Haunted

Life

        I couldn’t believe that five years had passed. I finished my degree in three years instead of the standard four. I was now doing my internship at a local designing warehouse located a few minutes away from my apartment. The day we had escaped Steven had drove us to the farthest city he could and then we flew to the other side of the country. We were now living in New York.  The city was alive with all the lights and colors. Steven decided that he would move to Florida with his pregnant wife, Amanda. She was a psychologist. Steven was going to open his own auto mechanic shop down there. Mama lived only fifteen minutes away. In fact, I would always drive by after work just to see how she was doing. I urged her to find someone, but she would look at me and laugh “I’m okay being by myself, I don’t need anyone right now” She was a librarian at a high school and she absolutely loved it. As I was driving to her house I was thinking about what to get Steven for his twenty-fifth birthday. He would probably want a new tool kit or even maybe the vintage steering wheel he’s been eyeing. The possibilities were endless, finally I saw my mother’s cozy little apartment. I parked, walked up the stairs careful not to fall, it was slippery. The storm the next before had encased everything in its grasp in shimmery translucent ice. The result was beautiful but deadly. I rang the doorbell and was completely surprised by the fact that Steven was here.

         “Steven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I screamed sounding like a banshee, but I didn’t care, I hadn’t seen him in three months due to our busy schedules. “Hey lil’ sis what’s going on?” I told him everything that happened in the past three months including me starting the internship and getting offers from a local designing company. He told me how the move was going and that Amanda was going to burst any minute from now. “Steven” I chided gently “Saying that Amanda’s going to burst is a bit insensitive don’t you think?” “Nope” came the unrepentant reply. Mama just laughed, I turned to her and I was pleased to see that the dark lines that once marred her pretty face were no more. “Mama, how are you?” She smiles “Fine baby, just fine.” We sit and chat for about an hour and then Steven has to leave, Amanda’s craving for some hot wings, “Well you best get her some before she kills you.” He grins “Nah, she wouldn’t make her child an orphan.” I smirk deviously “You sure ‘bout that?”  He quickly exits after that. Mama looks at me expectantly, I look at her with all innocence. She raises her eyebrow at me, I smile serenely at her. She breaks the silence “What? No telling me I need a man?” “Mama, you need a man.” I say dutifully. She snorts and I just laugh. “What about you?” she asks me.

        The question is so unexpected that I begin to choke. Mama rushes to the kitchen to get me water, I drink gratefully and then I exclaim “Where’d that come from?!” She shrugged deviously “Well, if I need one, then you need one as well.” I shake my head “I need to work on my career, you know that.” “But I want grandchildren!” Mama whines “Steven’s already on that.” "But I want more. And I want you to be happy." I inwardly sigh. "Mama I am a modern woman who doesn't need a man to validate her existence." She pouts, “Fine” She smiles deviously “There’s this guy…” she trails off, looking at me hopefully. “No mama.” I say “But I want--”.  I shake my head again. I check the time, it’s almost ten o’clock. “Mama, I gotta go. I’ll see you again soon. Bye, love you.” She bade me goodbye and I walked out. I got in my car and I began to drive, as I was parking in my designated space the apartment manager had given me, I realized the night watchman wasn’t there.

        I found it odd because he had never missed a night ever since I knew him and he was always there before I got home. Maybe it’s just one of those days. I walked inside I saw the lobby was empty. Mara wasn’t there either, but I remembered that she said she was closing up early when I talked to her this morning. I thought nothing of the silence, even though later I wished I had. I got in the elevator and pressed my floor number. When it dinged I got out and walked towards the end of the hall. I opened my door and stepped inside. For a second I couldn’t understand what was wrong, the foreboding didn’t make sense, I was terrified for no apparent reason. My hands were clammy and my heart was pumping ferociously to a beat that was too erratic for me to even describe metally let alone articulate verbally. But it clicked as I stepped inside and walked closer to my doom. The lights were on and there was a man in my living room. And all the while I was thinking I should have stayed with Mama.