Chapter 44: Mitch

I was unprepared for Magda’s call.

“I thought you were in the jungles of Brazil,” I said, “and that you wouldn’t have reception for several months.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” she replied. “I got tired of camping and being homeless. Honestly, I got sort of homesick.”

“For Santiago?”

Her laugh rang out from thousands of miles away. “No, dummy. For Florida. For my mom and dad. For you and Bijou.”

I silently stumbled, my mind tripping over decent responses and settling on a completely lame one. “But Bijou and I are in Colorado.”

Magda’s patient tone was her own form of testiness. “I know. But plane trips between Denver and Miami are like, nothing.”

It was morning and I was still in bed after a long, wakeful night with Bijou. I closed my eyes against the sun, which was peeking through the blinds insistently, promising strength as the day wore on. “Okay…”

“I’m going to see my parents first. Then maybe I’ll come to Black Diamond. Or…” she paused for emphasis, “…or the two of you could come home to South Beach. I mean, you’re not planning on living in Jo Beth’s condo forever, are you?”

“I haven’t thought that far.”

She sighed. “Oh Mitch, I know you’re hanging on to a lot of guilt but you have to let that go.”

Her blood-red aura cloud was seeping out of the cell phone and surrounding me like a toxic gas, which, ironically, had the effect of a fairly pleasant high.

“Yeah, I know.”

“We need to stick to our plan, Mitch.”

“I know. I just didn’t think it would be this soon. Jo Beth’s family needs to be around Bijou.”

“And I need to be around you.” Her voice had become a soft rasp, reminding me of our most intimate moments, of other times when I had laid flat on my back in bed. Only then, she’d been close enough to touch.

“Call me when you’re back in the States,” I said.

“You know I will.”

I pressed end on my cell phone and sat up. Blood rushed to my head, my vertigo came hurrying back, and there was Jo Beth on the edge of the bed, looking like she could slap me.

“How long have you been sitting there?” I asked.

“I heard the whole thing,” she replied. “What the hell, Mitch? Why are you conspiring with the girl who wanted me dead?”

“No, look. It’s not like that—”

Jo Beth floated so she was hovering right in my face. “Don’t. I know that bitch had it out for me, and if you think she’s coming anywhere near my daughter, then you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Mitch?” The voice behind my bedroom door belonged to Skylar. “Mitch, can I come in?”

“Sure.”

Skylar entered but as soon as she saw me, quickly looked away. My dizziness vanished but I immediately became self-conscious, since I was dressed in nothing but boxer shorts. “Bijou is awake and I put her in the pack-n-play. I have to get going because I have my job interview.”

“Oh yeah,” I replied, taking in that she was dressed in a skirt and high heels, neither of which I’d ever seen her wear before. “You look nice. Good luck.”

Skylar smoothed back her hair, which she’d put up in a bun. “I feel like a fraud, like I’m playing dress-up for career day.”

I laughed. “Just try to relax. Nothing beats confidence, no matter what the situation.”

Skylar bit her bottom lip and I caught that she was gazing at my bare chest for a moment too long. Her eyes darted up to meet my own, and although the room was dim, I believe I saw her blush. “Right,” she murmured. “Are you getting up? Because I’m on my way out.”

“I’ll be right down.”

Skylar nodded and then she exited my bedroom, wobbling on her high heels. Jo Beth, who was still hovering by my side, didn’t have to speak. I already knew what she was thinking.

“Jo Beth,” I sighed. “Don’t even say it.”

“If you go near her, Mitch—”

“I said don’t say it!” Instantly I regretted yelling, and not just because Jo Beth had adopted that tearful, constipated expression that she sometimes got after I became mad. What if Skylar had heard me? She already doubted my sanity. “I have a new list,” I whisper-shouted to Jo Beth. “It’s called, The Biggest, Most Stupid Mistakes I Could EVER Possibly Make. Do you want to know what item number one is? It’s ‘sleeping with Jo Beth’s sister.’ Okay?”

“No! Not okay, Mitch!” She waved her phantom finger in my face. “You should have made that list a LONG time ago, and number one should have been, ‘Letting Jo Beth Die!’ But you blew it and now I’m forced to haunt you and make sure you don’t ruin the lives of the people I love.”

I inhaled slowly, hoping the intake of air would cool my boiling blood. “I wish I’d never met you,” I said.

“Same here, only double. Now go downstairs and take care of our daughter.”

I did as she said. After all, what choice did I have? My life had become intermittently plagued by natural, transitory actions which resulted in disasters of epic proportions. It was probably wise to follow the orders of a ghost, rather than listen to the voices inside my head.