The Black and White Lady

The Black and White Lady


Chapter 1


    The moment I arrived at the adoption building I froze from the stomach down, my eyes glazed over in fear, and my mind raced with frightening images. I couldn't move, I wouldn't move...I thought maybe if I refused, they couldn't take me away, and I would go back home to my cozy fireplace and eat from that big orange box of chocolate chip cookies that momma baked for me.   
  Well, I guess they weren't really for me... they were for the people working at the adoption facility--but I pretended they were. I wanted to think momma had made them especially for me, so I snatched the box before we left, and when mamma asked where they were, I told her daddy had taken them. My mom looked off in space, making a deeply painful sigh. Dad had died several months earlier, but I decided to ignore the facts and use him as a scapegoat. She just let it go, knowing full well my wrong doing. After seeing there was no way to get me out of the car, she instead brought the staff out to me. They all shuffled out the street to take a good look, whispering to each other as they signed the acceptation forms. Mamma just lit a cigarette and began filling out the paper work as if it were any other day. Any other day, that is, in the shoes of a penniless young women with no income and two mouths to feed. Looking back at it, I guess I really can't blame her--now.
  But then... then, when I didn't understand... I felt like a circus show. All I knew was there were people surrounding me, looking at me like a predator to its prey, asking questions about this and that... birthdays and birth years, shots and allergies.

    I immediately squeezed my bear as hard I could, so tight its head was bound to burst and all the stuffing would seep out. At least the bear would feel what I was feeling. Then with a sudden burst of energy, I sprinted out of the car, pushing my mom out of the way with tears in my eyes and headed towards the first thing in site. This happened to be the adoption facility. I was so oblivious to my surrounding that I would have hit the glass door in front of me if a man hadn't just opened it for himself. So instead I ran into him and just stuck like glue. I didn't care what his name was or how old he was, or what he did for a living. I just wanted something to hold on to. And so I did, I held on to him as hard as I knew how. The longer I held on the more I cried, because I knew that this wasn't ever going to end. I would spend the rest of my childhood searching for a home. Slowly but firmly, I felt a hand touch me back.

    Later I learned that his name was Mr. Koner, and he actually worked there finding homes for lost kids. He was so touched from the experience that he volunteered to be my watcher. I have to admit, even if I knew nothing about him, I felt more secure that day in his arms than I had for three years in anyone else's. A couple of weeks after signing in, I was already feeling better about my situation. I finally started to eat breakfast--bacon and eggs. Even if the bacon was always burnt, I knew he cared enough to make them for me, so I gulped them down with a smile. He steadily felt more like a father to me every passing day. We would do everything together, watch movies, go to football games, play video games and irritate Mary, the adoption center's secretary. Koner would always deny it, but I could tell he had developed a liking for her. Even at my age, I knew that guys tend to irritate the girls they like. He would always just brush me off when I told him that, but I could tell he was blushing.
    By the spring of 87', I was 16 years old, and proud of it. I had been at the adoption facility for over four and a half years now, so I had gotten time to meet everyone there. I ate my birthday cake that afternoon with my best good friends, Jacob and Firefly, who were more than happy to share my small chocolate cake with fudge frosting. I never did quite find out why they named him firefly. It might have been the fact that he was seemingly obsessed with anything to do with the nature of fire, or how it was made. Always had been, in fact. It was the very reason he had become a refugee here at Childs Haven.

"Can I light the candles for ya, Bobby?" he asked intensively. "I'ma really expert at candle lightin'. Yes-ur-ee. I'll light 'um up real nice for ya Bobby. What do ya say?"

I hesitantly handed him the metal lighter and prayed he wouldn't catch his hair on fire... again. With a quick snap, the fiery orb morphed and the metal wand flew gently over the sixteen candles, lighting each one. I sighed in relief.

Shockingly, however, as soon as he was finished he quickly blew them all out and giggled.

"No-what? No, you're doing it all wrong ya dumbbell!" shouted Jacob, "Why the hell did you blow them out?!"

"Don't worry" grinned Firefly, "I'll just have to relight them I guess."

  "No, I'll do it this time." snapped Jacob, grabbing the lighter. The smile on firefly's face vanished.
Shortly after Jacob relit the half-burnt candles, I quickly pretended to make a wish and blew them out with one big breath.

  Later, as I ate a paper thin slice of my chocolate cake, I eyed the three nicely wrapped gifts on the wooden counter awaiting violation. I carefully unbound the ribbon of a small red one placed on top of the others.

Firefly looked around, "Don't let Koner see this ok?" He winked, "It's for our enjoyment only."

When I opened the lip, I found a small liquid lighter and a box of Camel Cigarettes.

"Firefly!" I quietly protested, "You know I don't smoke!"

"Fine then." He snatched them, "There all for me then."

    As he smugly stuffed them in his pocket, Mary entered the room with a smile. An old woman had called in, she said, saying she was ready to adopt. When giving Mary the details of what she was looking in a child, all the signs pointed excitedly towards me. So Mr. Koner gave me a ride in his truck to her house to see if we could connect.
  Now, Mr. Koner had recently sold his car to his neighbors to help pay for his compiling apartment bills. He never told me what he got as a replacement, told me it was a surprise. But now I know the real reason he didn't want to tell me. When I finally laid my unfortunate eyes upon it, my jaw dropped. His new truck was about as ugly and rusty as a truck could strive to be. Its front bumper had seen hard times, and his windshield was cracked in several places, the seats were dirty, and the doors made weird sounds when you opened them. Heck, smoke even came out of hood when he started it. He looked down embarrassingly when he showed me the piece of work, but there was nothing to be embarrassed of... I was in no position to judge. So there I was chugging along in his considerably old Chevy looking an equally old lady that would hopefully end my overstayed welcome at "Child's Haven". Yes, I can still remember the address: 06606 Halt street.
  It had to be the oddest thing I had ever come across. Her front door seemed so warped that it looked like it had been hinged there for a thousand years. Two trees stood in her yard, both dead. The same went for her grass. I didn't know grass could get that yellow. And if she had any flowers, they were hiding.

"Well that's a bad sign" I looked over at Koner, "If a grown up doesn't have functional flowers... it means they're not right in the head." I made a goofy face.

Koner smiled, "And why is that?"

"I don't know", I shook my head," My mom always used said that about our neighbors." We both laughed.

As we drove further ahead I gasped. Never in my life had I seen a coat of paint so hideous, it made me cringe. It was literally like a flock of seagulls had flown over it, not a minute ago, solely for the purpose of completely soiling it. I could almost smell the baking crust of such thing.

"Well, let's hope she has keeps better care of herself then of her yard and house, eh?" he giggled slightly.

  As he parked in what appeared to be her driveway, I jumped out anxiously, but stalled from the sheer unfamiliarity of my surroundings. As usually, Koner automatically pulled out a cigarette and lit it in two elegant strokes.

  Slowly, curiosity covered my suspicions, and I marched forward. As I edged myself closer, scanning her yard, I discovered something oddly interesting. It looked like some kind of shed, with only one wooden side, the rest were molded in cement. There was a giant red X painted on its front.

Shaking Koner's arm, I looked on, "What is that?"

"Hmmm" he remarked, taking a puff, "I don't know, looks like a basement or an old bomb shelter from the 40's"

I started to back away from it. Something about it just didn't feel right to me. Mr. Koner seemed just as bewildered as me, whispering "Want to check it out?" as soon as he got of the truck.

"Only if you come with me..." I exclaimed.

"Well" he patted me on the head, "maybe we can ask her for a look!" He stopped suddenly and took a second look. "Well, on second thought, maybe some other time, kid." he grunted. "It doesn't look safe."

  When we approached the house he turned to me, licked his lips and nervously told me to stay close. I could tell Koner was getting very uneasy around the house. Even he could tell something wasn't right. When we reached her front door, Koner reluctantly knocked ever so lightly, as if so she wouldn't hear and we could go home. But instead we found the door hadn't been shut fully, so it creaked open after the first knock. It gave me an eerie feeling as if something was hiding behind it. As we started to walk in the room, I stuttered in shock and flung myself backwards.
  All the walls inside were completely black and white. Even the floor was chessboard inspired. Koner almost choked on his new cigarette when he saw it.

"What the--hell?" he whispered to himself.

I couldn't have ever imagined anything like it. I suddenly felt mixed signals of strong emotions. It was dull, yet exciting. I wanted to explore it, but I felt the tinge to hide behind Koner all the same.

As soon as Mr. Koner regained his composure, he quickly yelled "Any--Anyone home?"

He paused for a second, then immediately started for the door pulling me with him. Just then a sound was heard from upstairs, Mr. Koner tightened his grip on my hand and looked up regretfully.

"Come on boy." he motioned "I don't think you want to be livin' here."

Now Koner didn't care who she was, and if it wasn't for me, we would have been long gone before she even got to see our faces.

"This house was so different." I thought innocently, "Maybe this old lady will be special. Maybe she'll think I'm special. I can't go now!"

So I eyed the stairs, stalling as long as possible.

"Come on boy!" Koner sneered, "It's time to go."

"Oh!" I imagined to her, "Why do you have to be so slow!"

I knew there was no way she would reach us in time, so I did the only thing I could do to save this chance. I shot up the stairs, with Koner giving chase.

"I wanna see her!" I moaned, as I fended him off.

Koner couldn't believe his eyes, "Don't you run away fro..."

Just as he was speaking, she appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Well," she said softly, "here I am dear."

Mr. Koner stopped his lecture immediately and turned toward her. I thought I could hear him mumble something under his breath before he let out a friendly, "Hey! We found your door open so we let ourselves in, hope you didn't mind 'mam"

"Oh! Not at all dearest" she grinned, "I never shut my doors." She then proceeds to waddle down the stairs, "If you leave doors shut, people think you have something worth stealing." she winked.

I slowly turn to Koner as he edged himself near me to whisper, "Well that's just great...." he grumbled, "now we're stuck with her..."


Chapter 2

  Her chairs weren't very comfortable and the lighting was irritatingly dim. Even in that light she was a rather... shall I say... interesting person. She wore entirely black, from her crooked hair braid, down to here fuzzy slippers. And her dress seemed to be made entirely out of silk. The black color seemed to only enhance the look of her extremely pale face and arms. It eerily went along with the style of her house making the whole scene look like an old movie. The colors alone were enough to crush you with gloom.
    And "old" was a gross understatement for her age. She literally looked like an expired bowl of prunes. Her left hand and right eye seemed to twitch every few seconds on cue, and I thought I could see something oozing out of the left side of her mouth. I shivered at the notion.

Suddenly, I felt deeply compelled to blurt out, "You must be a very depressed lady." And so I naturally did.

"James!" Koner snapped, "That's rude!"

"Oh!" she giggled at Koner, "Don't worry!" She turned her head over at me, "Not when I have company dear" She wiped off what appeared to be the falling spit from lips with a quick dab of her napkin.
  I started to wonder what it would be like to live in a house like this. As I was thinking, she got up and began serving me some British tea from a rusted bean can. What makes it even weirder is the fact that the can came from the time period of World War II, which could be plainly seen by the propaganda on the sides portraying a skinny drawing of Adolf Hitler, which was curiously scribbled on by a permanent pen in Yiddish. If I hadn't been so disgusted by the thought of drinking tea from some soldier's bean dip, I might have even stopped to admire the heritage of it.
    Before he died, my dad would always talk to me about the glories and tragedies of the Second World War. It was like his hobby, to teach me all he could about it. He would always tell me little tidbit facts that nobody else knew, and quite frankly, didn't want to know...I remember him telling me once that Sherman tank drivers would sometimes do their "business" in any container they could grab if a stop was not convenient.

  "Would a bean can be considered a container?" I shivered at the thought and pretended to sip it to appease her as I eyed it, having that thought deep in my mind I was going to discover a floaty in my bright yellow concoction.

  When my observing was finished, I looked back at the old lady. She was staring at me, waiting for something to happen. There was an awkward silence filling the black and white little room. She just twiddled her little shriveled thumbs looking at me with longing eyes. There was something about them... her eyes... they were toughened eyes. You could tell she had been through a lot of hard times.  So on I stared.

  I didn't know if she was nervous or bored with my being there, sitting in her house on a chair that nobody had sat on for God knows how many years. As we had our silent discussion, Koner watched us; I could see him in the corner of my eye, protecting me. It felt good to know I was safe. It made me want to explore things in this odd place, knowing I could be saved at any time. After a while of thinking, I finally made up my mind. She was crazy and I didn't want to know anything more about her. As soon as I gained my conclusion, she creaked out of her chair ever so slowly as if reading my mind and giving me a chance to rethink my decision. She attempted to push her chair in, but got so flustered, she just scowled and spit at it, then waddled towards the kitchen mumbling under her breath. I looked over at Koner, who then proceeded to give me the stink eye. I knew there would be hefty punishment for disobeying him, but the experience was well worth it. She soon waddled back with something folded in her arms, and sat back down again. It was an old chess board, covered in a thick layer of dust. She then proceeded to gather all the breath she had left to blow it off. A she did so, of course, it all went in my face.

"Ever played chess dear?" she sighed.

"No..." I replied, "but I like checkers!"

"Baa!" she brushed me off, "Checkers are for senile idiots, dear." She grumbled beneath her breath and spat on the board, I'm assuming, to wipe it clean. Unfortunately, she managed to hit her pawn, which knocked it over. I was horrified with her spitting blitzkrieg.

"Its only a matter of time" I thought, " before she hits me..."

  I pondered for a second wondering if she ever got frustrated at the bean can full of tea, almost gagging a second time. I tried to focus my attention elsewhere at that point. As I sat there, looking at her, I was so fascinated with her odd little habits that I forgot about the tea being full of beans and turd and took a sip. A tenth of a second later my eyes widened as I felt the wet juice slide down my throat. I instantly spewed out all that I had left in my mouth, shattering the depressing mood as well as soaking the poor old women. I could tell no matter how hard he tried, Koner couldn't help but start to giggle from this unexpected occurrence. I, on the other hand was horrified of what I had just done, recalling what she had done to the rebellious chair and chess board, I squirmed in my seat. Awaiting my death sentence, I started to remember the tea and finally came to the conclusion that it was actually very tasty. Just then I could hear a noise coming from the other side of the table.

She was laughing! I lifted my head faster than I ever had before. She was smiling and giggling and I didn't understand why. I started to smile trying to go along with it.

"Koner." She giggled, wiping the juice from her dusty dress, "Please come with me, I have something to show you, dear."

"Of course." He said, than motioned to her dress, "I'm terribly sorry about that. I-I hope it doesn't stain..." Koner looked over at me disciplinarily as he got up.

"I assure you, sweet Bobbys done nothing wrong!"

I began getting up from my chair. "Oh! Sorry Bobby, this is a surprise for you!"

"I'll be right back then, Bobby." He hissed, "Don't touch anything!" As he was leaving, he sighed with pity, or perhaps boredom from the old lady.

As he was walking, I heard him say "Don't pee yourself boy, I'll be right back."

  And just like that he was gone. All I could hear now was the sharp redundant squeak of the cuckoo clock facing me. I realized this was the first real time I had been left alone for as long I could remember.
  "Hmm" I thought to myself, "I wonder what she's showing him." I placed my hands in my pockets.

"Oh! Wait!" I jumped, "Did she know it was my birthday? Maybe it's a present! A present for my birthda--"

  I abruptly heard a loud thud and shriek shortly after. Suddenly I felt a strange feeling hadn't been felt in four and a half years. Images that I had, for so long, repressed soon flooded my senses, images of abandonment and loneliness. I instantly started to have a flashback of the day I was sent to the adoption facility. My face got all sweaty and I started to whimper. Now instead of being surrounded by people, I was surrounded by cold, motionless air. Completely venerable for someone to jump out of the shadows and take me.
  I was in the midst of a panic attack. I wanted my bear again! I wanted momma again! I wanted someone, anyone as long as it wasn't... her... Again, I heard the upstairs floor creak.
  "What if she comes back?" I worried, "What if she did something to Koner?" I was immediately struck with a feeling of vulnerability and helplessness. I shot up out of my chair and tried to remember the exit. There were three doors, but only one was leading to the main hallway.
  "Oh... Oh... Which one was it??" I was so panicked I had forgotten which door it was. Tears welled up in my eyes, even so to the point where I couldn't see where was going. I quickly ran into the nearest room, praying it was the door to my salvation. As soon as I got through it however, I stopped. I had unfortunately ran into the wrong room. As I turned around to evacuate, a glimmer caught my eye. As I took a second look, I gasped. Everything in the room was painted white! Sparkling baubles filled the room with no shadows, cleansed with purity. I started to advance farther into the room. There were at least a dozen huge oval mirrors pointing at each other in pairs, making the allusion that there were infinite portals. It was almost blinding. Reminding me of winter, it even felt colder... I completely lost all interest in running and just stood there. I couldn't stop; it was like a magnet, pulling me in closer and closer to the mirrors. I wanted to touch it... Just then, I heard Mr. Koner running into the dining room screaming in hysteria,                                                 
  "Bobby!! Bobby, where are you??" I didn't even answer him back. It was like I was spellbound; I just looked at the mirrors.

"I see you have found my spot of heaven." A cheerful voice echoed from seemingly nowhere. I looked all around trying to figure out where it was coming from.

    "Look up child!" It said, "At the ceiling!" I lifted my head up slowly, almost as if my eyes were glued to the mirrors. As I looked up I screamed. There she was! Spying on me! I could see her little eyeball peeking out of a hole in the ceiling. "Was she watching me when I was in the dining room to?"

Exasperated, I quickly ran out of the room, and dashed into Koner's grateful arms. As I did, I heard a giggle from upstairs.

"That was the white room. You know there's a black room to," she confirmed, "want to go see it?"
 
"No!" I screamed, lying my head on Koner's chest.

Koner started to question me, "What's all this about? What's in white the room?"

"Well" I sniffled, "I gues..." Koner interrupted, "Never mind that, where were you! Why did you run away when I left! I was so worried about you..."

"I have so much more to show you, dear!" she said, "You will love it here! I promise."

"N-no" he stumbled, "We are leaving miss. Sorry for the trouble, we've had enough here..."

"Wait!" she countered, "Just wait until I show you the black room, Bobby! It's marvelous."

Koner grabbed me by the hand with an iron grip and suddenly ran for the door.

"Just please stay away..." he snapped, pulling me to the door, "We've seen enough."

He hastily threw me in the truck, and hooked up the keys.

"So... bizarre..." he muttered, turning on the engine. "Guess what she wanted to show me, kid."

"Wh-what?" I sniffled.

"The black room, kid. The black room!"

"What was in that room? I questioned.

"Turns out she really did have a kid." he winced, pressing his foot firmly on the pedal.

"But you said she didn't have any children." I corrected him.

"It was a morgue, kid! She has a damn morgue in her basment!"

A deep cold feeling instantly crept over me, and I began to feel ill.

"A... morgue? Like with...."

"Yes! With her daughter! In the-in the ground Bobby! In the... ground." He stuttered.

  I will never forget that moment, or any of the others relating to it. It was positively the most eerie feeling I have ever felt. Being 35 now, I still stay true to that statement. When the police arrived to arrest her, she had disappeared... gone without a trace. According to the report, no one had lived there for 20 years. They did find the body in the basement, however.  I now... after constantly replaying it in my head... have come to the conclusion that there was more to her story then meets the eye. It was a house of heaven and hell, a house of life and death. And a story of a house where eternity can be felt in the middle ground, the half way point, the mortal world. The black and white squares.