Of That Day and Hour: A psychological thriller (13 page)

Eve pulls up outside what
would seem to the casual observer any American street. Jeff steps out onto the
curb where he once played marbles, he sees that nothing’s changed, yet everything
has. Eve can already see the child standing in front of her; the boy who had
everything taken away.

“Are you alright?” She
reaches for his hand.

“Yeah.” His smile covers the
pain. “This is it, this is where I grew up.”

“It’s a lovely house.”

“It is. On a day like this
my dad would have been out tending to the garden. He planted that tree and
those bushes.”

“It’s a beautiful garden.”

“Yeah.” Jeff looks around.
“It’s nice to see the new owners are looking after the place.”

“They are.” There’s an
awkward silence; she needs to keep him talking. “What were your parents like?”

“Dad had a great sense of
humor, and mom wore her heart on her sleeve. You would’ve been out back by now
chatting with an iced tea in your hand.”

“That would’ve been nice.”

“Yeah, they were good
people.” Jeff would have loved to have introduced Eve to his parents. “It’s a
shame they didn’t get to meet you.”

“It is, but they left behind
a very handsome son for me.”

“Thank you.” At last a real
smile shines through. “See that window up there.”

“Yeah.”

“That was my bedroom.”

“I would have loved a peek.”

Jeff’s in his own world
again. Longing for his father to call him in for supper, or once again hear the
sound of pans in the kitchen. He remembers cap guns on the pavement, basketball
in the street and cops and robbers. Even the constant sound of Mr. Taylor
mowing his lawn next door. Eve’s conscious of Jeff’s nostalgic moment and gives
him a minute before breaking the silence.

“So where did Marcus live?”

“Over there.” Jeff points
across the street. “See the house with the white garage and the trellis fence?”

“I see it.”

“That’s the one.”

“And his family's no longer
there?”

“They sold up and left years
ago.”

“Any siblings?”

“He was an only child.”

“Would any of the neighbors
know where they went?”

“I doubt it, we’re talking
over twenty years ago. Our best bet is Jack. Last time I heard he was still
living in the family home, and Marcus was always a close friend of his.”

“Let’s hope he didn’t shit
on him too then.”

“Yeah.” Jeff’s bemused. “I
never thought of that.”

“You think Jack’s still
here?”

“He always said he wouldn’t
leave this town.”

“Shall we find out?”

On one hand Jeff feels sad
to be leaving the family home, yet on the other, well, it’s never good for the
soul to dwell too deeply into the emotions of the past. Once away from the
house Jeff begins to relax, and guides Eve through the maze of the subdivision.

“Take a left here.”

As the car turns left into
the street, from behind the hedge and without warning a boy around seven years
of age runs out chasing a ball. Jeff sees the boy’s terrified face as he
freezes in front of the car. He has blonde hair, wears a bright red t-shirt and
blue jeans. Moments before the car hits Jeff turns away, unable to watch the
consequences. At the thud he opens his eyes, only to find himself back moments
before the accident. Eve steers around the same corner.

“Stop!”

She slams the brakes on just
in time to see the young boy run out from the hedges. He’s identical in every
way and wears the same red t-shirt and blue jeans. Thankfully the car stops
short of hitting him.

“Shit, that was close!” Eve
holds her hand to her chest, and catches her breath.

Jeff remains silent whilst a
jittery Eve composes herself. The boy looks up, fearing that he’s landed
himself in serious trouble. Before Eve can open the door and step out, the
child’s mother, alerted by the squeal of tires, runs into the road. She sweeps
him up into her arms, taking him safely to the sidewalk. Only after she’s held
him in a tight embrace does she release him. Still holding onto one of his
hands, she scolds him. He’s got one eye on the ball, neatly brushed up against
the curb.

“How did you know, Jeff?”

“I don’t know.” He’s
bewildered himself.

A car pulls up behind and
the driver sounds the horn. Eve raises her hand to apologize before driving
away. Still shaken from the experience she pulls over a short distance further
up the road.

“You knew that was going to
happen didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” He’s frowning and
confused.

“How?”

“You won’t believe me.”

“Try me.” She’s
apprehensive. These events are getting more serious by the minute.

“I had a premonition.”

“A premonition?”

“Yes.” He’s unsure if Eve
will believe him.

“What happened?”

“Well.” He swallows hard.
“We were driving round the corner and the boy ran out, but we hit him the first
time.”

“The first time?” Eve
frowns. What does he mean?

“Look, he ran out and we hit
him. Then we’re turning the same corner moments before the accident, but I had
already experienced what was about to happen.”

“Jesus, Jeff, what’s going
on?”

“I don’t know.” He can see
the look of shock on her face.

“You foresaw the event.”

“I know… but how? There is
no malfunction in the machine.”

“What does that mean, Jeff?”

“It means I don't believe in
precognition,
déjà vu
, whatever. Time flows in one direction only.”

“Well, you’d better start
believing in something. The precognition you don’t believe in just saved a
boy’s life. When are you going to start accepting the evidence?”

“We need to find Marcus.”

“I know.”

A few minutes later and a dusty
black Camaro pulls up beside the sidewalk. The wide two-story, double timbered
fronted garage residence they have pulled up outside, has a blue truck sitting
in the drive.

“It’s no different to how I
remember it.”

“Houses don’t age like
people.”

“Yeah I know.” He doesn’t
like to be patronized.

“Looks like someone’s home.”

“I’ll knock, best hang back
just in case he’s not here anymore.”

“Okay.”

Eve watches him walk towards
the house, realizing her hands are still shaking from their close call. Just
what’s going on with Jeff? He rings the doorbell, then stands back. Is anyone
home? He tries again. Seconds after the door opens. He’s blocking Eve’s view,
but appears to be shaking hands, then turns round to face the car. He waves and
beckons her over.

Eve steps out of the car.
There’s no denying it, she looks pretty darned sexy as she walks towards the
boys. She can see Jeff’s pride and Jack’s lust as his eyes drop from her head
to her toe, and all the way back up. Jeff thankfully appears to be blissfully unaware.
After all these years Jack still lives up to the description Jeff gave of him.
Long hair, beard, bell bottom jeans, denim shirt and a welcoming smile.

“Eve this is Jack, Jack,
Eve.”

“Nice to meet you, Eve.”

“Likewise.” Eve inwardly
sighs. Why do men always have that glint in their eye? As far as Eve’s
concerned, she’s discovered yet another of Jeff’s friends that can’t be
trusted.

 
Entering the house a large and beautiful wood
Buddha in the hallway catches her eye.

“Oh I do like that!”

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it,
all hand carved.”

“Where did you get it?”

“It was being used as a
window dressing. It wasn’t for sale, but then I heard that the store was
closing down. I went back and they sold it to me.”

“Lucky you.”

“I thought so.”

 
As Eve anticipated, the living room plays host
to bohemian artwork complimented with psychedelic wall rugs. Which is quite her
thing, along with the old Chinese wood carvings. The air has a faint but
familiar smell of pot. Jack walks over to the turntable and turns the music off.

“Sit yourselves down guys.
Do you want a drink?”

“Coffee would be nice.”

“Eve?”

“Coffee’s fine, thanks.”

“Be right back.”

Jack walks across the
hardwood floor to the kitchen. The house is open plan, enabling them to talk
freely as he sets up the coffee-maker.

“It’s quite a coincidence
that you’ve turned up.”

“Why’s that?”

“I had a phone call
yesterday. Guess who’s trying to track you down.”

“Who?”

“Marcus.”

“Marcus?” A sharp intake of
breath from Jeff. He looks to Eve. She looks equally stunned.

“Yeah, Marcus. I haven’t
heard from him in ages.”

“What does he want?” Jeff
has a feeling that Marcus may already know something isn’t right.

“I don’t know. He just said
that he didn’t have your number. I didn’t have it, so he asked me to pass his
on to you.”

“Surely he wouldn’t have
known I was coming to see you?”

“I said I hadn’t seen you
for years, but he said you would be along soon. I don’t know how he knew?”

“Interesting.” He raises his
eyebrows to Eve. “What line of work’s he in?”

“Paranormal research.” Jack
frowns. “Must be something in it.”

“Yeah, that’s interesting.”

“What happened between you
two anyway?”

“What did Marcus say?”

“He didn’t.”

“We just drifted apart.”

“It happens. It’s been how
long?”

“Since university.” Jeff
snaps himself from the past. “Anyway enough of him! I came here to see you.
How’ve you been keeping?”

“Oh I can’t complain. I’m
happy. Now how many people can say that?”

“Not many. What do you do?”

“I’m self-employed as an
eco-friendly landscaper.”

“That’s great, Jack.” Jeff
smiles. “I do recall you being quite the eco-warrior.”

“I still am.”

“And how’s Dave?”

“Oh he’s doing well for
himself; he's the CEO of a software company.”

“Lucky him.”

“Yeah. I’m the brother who
stayed behind and looked after mom. She passed six years ago, she had cancer.”

“I’m sorry, she was a lovely
woman.”

“She liked you too, Jeff.”
Jacks eyes glaze in thought. “She suffered at the end; it was a blessing when
she passed. I now firmly believe in euthanasia.”

“I think it has its merits.”

 
“It would have to be strictly regulated.” Jack
brings the drinks over on a tray. “This may sound crazy; but I swear she’s
still around.”

“In spirit?”

“Yeah, it’s difficult to
describe.”

“Well where else would she
be, but home with her son?”

“Maybe.” Jack takes comfort
in Jeff’s words. “Here’s your coffee.”

“Thanks.”

“What do you do now?”

“I lectured at Harvard until
this year. At present I’m lucky enough to be working with Eve.”

“Lucky you.” Jack smiles at
Eve before turning back to Jeff. “How long have you been together?”

“It’s complicated.” Jeff’s
unsure as to how much he would like to divulge. “We’ve only just got back
together.”

“I used to be one of his
students.”

“Oh, you old dog.”

“It wasn’t like that.” Jeff
borders on being offended. Especially in front of Eve, who’s smiling to herself
at Jack’s comment.

“I heard you were married?”

“It didn’t work out.”

“I’m sorry.” Jack picks up
that Jeff’s uncomfortable discussing his past, and quickly changes the subject.
“So what do you both do?”

“We work at a prison in
Colorado. Eve’s a psychiatrist.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” She loves his
reaction, and smiles.

“I would love to have done
that. It must be fascinating getting inside people’s heads.”

“It can be very interesting
and it’s certainly never tedious.” Eve reinforces her point, her hand tapping
her temple twice. “Memory isn’t always what we think it is. When people find
out that I’m a psychiatrist they always ask me about their poor memory, or tell
me about their Uncle who has Alzheimer’s etc. But I love working with false
memory. Take for example the innocent person who’s arrested, and convicted on
the testimony of someone else. Charged with being a rapist or an attempted
murderer. Can you imagine the horror for the witness, when years later the real
perpetrator of the crime is arrested or confesses? What makes the person so
convinced in the first instance that they had the right man or woman? They’re
assured in their own mind, they're able to point out the perpetrator in a
police line-up. These people wouldn’t want an innocent party to be convicted of
the crime but they're convinced of what they think they remember. False memory
fascinates me.”