The Knowing: Awake in the Dark Read Online Free Page B

the giant orange moving van in our driveway. I walked through the door, arms filled with books, and everyone was busy running in different directions. Boxes were scattered throughout the house, and upon seeing me, my mother barked, “Nita, go to your room and pack your things.”
    “But why? Where are we going?” I asked, puzzled.  “Do as you’re told, goddammit. Now get going!”
    Panic seized me.
    When I got to the room I shared with Maggie, she was filling a box with clothes.
    “Why are we leaving?” I asked, tears threatening.
    Before she could answer, our eldest sister Karina stood in the doorway and said, “You better stop sniveling and hurry up.”
    “But where’s Daddy?” I asked, now openly crying.
    “He’s not coming,” she said. “Mom’s leaving him.” And with that Karina turned and was gone.
    When my mother left my father, he was working as a flight engineer for a commercial airline.  He also had a secret family living in another state. As it happened, he wasn’t due home for a couple of days, but my mother had “a feeling” and called the flight desk to inquire as to his whereabouts.  The response, “Oh Dell, well he left yesterday. His wife and son picked him up.”
    My mother promptly left him, never forgiving or looking back. It happened abruptly and none of us saw it coming.
    We drove for two days, arriving in California on the afternoon of the third day. Mother was giddy as we crested a hill with a large sign at the side of the road that read, “Welcome to California: The Sunshine State.” For me, the move marked a surge in my intuitive ability—an ability that I didn’t yet understand.

 
The Boy Abandoned
     
    When the boy woke up, he was alone in a strange room where the wet heat suffocated him. The distant bellow of a cow mooing and the squawks of chickens brought him fully awake and he remembered that his parents had discarded him. Threw him away like trash. They had shipped him off.
    The boy had been angry and had broken the rules which had landed him in trouble. Although he was only nine years old, he snuck out at night defying his parent’s rules and stole from stores on a regular basis, not caring if he got caught, which he frequently did.  Now, as a result he was miles away on a desolate farm living with an aunt and uncle he did not know.
    His father had spent most of his time drinking and his mother would scamper after him like a pet. It sickened the boy.
    The bedroom door opened and his uncle poked his head in, “It’s time ya git up buddy and git a start on chores now. This is how we do it ‘round here. Ain’t no trouble for ya ta git up to. Let’s git a move on.”
    It took several months for the boy to accept his new life, which was hard at first. He cried at night and felt isolated and alone. His aunt and uncle didn’t have children of their own and seemed happy to have the boy with them. They were patient and kind.  He grew to love them and he found comfort in the working of the farm. He stayed out of trouble and worked hard and began to forget the stinking, rot of his father. After two years had passed, the boy was happy and felt loved.
    One morning before the sun rose, the boy hurried to the barn to check on the cat that kept the barn clear of rodents. She’d just had kittens a couple of days before and the boy wanted to check on them.  Kneeling in the soft dirt he scooped up the tiny mewing babies and nuzzled his face in their silky fur. “it’s gonna be a good day,” he said to the purring mother cat. “Don’t look like it’ll be too hot.” Putting the kittens down he said, “I’ll be back later.”
    The boy worked steadily, sweating in the sun when his uncle called to him from across the field, “Git in the truck will ya and move it back from them barn doors. We got hay comin. Keys is in it.”
    The boy jumped in the cab and twisted backwards so he could see behind him and backed up the old truck when he felt his tire roll over