Chapter Six
I don’t remember how the dream started, but I was walking through a hallway with mirrors encased in gold framing. The light tan marble floors shined brilliantly under the glow of the fire lit torches hanging on the walls. My shoes click the floors with a soft touch. A skirt hangs from my waist, I think it’s red.
Then, red eyes emerge from the darkness. I gasp in fright as a larger, middle aged woman runs at me with vengeance in her eyes. She’s chanting something as I scream from fright. I turn to run away. There’s a long hallway in front of me, the mirrors betray me as they show the monster getting closer. I can see her hand reaching out to snatch my hair as I wake up.
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The next morning brought a lot of bright sunlight. It streamed through my window with such strength, the whole room lit up. The white lace curtains fluttered gently in the wind. I left the window up by accident. I was happy I did because the birds were quite loud this morning. They sang a good morning song while I got up to brush my teeth and hair, but I closed the window on my way to keep the air conditioning in.
My bathroom was the size of a jail cell but I didn’t care. The white tile floor was clean and the fixtures were decent. There was not a tub, but the shower head sprayed hard. It felt great. The blue tiled walls were clean, as well. The white grout was outstanding. The clean condition led me to think no one has used this room in a long time. It certainly did feel like a jail except for the beautiful chandelier hanging in the middle of the bathroom ceiling. It was small and round with holes, almost like a disco ball. I don’t know if it was gold or the color made to look like gold, but it was impressive with crystals hanging down from the circular frame. Only two bulbs were enough to light up the room with a yellow glow. It seemed kind of strange to have such a nice fixture in a bathroom.
I went downstairs and found my parents eating breakfast. I saw eggs, bacon, and biscuits on their plates. Yuck! Our usual breakfast consisted of bagels, oatmeal or croissants, very seldom did we have jelly with the croissants. Mom and I insisted on watching our figures.
“Hey guys,” I said, trying to be cheerful. “What’s good this morning?”
“Your grandfather’s favorite breakfast,” Mom said. “I figured I’d make his favorite since today is going to be hard. We have to go to the funeral home and plan mom’s service.”
I sat down. Surely she did not expect me to eat this! I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it when mom was about to make funeral arrangement for her mom. I grabbed a biscuit and tried one. It was pretty yummy, especially when it was warm with butter.
“Any problems last night?” Daddy whispered to me. His large hand rested on my shoulder. Of course daddy would not forget I was upset last night.
“No. I slept well. That mattress must be new. It’s comfortable.” I kept looking for a banana, oatmeal, bagels, fruit, something other than grease. “Well, what else is there to eat?” I asked with a mouthful of biscuit, trying to sound if it was not a big deal.
“Nothing much, sweetie. I have to go shopping. Oh my, there is so much to do today, the shopping, funeral planning, cleaning.” Mom groaned as she went over the list.
“Lynda? Regina and I can do the shopping, get the cleaning supplies, start cleaning the house, and maybe make some dinner. You deal with your dad and the arrangements. We got the house,” he said with confidence
She looked at him with such love I thought she would burst from it. Her hand stroked his face gently and she kissed his lips. “Thank you Jack, I would sincerely appreciate it,” she whispered to him with her eyes closed.
I was a little embarrassed by their mighty displays of affection. My cheeks flushed red and I turned my head away to the window. The morning sun poured into the little sunroom room outside. I could not wait to see the rest of the place today.
“I think I’ll be upstairs while you’re finishing breakfast, daddy. I hope everything goes okay today, mom,” I said. I went to give her a hug. “I love you.”
The smell of her perfume filled my nostrils. My mother, my sweet wonderful mother. As a child, I remember putting my head on her shoulder and smelling her sweet scent. I would put my head on her breasts, curl up in her lap, and feel safe. Though I yearned to do this now, I gave her a big hug and walked away.
As I went up the stairs to go back to my little room, I looked out the window on the stairs. It was the first time I saw the backyard. Though it was far from a typical backyard, I was surprised by it. The cute little white fence that I saw last night stretched to the back of the house, keeping a large stone back patio protected, but the best part was the lake about a hundred feet from the house. It was a good size lake with an island in the middle. I stared in awe as the water lapped softly against the muddy shore. The sun was brilliant and shining its rays on the water, giving it a bright sheen. I turned around and went back down the steps. I wondered what would be the best way to get to the backyard.
I noticed a door to the right as I came back down the stairs. I guess I missed it last night, but it was easy to miss. The door matched the dark paneling and it blended in with the walls. I wanted desperately to step outside and check out the lake, but daddy’s voice stopped me.
“Regina? Ready?” he called from the kitchen.
Gosh, he was ready fast! I grumbled and turned away from the door. The hardwood floor creaked as I walked on it to the kitchen. Daddy was waiting for me with instructions how to get to town and the stores. He was ready to get out there and impress mom.
When we stepped outside, I looked to my left, saw the lake, and felt my smile widen. It was a little far from the house, but it was definitely there, sparkling in the sunshine. My goodness it was hot! I had not taken twenty steps to the car and my blue Chanel blouse clung to my skin! If I sweat in this shirt and stain it, I am going to go ballistic! I made a mental note to get some summer clothes for this heat when we were in town. Thank goodness we will not be here next summer! It’s definitely hotter here than in the city.
Grandpa’s house was located ten miles outside of town, so it took a little while to get to the store. Lee is a rural town and many people live in the country, outside of town. This was true for us. Grandpa lived on Country Road 230 or as it’s known in small towns, CR 230. In order to get to town, we had to connect with a couple of back roads to get to CR 266, the main country road on this side of town, which would lead us straight to the main highway. Highway 290 intersected with Highway 77 in Lee, keeping the town alive financially.
My own little inferno was known as Lee, Texas. Population under four-thousand people. It was located between Austin and Houston. Little did I know at the time, but beyond the highway were hundreds of little back roads zigzagging together. A small portion of those roads surrounded grandpa’s house, but the town had some restaurants (mostly barbeque), a grocery store, post office, public pool, and park. The main road through Lee was called main street. The buildings that lined main street had massive charm and lots of antique character. I felt as if I had fallen into another time as daddy drove through town. I saw a gourmet French restaurant, a salon, and a dress shop! I will admit the town was small, but it was charming, like a fairytale world waiting to seduce me.
It took us over twenty minutes to find the highway and another ten minutes to find the store. Our plan was to hit the store for food and supplies, then lunch at one of the local restaurants. We started with the big stuff like the vacuum, mops and brooms, and then worked our way to the cleaners, clothes, and the food. By the time we finished with the food, we had over two carts full of items for grandpa’s house. There really wasn’t much of a selection here, but it would do for now. After all, we were leaving soon.
While daddy looked at the frozen food items, I noticed a beautiful girl about my age in the same aisle. She ran her fingers through her brown hair and concentrated on the frozen food display. Her profile was magnificent, a perfect tiny nose with matched her chin and petite, plump lips. Her pink sweater was open and revealed a white t-shirt underneath. I moved my eyes quickly, trying not to stare. Neither daddy nor I realized how hot it would be when we stepped outside. We were inside the store only an hour and the sun heated our car up like an oven. It baked our skin the moment we sat on the seats. The car was too hot after we got our stuff inside.
“Is it too early for ice cream?” Daddy asked with wide eyes. I giggled at him. “G? I don’t think we can leave the cold stuff in the car. I’m sure the heat would spoil it.”
It was only ten in the morning, but it was eleven in New York. I was hungry. My stomach rumbled as he said this. “Sure, daddy. Let’s get something in a drive thru, as long as they have ice cream.”
“Of course.”
We didn’t have a nice lunch at French restaurant, but the drive thru was just as good. The Burger Hut was the only place open and they had ice cream. I had a good time with daddy. While we waited for our food in the drive thru lane, we talked about our summer plans. Daddy wanted to go into the other towns and explore. He said in Bastrop we could kayak down the Guadalupe river together. Little lakeside restaurants were set up along the river with fresh fish and seafood. I thought it sounded awesome. We got our hamburgers, French fries, vanilla shakes, and headed home. Daddy made a remark about the massive amounts of burgers we have eaten lately.
On the way back, I paid closer attention on how to get to grandpa’s house from the main road. The scenery felt familiar, as if I’ve seen it before, but I’ve never been to Lee. In the daytime, I saw the countryside more clearly. There was grass, cows, and barns. That’s it. Miles and miles of open pastures with little ponds and green grass. Some of the homes sat on concrete blocks. The little homes had dirt driveways with huge trucks parked in front. It looked so boring out here!
Then it hit me! The road, the barbwire fence, the trailer homes, and the way I felt on these roads. These were the roads from my dreams! I was almost positive of it!
I sat my shake in the cup holder and looked ahead of us. If my dream was accurate, there should be a darker paved road coming up on our right. I remember the road specifically from my bus dream.
Daddy looked at me suspiciously. “G? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I was trying to remember how to get home from the highway.” My lies came out so easily, I was surprised at myself. I don’t lie to my parents because I didn’t have to. From what I could tell from my friends, my parents were the easiest parents a kid could have, but something inside me said to lie about the roads.
We passed the road from my dream and I choked. Why did I not notice this last night? Before I could ponder the question, I realized I already knew the answer. It was too dark and I was too tired last night to notice. I compelled myself to relax and act normal as I observed the area around me.
“Daddy? Have we been here before?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“I think I had a dream about these roads.”
“Really? You know, my sociology professor told an interesting theory about dreams. He said your soul leaves your body while you’re asleep and the dreams you have are the experiences it has while outside your body.”
“That’s a pretty cool theory.”
“I know. I thought the same,” he said with a wink.
As soon as we unloaded our bags and ate lunch, I excused myself from daddy. Though I deeply wanted to start on the house, I wanted to read my journal more. I went upstairs and examined the entries closely. When the dream included a road, I kept track of it by highlighted it in yellow. Even though my journal was a little more than halfway full, I had a lot of yellow sentences.
Daddy and I tackled the house together that afternoon. We dusted, wiped, polished, swept, moped, and basically made the house shine by the time mom and grandpa came home. With the exception of the bedrooms, we had the place mom-ready. She was impressed and greeted daddy with a tender kiss and a hard hug. It was a different change to see them that way. Grandpa was really cool and brought home a surprise for me. I was actually getting along with him. We had a lot in common and shared the same mind frame. Mom told him how much I love to watch movies and bought a new TV for the house. It was a flat screen and huge. Daddy and grandpa mounted it to the wall while mom and I made dinner. We danced together in the kitchen while we blasted music from my laptop. Mom was a terrible singer, but tried anyway. We laughed pretty hard at her attempts. Those troubling thoughts seemed to melt away. Nothing happened that night. It was an awesome night with my new family and it was the last.