Another call beeps in, and she looks at the phone.
“Mom, I have to go. Mrs. Anderson is on the other line.”
Ashley clicks over. “Hello, Mrs. Anderson,” she says, finishing the popcorn in her mouth. She pauses as Mrs. Anderson inquires about her daughter. “Yes, Sarah is fine. We were just about to watch a movie. She’s playing in her room. Do you want me to get her?”
Sarah is sitting on the floor facing her closet, playing. Her closet door is open, and it looks as though she is talking to someone.
“No, she is nice.” Sarah pauses as if listening to a response, then says, “Mommy and Daddy asked her to come and play with me.” She pauses again. “She isn’t bad. You’re being mean.” Turning away from the closet, Sarah cries, “Stop it, Beth!”
There is a knock at the door before Ashley enters Sarah’s room.
“Hey! Who were you talking to?”
Sarah looks back at the closet. “My friend.”
Ashley steps further into the room and looks around. Her gaze stops at the music box, which is open and playing music. She sits down in front of the closet, facing Sarah.
“Your friend? Where is she?”
The little girl points towards the closet. “She’s in there. Her name is Beth, and she’s being mean.”
Ashley looks behind her, but nothing is there.
“Oh. Well, why is Beth being so mean?”
“She said you are a bad person for what you want to do,” Sarah responds with a serious look. “She said you deserve to be punished.”
Ashley closes the closet door.
“Okay, Sarah, playtime is over. We’re going downstairs to watch one of your movies.”
Sarah pops up. “Can I watch Jed Kruder again?”
“No, not this time. I should have never let you watch that.”
“Please, Ashley,” Sarah pleads. “I promise I won’t have nightmares this time.”
Ashley points to the door. “Why don’t you go downstairs and find us a not-so-scary one. Okay?”
She smiles. “Can I have popcorn?”
Ashley laughs. “There is some on the table waiting for you, squirt. Now get downstairs before I feed you to the closet monster. Bwahaha!”
Sarah screams and runs out of the room.
Before turning to leave out of the room, Ashley digs into her pocket. She pulls out an appointment card for Planned Parenthood with a scheduled abortion time and date. While she is looking over the card, the closet door slowly opens, and the bedroom light turns off. Ashley stands frozen in place in front of the closet. When she goes to turn around, a woman’s hand reaches out and grabs her shoulders. Ashley screams as she is pulled into the closet. The music box, which is sitting on the dresser, is open and playing music. The closet door slams shut. The screams continue.
Sarah sits down in front of the television. Ignoring the sounds from upstairs, she starts watching Dark Night and eating popcorn. She can hear the music playing, but it stops when she turns her head toward the stairs. Shrugging her shoulders, Sarah continues watching the show.
CHAPTER FIVE
Brad rolls over in his bed to face a frustrated Megan, who’s fully dressed and tapping her foot.
“You scared me,” he says through a yawn. “What are you doing up so early?”
“It’s not early. It’s ten-thirty, and you promised I could go pick out a gift for Shawna,” she states while continuing to tap her foot, signaling her decreasing patience.
“I forgot, but I’ll get ready now. Wait for me downstairs.”
He sits on the side of his bed and looks at the clock on the nightstand. His daughter is right. He overslept. The late nights are getting to him. Thirty minutes later, he walks into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Megan is waiting at the kitchen counter, finishing a bowl of cereal.
“How about we visit the new flea market?” He takes another swig of his coffee. It is slowly helping him wake up. “Where are Nakia and Shawna?”
“They just left to go to the store. I want to surprise Shawna with the gift, so she can’t go with us. Duh!”
As Megan puts her bowl in the sink, Brad deposits his empty cup beside the bowl.
“Well, let’s get this over with.”
Brad is not in the mood for a shopping spree, but Megan will never let him live it down if he doesn’t go along with it.
After visiting a few shops and not finding anything, they make their way to the flea market.
“You have to find something here because I’m tired of looking,” he says, opening the door for her.
It is their first time going to this flea market. While Megan walks around the store’s front, a little boy passes her with a large ice cream cone.
“They have ice cream. Daddy, can I get some?” she asks, batting her eyes at him.
He feels terrible for delaying the trip, so he agrees, and they walk over to the counter to skim the different flavors. Megan decides on a big scoop of cookies ‘n cream.
“Make sure to start licking it before it melts.”
She nods, licking the cone. “It’s so cold. Can we pick out a gift for Shawna now?”
He puts his hand on her shoulder and leads her into a large room with tables and booths. They look around the store at the various items. Up one aisle and down another they go, looking for the perfect gift. Megan walks over to a booth with a music box sitting on a shelf. She picks it up and then searches with her eyes for the owner of the booth. When she opens it, she notices a mirror on the lid. It plays music with a sweet sound.
“Daddy! I found it. Can I get this one?”
She holds the music box up so he can see it. He takes it from her to examine it, looking for a tag.
“This doesn’t have a price. I don’t know if it’s for sale.”
Megan pouts. “Please? It’s perfect for Shawna.”
Brad looks at his daughter. “You are hell-bent on getting her a gift, aren’t
