Page 109 of Night Songs

The moment we stepped onto the porch, the door swung open. Another old man, this one even older than the sheriff, stood in the doorway.

“What y’all want?” he barked. A middle-aged man with a similar face came around the side of him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Dad, don’t be rude.” He turned to us. “I’m sorry, y’all, he’s gone salty in his old age.” The old man grunted in response. “How can I help y’all?”

Hess went to speak, but I put my hand on her arm.

“My name is Rhea Miller. My mother was Ernestine Arwood. I think we might be family.”

“My God,” said the old man, his jaw going slack.

His son smiled wide. “Well, I’ll be damned. Why don’t y’all come inside?”

We followed them into the modest house and made our introductions. The old man was my mother’s uncle Hasil, and the other man was his son, Enoch. There was a bit of fussing around with iced tea and a plate of cookies, and the whole time I was biting my tongue, waiting for the moment I could start asking questions.

When we’d finally settled, I launched in. “What can you tell me about the curse?”

Hasil’s face went pale, and Enoch coughed.

“Your mama never told you?” Hasil asked.

“I think she did when I was little. But I didn’t get to ask her any questions.”

He nodded, unsurprised. “So she passed?”

“Yes. When she was 33. Plane crash.”

Hasil shook his head. “That’s a damn shame. Sorry to hear it.”

“She actually came to see us,” Enoch added.

“When?”

“About a week before she turned 33.”

Hess and I shared a look.Thiswas where Belle had disappeared to after she left me at the cabin.

“So her birthday was July twenty-fifth?” I asked.

“Yes’m,” Hasil replied, looking a little confused. “Same as Aileen. I’ll never forget that day.”

“Aileen was his sister,” Enoch clarified. “Ernestine’s mother.Yourgrandmother.”

“Do you remember what time Ernestine was born?”

Hasil nodded. “Around 10:30 or so at night. I remember lookin’ at my watch when they come to tell me.”

It is true. She had, in fact, died on her birthday, just as she turned 33. “How long was she here? What did she say?”

“We only saw her for a few hours. She asked about the curse, the same as you. She wanted to know how to stop it,” Enoch said.

My blood cooled, and I felt our two timelines converging once again, becoming one track. “And what did you tell her?”

“Ain’t no stoppin’ it,” Hasil declared. “I took Aileen to the granny witch myself. She tried to get the demon out of her, but it didn’t work.”

“The granny witch is a local healer,” Enoch translated once again.

Hasil kept speaking as if he hadn’t heard him. “After her birthday dinner, Aileen was crossin’ the street, and boom, a truck come out of nowhere and launched her into a tree. When I pulled her down, I could still hear a heartbeat. I ran her to the hospital, and the doctor said it was the baby’s heart I was hearin’. Aileen was already gone.”