Sitting at her desk at the Daily Five Newspaper, Tashica felt strange. Her chest tightened and she feared she was going to have a heart attack. Her body would take her through so many weird feelings and emotions. She didn’t like this feeling, this feeling she called Death. She’d had these waves of feelings since she was a little girl, not fully knowing what it meant or why it was happening to her. She’d often thought about going to see a psychic to get in tuned with her ability. This was why she’s alone, because all her ex-boyfriend’s think she’s crazy.
This process would last weeks at a time, sometimes even months, and all she could think about was dying. She always felt she would die, but in the end, it was never her. She lived her life in fear, because at every turn her number could be called. She hated living like this. She tried talking to her mother about her gift. Each time she would be met with the words, “Honey, are you stressed? You must be stressed. Why do you let those tall tales Grandma use to tell you stay in that smart brain of yours? Did you get your period yet? You know when us girls have our cycle; all kinds of weird things happen to our body.” Tashica soon realized talking to her mother was pointless.
Tashica could never figure out whose death was coming. She didn’t know it would come and take her grandmother. She’d had no weird symptoms or feelings; it had been a normal day when she got the call from her mother that Grandma Rose’s spirit had elevated to a higher level. That was the one time Tashica felt helpless and started to believe she was crazy like all her ex-boyfriends believed she was.
She would wander through her days like a frantic woman, always thinking would she be taken in a car crash (this was the reason she refused to get in a car), or even worse, in her sleep. There were many restless nights, when she would wake up screaming, “No, no, no, I don’t wanna die.” The one she feared the most was having a heart attack. That was her biggest fear. She didn’t know why it was a heart attack and why death was involving her in his soul snatching.
When it was all over, her life would return to normal. Sometimes normal lasted a few days at a time. Her phone would ring and the voice on the other end would say, “Girl, did you hear about Martha’s boyfriend’s sister dying? She was in a car accident over on Ruby Red Lane.” Then at work, she’d read in a company email that one of her co-worker’s grandmother passed away. Most times it would be at least two co-workers having death in their family at the same time. Finally, she’d get her last confirmation that death had come again. It would always be in threes; three deaths hunting her days and nights relentlessly.
This particular night Tashica woke up from a horrible dream that she thought would never end. In her dream, she saw her sister being shot. It played out scene by scene; it was so real to her. She woke up in a panic, sweating and pacing the floor. She finally calmed down to call her sister, only to have Emma yell at her for disturbing her sleep at 3 o'clock in the morning. She would have this dream one more time; she couldn’t believe it reoccurred in the same night. After awakening, this time she got dressed and went directly to her sister’s house.
On her way, she stopped several times in mid-walk. Emma lived two blocks from her. Their mother insisted that she find her sister an apartment close to her, after Tashica stated for the hundredth time that Emma could not in any way possible live with her, after their mother’s many pleadings. She was debating on whether she should tell Emma about her dream. Grandma Rose always said never tell anyone about a bad dream if that person died in the dream. Grandma Rose said bad dreams always come true if you speak them into existence.
It was some weird ghost story she passed on to all her children and grandchildren because her mother told her the same story she got from her mother. Like when you’re dreaming you are falling, if you don’t wake up you will instantly die in your sleep. That’s the reason why so many people die while they are sleeping. They’re too busy worrying about how to land safely on their feet instead of waking up. Grandma Rose and her weird stories. As a child, Tashica was the only one that would cling on to every word. Whenever she would ask, “So, do you know anybody that hit the bottom and lived to talk about it? Should I tell Nita, I had a dream her grandfather died and we all was at the funeral?”
Grandma Rose would always say, “Girl, if you ask me one more time about these silly stories! Baby, they are just made up tales passed along from my mother and her mother. Sorta like old slave stories. Nonsense about hocus pocus stuff from the dark streets of New Orleans, where your great-great-great grandmother Cicely is from.” Tashica never believed the stories were made up. She knew they were real, because she dreamed Brownie, her dog, ran away and two days later he was missing, never to be seen again, or maybe her father gave him away after his many complaints about her and Emma not being responsible for him.
But how can I not tell her; she’s my sister, Tashica thought. She turned to walk back home, then turned to walk back towards Emma’s house. She finally made up her mind. I’ll just tell her I thought someone was trying to break into my apartment and I was afraid, so I ran immediately to her place. Yeah, that’s what I’ll tell her.
She was banging hard and loud on Emma’s door without thinking her frantic behavior would frighten her. Emma opened the door and yelled at her, “What the hell is wrong with you banging on my door like a mad woman? First you call me all times of the night, now you’re here annoying me in person.”
“I’m so sorry, I had this dream that something happened to you and it seemed so real,” said Tashica. She was mad at herself; she couldn’t believe she just blurted out her dream. She tried to take it back, but it was too late. She was afraid of what she’d just done. Emma was not safe anymore, because Tashica had spoken her dream into existence. Grandma Rose never told her how to take the words back.
Emma looked down her hallway; she could feel Ms. Stewart, her old neighbor, eyes on them like a hawk. Ms. Stewart was always in everybody’s business. She walked around, rolling her eyes, turning up her nose and slipping notes under people doors about how loud they were the night before. Emma grabbed Tashica’s arm and said “Get your looney butt in here, Ms. Stewart is nosey; she already thinks you’re crazy, I don’t want your death stories being overheard by her.”
Tashica began telling Emma about her dream of her dying, waking up and returning back to the same exact dream. She tells Emma she’s worried because this time death was showing her a face and the face was Emma’s. As she started to describe the other person in her dream, a man she’d never seen before, the man that shoots Emma, her eyes enlarged and she gasped as that man from her dreams walked out of Emma’s bedroom. Now, her fear elevated higher. She was convinced she was turning into the boy from that movie, “I see dead people.”
Emma got up and walked over to her guest, saying, “Babe, this is my sister Tashica; she had to tell me something that just couldn’t wait.” She turned to Tashica and said, “This is my boyfriend, Detective Sean Ward, and yes, I said Detective. He’s in charge of the Homicide Unit at the 5th District.” Emma smiled, thinking how she’ll be the favorite daughter this year when she takes Sean home to meet their parents.
Sean extended his hand to shake Tashica’s and said “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you. Emma brags all the time about her big sister, the successful journalist over at the Daily Five Newspaper.”
Emma shoved him and said, “No, I don’t brag about you.”
Tashica shook his hand and said, “Yes, Sean it’s finally nice to meet you too,” knowing Emma never told her about him. “Really, I had no clue she bragged about me so much.”
Sean leaned in and kissed Emma. “Honey, I have to get going, I’ll see you later tonight.”
Emma walked him to door, then turned to Tashica, “Now tell me more about this crazy dream you had.”