I spent plenty of time trying to anticipate Carmina’snext move, but after years passed and I didn’t hear from her again…I thought maybe her phone call was just a part of her game.
It had been over six years; with no word from her or Nick. After all of that time, the memory of the call began to fade like a distant nightmare. Eventually, I could barely remember that it actually happened.
I was finally happy…truly happy. I had even accepted not having Nick in my life. I wasn’t even wearing my wedding band anymore.
One morning I felt so lively dressed in a brightly colored shirt and pants…my hair up in another one of Linda’s braided styles, I walked in and gave everyone a heartfelt, “Good morning!”
“Good morning,” they all said.
The morning paper was sitting at the table. I picked it up, “Anything good in the paper today Greg?” I asked; knowing that he always liked to be the first one to read the morning news.
“Midnight Hollow?” I asked, thinking about Nick.
I looked at the article and read the title, Man Dies in Bizarre Rescue Attempt at His Daughter’s Request. It sounded so much like Nick and Carmina that I read on…
Forty-one year old Nick Thompson…
“Oh my God!” I gasped out loud.
Eva, who was leaving the table, stopped in her tracks. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
I continued reading, this time out loud, “Forty-one year old Nick Thompson died yesterday while attempting to recover his 15 year-old daughter’s purse after it fell into the bay during a trip on a ferry. At the insistence of his daughter, Nick jumped…” I couldn’t read on.
I dropped the paper and began to cry. “Oh my God! Nick!” I grabbed my chest right where I could feel the pain caused by the news of Nick’s death.
Linda walked over and grabbed the paper. I sat there, not knowing what to do, I felt so helpless.
I finally managed to stand up as Linda read on, “Nick jumped off the ferry and tried to grab the purse, but was pulled down up under the water. Witnesses say that he came up a few times, but after a while he could no longer be seen.”
I walked over to Eva as Linda continued to read the rest of the article silently to herself; sensing that I didn’t really want to hear anymore. “He couldn’t swim,” I said to Eva after a while. “Eva, Nick couldn’t swim. It was suicide for him to do something like that… and she knew it…she knew he would drown!”
“Oh Diane…I’m so sorry!” Eva said as she hugged me tight.
Linda put the paper down after reading the entire article… “There’s something else, Diane,” she said.
“Something else?” I asked, not sure I was prepared to hear anything else about Nick’s gruesome incident.
“It says that they’re sending Carmina here Diane…to live with you,” Linda said.
“No!” I screamed. “They can’t send her here!”
“Eva…they can’t send her here…don’t let them.”
“She’s a minor and they believe that you’re her mother…I’m not sure there’s anything I can do,” Eva said.
There wasn’t anything any of us could do, but wait. At about 2:15 that afternoon, while I was in my room…I heard a knock at the front door.
I immediately felt a strange tingling on my face.
I got up and looked in the mirror…
My face was wrinkled up.
I heard someone open the front door…
The pearly white caps on my teeth began to fall out one by one; leaving behind my own stained dingy teeth.
“Oh my God! Look how gorgeous she is!” I heard Eva call out.
My scalp began to itch. I took my braided ponytail down and some of the braids began to fall out, as if my hair was no longer thick enough to hold them in.
“Wow! Diane never mentioned how pretty you are,” Greg said…as dark discolored age spots began to appear on my face.
“Pretty? That’s an understatement…she’s an absolute angel,” Linda added as my face hollowed out.
“Where’s my mom?” Carmina asked, and as I listened to her begin to ascend the stairs…the mere sound of her footfalls continued to suck the rest of the beauty out of me…adding 15 years to my appearance.
Finally the door to my room opened and she was standing there, “Hi mother,” she said.
I turned and before me stood the most beautiful 15 year-old that I had ever seen.
Seeing her again reminded me of when I first saw her in the hospital…I could almost feel the obsession that I felt then… the strong pull at my heart, the strong need to have her, for her to be mine.
Then I remembered Nick being dead and how she was responsible and the old feelings were replaced by fear.
“So, you’re still ugly,” she said with all of the cruelty that could possibly be put into so few words.
I stared at her and she stared at me. I felt terrified and angry…while she appeared smug, cold and hard.
“Why Carmina?” I started…
“Why did it take you so long to show up here? You could have killed him years ago.”
“There’s no beauty in rushing things…after a bit of time, people relax…get complacent…,” she paused.
“That’s the best time to strike…don’t you think? For you…being the overly nervous type, it took a little longer than the others.”
“Others?” I asked. “What others?”
Carmina’sresponse was a smirk.
“Carmina! What others?” I asked louder.
Carmina flashed an evil grimace…
But just as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone; replaced by a slight smile.
I was afraid, but it didn’t stop me from questioning her. “What others?!”
She turned and left my room; refusing to answer.
What others? I asked myself one last time. If Carmina was a baby when I first discovered her…what could she possibly mean by others?
