The Witch Box

  Chapter Four

  Brenda came by at lunchtime. She was wearing a teal-blue suit, the skirt just above her knees. A newspaper was rolled under her arm.

  Joshua stared for a moment at his attractive stepmother. She caught his gaze and smiled at him. “What’s for lunch?”

  Max shrugged. “No greasy fast food.”

  “Subway it is,” Brenda said. She turned to Joshua. “Turkey on white?”

  “Is that my usual?” he asked.

  “Yes. With a chocolate chip cookie.”

  “Can I have a water with that?”

  “Absolutely.” She pulled out the newspaper. “Josh, do me a favor? The payroll checks are in Jay’s office and I need to hand them out. Could you get them for me?”

  Joshua nodded and left his father’s office. He knew Brenda was lying; he had seen the payroll checks in Anna’s arms this morning. The checks had already been handed out.

  Brenda is sending me on a chase to talk alone with Dad, he thought. About me.

  Joshua stayed near the doorway, eavesdropping. He looked around, to make sure no one else was watching him.

  He heard the rustle of the newspaper, but no one spoke. They were completely silent. Joshua, growing impatient, stepped away to go to Jay’s office down the hallway, the door locked. When he walked back, he saw Brenda going out the front door.

  When he entered Max’s office, the newspaper was gone, his father at his computer. “Where’s the checks?”

  “Jay’s gone, I think.”

  “Don’t worry about it. You can help Anna after lunch.”

  Joshua looked at the pile of files in front of him. He was sitting next to Anna, who was on the phone.

  Should I tell her that I don’t remember how to put this stuff away? he thought.

  Anna hung up the phone, noticing that Joshua was idle. “You okay?”

  “Did I ever do filing for you before?”

  “A few times. I can put it away later. Mostly invoices.” She stared at him for a moment. “How much do you remember, Josh?”

  “I have a hard time putting faces with names. If I get around the person, then I start to remember my history with them.”

  “Do you remember our history?”

  “Did we always know each other?”

  “For five years. My dad used to drive a truck for Max and my mom worked here before I was born.”

  “Your mom died, too.”

  “She had cancer. Your mom died in a fire at your old house.”

  “I dreamed about the fire in the hospital.”

  Anna picked up a pen, then put it down. “You’ve changed, Josh. I mean, since you got sick.”

  “How?”

  “You’re quiet. More calm. Not as cocky.”

  “Maybe I would be more confident if I didn’t feel...so helpless.”

  “Everyone here thinks you’re special.”

  Josh grinned, his cheeks felt warm. “I wonder why. What’s so special?”

  Anna did not reply. When the phone rang, they almost jumped. Anna picked up the receiver. “Hello. Max Packaging. How may I help you?”

  The work day ended with Joshua sweeping the floor downstairs around the machines. When the buzzer sounded, the downstairs employees gathered at the time clock.

  Leo was at the end of the line, waiting to punch out. Joshua put his broom in a corner, and approached the old man.

  “Hey, Josh.”

  “Hey, Leo. What did I used to do around here?”

  Leo grinned. “Well, a little bit of everything. Minors aren’t supposed to operate the machines, but you would help a lot upstairs with assembly. You were always here, unless you were home.”

  “I’d come here after school?”

  “Right. Let’s go outside and talk after I punch out.”

  Joshua followed Leo to his truck.

  “You still have plans to go to college?” Leo asked.

  “Dad mentioned something about me visiting the junior college in Falls River,” Joshua said. “But I don’t remember. Seems like everything I did over the last six months is gone. I’ll feel a little bit of a memory, and then it disappears. It’s frustrating.”

  “Your dad has always called me Leo, but you were told to call me Mr. Berman.”

  “Oh. Would you rather I—“

  “No. It’s okay. It’s just that your dad insisted. You also called Ruth Mrs. Berman. Bonnie was Mrs. Hagen. Ruth mentioned it to me at lunch. It’s no big deal, but you just seem a little different.”

  “I’m just confused. I can only hope I’m better before the baby is born.”

  “Brenda talked Colbie into living at your house. Ruth and I can accept it, but do you think—“

  “I don’t know. I want to do the right thing, but Colbie and I barely talk. It’s like we have nothing to say to each other. Do I have any friends?”

  “You had some friends. A few young guys who worked here. But they went away to school. Anna is your friend. You’re an only child; you’re used to being solitary, just like Colbie.”

  “Yeah?”

  Leo brushed his fingertips against his moustache. “You’ll be all right, Joshua. I’ll pray for you. We don’t want any harm to come to you. Keep working on your memory, but be careful who you confide in. Don’t let anyone hide anything from you.”

  The other workers had left; the parking lot almost empty. Joshua was ready to ask Leo what he meant, when they heard a loud knock. They looked up to see Brenda in an upstairs window, smiling and waving. She changed her gesture to a beckoning finger.

  “I think she wants you to go in,” Leo said. “We can talk some more later. Take care.”

  Joshua headed for the front doors. Leo entered his truck, easing his sore legs and back behind the wheel. Through his windshield, he noticed Brenda was still standing there, looking at him. He turned the key in the ignition, backing out. She couldn’t intimidate him; Ruth had kept Brenda the Bombshell in her place for years.

  Anna saw Joshua come in, but returned to her files. She couldn’t watch him all of the time, and there was no sense in scaring him.

  The whispering was a soft buzz at first. She waved her fingers near her ear, then put her hand down. She waited for a moment, listening hard. The sound was faint, but she started to hear voices. Sometimes, she heard her mother’s voice, and knew they were mocking her because she couldn’t be controlled.

  Anna opened her desk drawer. She pulled out the paperweight, made of thick glass and round at the corners. She had drawn a pentacle in red marker in the middle. She gripped the paperweight between her hands, using the protection chant she had memorized from repeated use, keeping her voice low.

  “...your servant, Anna. Hecate, I ask for protection by your spirit and the four winds...”

  The whispering stopped. Anna continued to grip the stone, her palms now clammy with sweat, her heart pounding. She put the paperweight back in her drawer.

  Maybe I can come in early tomorrow, she thought. I could burn some sage, clear this area out.

  She had returned to her filing when she felt the whole desk shake. She hesitated for a moment, but opened the drawer. When she looked inside, past the pens and Post-It notes, she found her paperweight.

  Anna picked up the thick glass, but it crumbled between her fingers. A tiny shard cut into her skin.

  She slammed the drawer shut, leaving the glass inside.

  Leo finished talking to Ruth on his cell phone, only a few miles behind her, both heading home. As he came closer to the bridge, he noticed another vehicle, a red 4x4 truck, following him. The truck picked up speed, tailgating Leo’s old Ford.

  The 4x4 stayed close as Leo got on the bridge. He looked in his rearview mirror, trying to get a look at the other driver, but large sunglasses and a baseball cap obscured the face.

  Leo sighed. He was certain who was behind the wheel, but he maintained his speed. Leo, at seventy-one, was not surprised of whatever threats came his way. He had waited over a decade for the other shoe to dr
op.

  Ruth said they should have taken Colbie and left years ago, but the couple, married for almost fifty years, would not be able to retire from Max Packaging, where they had their retirement funds and medical insurance. Max had helped them, promised he would honor Liz’s wishes.

  But we’re in the way now, Leo thought. So much for gratitude. If Josh starts to remember it all, he’s as dead as the rest of us.

  The 4x4 slammed into the back of Leo’s truck. Leo pressed on the gas, wanting to gain enough speed to pull over fast. First, he had to cross the bridge.

  Few cars passed this way, most drivers preferring to take the nearby highway to Falls River. Leo turned to the right, taking a sharp swerve from the road after getting off the narrow bridge. His truck continued to roll, then slowed, kicking up dust and gravel. The 4x4 almost clipped him, but stayed on the road, passing by. Leo took a deep breath, let it out, but his heart was pounding. He kept watching the 4x4, not surprised when he heard the tires squeal, certain the truck was making a U-turn back to him.

  Leo had no intention of leaving his truck. He reached over and opened the glove compartment, taking out the pistol, the old Colt that belonged to his brother Dean, who committed suicide after coming home from Vietnam.

  I wonder if they’re all waiting for me, he thought. Mama, Pop, Dean. I’m going to have some explaining to do.

  The 4x4 was speeding backwards, heading for him. The last thing Leo saw was the brake lights of the 4x4, smashing into the front grill of his old Ford. The 4x4 had to be going over sixty miles per hour, and Leo wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. The Ford was too old for airbags, and Leo’s head struck the steering wheel, the pistol dropping from his hand.

  “Leo never came home,” Max said.

  He hung up the phone in the kitchen. Brenda was washing the dinner dishes with Colbie. “Where would he go?”

  “Sometimes he stops for a beer at Bob’s Tavern after work,” Colbie said, “but he would be home by dinner.”

  “Ruth said she went over there,” Max said.

  “He was talking to Josh before he left,” Brenda said.

  Joshua nodded, still sitting at the table. “He seemed okay.”

  “Do you think he had a heart attack or something?” Brenda asked.

  “Grandpa’s health is fine,” Colbie said. “He brags about it enough.”

  “He and Ruth weren’t fighting, were they?”

  “No. They never argue.”

  “He’s not the type to just take off,” Max said. “Hopefully, he decided to go fishing or check out a hunting spot. Maybe something went wrong with his truck, and he’s waiting for a tow.”