Heaven or Hell (33 page)

“Yeah, why is that, Mom? Why aren’t you more open to things?” JJ asked.

Teresa sighed, and rubbed her hand across her face as she spoke. “I don’t know. If I were a therapist, I’d probably say it’s got something to do with my mother and sister dying, as well as my father leaving. I guess I’m a little disillusioned due to all the crap that’s happened to me in my life. But, in my own defense, I’m trying.”

JJ squinted as he took a sip of his soda. Then he stood up and deposited the can in the recycle bin. “You’re right, Mom. You are trying. You let me jot this stuff down, and you sort of helped. Maybe you’re loosening up. Do you think your father is watching us, now?”

“I don’t know. I get a chill sometimes, like right now.” Teresa reached out, grabbed JJ’s arms, and squeezed. Laughter filled the kitchen.

“Okay, okay. You’re messing with me. But I like it,” JJ said.

Teresa felt she had seasoned the potatoes just right and had done pretty well with her son, too.

CHAPTER 30
 

FATHER BENJAMIN SELECTED A PAIR OF jeans and an old polo shirt for his meeting with Teresa and JJ. He hoped the street clothes would help Teresa relax. However, she seemed to be a different person on the phone last night. She seemed to have lightened up, leaving the priest cautiously optimistic.

He paused for a moment and whispered, “What am I doing?” The priest had been close to Juan; perhaps Marcus was simply wishing something unusual was going on. Dragging Juan’s family into this probably wasn’t okay, but the need to investigate spurred him on, regardless.

Was this feeling that an unusual event had occurred simply because he missed his friend, and he was indulging in some wishful thinking?

The priest arrived at the restaurant early and picked a quiet corner so they could talk. Teresa and JJ arrived shortly thereafter and scanned the cafe, sitting down in the lobby when they didn’t recognize the priest. Father Benjamin raised his hand and waved them over, but the two of them remained seated where they were. The priest laughed and stood as he spoke, “Teresa, I’m over here.”

He watched Teresa finally recognize him and tug JJ along through the dining area to the table he’d chosen. As they settled in to coffee—JJ having an iced tea—and ordered their breakfasts, JJ pulled out his spiral notebook.

“Father, I only recently started jotting things down. But I think we’ve had activity for years,” JJ said in a professional manner.

“Activity?” the priest asked. He was certainly surprised to hear the word.

“Well, that’s what they call it in on the show ‘Paranormal.’ I guess you don’t watch that,” JJ responded, tapping his pen on his notepad.

The priest chuckled, took a sip of his coffee, and ran his hand through his hair. His heart lifted a little at the sight of Juan’s grandson diligently investigating the possible paranormal. “Have either of you read the journal that Juan wrote?” he asked.

“No, Father. My Aunt Jessie has it now. I told her to keep it because I thought I’d be tempted to throw it away,” Teresa said.

Father Benjamin noticed that the tight lines which had previously held her eyes in a glare seemed to have vanished. Her whole face appeared much younger, less stressed.

“I haven’t seen it either, but I’m interested to read what he wrote,” the priest responded.

JJ held his notepad up. “In reviewing my notes, Father, the night before last, both my mother and I had unique experiences. I woke up with my head full of stories that I believe my Aunt Angela had shared with me. She’d told me, in my dreams, I think, a whole bunch of facts that didn’t make it to the notebook before I forgot most of them. My mother …” JJ interrupted what appeared to be his best attempt at a formal speech and turned to Teresa. “Why don’t you tell him about the hand.”

Teresa choked on her coffee, caught her breath after a moment, and with a softer look on her face began her own part of the story. “On the same night that JJ had his incident, I woke up and my fingers were wiggling in front of my face. I had absolutely no control over my entire arm. I thought I was dreaming, but my eyes were open. The slight breeze from the movement of my fingers must’ve woken me up. Within moments though, it felt as if a weight was lifted from my entire body, and my arm dropped. I had control of my limb again. I didn’t panic. In fact, I rolled over and went back to sleep. I would’ve forgotten about it, actually, if JJ hadn’t brought up his incident.”

Father Benjamin wasn’t sure what to make of their experiences. “Did you see anything?” he asked, hoping to get additional information.

“No, I didn’t,” JJ answered. “But something felt different. Like the air in my room was thicker than usual. And then last night, we heard the giggling. When we went outside, I saw this melting type texture in the air, probably about three feet up or so. It seemed as if the world had become one dimensional and melted together for a moment. And then it affected the area around the bushes, sidewalks, and grass. The world sort of melted outside of our house then quickly went back to the way it was. Like an optical illusion or something.”

Father Benjamin thought about the unusual stories that many of his parishioners shared with him upon the deaths of their relatives. In all of his time spent near death he’d never heard of or witnessed anything similar to what JJ had just described. “Well, I certainly don’t have an explanation for any of that.”

“Why the street clothes, Father?” Teresa asked, out of the blue.

“I’m not sure. It felt right.” Heat rose to the priest’s cheeks as he blushed.

“What is it that prompted you to call me and ask to meet? I’m curious,” Teresa went on.

“We told you about the General, right?” The priest waited for both JJ and Teresa to nod. “Well, someone called in his body’s location to the morgue. He had climbed into a trash bin to get warm and died in the bin, which was emptied at the dump. He would’ve never been found had the call not been made.”

“I don’t get it,” JJ said. “What’s odd about that? It doesn’t fit in my notebook, here.”

“The caller told Dotty at the morgue to tell me. I suspect it had something to do with Juan, because at the kitchen last night there was a Juan sighting. And oddly enough the whole line knew about both Juan and the General.” Admittedly he felt a little silly repeating this story as if it had significance, though he somehow suspected it did.

Their omelets appeared and the three waited a minute before continuing on with their conversation. “Couldn’t that be gossip? I thought word of mouth was fast on the streets,” Teresa said. She picked up her fork.

“Yes, we could dismiss all of it. But something about that old guy Sam and the elderly woman who claimed she saw Juan. I know it was some type of sign from him.” Yes, that was what he felt—he felt that Juan had sent him a sign from the other side.

“Father, can you get into trouble here?” Teresa asked.

“What do you mean?” The priest didn’t understand what she was getting at.

“I mean, doesn’t the Church frown upon this alternative, advanced type of thinking?”

“Oh, I’m just having a conversation with Joe’s family.” The priest nodded, “No conflict here. And it’s not rocking my faith at all, if that’s where you’re headed.” Quite the contrary, in fact.

Teresa sipped her coffee and smiled at the priest.

Father Benjamin took a deep breath and then exhaled. He wondered about this sudden transformation of Joe’s daughter. She appeared to be a different person, but for some reason he wasn’t ready to completely let his guard down. “Teresa, you seem different. Did something happen?”

“What do you mean?” she asked with a slight smile on her face.

“Well … You’re more relaxed. I don’t know, perhaps a lot more compassionate than the angry young woman I met with a day or so ago.”

“Was that only a day or two ago?” Even Teresa’s voice sounded less constricted with tension. “Anyway, I don’t really know what could be different. I feel bad that you lost a good friend. I’ve also had to deal with this business of my son’s initiating these flash mobs and being caught by the police. It’s been a rough week. At some point I decided to quit fighting it and to let it be. I can’t fight everything, including my feelings. I think I spent enough time in the angry stage, Father. After twenty years, it’s about time for me to get over my old set of emotions.”

She picked up her fork again and winked at the priest.

“That’s amazing.” The father stared at Teresa without comment. Only when the woman put her hair behind her ears did he realize she radiated a sense of calm, an atmosphere that hadn’t been present yesterday or the day before—as if she were at peace.

“What?” Teresa caught the priest staring at her.

“It’s like you’re a completely different person.” He was baffled by this sudden transformation.

“I do notice something’s different. We ate mashed potatoes yesterday instead of green things and carrots,” JJ said.

The priest and Teresa laughed together as they finished their meal, and the conversation turned to everyday concerns.

CHAPTER 31
 

JESSIE WAS READING THE MORNING NEWSPAPER and sipping her coffee when the doorbell interrupted her usual routine.

“I’m coming,” she called and jogged from the kitchen to the front entrance with her housecoat floating around her skinny legs. Jessie pulled open the door to find a boy on her front porch holding a dog with a rope attached to its collar.

“Hello, Mrs. Torres,” the boy said.

“Well, hello. Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting with this morning?” Jessie wondered what merited a visit from this child of about twelve.

“I’m visiting my Grandma Lucy, up the road. Remember me? I’m Carlos.”

“Oh, my. How you’ve grown. How’s your grandma?” Jessie thought the boy looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him. Where did Lucy live?

“She’s fine. Grandma Lucy is using a walker now, but she’s still the same.” The boy looked Jessie directly in the eye.

“Good. What can I do for you today, Carlos?” Jessie asked.

“I found this puppy wandering down the block. I’ve gone door to door, trying to find out where she lives.” He lifted the little dog up toward Jessie.

“Awww. I see. Well she’s not mine.” Jessie stepped back from the door and was about to say good-bye when the boy interrupted her.

“Wait!” Carlos put his hand up to stop her. “My grandma sent me here.”

“Oh. What’s up?” Jessie stepped forward. “Does she need some help?”

“She needs you to keep this puppy. Gram said it was time you had some company and you’ll thank her later.” Carlos set the dog down and stood with his arms crossed while the dog sat with perfect posture and looked on expectantly.

“I’m sorry, young man, but I’m not a dog person,” Jessie protested.

“Please. Grandma’s allergic, and she said I can’t keep the pup another night. I’ll come by and walk her for you while I’m visiting my grandma. Please?” the boy begged. “I promise to help you.”

“Did you call the pound?” The last thing Jessie needed was a dog.

“No, they don’t keep them very long. They put them down. Why don’t you keep her for the night, and then I’ll find her another home first thing tomorrow.” Carlos stepped down from the porch then went and pulled a wagon up the sidewalk.

A small pet bed and some dog food sat inside the wagon. “I’ve been calling her Bella and Bell for short, but you can make something else up if you like. She won’t be any trouble at all. Please?”

Jessie reached down and petted the small dog’s shoulders. She’d read somewhere that dogs didn’t like being patted on the head. “My brother’s wife loved little dogs. He never let her have one when she was alive,” she half-heartedly muttered to herself.

“As Gram would say, it’s a sign.” Carlos made a slight whistle sound with his teeth. Then he smiled at Jessie and pleaded some more with his eyes.

“How old are you, Carlos?” Jessie asked him.

“Gram says I’m beyond my years, but officially I’m thirteen this week.”

“Well you are definitely wise beyond your age, young man.” Jessie bent down on one knee to get another look at the small pooch. “I’ll tell you what, you can leave her here. But, you’ve got to come back tomorrow afternoon to retrieve her. I’ve got a funeral to go to and I don’t want this little gal tearing up the house.”

“Oh, she won’t tear up the house. I promise.” Carlos smiled as he bent down and spoke to the dog. “Okay, Bell, this is Mrs. Torres. She’s nice and she’ll take care of you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“She’s so quiet. Does she bark much?” Jessie asked.

Carlos ran down the sidewalk pulling his red wagon, “Only when the doorbell rings. I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Torres.”

Jessie moved the pet bed, food, and little Bell into the house, putting the dog bed into the kitchen where she could keep an eye on the pretty little cream-colored creature. Within minutes, the puppy became Jessie’s new shadow, moving about the house along with the human. When the pup needed to go outside, she stood by the door and barked just once. She seemed to be a perfect pooch.

“Oh my, Marion would’ve loved you,” Jessie whispered.

Jessie thought for a moment about Joe’s notebook. Suddenly, she remembered Angel’s dogs. Was it a coincidence that Bell seemed so similar to the little girl dog, Belle, in that notebook of her brother’s? Was Carlos even a real kid?

Now she was honestly thinking crazy. Oh, no, that kid couldn’t have been her brother. That boy was real and so was the dog food and the bed.

Jessie began rifling through her kitchen drawers looking for a phone book. She needed to find this Grandma Lucy and validate that Lucy’s grandson was visiting her as he claimed, and that somehow Joe wasn’t playing games from his grave.

Bell stood at Jessie’s feet, watching every move Jessie made. “Good doggy …” Jessie realized she’d been talking to the pup since she’d taken her in.

Finding the white pages, Jessie began flipping through the directory, only to be reminded that the entire book was sorted by last name. Who was Lucy?

The Internet. She could try an address search of her entire block and find out her neighbors’ names. But this was a job for JJ, in fact. Was the boy back in school yet? Jessie dialed Teresa’s cell phone, which Teresa answered on the first ring.