Salem's Sight (17 page)

When I realized he had asked me the
same question more than once I finally answered. “Um, no, sorry I
just sort of dazed out there for a moment.”

I needed to stay focused. This wasn’t
the time or the place to have to admit to Robby that I wasn’t the
ordinary teen.

He went back into artist mode and his
focus was on the portrait. That didn’t mean I could retreat back
into my own subconscious. I needed to keep my head in the present.
If I didn’t Robby would know something was up.

I tried. I really did. But the thing
about being psychic is you can’t always control it. Who am I
kidding? I couldn’t ever control it. This was a first for me.
Usually I only had visions in my sleep. I mean I could recall them
after I’d had them, but they never materialized while I was awake
before. Not a new image anyway.

And this was new.

The sun didn’t feel warming at all. If
anything there was a chill deep down to the bone. Then I felt like
I was drifting away - further and further away from my body until I
was afraid I’d never be able to get back.

My head ached. It started with the old
vision of the gun. It kept coming back as much as I was trying to
send it away.

But then the gun turned into a hand
holding a gun and then an arm was attached to the hand and suddenly
I saw the whole of him holding the gun outstretched and pop, pop,
pop, off it went.

Then just as suddenly the image went
away and hard as I tried to get it back it wouldn’t
come.

When I realized it was fruitless I
also realized where I was and that Robby was just standing there
with his paintbrush dangling at his side.

I could tell he had been trying to get
my attention and that he knew I had been somewhere else.

“
Are you okay?” he asked
when he knew I was back in the land of the real.

“
No, not really. I’m not
feeling that great.”

“
That’s obvious. You were
practically hyperventilating and your eyes - they were staring out
into space like you saw something. What was happening, Salem? Were
you remembering the accident? Is that what my father’s pushing has
done?” The bitterness in his voice couldn’t be masked.

“
No, it’s nothing like that
and your father has been a help. A great help. I’m dealing with
things because of him, and because of you.”

“
Well it didn’t look like
it a minute ago. It didn’t look like you were dealing at
all.”

I was about to speak when my
grandmother screeching, “Stop him,” reverberated through my brain.
Okay, now not only was I seeing images, but hearing a dead woman at
the same time. And while I was awake.

Things were so not getting
better.

I had to get out of there, had to get
home to talk to my mother. “Look Robby, I can’t explain, but I feel
like I have to get home right now. I’m sure this doesn’t make any
sense, but I won’t feel right until I get there. Can we please do
this some other time? I really need to talk to my mom.”

He brought the brush over to the sink
and rinsed it along with his hands. I started to try to unzip the
dress but couldn’t reach the top. “Stop him,” I heard my
grandmother scream again.

“
Robby, please help me
unzip this.”

He stared at me for a second and
didn’t seem to take a breath. “Aren’t you going to change in the
bathroom?” His voice cracked mid-sentence as if he thought I
planned on putting on a show.

“
No, I don’t have time.
Help me,” I urged. “Just get the top of this zipper then turn
around.”

He did as I asked then I slipped the
dress off while he had his back to me.

I looked up as the dress pooled to the
floor and caught him looking at me in the glass of the window.
“You’re peeking,” I yelled as I hopped into my jeans and yanked my
sweatshirt over my head.

“
I didn’t mean to.” He
lowered his gaze to the floor. “It was an accident. I didn’t
realize, and then there you were and it was hard not to … and … and
… sorry.”

If I hadn’t been so worried it would
have been laughable. But for my grandmother to be this insistent,
then things must have reached critical mass.

“
It’s okay, Robby. I’m sure
you didn’t do it on purpose.” I yanked on my sneakers without
unlacing them. “Let’s get going though.”

“
Do you mind me driving or
would you rather my dad give us a lift?”

That’s just what I needed. Robby was
going to find out more than I wanted him to know. And as much as
I’d considered it earlier, I realized I didn’t need his dad knowing
too. “I’ll be fine with you.”

“
Great,” he said but looked
like he didn’t mean it. “My car is, well … a little on the old
side.”

It didn’t appear old to me. In fact
I’d guess only a few years old. “The car that you’ve been
driving?”

He looked a little sheepish. “Um, that
would be my grandmother’s. She lets me use it when mine isn’t
running.”

The way he said it hinted that it was
the majority of the time.

“
No problem, as long as it
runs,” I said as we hustled out of the studio.

He was being kind. It wasn’t so much
that it looked old, because it didn’t look that bad, from the
outside anyway, but when he turned the key it made sounds that
shouldn’t have come from any vehicle that was still on the
road.

A loud groan of protest was followed
by coughs and sputtering. The vehicle anguished out a moan of pain
as it backed out of the driveway.

I tightened my seatbelt and prayed.
Literally.

CHAPTER
fourteen

It was a classic car. A GTO. The
‘goat’ Robby called it. Maybe because it was stubborn and had
attitude. But he should have called it ‘current pop star’ because
there was more shaking going on than in a music video.

It would have bothered me on a normal
day, a normal ride. But I was shaking to begin with and it had
nothing to do with Robby’s car.

My hands clutched the sides of the
seat and the cold leather upholstery iced hands that were already
frozen with fear.

Knock, clang, bang. It was the exhaust
or some other melancholy piece of equipment begging for a much
needed retirement.

But the sound, so close to that of a
gun. The time was getting near and I knew it. Knew it as well as I
knew my own name.

I had to stop it from
happening.

As we approached Tower Hill Road
Robby’s vehicle started to vehemently protest.

I could tell his foot was flat on the
gas pedal as the car choked and bucked its way slowly up the
incline like the little engine that could.

When we reached the top and leveled
off I realized I’d been holding my breath and let it out in a rush
of air.

“
Are you sure this car’s
safe to have on the road?”

“
It sounds worse than it
is, but we’re still fixing it up. It’s the one thing my dad and I
have in common.”

“
I don’t get it,” I said
momentarily distracted. “Your dad’s a great guy. Why is it so hard
for the two of you to get along?”

“
It’s complicated. I
stopped being the model son when my mom got sick. I traded being
the star athlete for the quiet of being an artist.”

He couldn’t be serious. I mean, we’re
talking shrink here. “And that bothered him?”

“
He skipped two grades so
was always too young to play on the school teams.” Robby shrugged.
“It was like when I was out there playing, he got to play too. I
spoiled that for him. He just won’t admit it. But what are you
talking about? Your relationship with your mom hasn’t exactly been
perfect lately.”

That’s all it took to bring me back to
the sense of doom I’d been feeling for the past hour.

As soon as we pulled into the driveway
my tension increased. Her car wasn’t there. I ran to the garage but
knew better. She only parked there at night when she knew she
wasn’t going out again.

My breathing became more labored as I
ran toward the house and the whole thing felt like it was happening
in slow motion. My keys fumbled in my hands and fell to the
ground.

Robby picked them up. “Which one is
it? I’ll open the door.”

I pointed to the right key and as soon
as the door was open I pushed past him into the kitchen. “Mom,” I
yelled as I ran around the house desperate to find someone I knew
wasn’t there.

By the time Robby caught up to me I
was screaming for her. “Salem, it’s obvious she’s not here,” he
said trying to calm me. Why don’t you call her cell?”

“
Cell phone. That’s right,
I can call her on her cell.” Smart. Sensible. I threw my arms
around him and kissed him quick. “Thank you, thank you.” I pulled
back leaving him hanging forward, lips anticipating
more.

“
No problem,” he said
looking at me as if I had a major one.

Okay, obviously not the time for a
first kiss and not the kind of kiss that dreams are made of. But it
happened. Past tense. I’d just have to deal with that
later.

I grabbed the phone and punched in the
numbers of her cell as Robby stood obviously still contemplating
the kiss. “Mom, thank God. Where are you?”

“
In the mall parking lot.
I’m coming home now. Everything okay?”

She sounded light years away. I mean
if we have the technology to have cell phones in the first place,
why are they scratchy sounding half the time? But it was better
than okay now that I’d heard her voice. Couldn’t let her know that
though or she wouldn’t come straight home.

“
No, it’s not. I had
another vision. Only this time I was awake. It’s bad,
Mom.”

“
Salem, maybe you should
talk to Dr. Martin,” resounded into the phone even scratchier than
before.

“
Stop it. I’m not
hallucinating. You know it’s real. And it has nothing to do with
being afraid of losing you. I know the difference.”

“
Salem…”

Okay. Time to pull out the big guns.
“And Grandma yelled to me.”

Dead air. Tick. Tick. Tick.
“W-What?”

I looked up and saw Robby’s jaw
dragging along the floor. But at this point it didn’t
matter.

“
Grandma’s telling me to
hurry and to stop him from shooting you. She’s…she’s helping
me.”

“
Salem, I’m in the car, I’m
fine, and I’ll be home soon. And there’s no one here with me. Damn,
the battery is getting low.”

“
Mom?” I heard the warning
beeps on her phone and cursed her for never remembering to charge
her phone. I couldn’t lose her, I just couldn’t.

“
Damn, it’s going
to….”

The line went dead. “Mom,” I screamed
three or four times once again knowing she wasn’t there.

I threw the phone toward the wall.
Okay, so not one of my most mature moments. Robby caught it
mid-flight and placed it in the receiver as I started to cry. With
a catch like that maybe he should have considered the baseball
team.

He put his arms around me and drew me
close. “Um,” he half whispered in my ear, “Did I hear you tell your
mom that you…” he paused not able to finish the
sentence.

“
I hear one of your
favorite dead women while images of the future flashes before my
eyes. Yup, you got it.”

“
Are you serious?” He half
laughed then realized I was.

“
No, I’m kidding.” I
scowled and tried to pull away from him, but he held me
firm.

“
Why didn’t you tell me?”
He said it so simply like ‘why didn’t you tell me you were going to
be late?’ Like it was something normal.

“
Would you have believed me
or just signed me up for extra sessions with your dad? Do you
believe me now?” I said before he could answer the first
question.

He pushed me back a bit so I could see
his face while his hands held my shoulders firm. “Yeah. Yeah, I
believe you. Now why don’t you tell me the details?”

“
I’m psychic.”

“
I sort of figured that
out. So you’re like your grandmother in more than just looks?”
Okay, so now it was my turn to be shocked. Of all the things Robby
could have said, that was the one thing I never would have guessed.
And he said it like it was common knowledge.

“
You… How did you know
that?”

He looked at me like it should have
been obvious. “My grandparents knew her, remember?”

“
And your dad, does he know
any of this?” He glanced away making me glad I hadn’t info dumped
on his father earlier in the doorway.

“
He won’t be as easy a
sell. He’s much more skeptical. But my grandfather said your
grandmother knew his brother wasn’t coming back from the war. She
showed up at their house crying the day my great uncle was killed.
They tried to console her and tell her everything was all right.
Thing was they found out a week later and sure enough he died when
she said he did.”