The Locket (5 page)

Yes, there were many memories in that house and just as many at the Schwartz’s house for that matter. Needless to say, things would never be the same again.

Never.

Finishing up her conversation with the last officer that requested an explanation, Savannah looked over and saw Marie coming up the driveway. She gave her a pathetic smile, trying her best not to let her emotions get in the way of being polite. “Hey.”

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Marie asked, cocking her head to the side. It made Savannah wonder when and why it became universal to move your head to the side as a gesture of sympathy.

Savannah gave her a sarcastic glance along with a huff. “Do I have to answer?”

“If you don’t want to hold in your emotions for the next twenty or so years and become a nasty old lady who shuts everybody out, yes.”

She took a deep breath. It would surprise her a great deal if Marie did not become a psychologist. “Surprisingly, not as bad as I probably should be. I am officially an orphan now, like you said, and I am moving to a town just outside of New York City as soon as my cousin gets here.” Marie flinched. “And yet, even though I can’t describe why, I somehow feel okay … like everything is going to be all right.” She gave a wry smile. “Ridiculous I suppose, huh?”

“No,” her friend shook her head. “Not really. A girl knows when she’s going to get through something. It’s female instinct.” Savannah sighed as Marie draped her arm over her shoulder. “And you’ll get through this, Anna, I know you will. You have to be patient, that’s all.”

“I know,” she mumbled in reply. “I know.”

Marie held her tongue for a minute, deciding what the best thing to say was. What did you say right after your best friend’s mother died? Well, she couldn’t just stand there in silence, so she might as well bite the bullet now. “So did you get to at least talk to her today?”

Savannah nodded, automatically feeling for the locket under her shirt. “Yeah.” she replied quietly.

“Did she say anything?”

Satisfied that she could feel it safely under her fingertips, Savannah tried again at a friendlier smile. “Yeah. She told me she loved me and …” She paused, recalling the earlier talk and not wanting to say it all out loud. It was a private conversation between her and her mother. It was the last conversation between her and her mother. “And all of the usual stuff … you know, take care of yourself and such.”

Marie didn’t say anything at first, just smiled back at her. Then she asked, “So what’s that?”

Savannah looked down to where her friend indicated and carefully pulled the necklace out from under her shirt. “Oh, my mom gave me this,” she began as she unfastened it from around her neck and handed it out to Marie. “It was the strangest thing, she told me not to open it until I got to my aunt and uncle’s.” Savannah watched as her friend studied the necklace, running her thumb over the face of it.

That’s odd, Savannah thought to herself. The locket isn’t glowing like it did earlier, and the inscription has disappeared. It looks just like a regular, everyday locket that you could find in any jewelry store. After a minute or so Marie handed it back to her, catching the look on her face. “What?”

“Nothing,” Savannah said, snapping out of her thoughts. She cleared her suddenly congested throat. “This necklace was obviously important to her, but more so, important for her to give me. She told me she was going to wait until my eighteenth birthday, but for obvious reasons …”she trailed off when a single tear slipped out. Quickly wiping it away, she continued. “Anyway, the whole thing just seemed weird. Maybe she wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Marie shrugged. “Maybe. Or it could be a family heirloom that has a story to it or something. I mean, I remember her wearing it almost every day and wondering. I just assumed it was a gift from your dad or a family heirloom. Either way you could ask your aunt about it—I’m sure she’d know if you were really that curious. I mean, I know she’s not blood related to you, but Mrs. Morgan and Jenny have been best friends ever since we were born.”

“Yeah,” Savannah agreed. Still, she couldn’t shake off this feeling she was getting. Her mother wore this necklace every day and it never occurred to her before to ask about it. Now, out of the blue, it becomes this significant object she suddenly feels she needs to keep safe. This necklace was special, that much she knew. Why, however, was the question she needed to have answered.

Switching her attention to another topic, Marie gazed up at the sky. “Jeez, think of all things that you’ll be doing without me over there; getting your driver’s license, buying your first car, having your first boyfriend, going on your first date, your first kiss—everything we’ve always wanted.”

“Mhm,” she grinned, looking up at the clouds. “And let’s not forget all of the stuff that I will be thinking about the whole time that I’m doing those things.”

Marie glanced over at her. “What’s that?”

Turning her head toward her, she said, “This house, this neighborhood, and all of the good times that we’ve all had.” Her friend smiled. “I don’t think that I could ever forget about you guys. And hey, it won’t be too long before I can start driving, going to college, and visiting you all the time. It won’t be so bad. I hope.”

Marie smiled, her eyes wet. Some of the tears had already begun to escape as she went to wrap her arms around Savannah. Before either of them could say a word, they heard the sound of a car rolling in the driveway. It was Peter’s green Land Cruiser, freshly washed and polished.

“You all set, Savannah?” Peter asked. His ear-length, wavy brown hair whipped in the wind, covering the tanned complexion of his face. His nose stuck out like the beak of a bird, which had always been Savannah’s favorite feature because she loved to spend hours coming up with new jokes and ways to torment him. As the sly wind kept rustling his hair, the dark brown glow of his eyes could be seen every other second. Just like her father’s eyes had once been, they held warmth that could not be measured and a security that would never make anyone who looked into them feel any less than well-protected.

“Yes. Let me just get my bags and I will be right there,” she called to him over the noise of the police cars making their way back onto the street. Within seconds, she already had three of the five suitcases in hand, placing them into the car.

Peter nodded in response. Looking over, he remembered that his cousin had company over. “Hey, Marie.”

“Hey,” Marie wavered. Savannah rolled her eyes as she picked up the last of her belongings. Marie had always had a crush on Peter, for as long as they were friends. She would never admit it, but even a deaf man could tell that she did by the way she talked to him. And a blind man could tell by the way she looked at him.

“Everything’s all ready.” Savannah walked back over to her driveway and took her place standing next to Marie. “Just give me a minute.”

Peter nodded again and returned to his car. Savannah hesitated and then leaned in to give her friend one last hug. “I’ll call you as soon as I wake up tomorrow, okay?”

“Promise?” Marie allowed another single tear to crawl down her rosy cheeks.

Pulling away, she smiled. “I promise.” Rushing over to Peter’s car, Savannah could not help but let a few tears escape her own eyes as well. She did not whimper or whine; she only let them fall without warning or care.

While Peter and Savannah hauled out of the driveway, Marie waved, saying her final goodbye to the best friend that she had ever known. In reply, Savannah did the same, wishing that there were a way out of this mess.

***

Once they hit the highway, Savannah remembered her manners. “Thanks for coming to get me, Peter. I really appreciate it.”

Without looking away from the road, he said with a smile, “You’re welcome. Anything for my favorite cousin.”

“I’m your only cousin, and you can barely even consider me that,” she answered matter-of-factly.

When Peter noticed that she wasn’t quite in the joking mood yet, he put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. Savannah had her face to the window, watching the trees and buildings as they passed by. “I’m sorry about your mom, Anna.” She did not move as he brought his hand back to the wheel. “It must be hard to lose both of your parents in only a few years.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” she retorted, not taking her eyes off of the road.

“Sorry. I know that you’re leaving behind your friends, home, and memories, but look on the bright side: You’ll make new ones. You never know what could happen until it does.”

Savannah shot her attention over to him. “My mother used to say something like that.” It was silent for a second, and then Peter suggested putting on the radio. After leaning over and doing so, she went back to staring out the window for the rest of the ride.

***

What seemed like an eternity later, the two of them finally reached the house. Just as Peter began to take out her belongings from the trunk, Savannah’s aunt came racing out of the house. She ran straight to them and gave Savannah a huge hug. She seemed to be getting a lot of those recently. “Hi, honey.”

“Hi, Aunt Jenny.” She managed to squeeze out from her aunt’s all-too-tight embrace. Jenny, though not an unattractive women, looked almost nothing like her mother. She had light blonde hair that ran to her shoulders, tucked behind small pierced ears. Her face was slightly aged, which, in Savannah’s opinion only made her that much prettier. Something that could’ve made anyone think that they were, in fact, related was their thin, yet healthy, bodies. Both women seemed to have fast metabolisms where they could eat anything they wanted and not gain a pound. A trait that had passed on to Savannah, she was thankful to admit.

“How’ve you been?” Jenny asked.

“Fine, up until a few days ago when my mother told me that she was dying.” She didn’t mean to sound sarcastic; she just could not manage to react the way she normally would. It was close to impossible to even pretend to be civil anymore.

“Oh, sweetie!” Her aunt yelled, giving her another hug. This time she squished her so hard Savannah thought she heard a bone crack. “You know what, it’s late and we were just about to play a game before bed. Do you want to play? I’m sure you must be exhausted, but I think being active might do you a world of good.”

Savannah shook her head. “No, I think I’m just going to get settled in and rest a little. It was a long trip.” A really, really long trip.

“Okay,” Aunt Jenny began, a bit put out, but understanding. “Well, just call me if you need anything, sweetie.” Savannah nodded and followed Peter to her new room.

***

The next morning, after a long and restless night, Savannah awoke to the one o’clock stroke on her aunt’s grandfather clock. She had spent so much time awake the night before that her body was beyond exhausted when she woke up. The words “night terrors” had a whole new meaning, now that she experienced them every five minutes. When she did fall asleep, Savannah dreamt of death and panic. When she was awake, she would remember everything and could feel no less than loneliness and fear.

But somehow she would have to learn to manage her days, and the first step to that was to call Marie as she promised. Making her way to the kitchen to brew some coffee—a habit she developed from her summer job at a café—she dialed the all-too-familiar number.

“Hello.”

“Ellen?”

“Oh hey, Anna,” Ellen, never concerned about anyone other than herself, already had that slight tone of irritation. If you weren’t a guy calling for a date, you were nobody calling for no reason. “What’s up?”

Savannah was not quite in the mood to deal with Ellen at the moment, especially since she was still half asleep. But courtesy was courtesy. “Is Marie there?”

Ellen, already bored with the conversation, was vaguely aware that there was another person on the phone while she checked her nails. “Nope, sorry, Anna, but she’s taking out the garbage and then she has to clean out the garage.”

“Aren’t those your jobs?” Savannah replied, scooping coffee into the machine’s filter.

“Yes, but I’ve decided that it is better for my darling little sister to learn now that life isn’t all fun and games and that sometimes you just have work a little harder.”

“Work a little harder?” Savannah snorted.

“Yes, it’s a very important lesson for a girl her age to learn. Besides, it gives me a break from all the work I usually slave over.”

Savannah chuckled. “So painting your nails and trying to figuring out others ways to become a slut are now considered chores to slave over?”

Ellen started to reply but cut herself off in a sigh. “Sorry, Anna, I forgot you aren’t just the neighborhood nuisance across the street anymore. I’m sorry to hear about your mom.”

It was tiring and saddening to hear those words spoken by everyone she talked to nowadays. How would she ever find the energy to deal with it every day? “It’s okay, Ellen, thank you. Now may I please speak to Marie?”

“Yeah, sure. Hold on.”

A minute later she heard the sound of her best friend’s voice; a sound that was just as comforting as it was depressing. She missed her already. “Hey, Anna.”

“Hey.”

“How was your trip?”

Savannah shrugged, a gesture so natural she forgot Marie couldn’t see her. “Boring and unsurprisingly tiring.”

“Mmm. And you stopped somewhere to eat along the way?”

“Yeah.”   Technically she was not lying. They did stop at a McDonald’s about three hours outside of Albany, but that does not mean she actually ate anything. Peter ended up eating enough for the both of them.

“Good, because I know you didn’t eat breakfast or lunch yesterday and I don’t want you to get sick.”

Savannah had to smile at that. Despite Marie’s tendencies to act like a complete and total teenage girl, when it came to people she loved she could act like an overprotective mother.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

After two hours, Savannah and Marie said their goodbyes and hung up. Things were beginning to look better already; she had a new room that she could decorate any way she wanted, she was in the hands of people who love her, and Marie wasn’t gone, she was just a few more hours away.