One Wish, continued...(part 4)
“Yeah, Phil? Can you send a car around? I need to take one of my patients home for a minute and then I’ll come right back….the Micheals’ girl. She cannot go back and stay with her foster parents, not after the things she told me today…yeah it’ll all be in the report…Oh, she’s there because her mother died. Drowned, I believe…Suicide, maybe foul play…yeah, that’s what made the teacher suspicious, she talked about things her mother tells her to do and says things her mother told her, et cetera…Yeah, a real nutcase, but maybe there’s something to it, anyway, cases of abuse and rape evident…maybe more…Much worse…Look, do you have a box of matches?…Just plain kitchen matches…I promised her that I would give them to her if she would let me hypnotize her…yeah, I did. Well, I know it’s against the rules for me to…she promised she’d be careful, and she’s very reliable in that department…She just wants to light some candles, I assume it’s safe…I don’t know…Look, I gotta go, she’s in my office right now and I’m afraid for her…If you only knew. Bring the car around, anyway…You’ll know what I mean when you meet her…See ya in a few minutes…Love you, too.”
The doctor’s back now, but no matches, “My friend’s bringing them, she and I are going to take you home to get your stuff.” He plopped down in the chair behind his desk, “Do you mind if you stayed with a friend of mine until later this week? I promise that he’s really nice.”
A knock at the door, I wonder who it is, I get up to answer it, They told me not to answer the door anymore because of the salesmen incident, I didn’t know they weren’t supposed to come in, it’s not my fault, it’s not my fault! No, don’t touch me!!! Another autograph across my cheek, no one can see the bruises anyway.
I sat back down, it’s the doctor’s friend, she gave the doctor a hug and set a box of matches down in front of me. “This is Phil. Phil, this is the girl I was telling you about, introduce yourself.”
Flashback: ‘Don’t talk back to your elders, don’t tell my secrets, go away, you’re an idiot.’
“I don’t want to.”
A shrug, a laugh, “Here are your matches, do you mind if I hold on to them until we get back from your house, I mean the Micheals’ house.”
“Who are the Micheals?”
“The people you stay with, they’re the Micheals.”
“The Micheals…hmmmmm…. I don’t like the Micheals.”
“You have good reason to. Come on, let’s go.”
The doctor had a blue car, I don’t like blue cars anymore, “Jim has a blue car. He has a brown car, too, but I don’t like what he does in the blue car, I like the brown car better. I can’t remember what he does in the brown car. Can I have a drink? Is the drink brown? Jim always gave me a brown drink to go with the brown car and a blue drink to go with the blue car. I don’t like the blue drinks very much, I remember the blue car, not the brown one. Yes I like this car better, red is a good color, no red drinks, always blue or brown.” A raised eyebrow from them both, what does that mean?
“Who’s Jim?”
“He’s Brother’s friend, but They…what were their names?…The Micheals don’t like Brother to hang out with him. I can though because I’m not as valuable as Brother is. I’m not worth anything so Jim can have me, if he wants. He doesn’t like me to talk either, he told me it was a secret, and I told him that I wouldn’t tell. I am very good at keeping secrets. You don’t count, though, because you’re a doctor, right? I didn’t spoil my wish when I told you my secrets, did I?”
“What wish?”
“If you tell people your secrets, your wish doesn’t come true, this year I get two wishes. Only one wish a year, but this year I get two. I’ve been a really good girl.” I laugh but they can’t hear me laugh. Laughter isn’t a good thing, it means you’re weak. No one can tell me I’m weak, I’m not weak.
I have to get into the house, but I don’t have a key…what do you do when you want to get into somewhere? The window only works going out, cuz you can’t reach it from the ground. What do you do when you want to get into somewhere?
The doctor and his friend…Phil…they knock at the door, but They told me not to answer the door because of the salesmen, They don’t like salesmen. No one should answer the door, but Jim does anyway; he never listens to Them, that’s why they don’t like him.
“Hey, sweetheart”, his voice sounds a little slurred. “Wanna go for a ride, huh? Come on, it’ll be fun. Remember the beach last time? You had fun, didn’t you? I brought my mom’s car, and I have a surprise for you… “
He grabs my arm and we go, I wave to the Doctor. This time it’s the brown car and the brown drink, “Wanna have a drink/ but remember it has to be gone before we get to the beach..”
“I don’t like the brown drink anymore.”
“Drink it anyway, you stupid Bitch!” Another bruise on my arm, but no one can see the bruises. I drink, my throat burns. The Doctor is trying to get into the car before we go. Why would he want to go to the beach with us? He doesn’t want to drink the brown liquid. Jim doesn’t want to take the Doctor, but the Doctor wants to go. No, the Doctor doesn’t want to go. Jim’s on the ground now, no more Jim, blood comes out of his nose, thick. The Doctor looks mad, Phil is in the house with Them, the Micheals. No more Jim.
“Don’t drink the brown liquid! No more brown liquid for you!” I don’t remember the rest, I don’t remember the brown liquid, my throat burns.
Doctor wants me to go into the house and get my things so that I can go with him to his friend’s house. I told him that I wanted my matches now.
“Okay, here you go, but remember, be careful.” I will, one wish. A smile from us both. I haven’t smiled in a long time. Mother says it’s not a good thing to smile when you’re surrounded by the enemy. Everyone’s the enemy. The Doctor doesn’t count though, he’s not anybody. I smile again. It makes me feel better. I go into the sitting room, Buzz is asleep on the couch so I tiptoe around it to the back, four candles sit in a row along the edge of the trim behind it. I have the candles and now I have the matches. One wish, one wish, this year I get two.
Doctor says it’s time to go, I grab the rug, it is a very comfortable rug, and I can’t forget the matches. No matches, no sparkle, no candles. Can we go to the beach first? I want to go to the beach, the tide’s coming in. I run to the fence and make quick work of it. Now I’m tall enough to get over it without a rope. They won’t follow me, I’m just going to the beach. Mother said that I could have her wish, if I could find the candles, today’s her birthday. Four candles, surely enough to make a wish, surely?
Footsteps in the background, footsteps following me, I didn’t think they would. No cake, but the sand’ll do, the sand likes the candles too. Put the rug on the rock. “Mother would you like a piece of cake?…Yes, so would I, so would I. Here, let me bring you a piece. No, you first, it’s your birthday, mother…. What? No they don’t want me to be here, mommy, they want to take me away, here, I’ll bring you a piece. Do you want a big piece?… Are you going to blow out the candles, or can I?…I know you said I could, but…maybe you changed your mind with all this time? NO?
Well, then, I know what I’ll wish for…..hmmmmmm…two wishes in one year…two wishes two wishes two wishes, what’ll it be?
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