A Daydreamer Family
by James Michael
part 1
It was a beautiful summer day in Spencer, Oklahoma. Xavier had spent most of the morning riding bikes with his friends, but once everyone started getting hungry for lunch, they all returned to their homes. Xavier was walking next to his bike while enjoying a leisurely walk through downtown Spencer. He stared at all the shops and dreamt about what things must have been like when these stores were first opened.
Xavier didn’t daydream the way most people did; he had a gift. When Xavier would look at an old building and think about all of the things that had happened, his mind would be transported, and he would find himself on a tour of the past.
He walked by an old store that had its windows boarded up but still displayed a banner that read “Furniture Liquidation Sale! Everything Must Go!” He saw the store first opening and a well-dressed black man tying down a banner that announced “BOB’s Furniture Now Open!”
The man stood up to inspect the sign and then stepped back to take in the larger scene of his very first store. Suddenly, a beautiful young girl came running up to the man in her Sunday dress and pigtails, which featured beads at the end of each.
“Daddy!” the little girl shouted, and the man bent down and scooped up his happy daughter into his arms. He twirled her and then shifted her to his hip.
“Who is Bob?” the little girl asked when she read the sign.
The man laughed as he responded, “Well, sweetie, you can think of Bob as a secret. You see how all of the letter of that name are big and capitalized? I did that because B.O.B. stands for ‘Black Owned Business.’ I wanted our black brothers and sisters to know that shopping at our store would be safe for them and would support our small community here.”
When Xavier made it to the edge of the old shop’s parking lot, he yelled to the man and his daughter. “Congratulations and best of luck!” The man and his daughter did not acknowledge Xavier’s good wishes. This was the part of Xavier’s gift that he didn’t appreciate. All of the lives he got to witness were completely oblivious to his presence.
Xavier was twelve years old now and had just completed the sixth grade. Next year, he would be entering middle school. He wasn’t worried about the change, though. As one of the taller kids in his class, he never had a hard time making friends. It also helped that he was a very kind person and always tried to help someone if he saw them in need.
Xavier walked up to his grandmother’s house and found her sitting in her rocking chair on the wrap-around front porch. He could tell by the wet patches on her jeans that she had been working in her garden. He thought that was probably her favorite thing to do. She was always on her way to do some extra work in her flower beds or garden.
“Hey, Grannie. Have you had lunch yet?” Xavier asked.
“Not yet,” his grannie responded, “but if you are hungry, why don’t you head on in there and make us some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?”
Xavier went in through the screen door and heard the comforting slap of the light wooden frame as it closed behind him. He had lived with his grandmother his whole life. He had never met his father, and his mother was always in and out of the picture.
Every time he saw his mother, she would explain that she had just started a new job and was getting their place ready for him to come stay with her. He had heard her say this to him so many times that now the idea of leaving his grandmother’s home was almost terrifying to him.
After he made Grannie a sandwich and delivered it to her with a loving kiss on the cheek, he came back into the kitchen to clean up. He was returning the bread to the pantry when he heard a loud crash from behind the basement door at the other end of the kitchen. He went to inspect.
He opened the door and jumped as Whiskers, his orange and white cat ran out of the basement and in between his legs in a hurry to get to the front yard. He heard Grannie call to Whiskers once it made it outside and could tell that Whiskers was now receiving all of the attention she could want.
Grannie loved Whiskers as much as Xavier did, which he always found funny considering how many chores he had to do in order to convince his grandmother to allow him to keep the kitten when he’d first found it in Grannie’s garden.
Xavier made his way down into the basement to see what mess Whiskers had created. He stepped gingerly because, despite the sturdy feel of the wooden steps, the staircase always looked as though it could collapse at any moment. Xavier was fascinated by the basement, with its brick walls and all of the secrets it undoubtedly kept, but his fascination was only matched by how creepy he found it.
When Xavier made it to the bottom of the stairs, it was obvious where the noise had come from. One of the metal shelves had fallen over, dumping some photo albums and holiday decorations to the floor. Xavier examined the room and started daydreaming as he made his way over to the fallen shelves. He lifted the shelves back upright and was startled; under the shelves a little black girl lying with her hands and feet tied behind her back.
“Oh my God. What happened here?”
It was easy enough for Xavier to recognize that this was a part of his daydream, but realizing something so sinister had taken place at his grandmother’s house was shocking.
“She looks like she is still alive.”
As Xavier spoke, the little girl’s eyes shot open, and she squirmed as fast as she could against the wall. Xavier stood up and scanned around him, expecting to find another person in his daydream who might be scaring this girl but, when he looked around, he saw no one.
“Who are you?” the little girl said. She appeared to be looking right at Xavier as she spoke.
Xavier again looked around, expecting to see someone else, but he was still alone.
“They put me down here yesterday, and I didn’t see you then. So who are you, and why are you down here?” she asked. Frustrated by Xavier’s confusion, she became more pointed with her questions. “And where did you get those funny clothes? What is Nike?” she pronounced the brand without saying the ‘e’.
Xavier looked down at his shirt, which displayed the big recognizable red “swoosh” with the slogan: “Nike: Just do it” on his chest. He also wore denim shorts and basketball shoes which read “AIR” in big bubble letters on the sides.
“Are you talking to me?” Xavier asked.
“Who else would I be talking to? We are in a basement, Einstein,” she responded.
“How can you see me?” he questioned. “No one has ever been able to see me before. And you can hear me, too?”
“I take it you aren’t from around here. I’m Norma.”
“Hi, Norma. I’m Xavier. How do you know I am not from around here?”
“Well, like I said, your clothes are weird, but I also have a power. I’m a witch, or at least that is what the nice couple that threw me down here say. A witch, an abomination, and they also call me some other words that I don’t care to repeat. They don’t like black people, I don’t think.”
“A witch? Wait, what kind of ‘power’ do you have?”
“Since you are talking to me,” Norma responded, “I would guess it is the same kind of power that you have. Are you able to see people that aren’t really there? It feels like you are imagining them, but at the same time, you know what you are seeing isn’t from your imagination. Sound about right?”
“Exactly! I didn’t know there was anyone else like me. Are there others? Like have you ever met anyone with the same sort of gifts?” Xavier asked.
“Just my dad. They murdered him for it though. Before they took him, he told me to not tell anyone. But since you aren’t really here, I figure you ain’t much of a threat.”
“I suppose that is true. I’m sorry they did that to your dad. Speaking of threats. though, who tied you up and put you down here?”
“The couple that lives here, the Dukes.”
“Well, let’s see if we can mess up their plans. Let me see if I can untie you.”
Norma rolled to her stomach, and Xavier was able to see that her hands were bound separately from her ankles but there was a longer rope that connected her ankles to her wrists. She didn’t look like she was in any pain, but the rope was definitely doing a great deal to restrict her movement.
He reached for the ropes and tried to get a good grip on one of the knots, but his hand passed right through the rope and even through Norma’s forearm.
“Did you feel that?” Xavier asked.
“Did I feel what?”
“I just tried to grab the rope to untie you, but my hand went right through the knot and your arm. I’m glad it didn’t hurt you, at least.”
“I didn’t even feel any air moving. I guess that idea is out. Anything else you can do to help me? I’m afraid we’re running out of time.”
Xavier thought for a moment. “That’s it! Time!” Xavier pulled his phone out of his pocket. Norma looked at him with confusion.
“Why do you have a piece of glass in your pocket?”
“This is my phone. I can use it to try and find out some info about the Dukes. What is the date?”
“That is a phone?” Norma questioned with her eyes wide. “The Dukes have one, too, but it’s stuck to the wall in the kitchen. And I am pretty sure it is June 19th, 1941. Their first names are Donald and Martha, if that helps.”
Xavier did a quick search for “Donald and Martha Duke 1941,” but when he read the results, he did a double-take. “Do they have a Cadillac?”
“Yes,” Norma responded. “That is the kind of dealership they have. They’re always driving a new one. How did you know?”
Xavier continued to read on his phone while he answered. “The small community of Spencer and the larger Oklahoma City area are saddened at the news of the tragic passing of Donald and Martha Duke. The couple was driving on Thursday evening when Donald seems to have lost control of the car near the bridge over Crutcho Creek. The Cadillac left the bridge and planted nose-first into the river below. Donald and Martha had no children, but they were very involved in the local community, which had turned Duke’s Cadillac into one of the busiest dealerships in the area.”
Then Xavier turned his phone to show Norma the picture that accompanied the article. It showed a car in a river, stood vertically on its front bumper with the trunk and rear windshield being the only parts of the car that remained intact and above the water.
“That’s their car!” Norma declared.
Then Xavier’s face turned with a new thought that entered his mind, and he brought the phone back in front of his face. His eyes widened. “What date did you say it is for you?”
“It’s June 19th, 1941. Why?”
“This accident happens today! Norma, we have to get you out of here!”
Norma started to squirm frantically, and Xavier continued to swipe at the air as he hoped that he could grab a knot. He knew it was no use for him to try and help, and he tried desperately to come up with an idea. Then his eyebrows raised as the gears turned in his head. “I’ve got it! You said they had called you a witch, right? Maybe we can convince them enough that you are a witch to scare them away!”
“Yeah, but how can we convince them I am a witch? You can’t help me move anything, remember?”
Xavier pulled up his phone and started searching for information on the couple that could be used to convince them that Norma had powers.
“Here’s something. It looks like in 1939 they had a baby girl named Sadie, but she died before her first birthday. One note about Sadie listed here is that she liked ducks. So, when they come down here to get you. Just act like you are a witch and that you can talk to Sadie. Tell them she is watching them and doesn’t want them to hurt you. Then, promise them that you will grant them another child if they let you go.”
Norma smiled, “I think that’s a pretty good plan if I ever heard one. Don’t leave me, okay?”
“I promise,” Xavier assured her.
Copyright © 2024 by James Michael
