CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Angie picked Manda up right on time when she arrived at La Guardia. During the drive back to her house, Manda told her everything that had happened.
“Ratid.” Angie cursed when Manda told her about the visit to the Obeah woman. She thought the part about the dog was exceptionally funny, and banged so hard on the steering wheel as she laughed, that she accidentally blew her horn and made a pedestrian jump.
“Well, never mind,” Angie said. “You did what you went to do, and you face Darette. Most people too ‘fraid of her.”
“Her dog was far more frightening.”
“You lucky she didn’t mek him kill you.”
“She wanted to,” Manda said. She wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t been able to get through Darette’s door in time.
Manda rang Sierra minutes after getting to Angie’s house. She wanted to know if anything had changed in the few days since she had been away. She was amazed to find out something had indeed changed.
Sierra came on the phone sounding hoarse and miserable.
“What’s the matter?” Manda asked her.
“I’ve got some bad news,” she said. “Well, maybe it’s not bad news to you, but it is to me.”
“What’re you talking about?” Manda sat down on the couch.
“Yesterday, Nik and I had a talk. He’s been acting weirder and weirder, so I finally forced him to tell me what’s going on.”
“Yeah…?” Could it be?
“He said he’s been doing a lot of thinking and…he’s not ready for a family. He said he wasn’t expecting me to get myself pregnant - can you believe it? I got myself pregnant, as if he had nothing to do with it.”
“Yeah…?” Manda slapped a hand to her chest.
“Now he wanted to come clean,” Sierra said. “He doesn’t want to be a father. So he…he called off the wedding.” Her voice broke. “We’re finished.”
They were finished. It had worked! For a moment, Manda was elated. The trip to Jamaica had been a success. The curse was broken. Thank you, Darette, she thought. You’ve saved our lives.
But Sierra’s pain was real, and her sobs soaked up some of Manda’s joy. As she had told Darette, she knew what it was like to be left at the altar.
“Sierra, I’m so sorry you’re going through this,” she said. “I know how much it hurts, and I would never make light of that.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll be home soon, okay? And then we can talk all night if you need to.”
“Actually, if you don’t mind…” Sierra said. “I need to be alone right now. Can you come back tomorrow?”
“Oh. Oh, alright. I’ll see you tomorrow then. Love you.”
“You too,” Sierra said.
When Manda told Angie what had happened, Angie clapped her hands and laughed. “Let’s have a toast. I’ll mix us up some rum punch,” she said.
“No, please don’t,” Manda said. It didn’t feel right celebrating when Sierra was grieving.
The next day, she accompanied Angie as she drove around Queens picking up supplies for the Labor Day bar-be-cue she and Tee were planning to have. The phone was ringing when they got back to Angie’s that afternoon. Angie put down her bags and ran for it, but the call had already gone to the answering service.
“It was your sister,” Angie said when she had checked the message. “She left a message for you and you ain’t gonna like it.”
“What did she say?” Manda put her bags down on the loveseat.
“Here,” Angie said, passing Manda the handset.
“Hi, Manda, it’s two o’clock,” Sierra said. “I’ll probably be gone by the time you get here. Nik’s coming to get me. We’re going up to his cabin after all. He wants to talk.” She paused. “I think you know what this means.”
Yes, she knew what it meant. It meant Sierra was a dead woman. It was three minutes past two, according to Manda’s watch. She dialed Sierra’s number right away, but the voicemail prompt came on. She started to leave a message, then changed her mind and hung up.
“Angie, you’ve got to drive me home right away. I have to get there before Nik does,” she said.
Angie shook her head. “I tell you before, I’m done. Last time I try to help the cheeky gal, she come beat me with my wig, and then throw me out of her yard like a piece of fowl doo-doo.”
“Yes, that was awful, but-.”
“And now she busy planning her big, fancy birthday party, and I know I could wait till kingdom come for an invite.”
“Please, Angie.” Manda grabbed her shoulders. “If you won’t do it for her, then do it for me. I can’t let Nik take her up to that cabin.”
Her cousin sighed and went limp. “Alright, let’s go before I change my mind. And yes, I’m doing it for you, and not that gal.”
Manda gave her a hug and followed her out to her car.
“Do you want me to wait?” Angie asked when they pulled up across from Sierra’s building. There was nowhere for her to park.
“That’s alright. If she’s gone already, there’s nothing we can do about it.” She gave Angie a quick goodbye and then headed into the building.
Sierra was still at home waiting for Nik when Manda burst through the door. “Is that you, Nik?” she called out from her bedroom. “Sorry, I’m running a little behind.”
“No, it’s me, Manda.” She felt a moment of relief as she hurried down the hall to Sierra’s room.
“Oh, Manda, hi. Did you get my message?”
“I did, and I got here as fast as I could.”
“Why? What’s the rush?” Her Gucci weekend bag stood open on her bed, partly packed. She carried a blue silk nightie over to it.
“Sierra, even if you never ever listen to me again-even if you never want to speak to me for the rest of your life-I need you to listen to me now.”
Sierra stopped. “Oh no, not this again. Manda-.”
“Yes, Sierra, I’m serious. You can’t go up to the cabin with Nik. You’re in danger. I believe it with all my heart.”
“That’s enough.” Sierra flung the nightie in her bag. “People have bad dreams all the time, Manda, but you take it to a whole new limit.
“Sierra, listen. It wasn’t a dream, I know it.”
“Not another word,” Sierra walked into her closet and came out with a pair of jeans. She rolled it up and pushed it down into her bag.
Manda stood watching her, wandering what to do. All she knew was she had to stop her. “Sierra.” She reached out and held her sister’s arm.
“You listen,” Sierra said, pulling away. “I’m going to that cabin whether or not you like it. And Nik and I will probably get back together and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
Not knowing what else to do, Manda knelt down on the bedroom rug and looked up to the ceiling. “Please help my sister to see the foolishness of her ways,” she said. “Please help her to heed my words, no matter how strange they sound.”
Sierra burst out laughing. She walked back into her closet, shaking her head. The wooden hangers clicked against each other as she rooted through her clothes, searching for something.
Manda got back to her feet, feeling quite foolish. It never worked for her mother. Why did she expect it to work for her? She sat down on the bed and dropped her head in her hands. How could she stop her? There was no way…it was too late.
“Where’s that stupid jacket?” Sierra said from the closet.
The closet key. Manda had come across it in Sierra’s bedside table. It was in the top drawer. She hurried over and slid the drawer open quietly. She fished the key out from among the junk inside.
“Forgive me for this,” she mumbled.
“I’m not listening.” Sierra’s voice drifted out of the closet, muffled by her clothes.
Manda slammed the closet door shut and leaned on it.
“What’re you doing?” Sierra shoved from the other side, trying to force the door open.
“Saving your life.” Manda leaned against the door with all her weight. She fumbled with the key, trying to get it into the lock.
“Manda,” Sierra shouted.
“Damn it. Why won’t it go in?” She twisted the key round and round. It finally slid in and she turned it until she felt something click. She spun around the room, looking for a place to hide the key, some place where Nik wouldn’t think to look. Her gaze fell on a box of tampons sitting on the opposite night table. She pushed the key down inside the box, under the little bullet-shaped tampons, and shut the box tight. She left Sierra in the closet, hurling blood-curdling curses through the door.
“It’s done,” she whispered to herself. She sat down and turned on the television, trying to drown out Sierra’s screams. Her hands trembled. Nik would be arriving at any moment. She knew he would demand to know where the key was, but Manda would stay silent and ignore him. And he would try to get Sierra out somehow, but he would have to take the door off its hinges. He would end up going away angrily, and leave them to sort it out. After that, Manda wouldn’t let Sierra out until she promised to listen. She played this scenario over and over in her mind, trying to prepare herself. She switched the channels until she found a channel where a rerun of “Good Times” was playing. She watched JJ dancing in his living room with a very young Janet Jackson.
When she heard Nik’s key in the front door, Manda felt her insides clench up like a fist.
“Oh. You’re back,” Nik said. He sounded surprised. “Sierra said you were in Jamaica.”
“Yes, I was,” she said, then remembered she had planned to ignore him.
“How was your-?”
A series of thumps sounded from the bedroom.
“What’s that noise?” he asked, looking towards the hall.
Manda kept her gaze fixed on the television.
“Sierra?” Nik called out.
“Nik. Help me,” Sierra hollered from the closet.
He gave Manda a puzzled look, then hurried up the hall towards Sierra’s room.
Manda heard him jiggling the closet’s doorknob, while Sierra carried on from the other side.
Nik came marching out to the living room. “You locked her in the closet?” He gave Manda an incredulous look.
She picked up the remote and switched the channel on the television.
“Give me the key,” he said, holding out his hand. He stood like that for a while. When she wouldn’t answer him, he came over and leaned over her. “Where’s the key?” The sunlight coming through the window made his pale blue pupils look almost white.
She clamped her mouth shut tighter.
“I don’t have time for this,” Nik said. He stormed across the room and into the kitchen.
Manda heard cupboards and drawers banging open, and the clattering of cutlery as Nik searched through the kitchen. He came out carrying a box of tools, and headed off to the bedroom. Manda got up and paced the floor. Now how could she stop him? She couldn’t. She turned back to the couch. Nik’s doll sat in its corner, eyes hidden behind its black sunglasses. Manda snatched up the doll, shook it and yanked its black hair. She dropped it to the floor and stomped on its little head. Its sunglasses snapped under her feet. Its little face caved in. There. She had killed it.
“Manda!”
She whirled around and saw a wild-haired Sierra standing in the living room beside the real, tight-lipped, very much alive Nik.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Sierra said, her voice shaking. “I…I can’t…believe it.”
“I just want to protect you,” Manda tried to explain again, though she wasn’t sure if Sierra was referring to the doll or the closet. “I wish you would listen.”
“If you don’t leave right now…” Sierra paused. “If you don’t get out right now, I’m calling the police,” she said, folding her arms.
“Sierra, you wouldn’t,” Manda said. “I’m your sister.”
“Not anymore.” Sierra said it with a cold finality.
“You don’t mean that.”
“Yes, I do mean that. Get out.” She took a step towards Manda.
Manda picked up her bag. “Alright then. Have it your way. She stomped towards the door, then turned back around. “Sierra, you’re going to regret this. You’ll be sorry.”
“I’m sorry I allowed you to come here.”
Manda slammed the door so hard, she could hear the sound echoing through the building. She walked half-way down the street and stopped to look back at the building. Her mind whirled. Her body couldn’t stop shaking. How had things turned out so horribly? A few minutes later, she was still watching the building when Sierra and Nik came out the front door. As they hurried down the steps, Sierra took a quick glance up the street and turned away when she saw Manda. She followed Nik into his little red Jaguar. Just before they sped off, Manda saw him bring his hand to his lips and kiss his silver ring. Sierra had said he did that for good luck. Manda wondered what exactly he needed luck in, this time. Seconds later, they were racing along Fifth Street.
“Oh bleeding hell,” she moaned. There was nothing she could do. Sierra was already on her way to the cabin with Nik. She was going to die, and there was nothing Manda could do about it. She sat on a stoop and put her head in her hands. People passed up and down the sidewalks like blurry figures in a dream. She felt completely alone in the world. She was startled by a hand on her shoulder. Manda looked up to see Noah peering down at her.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, his eyes full of concern.
“She’s gone,” she cried. “I couldn’t stop her, and now she’s gone off to Nik’s cabin.” Tears spilled down her cheeks and she brushed them away. She didn’t want him to see her like this.
“Hmm,” Noah said. “Do you want to go after her?”
Manda looked at him. “Go after her? How?”
Noah ran his hand through his hair. “I actually have a book signing in Midtown in about an hour. Maybe I can put you on a bus?”
“It’ll be too late by then,” Manda said, wiping her eyes again. “Sierra is in trouble. Nik is going to…he’s going to do something to her unless I can stop him.”
“How do you know…wait. Does it have to do with what you were telling me about the other day?”
“The vision. Yes, and it’s all coming about right now, whether or not you can believe it.”
Noah nodded. “What can I say? Trust your instincts. Okay, I’ll take you.”
“But what about-?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell them I’ve had an emergency. Car trouble. Come on.” Noah headed down the block towards his car.
Manda got up and followed him. There was no time for protests, no time to consider the feelings of his fans. To hell with his fans. She had a life to save. If it wasn’t too late.
“So, what’s the address?” Noah asked.
The address. Damn it.