Troublemaker (23 page)

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lexandria fought to regain her breath as she looked around Allene's quaint living room. The furnishings were simple, if not plain, and two antique table lamps lit the small space. The soft glow of light radiated an intimate and cozy feel that made her instantly relax. Allene was obviously a good housekeeper because everything Alexandria's eyes landed on was neatly arranged and had been polished to a high gloss. From the small mahogany coffee table in the center of the room, to the sparkle of the lead crystal vase sitting on top of it, Allene made sure her humble home reflected her attention to detail and care.

Alexandria turned her head to the left as she inhaled the smoky scent of wood burning in an old-fashioned potbelly stove on the opposite wall. The stove's heat helped to combat the bitter cold she could feel trying to push its way through the front door.

She walked closer to the middle of the room where Allene was sitting comfortably in a worn-looking La-Z-Boy recliner. Her blue gingham print shawl was draped around her shoulders, along with a heavy quilt she'd laid across her lap to create an extra layer of warmth. Alexandria's eyes focused in on her Granny Carolyn, who looked as though she was in her late teens. She was wearing a plain, long-sleeved grey dress, black stockings, and heavy, black winter boots that looked too rough and too big for her dainty frame. Her long, jet-black hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, exposing the delicate features that made her a natural beauty.

But, as Alexandria studied her, she realized that Carolyn had the saddest-looking eyes she'd ever seen. Though she was so young, her eyes looked as though she'd lived several lifetimes. She was sitting at attention, back straight and shoulders squared, in a chair next to Allene's. The two were engaged in what appeared to be a very serious conversation.

Alexandria had to concentrate in order to control the visions that were flashing in front of her at lightning speed.
Focus! Focus!
She told herself as she tried to stay in the moment.

But it was no use. Her visions were coming too fast. She took a deep breath, centered her thoughts, and aimed her mind on Carolyn. Alexandria needed to connect the dots in order to find out why she was witnessing something that no one else in her family had a clue about—the connection between Ted's family and Victoria's.

Carolyn Thornton had passed away when Alexandria was five years old, but she remembered the old woman as if she'd just spoken to her yesterday. And more specifically, she remembered every detail of Carolyn's wake and funeral because it had been the first time she'd ever communicated with someone who had passed on from the world of the living into the next realm. Alexandria hadn't understood it at the time, but it had been her first glimpse into the powers of the gift she possessed.

As Alexandria allowed herself to give in to her visions, she watched her paternal grandmother's life play out before her eyes.

Her birth name had been Carol Lynn and she'd been born to an attractive young woman named Sally May Turner, whose life had not been her own. Sally May was a nineteen-year-old domestic, living in the opulent home of Jean Paul Millieux, a fifty-year-old wealthy and successful Louisiana businessman who had his sights set on a position in the state legislature. From the beginning, Sally May's tenure and standing in the house had been made shaky by the unwanted advances of her employer. One night he took what wasn't his, sealing Sally May's fate to become an unwed mother and an outcast in her community. She lost her job once the lady of the house learned of her pregnancy, and her own family turned her away amidst the ridicule and shame of her situation.

Sally May packed her bags and went to live with distant relatives in Jackson, Mississippi, who were willing to take her in, but only for a short time. After her baby was born, and she and little Carol Lynn became too much of a burden in an already struggling household, her family's Southern hospitality ran out.

Sally May was forced to go out on her own and make it the best way she could. Living was rough for a young, uneducated black woman in the rural South raising a mixed-race daughter who looked pure white, with no trace of African blood running through her veins. Sally May cleaned houses, took in laundry, cooked meals, and did whatever she could to scrape together a living for herself and her growing child. But her harsh existence became too much for her fragile body and mind to bear.

Sally May contracted a deadly infection, the result of a monthlong battle with pneumonia. With no money or access to proper medical care, she quietly succumbed in her sleep, making a five-year-old Carol Lynn an orphan. An already bleak situation was made worse when none of Carol Lynn's relatives would to take her in, lest they have another hungry mouth to feed.

With no mother or family willing to care for her, Carol Lynn bounced from foster home to foster home around the small county where she lived. She was emotionally abused, never able to find a good footing in the black community or the white.

Even though Carol Lynn's life had been filled with disappointments she'd managed to forge a friendship with Hattie McPherson, a young black girl her same age who would become her lifelong friend. Hattie was the smartest girl in their school and she made sure that Carol Lynn studied and received good grades right alongside her.

When Carol Lynn turned sixteen, she decided to create a new life for herself by passing as a white woman. She'd heard about light-skinned blacks who looked white and were able to live as such, so she decided that was what she was going to do. Hattie was the only person she told of her plans.

“If you're gonna do this, you need help,” Hattie had said. “My grandma has kin folk in South Carolina who know of an old woman with the gift. Maybe she can tell you where to go and what to do, since you don't know anybody up north.”

“You think she can help me?” Carol Lynn asked.

“Anything's worth a try.”

Carol Lynn decided to start her new life in the New Year. When the first of January rolled around she set out on her journey up north. But she hadn't realized how dangerous traveling alone could be for a young woman, or how bitterly cold the winter nights could feel once you were out in it for hours on end. She was relieved when, after several days of walking and hitching rides with strangers, she finally landed in the small town of Nedine, where she met Allene Small, whom Hattie's grandmother's people knew. She'd arrived on Allene's doorstep in the middle of the night, tired, hungry, and ailing from a fever and cold she'd caught while braving the elements.

Allene kept Carol Lynn's presence in her home a secret, which was fairly easy to do given that she had very few visitors. She enjoyed having the young girl's company and was glad she could provide a warm, safe place for Carol Lynn to rest and recover.

One night, when Carol Lynn was eating a meal of beef stew and cornbread that Allene had prepared, she asked Allene to read her future.

Allene had known what was going to happen to the young woman even before she had knocked on Allene's door a few nights before. She'd known Carol Lynn was coming, seeking refuge and guidance, and she'd seen everything that was going to unfold in her life over the decades to come if she listened, learned, and allowed the cards to fall into place.

Allene looked at Carol Lynn, who she could tell was eager to know what fate would befall her, good or bad. Allene only read people's futures when her gut told her to, and because she knew that she and Carol Lynn would one day be connected through their children, she felt compelled to tell the young woman what awaited her life.

But Allene also knew she had to warn Carol Lynn. “What I'm 'bout to tell you is very important, and it's gonna happen just like I say it will.”

“Okay.” Carol Lynn nodded with anticipation.

“In a few years from now you're gonna remember this night when you see things start comin' to pass that I'm gettin' ready to share with you. But you can't try to change or avoid them. You understand?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Carol Lynn said.

“If you try to change even one single thing, you gonna end up makin' a worse mess outta your life and a whole lotta others right along with you. Do you understand me?”

“I do.”

Allene looked into the girl's eyes and saw that she was telling the truth, and that she understood more than Allene had given her credit for. Carol Lynn was young, but she was mature beyond her years and she was ready to accept whatever was going to happen in her life. Allene took a deep breath and told her what lay ahead down the road.

“You're gonna get settled into your new life without any problems,” Allene began. “You're gonna graduate from a real good college, and you're gonna marry an important man from a wealthy family. He's gonna be handsome and very smart. Most of all, he's gonna be a good, decent person who's kind and loves you. You and him gonna have three beautiful children, and you're gonna be blessed with longevity into your eighties.”

A smile lit up Carol Lynn's pretty face, but it quickly faded when she saw the somber look that came over Allene's. “What is it? Is something bad going to happen?”

“It already has, child. The life you're chosin' comes with a price. Running from who you are always does.”

“But I have no choice.”

“We all have a choice. But I understand that you've made yours, and I know you're not changin' your mind.”

Carol Lynn shook her head. “No, I'm not.”

“You're gonna have to bury your past, lie to the people you love, and look over your shoulder every day for the rest of your life,” Allene said slowly. “You're gonna live a long time, but you're gonna die empty, with pain and secrets. Those secrets will end up hurtin' the very people you love most, and they'll struggle with what you did long after you're gone.”

Carol Lynn looked down into her bowl of stew and let out a heavy sigh. “My life's been filled with pain and secrets since the day I was born, Ms. Allene. I guess it's fitting that that's the way it's going to end.”

Allene had never heard anyone so young sound so sad in all her life, and as much as it pained her to acknowledge it, she knew that Carol Lynn's words were right. The road she was set to travel held consequences of which even Allene couldn't fully see.

Carol Lynn stayed in Nedine for another week, just long enough for her to recuperate and sell the ruby brooch that Hattie had taken from her grandmother's jewelry box.

“Here, Carol Lynn, take this,” Hattie had said as she handed her friend the ornate piece of jewelry before hugging her good-bye. “It's not much, but it'll get you down the road. Be safe and write me a letter when you can so I'll know where you end up, you here?”

Hattie's generosity fetched enough money to pay for a one-way bus ticket to Boston, the city Carol Lynn had decided to make her new home after talking it over with Allene. She left Nedine just as she'd arrived—in the middle of a dark, cold night. Before she walked out of Allene's door, the old woman surprised her by pressing a thick wad of one-hundred-dollar bills into her palm. “Take care of yourself,” Allene said.

Tears fell from Carol Lynn's eyes. Other than her mother, whom she'd lost when she was five, and Hattie, whom she'd had to leave behind back in Jackson, Allene was the only person who had ever cared for her or shown her any kindness. She wanted to keep in touch with the old woman and report her progress once she settled in Boston, changed her name to Carolyn Jones, and started living her new life. But she knew she couldn't. Just as she had to erase her time in Jackson, she had to forget everything and everyone in Nedine. Living white meant denying anything black. “You take care, too, Ms. Allene,” Carol Lynn said through quiet tears as she walked down Allene's front steps and disappeared into the night.

Alexandria blinked her eyes, fighting back tears of her own as she stood in the past, watching her grandmother seal a fate rooted in lies and pain. She tried to hold on to the moment so she could learn more about a past that was merging with the present, but things were beginning to move fast again. Her head started swimming with flashes of visions, and finally, she had to let go. She took several deep breaths, grounding herself as she came back to the present. She was still sitting in the chair where PJ had left her just a few moments ago, and a wave of comfort enveloped her when the sweet fragrance of magnolias filled the air.

Grandma Allene?

“Yes, baby girl,” Allene said. “I'm here.”

Alexandria looked to her right and saw Allene sitting in a chair beside her.

“You're doin' real good with your visions.”

Thanks, Grandma, but why didn't you tell me that you knew my granny Carolyn, or that you helped her escape to Boston? I have so many questions.

Allene shook her head and smiled. “Some things is best for you to figure out on your own. Doin' that will make your gift even stronger. Don't worry—the answers will come.”

Alexandria nodded, knowing Allene was right. She concentrated again, and as if a light had just shone bright on a mystery, she had the answer to something that had been puzzling her all her life.

“That's right,” Allene said with a smile as she read Alexandria's thoughts. “Life is about the choices we make and the consequences that come along with them. I chose to use my gift with Carol Lynn because I knew that helping her would help my family. There's some things you just have to trust yourself with.”

“This is what you were talking about last night when I asked you about knowing when to intervene in a situation or when not to.”

“Yes, it is. You won't always make the right decision, and that's okay because you'll learn from your mistakes. Your gift is natural. It's inside you so you can't turn it off.”