Agnes in JackieLand

Chapter 16

I had heard that if you were falling in a dream and hit bottom before you woke up, you would die. I didn't know if it was true because I had woken up before landing in the pit's bottom. Soaked in sweat from head to toe, my heart racing like I had just run a ten k, and I remembered the nightmare. I had already lived it once.

It was about the night that Jackie pushed me into the pit. Every single detail is in vivid color playback. I shook my head. It was my own fault. I knew why I had dreamed about it; I had spent five hours last night pouring over coma information. I had read everything Google had on the subject until my eyes wouldn't stay open any longer.

It wasn't the coma thing that bothered me this morning. It was Mason. I hadn't seen him since the day he told me that the police had questioned him. Now that I had thought about it, he hadn't been at school since. How was he? Was everyone wrecking their grade averages because of this? I couldn't think about that or Mason right now.

I had so much to do today I knew that school wouldn't happen again. Guilt crept in as I showered and readied for the day. I was disappointed that I was letting Jackie's schooling slip. Still, I didn't know how to keep up with her academic schedule and family and try to get our souls back into our own bodies.

I poured the boys some cereal and juice while listening to them laugh about last night's pizza debacle. The fire alarm had gone off causing everyone to go into panic mode. A fire had started in the oven because I had not removed the cardboard from under the frozen pizzas. Now the oven was dirty with fire extinguisher stuff and burnt cardboard. The boys had collapsed in laughter at my faux paus and said, "Jacko, how come you're so bad at cooking now?"

I laughed it off and ordered them a real pizza, which they gobbled down like they hadn't eaten in a month. Boys really were bigger eaters than girls. I had never paid much attention to my own brother's eating habits before; as a matter of fact, I hadn't paid him any attention at all. I was sorry for that now because these boys had grown on me. I guess brothers weren't so bad after all.

After dropping the boys off at school, I asked Henry to take me to Mr. Franklin's office. I hadn't seen the man in four days, and neither had the boys. They had asked after him last night, and I covered for him, saying he was away on a business trip. I was not going to cover for him anymore. He needed to get his butt back to his kids.

The building he worked at was massive and made of blue-tinted glass. When I walked in through the front doors, I was overwhelmed by the enormity of it. When you first came in, a long black desk sat against the wall, armed with two receptionists and a security guard.

The red-headed, younger receptionist looked up at me and smiled. She covered the mouthpiece of her headset and mouthed the words, "He's in." I nodded my thanks, but had it not been for the name board above the desk saying, Thomas Franklin: level three, I wouldn't have known where to go.

I rode the elevator to level three with some pretty swanky-looking people, part of the rich and famous club. If Mr. Franklin was selling to people like this, no wonder they had a mansion for a house. The commission of a million-dollar house was probably nothing to shake a stick at.

On the third floor, another red-haired receptionist, this one older, told me to go on through. They must have a thing for redheads around here. I walked the floor until I found the door that read Thomas Franklin on the door plate. Instead of knocking, I barged in and saw the person who liked the redheads.

Laid over Mr. Franklin's desk was a very young redhead with her breasts bared and her skirt bunched up to her waist. I quickly looked away before any more damage was done to my eyes.