa grabbed the cell phone and quickly moved the car out of the road. Her heart dropped as she deciphered JJ’s text messages. She learned that he’d been in that parking lot with his friends on Saturday, and some of them had been drinking alcohol. A fight broke out, and the kids had left their bottles and trash behind.

“JJ, what’s this?” Teresa held up the phone.

“I’m sorry, Mom. It’s not a big deal.”

“It definitely is a big deal. Yes, it is, JJ. You didn’t have permission to go hang out in a parking lot. Especially my parking lot. What were you thinking? And the police are investigating a stolen car. They’re not concerned about the trash you and your friends left behind.”

“I was just being a teenager, not a criminal. The guys talked me into going on Saturday night. I got tired of them teasing me, so I went along,” he whined.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It wasn’t anything. A stupid night that I wish would’ve never happened. There’s nothing to tell.” JJ put his face in his hands. “This is stupid.”

“How many kids were there?” Teresa asked.

“There were tons of people there.”

“How’d you get there?”

“A friend of Seth’s drove us.”

“Did you know this guy?”

“No, five of us were packed into the car.”

“Was it his car?”

“It’s the one he drives to school every day, so yeah, I think so. God, Mom, what’s with the interrogation?”

“You might be in a load of trouble, son. This is no joke.”

“But I didn’t do anything.”

“Why the parking lot by my office? What were you thinking?”

“None of this was my idea. I was dragged into it.”

Teresa put the car back into drive and decided to go to the hospital and find Aunt Jessie. She dropped JJ’s phone into her purse, then turned her own phone off. The police would have to wait.

Something about JJ’s story didn’t ring true. He wasn’t sharing everything. The boy wasn’t a criminal, but a little voice inside told her to proceed with caution. What did her dad’s Uncle Joe used to say? “Anytime you’re on the wrong side of the law, be careful … They can spin it how they want to …”

Within minutes they arrived at the hospital, which seemed so much busier this evening than earlier that day. As Teresa and JJ walked through the waiting room she was so focused on finding Aunt Jessie that she didn’t notice the heavyset woman moving quickly toward them. At first she was a flash in the corner of Teresa’s eye, but that quickly turned into an almost full-on collision—by this time it was too late to avoid contact.

“Teresa, Teresa! It’s me, Anna.”

“Oh, yes. How are you?” Teresa cursed herself for not sneaking in.

“I’m fine, thank you. How’s your dad?” Anna put her hair behind her ears. On the woman’s shoulder she carried a huge bag and in her other hand knitting needles and the makings of a blanket. Anna must’ve been sitting in wait, ready to jump on her prey as they entered the door.

“He woke up from the coma earlier today, and he’s sleeping now. That’s all I know.” Teresa watched Anna turn her face toward JJ. “Oh, this is my son, JJ.”

“I’m Anna. Pleased to meet you.” Anna shook JJ’s hand.

“Pleased to meet you,” JJ responded.

“Have you seen Joe yet at all?” Teresa asked.

“I got here about fifteen minutes ago. I didn’t want to interrupt Jessie—she’s in his room. I really want to give you and the whole family time with him. I’m just here out of support. We finished serving dinner at the kitchen so I thought I’d stop by. I’d like to give you my cell number. Will you call me if anything changes?”

Oh good, Teresa thought, Aunt Jessie was here. “Sure.” Teresa absentmindedly took the piece of paper Anna handed her.

“Okay, well, I’m going home. Please, no matter how late, call me.” Anna grabbed Teresa and pulled her into a smothering bear hug. “I’m so sorry about your dad.”

The air was literally squeezed out of Teresa’s body in the grip of this woman, and for a moment she almost forgot the task at hand. “Okay. It’s okay,” Teresa said as she eventually pried herself away from Anna and did her best to scoot the woman toward the door.

“All right, thank you.” Anna wiped the tears from her cheek and waved to Teresa and JJ as she exited the hospital.

“Gosh,” JJ said with a chuckle. “I thought I was going to have to jump in and save you, Mom.”

“Yeah, well, no doubt about it, people love my dad,” Teresa said. “JJ …” She stopped talking when she felt her voice ripple. What a messy day Monday had become, and oh how she wanted Sunday night back, when everything was normal. “I’m not certain what the police believe you did or what really happened, but I think we need a lawyer.”

“Mom, why don’t you just call the police and ask them? I didn’t do anything.”

CHAPTER 15
 

ANGEL SAT IN THE CLOUD WITH Kail on her lap and Belle at her side and thoroughly explained to them her connection to Teresa and the visit from her dad.

“We saw him,” Belle said. “He was in the cloud with you. By the time we got here, though, you were both gone.”

Kail sat quietly in Angel’s lap wagging her tail. “Why do you think
we’re
here?” the pup asked.

“The man, my dad, said that my mom use to have dogs. He also said that Angela was real good with dogs. I’m sure we’re connected somehow …”

Angel looked out at the clear sky, checking the weather. The cloud would be fine through the night, no rain or wind. She thought about going back to the hospital.

“You should go,” Belle said.

Angel smiled. “How do you always know what I’m thinking?”

“I heard you. You spoke.”

“Oh, no. Not this time.” Angel laughed. “Why don’t we all go to the hospital?”

But the cloud seemed so cozy to Angel, with just the three of them relaxing and floating in the night air—in complete silence. Soon, Angel fell asleep snuggled up with her girls under the lip of the cloud. She’d been in a deep slumber for a while when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Wake up,” he whispered.

Angel rolled over and wrapped her arm around Kail.

“Angel, it’s me, Dad. Wake up.”

Angel stretched her body and sat up. Her heart jumped when she saw the man who seemed to be her dad petting her pup Belle.

“So, you can understand them?” he asked Angel.

“Well, yes. Can’t you?”

“No. But I’ve seen you talk to them, and I’ve heard them bark back.”

Angel shook her head in wonder. “Well, they do bark sometimes. But usually they speak to me.”

The thought never occurred to Angel that she was the only one to hear the pups speak. For so long they’d been together in the clouds, she just assumed they could speak to anyone else in this state, and not that she was the only one who could understand them.

“They’re beautiful. You all look so good together,” her dad said.

He sat on the edge of the cloud with Belle in his lap gently swinging his leg. He held his head up to the sky and closed his eyes.

“Your leg is moving us.” Angel pointed at the cloud. “Like an oar in a boat—we’re slowly moving in a circle now. And with each kick we lose a bit of our cloud. Can you sit still for a while?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m sorry. I can’t move much down there, and it feels so good up here.” Her dad turned his body inward and sat on the inside of the cloud with his back perched up against the edge.

“So, how’d you end up here this time?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. My eyelids got really heavy when your Aunt Jessie, Teresa, and JJ were visiting me. The visit was a step in the right direction, but I couldn’t stay awake. Down there … well, my whole body feels weighty—and while I’m in it, I’m weak, tired.”

“Oh.” Angel frowned.

“I’m not leaving you here. Don’t worry about that.” He reached across the cloud and attempted to touch her on the chin.

“Dad, I can’t feel anything here. But the gesture is nice.” Angel nodded.

“I feel so good up here. I don’t want to go back to that beat-up old body.”

“And I’d give anything to be in one. I’d like to feel the sun on my face and eat a cinnamon roll again. I miss being heard.” Angel picked up Kail and placed the pup in her lap.

“What about us?” Kail whispered.

“What’s she saying?” Joe asked.

“She wants to know what’s going to happen to them.”

“Tell her they’ll be taken care of, and thank her from the bottom of my heart for watching over my daughter.”

Angel looked at the pups and then back to her dad. “Dad, she can hear you and understand you. I don’t have to translate. Did you want me to bark at them?”

“No, no. I’m thinking it’s another language,” her dad said with a chuckle.

Angel smiled. This man, her father, felt so familiar to her, and right now their sitting in the cloud together seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Her dad’s body was lean in this form, not the puffy yellowish shape he had in the hospital bed.

They sat together for quite some time in a comfortable silence.

“I feel like I’m in a quiet hot air balloon floating over the world,” her dad said. “My body hasn’t felt this good in years.” He rotated his shoulders and moved his arms, causing the cloud to tip in his direction.

“Careful, Dad. I keep telling you movement isn’t good for the cloud.” Angel ran her hands over the edge of the soft formation. “See, you can shape it, but eventually it evaporates.”

She scooped a piece of the cloud into her hand, held it directly out toward her dad, and then inhaled and blew. Pieces of the cloud gently floated down around them and melted back into the soft pillowy substance. Angel felt her cheek muscles pull tight across her face and realized she was smiling one of the biggest smiles she’d ever felt.

“Happy?” her dad asked.

“It’s great being here with you. Can you stay a while?” Angel asked.

Her dad nodded, and they floated in silence enjoying the fresh air.