Free Black Water Tales: The Secret Keepers by JeanNicole Rivers Page B

herself.
    Who else was keeping secrets?
she wondered.
    “No,” she told Lola’s brother. “No, it does not make you a bad person at all.” She consoled him.
    “All I want to do is lay her to rest. Grieve this situation. Move on,” he stated as he swept his flat hand through the air swiftly, illustrating the simplicity with which he wanted to complete this chapter of life. Regina nodded in agreement as she looked over the unchanged room again and was not at all disturbed by his cold distance from the heart of the situation.
    “It took my mother a year to stop pulling her covers down at night. Once, I talked about Lola in the past tense and she slapped me so hard. I will never forget the look on her face. For a long time, my mother was not my mother; she was the mother of a ghost. Before, we never used to keep the porch light on at night, but after Lola disappeared she started leaving the porch light on every night because it would make it easier for Lola to find her way home.” Leo snickered; he was no longer talking to Regina, but to himself, to his mother and maybe even his sister. “Lola was not coming home, ever and somehow everyone knew that but Mom.” Regina squeezed his hand tighter.
    “I wanted to miss her too, you know? But with Mom, there was no room for anyone else to grieve because she took all of the sorrow for herself.” He looked at Regina. “So that’s why I’m here. Hopefully this funeral will lay all of our hearts to rest…finally,” he finished as they began to leave the room.
    “Yeah, I hope so too.” Regina told him. They hugged again. “Everything will be OK, Leo. Whatever happened, she is in a much better place now.”
    “Regina,” Leo began, but Regina could easily read the worry on his face.
    “I won’t say anything,” Regina promised to keep his secret.
    In Black Water it seemed that everyone knew something, but no one knew everything, which was the subterfuge that held it together and kept it sick at the same time.
    Regina returned to Lola’s family and met Leo’s wife and son. Profusely, she refused dinner in response to their many invitations. The sun was beginning to set and Leo offered to walk her home, even tried to insist, but after assuring him that she needed the time alone, he understood her wishes and she was able to emerge from the home without any dinner and alone. The day had grown into evening and the sun was beginning to fade rapidly leaving the street dark under the added cover of the trees. She trotted down the steps of the porch and was on the street when she turned to see the front porch light of the Rusher home flash to life. She looked up and down the street waiting for Lola, but was strangely disappointed when she did not see the sixteen-year-old ghost bouncing up the sidewalk and just concluded that despite the fact that old habits die hard, once you die, you’re dead.

6
    L asagna was Regina’s favorite and she was overdoing it at her mother’s dinner table. After gorging herself on pasta and cheese and TV with the parents, Regina settled in for the night. She was tired but knew her body well enough to know that she would not sleep after the eventful day unless she unwound. Her workout clothes stared at her from her open suitcase on the floor, she undressed and slipped into a purple tank top and cotton leggings. Regina kicked her suitcase into the closet and found a wide-open space on the hardwood floor where she was comfortable. She stood erect and wiggled her toes, feeling them against the hardwood. Regina let her body weight sink into her feet, rooting her to the floor like a strong tree. With her focus on deep breaths in and out, she lifted her arms out to her sides, and then farther until they were pointing toward the ceiling. Regina exhaled deeply as her upper body took a swan dive toward the floor and her fingertips touched her toes. The young woman reveled in the release that she felt while stretching her muscles. Regina lifted her body