Black to the Past

Chapter 24

Her phone started ringing and she saw that it was her father.
"Hey dad," Halle answered trying to put a smile on her face.
"Hello Halle. Where are you?"
"The library. I'm just leaving though," she added.
"Your mother needs your help putting the kids to bed tonight. I won't be home. I had to travel on business and I'll be gone the rest of the week," he told her.
"Really?" Halle wasn't used to her father traveling on business or for pleasure. He was a federal judge. His entire life was here.
"Why are you asking that?"
"It's just that you don't travel, dad," Halle said trying to lighten the mood with a small laugh.
"I do now. Get home," he said with a warning tone in his voice.
"On my way," Halle said, blowing air out of her mouth.
He hung up without an I love you or a goodbye. Things were definitely changing in her world.
"What was that all about," Meredith asked.
"He's out of town, on "business," Halle used air quotes when she said business.
Meredith was as used to Halle's world as Halle was and she knew that something didn't sound quite right.
"Wow! Wonder what's going on, really?"
"Yeah, me too! I'd love to be an innocent bystander and see that," Halle murmured.
"Yeah, If I could go back in time I'd love to see who my dad really is," Meredith added.
"I'd like to go see my mom one last time," Halle said sadly.
"Do you think it's for real," Meredith asked a few moments after they'd pulled out of the library parking lot and headed home.
"Who knows. But think about it, what do we really have to lose by showing up Friday?"
"Um, our lives," Meredith pointed out. "He's a crazy old man. What if he's responsible for a bunch of unsolved murders, Hal?"
"Come on, he seemed harmless. My weirdo meter didn't go off at all. In fact, everything about him put me at ease."
"What?!"
"Really, Meredith, his voice was calming. He was intelligent," Halle pointed out.
"So was Dahmer," Meredith stated matter of factly.
"I'm just saying. We don't have anything to lose by showing up at the public library," Halle explained. "We don't have to leave with him. Let's just see what he has to say. What if he has a contraption like on that show Timeless?"
"This is not a T.V. show or a movie, Halle. This is our real life. If we go with him, wherever he wants us to go, something bad could happen. Like real bad," Meredith said sadly.
They were quiet as they thought about all that could go wrong. Halle pulled into Meredith's driveway, dropped her off, and watched her go into the house. It was sad sometimes to see her going into the big house where she spent most of her time alone. Halle backed into her own driveway then and pulled into the garage.
Sure enough when she got inside her mother was alone with her younger siblings. They were still in the kitchen which was unusual for the time of evening that it was and it looked as if her mother had been crying again.
"Mom," Halle said with a small smile on her face as she entered the kitchen.
Maya jumped from her seat at the table. "Halle!" she screamed. She hopped into Halle's arms and started crying.
"What's wrong, baby?"
"Don't baby her! She's not a baby anymore," Sherry yelled.
"Mom," Halle called her mother trying not to yell back. "She's still a baby. Why are you yelling? What's wrong?"
"Your father went out of town. I know what he's doing," Sherry started then noticed Halle shaking her head no.
"Let's not talk about dad okay? Mom, you're upset. I've got the kids. Why don't you go lie down," Halle suggested. Seth was looking from his sister to his mother confused. Lately his mother was sad all the time, crying. His sister was doing the things his mother used to do for him. Stephon was asleep in his high chair. Food was drying around his mouth.
"Don't tell me what to do! You're just like your father, you guys are so bossy!" Sherry yelled as she stood up from the table.
Halle felt taken aback. Her mother had never talked to her like this before. They were always so close. Sherry was always so loving. Her father was acting completely different too. They were human, of course, they had their fair share of disagreements but this blatant anger and meanness was not what she was used to.
Halle really didn't know what to say, but her mother saved her by walking out of the room. She heard the jingle of keys and the front door slamming shut. Maya buried her head into Halle's neck and sobbed. Seth started crying too which woke up Stephon. Halle couldn't believe her misfortune. It was like she was being forced to go from being a teenager to a mother overnight.
"Maya, I need you to walk," she said, putting Maya down. "Get Seth and follow me."
Maya obediently grabbed her little brother's hand while Halle gathered Stephon up in her arms. Halle peeked out the front windows to see if her mother was outside. She couldn't see anyone, she hadn't heard the garage door open either. So up they went and had a repeat of the previous night, without Meredith's help so everything took twice as long.
By the time Halle was off to bed herself, without completing her homework, she'd forgotten that Wilson had wanted her to text. Placing her phone on her bathroom counter she noticed that she had at least 10 messages waiting for her. Before she could even respond Meredith was calling.
"Halle!" Meredith yelled into the phone.
"What?"
"Your mother went into the garage an hour ago and turned on the car," Meredith said.
"What?"
"I'm outside your house. I've been texting and calling you for over an hour. I banged on the door. Where are you?"
"I was dealing with the kids," Halle said as she ran down the stairs, phone still in hand.
She went to the side door which led to the garage. It wouldn't just be harmful to her mother if she were in the garage with the door closed, it could kill her and the kids!
She opened the door and sure enough her mother was knocked out in the front seat of her car. She opened the garage door where Meredith rushed in. She tried to yank open the front seat of her mother's Yukon Denali but the door was locked. She went around to the back of the car and there was a towel blocking the tail pipes. Her mother was commiting suicide! Halle had no idea how long it took but she had to get in that car.
"Call 911," Halle instructed Meredith.
Grabbing a hammer, Halle knocked out the passenger window and shimmied into the car. Damn these new cars that didn't have pull up locks anymore! When she was far enough in to reach the key in the ignition she turned the car off. She started coughing. The fumes in the car were overwhelming. Unlocking the door, she fell out of the car. There was nothing she could do if she died with her mother. Hopefully it wasn't too late.
The ambulance was there before she knew it.
Meredith was holding Halle in her arms. She had cuts and scratches and was bleeding. There were tears in both their eyes.
"What happened here," the paramedic asked.
Halle was too choked up to answer. Meredith spoke up right away.
"I was at home looking out my window when I saw Mrs. Blackmon go into her garage from the side of the house. I saw the light to the car go on but I never saw her open the garage door. I didn't think anything of it until I looked out the window again about an hour later and saw that the car lights were still on and the garage door was still shut. I called Halle and texted her. She never answered. I waited about ten minutes then decided to come over. When I pulled on the door, it was locked."
"Which door?"
"The side door to the garage. I pulled on it and it was locked, it's never locked. I banged on the doors to the house but Halle didn't hear me. I kept calling until she answered. I didn't know what else to do," Meredith cried.
"You did all the right things. Can you tell me how much time you think passed?"
"I don't know. You can check my phone," Meredith offered reaching for her phone in the pocket of her hoodie.
"She left out the house about 830. It was right after I got home from the library. She was mad," Halle told the policeman between coughs who she noticed was recording everything that was being said in a small notebook.
"What was she mad about?" the officer wanted to know.
"I don't know. She yelled at my sister. My sister, my brothers," Halle suddenly remembered the kids in the house and tried to stand. "I've gotta go check them. Do you think the fumes are in the house?"
Halle ran into the house without waiting for an answer. Meredith and an EMS worker ran in behind her.
"I'll check Maya's room. You check the boys," Meredith suggested.
The EMS worker followed behind Meredith. Maya was breathing just fine. The EMS worker had Meredith pick up the small child anyway.
He left her to gather the girl up and went to find the other small children in the house. Seth was coughing and Stephon was on his face. Halle grabbed him up. He wasn't breathing. Their bedroom was directly over the garage. Her father had always been adamant that they turn their cars on and pull out of the garage immediately. They normally left the windows cracked open but for some reason the windows were closed tonight.
"He's not breathing," Halle told the EMS worker.
"Let me have him," the EMS worker took the baby out of her arms and started CPR. It took less than a minute to revive him. The police officer from downstairs was now upstairs. He called for a backup ambulance.
"Miss, I know this is a lot but where is your father?"
"I don't know. He said he was out of town on business but he didn't say where."
"Can you call him," the officer was soft spoken and gentle. He recognized the picture from the mantle downstairs. It was one of the federal judges in the city. This was his wife, his home, and his kids. They needed to tread lightly. Everything needed to be handled properly.
"Yeah," Halle pulled her phone out of her back pocket. She'd never even had a chance to change her clothes from when she'd gone to the library.
The phone rang and rang. She couldn't understand why her father wouldn't be able to pick up since it was so late at night. Maybe he was asleep but somehow she doubted it. She tried his number again. This time he picked up on the last ring.
"Halle, what is it? Why aren't you in bed?" her father asked her angrily.
"Dad, dad something awful has happened, I think you need to come home," Halle told him about her mother and the baby.
"Is she dead?"
"Dad, I don't know. Is-is my mother dead?"
"They're still trying to revive her. May I speak to your father?"
Halle handed the police officer the phone.
"Sir, this is Officer Pitts. Your family has had a rough night. Whether or not your wife survives they will need you home as soon as possible. Which hospital should your family be transported to?"
"The Clinic. I'll meet you there," the judge told the officer.
"What did he say," Halle asked the officer.
"He'll meet us there," the officer told her.
Halle simply shook her head. It was as she thought. Her father wasn't truly out of town. Maybe he was far enough away to consider it a different town but he wasn't out of town in the truest sense of the meaning of out of town. She exchanged a look of knowledge with the officer before she hung her head in shame. She wished she could disappear in a time machine right now!