haunted

chapter 9: telescope

Thursday November 10th, 2019 - 3:15 PM

"You're not going home?" Ian asks over his shoulder, using both hands to cram his history textbook into his overflowing locker.

"Not yet," Leah replies. She watches him struggle for a minute, and to her credit, doesn't laugh when the textbook inevitably falls from the locker and lands on his foot.

Pieces of paper stuffed between the pages of the book scatter all over the floor. Ian squats down to pick them up, grumbling under his breath. Instead of helping him, Leah's eyes drift back over to the Music Department building, where she can faintly hear instruments playing. Even among the cacophony, one set of strings stands out from all the rest.

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5:10 PM

"Last summer," Fatin starts unevenly. "My nani came to visit. It had been a few years since we'd last seen her, so everyone was pretty excited. I remember Kemar and Ahmad raiding my glitter gel pen stash so they could make her welcome posters for the airport." Fatin smiles at the memory, but it fades as she continues, "But she was here for less than a week before she got sick. At first, I didn't think it was a big deal. People get sick all the time." She huffs out a laugh. "Man, was I fucking wrong."

Jeanette listens attentively, eyes softening with understanding as Fatin continues.

"I went from seeing her every day to hardly seeing her at all. She was confined to the bed, sleeping more often than not." Fatin folds her hands in her lap. "My parents hired a caretaker to watch her while they were at work." She shakes her head. "God, she hated it."

"I'm guessing the hospital wasn't an option."

"Nope. She refused to be put into a treatment center. Said if she was going to die, she'd do so in the comfort of her own home." Fatin laughs dryly. "Nevermind how much that would fuck with three kids who'd never seen a dying person before."

"Three?" Jeanette asks.

"Me and my two little brothers. My parents tried to shield them, but there was really no avoiding it when we all lived in the same house."

"Jesus."

"It was pretty awful." Fatin plays with the rings on her fingers. "But the hardest thing was probably seeing her condition worsen over time. I really don't want to go into detail, but eventually, we had to hook her up to a respirator so she wouldn't... y'know."

Jeanette nods. Fatin takes a breath before continuing, "I couldn't stand to see her wither away like that. So I decided that I would stop seeing her at all. I signed up for more practice sessions. I started going to more parties. I took any and every opportunity to stay out of the house."

"I can't imagine your parents took that well."

"They didn't, but since I was out of school there wasn't really anything they could do about it. They weren't as strict as they are now, probably because they felt a little guilty." Fatin shifts in her seat. "Anyways, one night I tried sneaking out of the house. I passed the guest room on my way out and noticed the door was left wide open, probably by the caretaker. I didn't think anything of it, so I tried closing it."

"Oh no."

"Oh yes," Fatin says cynically. "I poke my head inside, and as my luck would have it, nani is wide awake. She sees me right away and asks me to grab her a glass of water. Because I'm not a total asshole, I do. Then she asks me to keep her company, at least until she falls asleep. It had been a while since I had seen her, and I think she missed me." Fatin rubs at her eyes. "I was her first grandchild, you know. And I think she always wanted to make the most of the time we spent together by taking care of me. She's actually the one who taught me how to swim, not my parents."