Three Friends Plan A Getaway
1020 Words
TANSY glanced up as she walked to her car. And just in time, too.
A gang of children ran past her in their costumes to the picture kiosk near the Farmer's Market. The annual Halloween photo contest was in play and the kids were anxious to show off their creations. To promote a safe Halloween for the children, many of the businesses were having special promotions or in-store parties. This included the annual Trick or Treat festival at the zoo, the special fairs at the shopping malls, not to mention the free photos that parents could have done of their kids from some of the photo studios or kiosks.
Oh, she so did not need this.
The kids in costumes were bad enough. But, then she had to deal with actual real ghosts, too?
Nope. She didn't need this.
The boy from this morning was standing next to her car, pointing toward the river.
"I took your picture to the police. It's out of my hands now," she said to him, then looked around to see if anyone noticed her talking to... well, to no one.
He still pointed toward the Rio Grande.
She sighed heavily. "What do you want?" She then opened the trunk to her car to put the shopping bags inside.
As he pointed in the direction, his eyes pleaded with her. His mouth opened to show that black, gaping hole, trying to speak.
Tansy closed the trunk, a churning in her stomach bubbled about. "Okay, you're west. West, but where?"
The boy's sunken eyes gleamed at her words. His pointing became frantic.
And then a phrase came into her head Help us!
"Us? There's more than one of you?"
Now, he became animated. This time, instead of pointing, he faced her, hands held open in a desperate plea. His energy was distressed, but hopeful.
Water...
Water? West? A lightbulb lit up in her brain. "At the river? Is that where you are?" she asked him.
A vigorous nodding ensued, then he pointed again. Help us...
"Oh, God..." she breathed. She unlocked the car door and got in, starting the engine. Once again, she found herself heading toward the New Mexico State Police Criminal Investigation Division building. She seriously considered ignoring the situation, but couldn't bring herself to do so. This was a teenage boy, after all, and he may have family desperately looking for him. Not knowing he was dead.
And he was dead, of that she was certain. She wouldn't have seen him otherwise. If he'd been alive, he wouldn't have even sought her out.
For the most part, she only saw or heard the spirits of the dead. Sometimes, a living person cried out in desperation, and on a psychic level that she could hear.
But that didn't happen often.
It had, once, way back when she was in high school. A fellow student had gone missing. No one knew where she had gone, not even her parents. About three days after the girl had gone missing, Tansy, sixteen at the time, was in chemistry class, when the psychic cry hit her. When she tumbled off her stool, the teacher and school nurse chalked it up to her not being able to stomach the chemicals used in the days lesson. But, for her part, Tansy knew what had really happened.
She told her mother. Now, her mom was fully aware of her ability and listened to her. Her mother then called in an anonymous tip as to the student's whereabouts. The girl's uncle, it turned out, had kidnapped her, raped her and tried to bury her alive.
Tansy came to a traffic light, braked. She knew the difference between the cry of a dead person and a living person. Over the years, her gift had become more honed, gained strength.
Oh, yes, she knew this boy was dead.
ELIJAH Martinez jumped up as soon as his two friends came out of the building. He had waited for them outside, near the entrance to the school building. "Dudes!" he exclaimed as they approached. "Can you believe it?"
When Christopher Lund and Juan C. de Baca approached him, they high-fived each other. "f**k, man," Chris said. "We got it! Taking an internship in Africa with the WHO!"
"Yeah" Elijah said. "But I can't wait until February! The trip is going to be so f*****g cool!"
Juan chuckled. "Dude, you just wanna go for the chicks" he teased, hitting Elijah's arm.
Elijah began walking toward the parking lot. "It isn't!" He let out a laugh. "We will get to travel and see the world, guys!"
"You still just want the chicks, man...." Juan gave Elijah a sidelong glance, a look that earned him a punch in the arm. He laughed at that.
"Oh man, Mom isn't gonna stop crying," Chris said with a chuckle. "And Dad is gonna start in with his lecture. He already gave me one about Africa in general." He shook his head at the thought. "Started in with how there's dangerous people there and we should just seek internship here at home, and so on"
"Dude, they will be proud of you," Juan said. "My folks have been waiting on pins and needles almost as much as me"
Elijah pulled out the key fob to his car. "We need to get our folks together and do something special for the holidays" he said seriously. "We have to. We're gonna be leaving them, and probably won't see them for awhile."
Christopher pulled open the door when Elijah pushed the button to unlock it. "You're right"
Juan leaned against the roof of the car, looked at his friends. "That's a good idea. Hmmm I wonder... think we can set up SKYPE and all that for them?" He then opened the left rear passenger's side door, got in.
Once in the car, they headed out of the UNM Hospital parking lot and onto Central Avenue. "SKYPE is a good idea, but what if we are in a place where there is no wifi for that?" Elijah said, glancing in the rear-view mirror before changing lanes.
"I hadn't thought of that" Juan replied. "Well, we need to think of something."
"Right now, all I want to think about is food. I'm starving!" Chris remarked.
"You're always starving" Juan said, flicking Chris' ear.
- Writer
