CHAPTER 1
When I told my parents that I was going back home, they were happy, ecstatic and crazy about it. Happy; as in they’ve been calling me every day since I told them I was coming back to Mystic Creek (which was 2 weeks ago so they’ve been calling me 14 days straight, non-stop) for good. Ecstatic; as in they’ve planned and paid everything from when I get out of my dorm to when I step out of the airport. Crazy; as in they are now having an argument with the airport security as to why I was 15 minutes late when the crew had already told them that the plane was delayed from Ohio because it was a little too windy to fly. Thankfully my dad dropped it, dragging my mom back to the car where I was hiding in the back seat the whole time the argument started and ended (which was a whole 13 minutes).
“Robert, all I’m saying is we shouldn’t have let her take that airline. Their planes always have problems and the crew is always so careless!” This was what my mom said as soon as she opened the passenger door and settled herself in her seat. My dad was now starting the car engine as he replied with a sigh “Honey, It was the weather. How could you blame the airline for a natural occurrence such as a windy day?” The engine roared to life and mom roared back “Exactly! They should’ve predicted it the day before the flight! What if the plane was scheduled to leave an hour earlier and Elisabeth was on that plane and in the middle of them flying it was suddenly ‘too windy’ to fly?!” My mom was now throwing both of her hands and gesturing it in the air as if it would make what she said have more in depth meaning to it. To me, it just made her look like she was paranoid; which she was. She was paranoid over nothing. I watched as my dad shifted from his seat to check the side view mirrors and as he checked the rearview mirror, he caught a glimpse of me and flashed his charming smile, then he looked back out again. I was stunned. It was like I had a déjà vu, and I felt as if I was having some kind of flashback. I felt something warm inside me, then there’s this little feeling of happiness and then it was like my heart was being pinched multiple times in that few seconds my dad smiled. I couldn’t explain it, and it kind of bothered me.
I watched as he carefully eased the car out where were parked, sandwiched by two other cars on each side. I looked out the window and took note of half a foot distance between our car and the other two on each side. How he managed to get out of that with such ease and in only less than a minute only made me admire his driving skills. I was suddenly pulled out of my mesmerized trance when I heard my mom’s ranting again. About what I forgot, but I’m pretty sure it’s still about my 15 minute delayed arrival. My dad just sighed.
“Marge, please just let it go. It was an inevitable circumstance. She made it safe and unharmed. That’s all that mattered.”
“I know! But I just can’t help but think that what if there had been an accident. And She…”
My mom stopped herself from saying what she was about to say. I don’t know what words she’s going to say next but I already know where it’s heading. And it’s not good. That topic is never good. It’s almost been a year but we still don’t like that topic. I mean, who would want to talk about your sister (or their daughter’s) accident which lead to her death, right? So it’s only fitting that we silently made it the untouchable topic. It’s not that we’re not over it. We are. Really we are. It’s because it always gets so awkward. We just don’t want to open healed wounds you know? I don’t think it should be like that.
Finally I said “Mom, I’m fine. My flight was actually okay. There wasn’t any air turbulence at all. I slept through the flight like a baby.” Then I showed her a smile. It wasn’t a fake smile, but it really wasn’t a real smile either. It’s a polite smile. It was all I could offer her.
She then ranted away talking about how great it is that I’m finally back, telling me how much I’ve been missed and how much I’ve missed out on and that they’ve redecorated and renovated the house and so on. My dad joined in and I was happy listening. They talked about the Beckman’s and last week’s barbeque. The Beckman’s was apparently our new neighbor two blocks down. Really? That was still considered as neighbor? Huh. My mom surprised me when she twisted her body to face the backseat and gushed about how I would love Liana and Mark’s (The Beckman’s) darling and cute baby boy, Jason. Then her and my dad drifted off to another topic about when they’ll do with the Beckman’s on their double-date vacation a few months from now. I watched, from the rearview mirror, there smiling faces. I was happy to be home. That made me smile.
I watched my dad as he laughed, and admired his gentle and charming smile again. Then I remembered the déjà vu perfectly now. It was a pigment of my memory. My memory of Natalie.
It was two and a half years ago. It was summer, two months before I was leaving for my fancy new high school. She took me and two of my friends to the beach sometime around 2, the exact same time now. We were on the back seat, and she was the one driving. I wanted to ride shotgun but my friends thought it wasn’t fair ‘cause they wanted to ride upfront too. So Tally said that the three of us should just ride back and the chips and drinks we were bringing will be on shotgun. It was fair and right, she was a Libra after all. And we agreed to it. We were singing along to Lifehouse’s Hanging by a Moment on the radio and when we reached the chorus, we would sing from the top of our lungs. And on the last line, we’d already be breathless and it only made us laughing. And I looked at the rearview mirror and saw her looking at me and she smiled at me just like the way my dad smiled at me. It was gentle and charming. It was a happy smile. I remembered that I smiled back.
Now that I think about it, she was always a careful driver. My dad taught her. I remember when we were all outside of the driver’s Ed waiting for her test results. The instructor came out together with her and she beamed at all of us and last to my dad and said she aced it. The instructor congratulated my dad and was very proud of Tally’s driving skills; ‘One of my bests’ I remember him say. We went to celebrate that day with Tally and her driver’s license. My dad of course let her drive. He was proud of her and her achievement that two months after that, he got her her own car. It was actually for both of us, but considering the fact that I couldn’t drive, she was my designated driver. Every time she was the one driving, she would look at me and flash me that smile. So that’s why I had that feeling. It was one of my happy memories of her.
I realized that I was unconsciously staring at my dad through the rearview mirror. “You okay there bud?” he said and he looked at me worried and my mom looked the same. I quickly put on a smile and replied that I was just tired from the flight. My mom put on a pout and said “Well I think we should cancel on the teatime then. You should get some rest. You look awfully tired, sweety.” I just gave her a nod. They continued on whatever they were talking about and I looked away.
I wasn’t really sure if I was tired, but I know that I’m ruling out one of the accident theory. She didn’t miss the signs and warnings. She wasn’t a careless driver at all. She was one of the best.
