Cursed

Chapter Eighteen

On the other side of town, Jayden opened his eyes, awaking from a deep sleep. A glance at the clock on his car dashboard revealed it was just past dinnertime.

He rubbed his head, not understanding how he’d just fallen asleep in the parking lot of a gas station. His car was boiling hot, and sweat soaked his clothing and ran down his face. He started the car and rolled down the window, gasping in air. His phone had six texts and three missed calls, one from Mickey, one from his mother and one from Tara.

Where you at? Party starts in an hour. Need ride! Mickey had texted two hours before.

His head felt like it was stuffed with wool. Jayden looked around him, uncertain what he was doing in the city on a Saturday. He came to this gas station sometimes after he left his mother’s, but he didn’t recall seeing his mother today.

What the hell was wrong with him? How did he not know where he spent the day?

He picked up his phone and sent a quick text to Mickey to see if he still needed a ride.

Jayden waited for his air conditioner to chill the car’s interior before rolling up the window. His thoughts began to clear without the oppressive heat, and he pulled on his seatbelt.

He drove home, unable to explain his blackout and the missing time. He tried hard to remember what he’d planned to do today without success. By the time he got home, he was troubled but glad that the strange headache was gone.

He parked out back and went in through the kitchen. The windows of his father’s manor glowed warmly, casting cheerful yellow light into the garden. He breathed in the scent of night blooming jasmine deeply, then paused, recognizing a second scent.

Vanilla. It reminded him of something, though he couldn’t quite place what.

Shaking his head, he was upbeat by the time he walked in through the kitchen, the headache forgotten. The family chef was joined by an assistant in the kitchen that smelled richly of homemade bread, barbeque sauce, steamed veggies and some sort of fruit torte.

Jayden’s stomach growled. He waved at the chef and continued through to the staircase leading to the second floor. Tara had texted twice more while he drove home, demanding he return to take her to the party.

He barely reached the top of the stairs when Chelsea let out one of her shrieks of anger. Seconds later, Izzy joined her.

Jayden grimaced, not looking forward to dealing with the twins when they were upset. He covered his ears.

“Stop it!” Tara shouted above their screams. She stormed out of the girls’ playroom, nearly running him over in the process. She was dressed in a slinky party dress, her hair and makeup done and her jewelry on. “Jay! What took you so long! You have any idea what I’ve been dealing with?”

Jayden grated his teeth.

“I’m getting my shoes, and we’re going.” Tara was furious. She punched him in the arm and swept by him. “We’re already late, Jayden!”

“All right,” he said.

The girls’ screams grew louder, and he flinched, some of his headache returning.

There were days when he could handle them and days when he just closed the door and went to his room.

Today was one of those days.

He pulled the door to their playroom closed. It muffled the horrible screeching without silencing it, but it was good enough for now.

Jayden went to his room and closed the door. He glanced down at himself, unsettled to discover he didn’t remember getting dressed this morning or why he was in chinos and a polo instead of jeans, his normal weekend clothing.

Like he’d been trying to impress someone. Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember who that was.

His cell rang, and he answered automatically.

“Why you didn’t tell me you’re going to see Grandmama tomorrow?” his mother demanded.

“Hello to you, too, Mama,” he answered, rubbing his eyes.

“You weren’t going to take me?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you lie to me, boy. Just because you’re your father’s son, you don’t get to lie to me.”

“Mama, I’m not going to see Grandmama tomorrow. I don’t care what her spirits are telling her,” he said with tried patience.

“No, Jay, she called me and said you’re coming tomorrow and did I want to come, too? And I told her you hadn’t even told me. She said you were coming to talk about the girl whose ear she cut off.”

“Grandmama did what now?” he asked, surprised.

“She cut the ear off that girl you brought out there. What wrong with you, Jay?”

“I didn’t bring any girl out there, except Kimmie,” he replied, baffled to the point of amusement. Where did his grandmama come up with this stuff? “I’d remember if Grandmama cut off Kimmie’s ear.”

“Kimmie ain’t white.”

“Can I call you tomorrow? I’m kind of trying to go somewhere tonight,” he said, rolling his eyes. He kicked off his shoes and went to his closet, stopping in the doorway.

The girls had been in the box of junk his grandmama gave him. He frowned at the cat paw keychain and voodoo good luck charms strung along the floor of his closet.

“You lie to me then want to get rid of me,” his mother complained.

“No, Mama,” he said with a grunt, kneeling to grab the junk on his floor and toss them back into the box at the back of the closet. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Silence then, “You wearing your dog tags, Jay?”

He touched his neck, about to reassure his mother when he realized he wasn’t. Jayden glanced down and tugged shirt away from his chest to see if they’d fallen down and gotten caught somewhere inside.

“Actually, no,” he replied. “Weird. Pretty sure I had them on earlier today.”

“Grandmama told you never to take them off. That’s a family heirloom. What’s wrong with you, Jayden?”

“I’m sure they’re around here somewhere,” he replied. “Look, I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

She hung up on him.

Jayden sighed.

His mother was furious at him and babbling nonsense that warned him she might be on drugs again. Grandmama cutting off someone’s ear? Him voluntarily going to visit?

“Crazy,” he muttered. He tossed the last of the weird gifts from his mother’s family into the box.

His gaze lingered on the box, and he recalled the other heirloom he’d been given this week. One he wished he’d never touched, let alone inherited. He wasn’t certain if the girls took anything with them or were just playing in his closet. He hadn’t thought about them finding the key when he tossed it in with the rest of his junk but considered it now. The voodoo stuff – if gross – was harmless.

The key was evil. He wasn’t superstitious, but something with a history like the one it had was nothing short of sickening.

Jayden tugged the box into the direct light and rifled through it.

The key was gone.

He looked through it again then straightened, feeling ill at the thought of the girls playing with the key.

“Jayden!” Tara pounded on his door.

“Jesus, give me a freakin’ break tonight!” he pleaded, glancing up at the ceiling.

Screaming girls, a pissy Tara, a blackout, his mother and grandmama …

He wrenched open his door, fed up. “You mind?” he snapped at Tara, who blocked his way.

Seeing the expression on his face, she closed her mouth and stepped aside.

Jayden stalked to the playroom, where the girls were taking turns screaming. He walked in, and they stopped briefly, facing the door to see who it was.

“Stop!” he ordered when Chelsea took a huge breath. “Were you guys in my closet?”

Silence.

“Let me rephrase. I know you were,” he said and approached them.

Their playroom was a disaster, with toys and stuffed animals scattered across the floor. He searched it visually for the key.

“Did you take anything out of my room?” he asked sternly, folding his arms across his chest.

“No, Jayden,” Chelsea answered in a small voice.

“No, Jayden,” Izzy echoed.

“So if I search your playroom, I won’t find anything that belongs to me?”

“No,” they chorused.

Jayden saw Chelsea trying to be discreet about hiding something under her shirt. He always found it funny how hard they tried not to get caught and how obvious they were. Was he like that as a child?

He couldn’t smile, though, not when he was playing the daddy role.

“Okay show me your hands,” he directed.

“Jaaaaaaydeeeeen!” Chelsea whined, an indirect admission of guilt.

“Now. Both of you.”

Izzy looked at Chelsea, waiting for the leader of the small gang to go first.

Chelsea stuck out her lower lip in a pout but held out her hands. A black, fuzzy cat paw keychain was in her hands.

Jayden plucked it free. “You’re turn, Izzy.”

His sister held out one hand. It was empty.

“Izzy, don’t be stubborn,” he told her.

She held out her second hand. In it was the skeleton key.

Jayden didn’t expect the sight of his sweet little sister holding a dark piece from history to scare him the way it did. His thoughts raced back to the story his dad had told him. He couldn’t imagine the amount of lost or enslaved lives the key saw during the generations it sealed away people to horrible fates.

“Izzy,” he said, taking his sister’s shoulders. “Don’t you ever, ever, play with this again. Do you understand me?”

He didn’t realize how harsh his words were, until her eyes watered. Instantly, he felt guilty for scaring her. Jayden released her and took the key. The heaviness and coldness of the metal distressed him.

Chelsea was staring at him uncertainly, and Tara was silent.

“I’m sorry, Izzy,” he said, forcing himself to calm down. “This is just a very bad toy. Okay? No playing with it.”

Izzy nodded, as did Chelsea.

Jayden sensed his short rant had hurt the feelings of everyone in the playroom. He pocketed the key and left, wanting to hide it where Izzy would never find it again.

He pushed the door to his room open and went to the dresser.

“What the hell was that?” Tara asked from his doorway.

He gave her a harried glance. Jayden peeled off his polo and tossed it into the hamper.

“You always jump all over me for raising my voice with them and you yelled at them like you were crazy or something, Jayden.”

“I know. I don’t know what got into me.” He reached for the key and stared at it briefly before putting it in the top drawer of his dresser, outside the reach of the twins.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“You just screamed at everyone over it and it’s nothing?”

He sighed. “It’s a long story, Tara.”

“We’re already two hours later.” She crossed her arms. “I want to know what made you freak out.”

Jayden hesitated. His father claimed he’d tell Tara eventually. Jayden didn’t want to discuss the dark family legacy, but his guilt – combined with Tara’s angry look – made him reconsider. He pulled the key out of his drawer and tossed it to her.

Tara caught it, studying it.

Jayden pulled a clean t-shirt out of the dresser and tugged it on.

“What does it go to?” Tara asked.

“Slave chains.”

“Seriously?”

“I guess it’s your history, too, since Daddy adopted you. Apparently, my ancestors sold whole villages into slavery. That key went to the chains that locked up the first slave.” He paused once more then told her the tale his father told him, down to the bizarre curse. Jayden shook his head ruefully when he got to that part.

Tara listened in rapt attention, quiet for a few moments after he finished.

Jayden waited for her reaction.

She fiddled with the key then tossed it back. “Okay. I get why you were upset. I don’t blame you.”

“Kinda makes me sick to look at it,” he said. He tucked it back into the drawer. “I’m sorry I went crazy. When I saw it in Izzy’s hands, all I could think about was a little girl like her being put in chains.”

“I understand.” Tara was unusually quiet. “I’ll make sure they don’t get a hold of it again, either. Something like that should be destroyed.”

“It wouldn’t make my past any less true,” he pointed out. “Daddy said it’s a reminder for me to do what’s right and to try to make amends for what my ancestors did to my people.”

“Jay, that’s an insane amount of pressure,” Tara objected. “You didn’t do those things.”

“I get that. No offense, Tara, but it’s different for you,” he said gently.

“Because I’m white.”

“Yeah. You’ve got less to prove.”

“You’re still a rebel where it counts.” She smiled at him. “So I take it you didn’t bring up Adrienne.”

“Who?”

She laughed then stopped, brow furrowed.

“Oh, hey, can you see if Izzy has my dog tags, too?” he asked, patting the place on his chest where they should be. “I gotta finish getting ready.”

“Yeah, sure. Did you ask Adrienne to come tonight?”

“I have no idea who Adrienne is,” he said curiously. “One of your friends?”

Tara didn’t seem to know how to respond.

“I’m meeting Kimmie and Mickey tonight. Like usual,” he added. He walked into his closet once more, this time to grab jeans.

“Kimmie?”

“I thought I was bad with names,” he teased. “I’ve only been dating her for like, two years.”

“I thought you broke up.”

“What? No. She’s beautiful. Smart, nice. Daddy approves of her,” he added, rolling his eyes.

“Is that why you’re dating her? Because your daddy wants you to?” Tara sounded angry.

What is with all these women tonight? There were days he thought he was cursed and days he knew he was.

“No, Tara. I’ve been in love with her since third grade.” He sighed. “Can you go get my dog tags?”

There was a moment of silence. She didn’t answer but slammed his door on the way out.

Who on earth was Adrienne? Someone Tara was trying to hook him up with?

Jayden changed clothes then checked his emails to find the address for the party. Oddly enough, an email from an Adrienne St. Croix was waiting for him. He opened it.

J-

Thank you so much for today. You’re the only good part of my life right now. I’ll see you at school Monday.

A.

He read it twice. He didn’t know any Adrienne, and certainly wouldn’t spend the day with anyone but Kimmie. Was Tara pranking him?

The email seemed too personal, genuine. He felt the emotion behind it. Tara wasn’t that convincing when she tried to lie. He doubted her friends were capable of much more. If anything, the email was probably sent to him by mistake.

Still, the note disturbed him, maybe because he wasn’t able to remember what exactly he did today.

Hitting the reply button, he typed a response.

Hi Adrienne,

I think you sent this to the wrong “J.” Glad you had a nice day.

Jayden

Feeling as though he’d done one nice thing in his odd day, he pulled on comfortable shoes and left his closet.

Tara was standing outside his door once more. He eyed her, not understanding the inquisitive expression on her face. She wasn’t happy with him. He had no idea why, beyond his outburst at Izzy.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Yep.” She spun and strode down the hallway.

It’s going to be a long night.

Jayden followed her out of the house to the car. He drove them away from their father’s opulent housing development south.

Tara didn’t speak the entire way. It wasn’t like her at all to keep quiet.

Jayden didn’t press her. He’d managed to piss off every woman he crossed paths with today. He wasn’t going to hang himself again.

His sister’s silence disturbed him on some level. The longer it lasted, the more concerned he became. He held off on addressing it, though, until they pulled into the driveway of the house party.

“You all right?” he ventured.

“Fine.”

“Really?”

Tara glared at him.

“I’ll take that as a no,” he said. “I’m always here, if you want to talk.”

“You’re an absolute dick, Jayden.”

Startled by her words, he focused on parking before turning to her.

Tara didn’t wait for him to talk but opened the car door and got out, slamming it shut.

He winced. Maybe I don’t want to remember what I did today.

He got out of the car, intent on finding the one woman who could always brighten his day.

Jayden waded into the party. The scent of alcohol was thick in the air, and music pounded loudly. The furniture of the living room had been pushed aside to create a dance floor while other students huddled in small groups, drinking and laughing.

“Hey! Nice win last night!” someone called to him.

Jayden stopped to greet and slap hands with the members of the football team. He recalled their insane win the night before and began to relax. Someone thrust a plastic cup of beer in his hand, and he sipped as he walked.

His eyes took in the crowd, but he didn’t see the face he sought. He walked through the kitchen and grabbed a handful of pretzels then continued out back, where a bonfire blazed and more students were gathered.

At long last, he saw Kimmie. She appeared to be arguing with another member of the football team. Every time he saw her, it was like the first time. Her natural, graceful beauty and willowy body made him burn for her with inhuman need. Her scent, the feel of her soft skin … the anticipation was killing him.

He crossed the backyard to her. “Everything okay?” he asked casually, glancing at the football player named Deon.

“Awesome,” Deon snapped. “You were right to dump this bitch, Jay. She’s psycho.” He strode away, furious.

Dump? A strange emotion went through Jayden, one that made him uneasy. First Tara, now Deon.

“Hey, baby, you okay?” he asked, approaching Kimmie.

“Baby?” she echoed, hands on her hips.

“I missed you.” Jayden wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her scent deeply.

“What’re you doing, Jayden?” she demanded. She pushed him back.

“Hugging the most beautiful girl on the planet.” He grinned.

Kimmie studied him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “This has been one weird day. Don’t you go weird on me, too.”

She touched his chest. “What happened to your dog tags?”

“I think Izzy hid them. She does that sometimes,” he said with a shrug. “What? No kiss?”

A slow smile spread across Kimmie’s face. She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head down to hers.

“I missed you, too,” she whispered.

“I can’t get enough of you. I want all of you. Every day. Every night.”

“I brought protection in case … you know.”

“God, yeah.” Jayden’s blood surged in response. “I need you, Kimmie.”

“I know, Jayden. I know.”

He closed his eyes and kissed her. With his Kimmie in his arms, his body relaxed and the stress of his day disappeared.

This is how it should be, he thought, content.