We sat there for some time letting the gentle sounds of the winter storm fill the room. Mrs. Snowburn stroked Jessica’s hair and worked out a couple of knots, she was sleeping soundly on the old woman’s lap. “What are you going to tell her about her parents? I mean to keep her calm until they get here.” I finally asked. I had to know both for my own edification, even with Tylenol the back of my head was throbbing a little from her screams. I also wanted to know for Jessica, she was clearly worried about them and I couldn’t get that dream out of my mind.
Mrs. Snowburn watched Jessica breath in deeply and let her adjust to a more comfortable position before speaking. “Her parents are very likely not coming.” With a deep sigh she began explaining the events that lead up to them being stuck in the school. Legally there had to be adults in the school as long as there were children here. Sean had to be here because he was the principal and, to Mrs. Snowburn’s best guess, that was also why Ms. George remained behind. The P.E. teacher, Coach Z, and Mrs. Snowburn stayed behind to make sure the kids that stayed behind were okay unsure of Sean’s interests in their health.
As they waited most of the kid’s parents came by in some capacity and there was really nothing they could do to keep them in the school besides highly recommend it. Most eventually left except Johnny’s mother who decided she wanted to wait out the storm here. Dan’s parents showed up last and Coach Z basically prevented them from leaving, the storm had gotten too bad at that point for any of them to let them leave in good conscious. “Jessica’s parents called about five minutes before our phone lines went dead saying they were on their way. We asked Diana, Dan’s mother, if we could use her cell phone but according to here there’s no reception.”
I nodded. “If she had the same carrier as I do she’s right, though I suspect most of the carriers are down at the moment.”
Mrs. Snowburn shrugged at that, there was nothing to say. “Either way we couldn’t get back in touch with them and they never got here. By the look of you when you got here it’s a safe bet that they probably…” She trialed off and brushed astray hair out of Jessica’s face. “The worst part is that I don’t need to tell her, I’m pretty sure she knows.” Gently letting Jessica’s head down onto a pillow Mrs. Snowburn picked up a sheet of paper. There was a drawing on one side and when I saw it I almost cried out, sitting upright in an instant, which was a mistake as all the blood rushed from my head.
I lay for some time as Mrs. Snowburn let me examine the picture. A plane of green grass that failed to stay within the lanes at time, a large brown tree with a large black circle in the middle and two eyes would have been fine, a close coincidence to my dream but not similar enough to scare me. It was the square red house, a bright blue triangle set on top and a golden bell tower that startled me and the perfectly matched people standing in front of it. Three people stood there waiving at me. There was a tall thin man with large glasses and hair that was a light brown. There was a woman holding a baby, both drawn like the man. With a long dress made entirely of a pink color she looked exactly like the one in my dream. She was the woman in my dream. Jessica had even drawn herself into the school’s window, though she was a drawn face rather than a real one. “I’ve seen this picture. I’ve dreamed this picture.” Mrs. Snowburn took it from my hands once again and examined it.
“Did you dream the large Xes through her each of her family members?” She asked before putting the drawing back where she got it. She was frustrated with the situation, I guess I would be if I were in her shoes, but chop it up to still being physically weak or so shocked by the dream and the drawing I didn’t even think about offering sympathy or, even worse, help.
I couldn’t think of what to say after that, my mind couldn’t get past how I knew about the picture. Other than maybe catching a glimpse of it when I had asked to see it before there was no way I could have dreamed that exact image, and yet it did.
***
Mrs. Snowburn took the opportunity to get some rest herself and, with my consent, I made sure to keep and eye on Jessica when she woke up. So I lay there, not really well enough to get up but not really tired enough to go to sleep. I let my mind wander a bit, thinking about the weather and all the people I’d seen since getting here. I didn’t really ask anyone about Officer Kyle’s sudden departure until I was on my way out of the building, but he did cross my mind a few times. I watched the Janitor check the space heater to make sure it was still on. Coach Z napped in the door frame, though I couldn’t tell if that was to keep Harold and his family from raiding my bed for blankets or to make sure Jessica didn’t run away when she woke up. Johnny was playing Solitaire in the corner clearly bored out of his skull. “I wish I had something I could keep him busy with.” Clear leaned over Jessica and made sure she was comfortable before sitting down herself. “Hey, at least we can go out and buy some ‘I survived the blizzard of -’ shirts. And I won’t have to deal with ice cream requests for a while.”
I smiled at her joke. “Yeah, you say that now, but wait till it’s a hundred and fifteen degrees. Then you’ll have an ‘I survived the heat wave of –’ and he’ll want nothing but ice cream.” She smiled too but didn’t say anything for a while, just stared at the sleeping Jessica. I could see tears begin to well up in her eyes as silence enveloped us.
Eventually I gave up. She wanted to talk but wanted me to start the conversation, which meant either I lay there in uncomfortable silence or talk. After all, I wasn’t going anywhere. “So, are you actually mad that I’m being given all the good drinking water?” It probably wasn’t the topic she was expecting me to start with, but I didn’t have much else experience to draw from. Basically she’d accused me of drinking water, accused her son of staring, and accused Harold of something that I didn’t even see.
She wasn’t expecting the question either. Her tears were gone in an instant as she simply stared at me trying to comprehend the question. “I-I’m sorry? When did I…?” That’s when she got. “Oh! You mean that! I didn’t mean anything by it.” I knew she was lying and was ready to call her out on it but decided to see where the conversation went. “I just wanted to make sure she had something planned for the rest of us. I admit, I’m not particularly pleased about drinking melted snow, but if that’s what it will take to get through this.” She held a clenched fist out in front of her and thrust it into the air. “I’m willing to work for survival.”
It was at that point that I thought I’d play with her a bit. I nodded to Johnny in the corner to direct her attention to him. “Was his father on the way when the storm hit?” I knew that, for a while, she’d tell the truth. Whether or not he had been wasn’t really important, I just needed to lead her a little before I could catch her in one of her lies. “That why he’s not here?”
In college it’s hard to take classes specifically in your major or minor all the time. I ‘majored’ by picking up a teaching degree and I minored in the Classics department. Even so I managed to fit in classes in the other departments. I took a writing class and voice lessons along with some math and science. It was my brief stint in the psychology department that proved I was right in assuming Claire was lying through her teeth. They call is a micro expression, or something similar. Commonly used to detect biases or racism in people who clamed to be neutral or in favor of something they were really against it was an expression that lasted a fraction of a second. Mostly involuntary it appears on almost everyone’s face, though if the person is expecting the question it’s mostly useless. Thankfully Clair hadn’t been expecting the question. Her brows furrowed and the edges of her mouth turned down for the tiniest second and I knew instantly that she hated the man.
Instead of telling me straight out her true feelings she cocked her head to the side and smiled. “Johnny’s father died a couple years ago.” She turned to look at Johnny and remained silent for a few seconds before continuing he thought. “It’s hard being a single mother. I had to explain to him why his father wasn’t going to come back home and where he’d gone. All of it.” She turned back to me when Johnny noticed we were watching him. “It was so hard.”
Her tears were fake and I was ready to prove to her that I wasn’t buying her story. “Johnny? Could you come here for a second?” I made sure to whisper loudly so Jessica would be less likely to wake up. Johnny placed the cards down that he was holding and walked up to his mother. “I have a question to ask you.”
He didn’t trust me. He looked at his mother to see if it was all right to answer whatever question I had to pose. She nodded her head that it was okay and he turned his full attention to me and my question. “Where’s your father right now?”
Johnny responded so fast that Claire hadn’t even registered the question. “Daddy’s in
“Thank you Johnny. You can go back to your game now.”
***
I lay in my bed waiting for Claire to speak first this time. I wanted her to know that, despite my physical weakness, I was still aware of my surroundings. She’d been using tricks that one of the kids stuck in the school would have seen through in a second and she was trying to pawn them off on me. “I-What just happened?” She asked finally.
“You were lying to me. I don’t really have any clue why, but you were.” I slowly sat up so my eyes were level with hers. “What do you want? We’re very likely not going to cross paths after this so why try and convince me of something?”
She got up at that point and walked away. I didn’t really know what was going through her head, but I could tell she was thinking. When Johnny stopped in front of her she didn’t see him until he started speaking, then she sent him on his way with as little enthusiasm as possible. I lost track of her for a bit as Jessica stirred on the bed, reacting to a dream.
“Think you’re ready to walk?” I jumped at the sudden question. Claire was standing over my bed, a cigarette between her index and middle fingers. “I’d like to talk with you, but not here. Not with everyone around.” She flicked a lighter and closed it in a rhythm only she could really hear. She was agitated, I could tell, but I didn’t know if I had the strength in me to even stand up much less walk around. She was insistent that I walk with her when I argued against the idea and eventually I worked the blankets free and stood up.
The room was cold. That made sense but I wasn’t completely prepared for how cold it was. Even with the space heater I was shivering outside the blankets. Claire helped my wrap them around my body but it never was as staying in bed. For one thing my feet weren’t covered and for another the blankets kept slipping off. “We’re only taking a short walk, and then we’re coming back here as soon as we’re done.” It was the only requirement I had, though even that was less that it should have been. I was risking my life to listen to this woman, this stranger, tell me why she lied to me and to surround myself with her second hand smoke.
As we left the room I nudged Coach K awake and asked him to keep and eye on Jessica. He paused for a second, unsure if he should let me out or not, but nodded in agreement and leaned back to let us past. Claire asked him to watch Johnny as well, to which the teacher simply grunted and closed his eyes.
Without the space heater the hallways were freezing, literally freezing. Thin layers of ice coated the walls and the carpet crunched under our feet. My shoes, though cold, kept enough of the ice out so that I didn’t turn around right then and there. “Where should we talk?” I asked shivering. My breath puffed out and I wanted this over. “Let’s make it quick please.”
She walked with confidence and we soon stepped into what must have been the cafeteria. A couple long picnic-like tables were laid out for the number of students that would normally eat lunch here. A stage opened up to our left with large curtains that were drawn together. I had initially figured we’d be sitting at a bench facing the stage but a quick glance told me that would be a bad idea. They were completely of metal.
Claire, instead, pulled me onto the stage and we sat with on the fake wood. Our legs weren’t touching the ground so I tucked mine in and sat cross legged. Claire sat sideways with one leg resting on the stage and the other dangling over the edge. She lit up and I watched our breath mingle with the smoke from the cigarette. “I hate this.”
I scoffed and nodded my head. “I think we all hate this. Confined quarters with people you don’t necessarily know? Fun stuff,” I replied. I pulled the blankets closer to myself to keep the chill out as best I could. It was a loosing battle, but it probably would have been such anywhere at this point.
Blowing out a long stream of smoke Claire waited until it was all expelled before shaking her head. “No, I mea smoking, I hate smoking.” She looked at the cigarette for a second before sticking the non lit end back into her mouth. “My ex, Johnny’s dad, got me onto it and it will always remind me of him.”
I blew cold air out as though I were smoking as well. “So, why did you lie to me about him? Clearly he’s not dead, but why’d you say he was?”
Claire pulled in a drag and let it sit in her mouth for a second before letting it out, whether to delay the answer because it actually did something I couldn’t tell. “I tell everyone that he died because it stomps down on questions. You got questions about a divorce or a husband who walked out I have to answer them. There’s no pain, nothing that I have to work through to move on from the guy who left me, just answers and explanations.” She tapped off the built up soot and leaned on her knee with an elbow. “You got questions about a dead husband? Well that’s a different story. I’m allowed not to talk about it, and if I choose not to talk about it you can’t ask me questions. In that sense Johnny’s father did leave me to pursue a career in
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