Wild Confines
by Shauna Checkley
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Table of Contents parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
part 5: Conclusion
A week had passed, and Paris Jade had begun to occupy the old fruit cellar of Owen’s great-uncle Tobias. She disappeared into it for hours at a time, as she had previously done in Owen’s basement. She had even begun to refer to it as her “Armageddon bunker.”
“Paris, you have to come out of there now. C’mon!”
Peering down, he saw she was reading the Bible with his foot-long flashlight. Her spiky, pink hair had become matted. She was sitting cross-legged. She looked up at him impishly. She smiled her crooked, blackened smile. She let the book and the light go limp in her arms. Then she shook her head. “Can’t. Besides, what difference does it make if I’m down here or in the basement anyhow?”
He frowned. “C’mon!”
“Can’t.”
“Why?”
She didn’t respond for a long while. Finally, she asked, “How are the girls?”
Sitting on his haunches, he called down to the dimness below him, “That’s why you’ve gotta come back. They are worried about you. They miss you.”
Desperate, he searched her face for answers. He set upon her eyes and expression for any such clues. “Besides, what about taking them into the city on weekends so they can have an outing and a bit of fun? They should be at the pool or one of the playlands right now.”
Her face fell. She looked vaguely guilty for a moment. But then returned to an inexpressive state. To any passerby, Owen would have appeared comical, crazy even, talking into a hole in the ground.
It was a calm day outside. The wind hardly moved, which for Saskatchewan was an unlikely blessing. Late autumn now, a coolness was in the air, winter’s breath coming, it seemed. The prairies were as hushed and vacant as ever. Worlds would have to burst before anything registered there. However, Owen’s world had begun to feel like it was imploding.
Paris Jade refused to leave the cellar, even when Owen reminded her that garter snakes could show up down there, something he had been hesitant to even suggest. Rather, she seemed to become even more attached to the space. It was her new hideaway, her everything.
“Please, Paris, c’mon! What’s this all about anyways?”
Her enigmatic face became instantly troubled. “Things are starting now, I reckon. The tribulation, the Rapture, it’s all coming. I’m just preparing. There could even be a zombie apocalypse, who knows? Promise me you’ll bring the girls here if that starts up.”
Her green eyes were wide, pleading. Her voice earnest.
Owen paused. He tugged on his beard nervously. What can you say to that? He half-agreed with her. He recalled his old church-going days with his grandparents. He recalled allusions to such biblical events. Back then, it had seemed like it was all reserved for some future, faraway day. But had that day now come? Was he living in that very faraway future today? Given the level of social unrest on TV each night, all the rioting and protesting, a collapse of sorts seemed inevitable. But why hole up in a fruit cellar? What does that prove?
He continued to stare down and watch her. The cellar was sturdy and in remarkably good shape for being as old as it was. The cement floor was uncracked. The brick walls were without blemish. Though the wood shelves were empty and had been so for years, it was filled with long, hanging cobwebs, spirals come undone. Even Paris Jade squatted there seemed fitting somehow, like she was a ghoulish, cosmic signpost.
“Look, we need you up here. The girls need you. I... I need you, too.” He paused surprised by the words that slid so easily out of his mouth.
It was true. He did need her. Not just the parenting aspect and for company. There was something else. He didn’t think it was necessarily romantic or sexual or anything. So, what was it? What do I need her for? Drama? Fun? He wasn’t certain. He knew that he’d have to ruminate on that one for a while.
Paris Jade looked up at him quizzically. “Look I feel safe, is all. This is my Armageddon bunker. I’m good where I am.” She was adamant.
He nodded slightly then slid the door to the cellar shut.
Walking away, he conjured up a new plan. The grandmother, Shauna Lennox. I need to get in touch with her. Maybe she can help sort out this whole thing.
Once inside, he whipped his phone out of his pocket and began a search for the woman. He was glad that it was the weekend, and the girls were napping. Gives me a bit of time... Much to his delight, she was easily found on social media. He perused her site and left a message.
Stroking his beard, he worried about contacting the woman. What will happen when Paris finds out? Will she go loco again? He hoped not. If only for the girls sake, if nothing else. I can deal with her craziness, but I don’t want the girls to witness all of that. Now I just have to wait till this Grandma Shauna messages me back. That’s all...
Flicking the TV on, he muted it and watched the canned news channel. Food riots. Money collapse riots. Riots of every description. Social unrest. He blinked back tears. What can anyone do? Suddenly, he wondered if Paris weren’t the truly sane one after all.
With her bottom becoming rock hard from sitting on the cement for hours, Paris Jade shifted her position. She considered all that Owen had said. She felt badly for the twins. Yet she believed that what she was doing was prudent, necessary even.
“Eventually, they will all likely end up down here with me anyways. That’s if we are the unlucky ones that get left behind when the Rapture comes. Then we will have to hole up for real. We will have to hide, scrounge, plead for our lives. At least then, though, I won’t have to worry so much about the serpents... They will likely be roaming freely by that time, calling the shots.”
She resurfaced that evening and sat at the blond-wood dining table. She smiled weakly at the others. It was suppertime. They were having the last of the deer sausage and baked potatoes with sour cream.
“Jewel, you’ll have to get off me. I can’t cut your food if you’re wrapped around my neck.”
But the child who was sitting on her lap clung even more tightly. Whined. Nearly cried.
“Jewel, please!” Paris Jade said, the impatience rising in her voice.
Finally, the child climbed off her mother and plopped down on the chair beside her.
As ever, Paris Jade cut their food up finely.
Paris Jade had a ferocious appetite because it was the only time she ate. She would come every evening like a wild, hungry thing.
Owen picked at his plate. Dreading what he expected would be the coming storm, he sat with his face down. He had considered texting his buddy Dan about the goings-on. But believed he would only be admonished for allowing things to escalate. I’ve Been keeping all this a secret. Dan will be aghast if he finds out what turn things have taken. Like a cranky vision, he pictured Dan in his mind’s eye. Small and burly with a perpetual stubble, he was no-nonsense Dan, a force of nature in his own right.
“Whatsamatter with you?” Paris Jade asked, gaily. She was enjoying both the food and the company. Even though everyone else at the dining table appeared glum.
Owen shrugged. He didn’t want to say much in front of the kids.
Eating lustily, Paris Jade was absorbed. A piece of pinkish, wild meat lolled about on her tongue and, with her teeth cracked and missing, it seemed like something out of a post-apocalyptic Hollywood movie. Owen racked his brain to try and remember which blockbuster it reminded him of: Mad Max? Or what? He wasn’t certain.
Then he heard his cell phone go off. Snatching up his phone, he saw it was a text from Grandmother Shauna. OMG! It’s her!
Though Owen had a strict rule about no technology while dining, he bolted from the table. Rules went out the window here a long time ago. He went into the nearby bathroom.
I am Paris’s mother. Where is she? What do you know about her and my granddaughters? Please let me know, as I’m desperate!
Feeling his heart race, Owen stared at the words. Then seeing urine in the toilet bowl because one of the kids forgot to flush, he pressed on the flapper. A loud swoosh cleared it all away and quickly typed a reply.
They are staying with me. The kids are fine. Paris isn’t using, so don’t worry. I live on an acreage. But this last week she won’t venture much out of the fruit cellar. She calls it her apocalypse bunker. I don’t know what to do. Any suggestions?
There was a pause. Then a light knocking on the bathroom door. “I gotta go pee! Lemme in!” It was Emerald.
Exiting the bathroom, Owen strode to the living room. Seeing that a reply was coming, he waited anxiously for it.
Can you tell me where? I’d like to check on them and try and reason with her.
Owen replied:
I live twenty miles east of Regina just off of the TransCanada. Turn left. There’s an old rusted out sign that says Jurgenmeister Flats. I don’t know how Paris will react though.
Another pause. Then they concluded swiftly:
Can I drive out tomorrow morning?
Sure. See u then
Thanks Owen Bye
Returning to the kitchen, he was dismayed to see that Paris Jade had already left, slipped out the back door and was gone.
Both little girls rushed to him and hugged his knees. He looked down at them helplessly.
* * *
Flinging open the fruit cellar door, Owen called down to Paris Jade. “There’s somebody here to see you.”
Paris Jade winced at the sudden assault of morning light. Then she saw her. Mom. Granny Shanny. Bent down and pressing towards her.
Springing to her feet, Paris Jade darkened. Her face morphed into an ugly mask. “What the hell? What’s going on? Now both of you are going behind my back, eh, Owen?!”
“Paris, c’mon,” her mom urged
“What?”
“Come out of there! You can’t just hole up like that. What about the girls?”
Pointing her finger at Owen, Paris Jade spat, “I trusted you!”
He frowned.
“Grandma! Grandma!” called the twins. Then they tackled her in turn. Holding in tight bear hugs, they clung to Granny Shanny.
Pulling nervously on his beard, Owen spoke: “Look, it’s your Armageddon bunker. That’s okay, I get it. But save it until it’s really needed. Right now, you have the kids to deal with.”
Paris Jade said nothing. Her lips were pressed together in a severe line.
Calling down the hole again, her mom added, “Yes, that’s so true! You need to focus on the here and now. That’s all.”
Paris Jade reluctantly climbed the fruit cellar ladder and joined them. Glumly, she stood apart.
“Let’s go in and have coffee,” Owen urged. “We can talk about all this, straighten everything out.”
The group went inside, and he poured a round of coffee for all.
Sipping her coffee, Paris sat silent. But she took in all around her. She saw all the support she had around her. Owen. Her mom. It had never occurred to her before that she did, in fact, have the help she needed, even though people and events didn’t always go as smoothly as she wished. There was still the basic structure of goodness present and available to her.
Most of all, she saw the happiness of the little girls. That’s all that really matters, right? She believed as much. Seeing how the girls were nearly delirious over Grandma, Paris Jade felt her anger subside somewhat. Maybe I should just give everybody a break? Especially Mom. Who knows?
Exhaling deeply, she felt her anxiety release. And for the first time in ages, she felt the possibility of reconciliation and peace with her mom, with the serpents, with all.
Copyright © 2024 by Shauna Checkley
