Eilise, God, And The Witches [Fake Tattoos #2]

God is my Co-Pilot

April, 1977

The bell rang as Eilise came through the door at the Auto Mart. The Auto Mart didn't just sell auto parts. They sold everything.

The Auto Mart was in between Eilise's house and the high school, so when it was nine PM and all the shops in town were closed, that's where the townsfolk went to buy something rather than make the drive all the way out to the city.

"Hello, Eilise," said Andy, the store's owner, "I thought you had the day off today?"

"I do," Eilise said cheerfully, "but, I'm thirsty."

Eilise made her way towards the back of the store where the cold case was. She chose the isle that was full of pretzels and pickled eggs, instead of the one full of diapers and baby formula. She didn't like to look at those things. It was one of the things that made working at the Auto Mart difficult. But she had to conquer her fears, that's what Doctor Walden had said.

The night Eilise had lost her daughter, both she and William had been rushed to the hospital, separately. The two of them in their hysterics, everyone thought a serial killer was on the loose, or the children were part of some Satanic blood cult. When the police arrived in the morning to search the Grove, the blood stained snow only seemed to confirm their suspicions. Therefore, the burden fell on the doctors to rationalize the situation.

The doctors had all the evidence they needed. They weren't ready to believe such nonsense at portals to hell opening up or psychedelic hallucinations. The first thing they did of course is test the children for drugs. They were clean. They had no reason to lie. They were only confused children.

William had come to aid Eilise, just as he said. He became overwhelmed with the situation, understandably, slipped and hit his head. With blood in his eyes, mixed with a concussion, his mind played tricks. The cuts from these, so called, claws, were nothing more than scratches. Probably from trees and stumbling around blind and dazed. They boy wasn't wearing a shirt or jacket after all. Most of the blood on him was hers.

The hardest person to convince was William. He wasn't getting how to play the game.

Just say you were confused, William, Eilise thought, and then we can all go home.

"But what about Eilise? She didn't just do that to herself!"

The doctors all stood quietly, staring at each other and flipping papers. They told him, he'd be better off giving her a chance to tell him herself before he heard it from someone else.

A nurse brought William along with his IV bag in a wheelchair to Eilise's room. She left the two to talk.

"Eilise... Am I going crazy? What happened out there?"

"I..." Eilise was choked up with tears. "I poisoned myself."

"Poison? But why? Why would you do that?"

The question was more than she could bare. How could she tell him that she had to kill the baby inside her? His baby inside her... No... She couldn't. She had to tell him the only thing that could make sense. The thing the doctors wanted her to say.

"I sometimes have these episodes..." She said.

"Episodes?"

"Yes... I go into a... state. Sometimes, I see things that aren't real. And sometimes... They're so real to me, that they become real to people around me. That's all that happened. You were only responding to me, William, to my hysterics."

It wasn't the truth, but it was a story everyone could accept.

William thought about it.

Please, William... Please...

"No," said William, "That doesn't explain all the blood. Poison wouldn't do that. Why won't you tell me what really happened? What are you afraid of? You're safe now. I won't let anything happen to you. Just, please, Eilise. I need to know the truth."

Eilise became choked up again and began crying. There was no way to avoid this.

"The blood was from a miscarriage, from the poison..." Eilise did her best to talk though her sobs. "I was pregnant, William..."

William fell back into his wheel chair. He turned red. His gazed fixed on nothing. He put his hands over his face to hide his tears. It was a long time before Eilise could see his face again. He had wiped away the tears from his face, but they clung to his eyelashes, two little halos of saltwater reflecting the overbearing glow of the hospital lights.

She now saw the confusion was gone. All that was left in him was now the same sadness and emptiness that she had in herself.

"I just don't know, Eilise," he said and that was all he said. He wheeled himself out into the hallway where the nurse collected him.

Finally, the last part was satisfied and everyone could agree that it was only another case of the fucked up girl doing fucked up things and making everyone's lives miserable for no fucking reason.

That was the last time she spoke to William Johnson Jr.

Eilise cracked open the bottle of Mister Pibb on the bottle opener attached to the cold case. She took a sip of the cold soda. It tastes like summer and this summer she had a plan.

She made her way to the counter and a display of bumper stickers caught her attention. She put the bottle down on the counter and spun the rack around.

"When did we get these, Andy?" She asked.

"Oh..." Andy said, "Those came in on Friday, I just didn't get around to putting them up until now."

Eilise let out a laugh and grabbed the bumper stick that read, "God Is My Co-Pilot", and put it on the counter as well.

"Is that all?" Andy asked.

"Nope," said Eilise, "I also need a pack of Virginia Slims."

Andy shot her a look.

"Virginia Slims? For you father I suppose."

"For my mother?" Eilise threw on the charm.

"Eilise," Andy said, "Don't lie to me. I know very well your mother never smokes."

"Fine," said Eilise, "they're for me. Are you really going to make me wait to ring them up on my shift? Didn't you always say a man has the right to spend the money he earns anyway he sees fit? Or does that not apply to women?"

Andy shot her another look. He grabbed the cigarettes from the shelf and placed them on the counter.

"I think you are abusing my libertine spirit," he said. "That will be three-fifty."

Eilise gave him four dollars cash from her purse.

"You know," Andy said as he handed her back her change, "If you didn't buy these things, you'd have that car you want already. It's not going to sit there forever. Someone's going to buy it."

Outside the store, Eilise didn't hesitate to light up a cigarette and fall back onto the wall of the storefront. She exhaled deeply and God waved his hand in front of his face.

"You know I can't stand the smell of those things," God said.

"Why do you think I buy them?" She retorted.

Therapy was now a regular thing for Eilise. Lightning didn't strike twice is how they put it. It was Dr. Walden's idea for her to get a job. What she needed was regularity and goals.

Every month, it got easier to talk to Dr. Walden. God was all she had left of her magical life. Something had happened that day. It wasn't just Eilise's child that died. The Grove had died along with her. They were now going into the second year where it looked as if there would be no apples.

The magic was gone and even with her wand, Eilise had lost all her ability to cast. It was time to live a normal life as a normal girl.