Where One Goes(62)

My father stands and gasps, “Charlotte,” but immediately sits when Sniper steps toward him. “Honey, you should have come home. I know you think we’re awful, that we treated you wrong, but we love you, Charlotte.” I don’t meet his eyes. I can’t. It’s still the same man that thinks I’m crazy . . . that I’m delusional.

“Why didn’t you do it?” George asks, and everyone snaps their heads up and eyes him. His arms are crossed and he’s looking at me like he doesn’t trust me—like the way I’ve feared he’d look at me when he found out about everything.

Swallowing hard, I feel a firm hand squeeze my shoulder. Looking back, I find Sniper’s warm eyes and he nods once. “Someone stopped me,” I admit as my gaze moves to Ike.

“I’m so glad I was there,” he tells me, closing his eyes, as if the thought of if he hadn’t been there pains him.

“It was Ike,” I say, quietly, and everyone except my father gasps in unison. Before anyone can speak, I continue to explain what Ike said, and how he led me to town and told me who to talk to and where to go.

“We made a deal,” I explain. “He’d help me find a job and a place to stay, and I’d help him with his unfinished business.”

“And what was his unfinished business?” George snarls.





The room is uncomfortably quiet; everyone’s eagerly awaiting Charlotte’s answer to George’s question. With eyes shimmering with tears, she meets his hard, unforgiving gaze. Her lips tremble when she tells him, “You, George. You’re his unfinished business.” My brother’s arms fall to his side and his expression becomes stoic. He has no idea what to think or say, so he goes blank. “You know you were in bad shape,” she tells him, but doesn’t elaborate on the drugs. She doesn’t want to out him in front of our family. “He can’t leave until he knows you’re okay. He’s been here the entire time, watching you—all of you.” She stares nervously across the room. My father stands and moves to sit near my mother, taking her shaky hand in his. Oh, Mom.

“I know you’re all thinking this is crazy and impossible. That’s what I thought at first, too,” Sniper steps in to defend her. “But she told me things only Ike would know . . . things we joked about or did in the army. She’s telling the truth. She can communicate with Ike. He’s here, right now.”

“You knew she was . . .” George stops. He wants to say ‘crazy,’ but thinks better of it.

“That night you got beat up,” Sniper tells him. “That’s when I found out.”

“You got beat up?” my mother squawks as she turns to look at George. “Honey, you said you fell down the stairs.” I never wanted my mother to find out how bad things had become for George.

“So you’re telling me you can speak with Ike? Right here, right now?” Cameron jumps in, and I think he believes her. Or at least he wants to. He’s always been open-minded, and at this moment, I couldn’t be more grateful for that.

“Tell Cameron I hid my porno magazines in my closet. There’s a little cutout over the shelf. Tell him to go get them,” I say, with a nervous chuckle. And she repeats it to him, but not before she gives me a pointed look that says, Really? Cameron jumps up and dashes up the stairs, eager to either prove Charlotte is the real deal, or to retrieve the porn for later. I’m not sure which he’s more excited about.

Wanting the others to believe in Charlotte as well, I proceed to tell her things to share with my family in hopes they’re as receptive as my little brother.

“Henry, you talk to him. Especially when you’re fly-fishing alone because it was something the two of you did a lot. He says you tell him it was a privilege to be his father, and how you wish you’d taken more time off and done more with him. He wants you to know you are the best father ever. He couldn’t have picked anyone better than you.” The sob that breaks free from my father is my undoing, and hot tears fall down my face. Jesus, Pop . . . He and my mother hold each other close, working through the raw pain that my memory brings.

Charlotte tries to rip the Band-Aid off and continues, “Beverly, the lasagna and tiramisu? That’s why I mentioned them. He was there the night we met, and I just repeated what he said.” My mother nods as she places a trembling hand to her lips. “He wants you to know he hears you singing when you’re thinking of him.” The tears run freely down my mother’s face and I feel like I’m choking. As hard as this is for all of us, I have to continue. Charlotte stares at me, her own eyes red with unshed tears. She pauses and listens as I explain what I want her to relay, then she stutters, “Y-y-you are my sunshine. You used to sing that to him when he was little. He hears you sing it now.” My mother keels over and sobs violently.

“Oh, baby boy. I love you so much,” she cries out, and my heart feels like it’s breaking.

“Charlotte Anne!” Her father stands, and this time, he doesn’t let Sniper intimidate him. “That’s enough!”

“Can’t you tell this guy to f*ck off?” I growl. She has to finish. They have to know I can hear them. That I know how much pain they’re in.

“No, Ike, I can’t,” she answers in a hushed tone, and everyone freezes.

“He’s speaking to you?” my father asks quietly.