Chicken Wing

Ruby’s beady black eyes followed Heidi’s every move as she gingerly patted the dusty shelf overhead. Goosebumps tickled her neck as the sticky cobwebs clung to her fingers. Resisting the urge to run out of the musty chicken coop she tiptoed to reach higher. She took a quick peek at the hen on the perch, unnerved at the hen’s statue-like stillness. Heidi shuffled a little farther into the dimness as the glittery eyes followed her. She needed to find that little black book! The hen silently watched. Heidi knew it was irrational, but she was afraid to turn her back on the old biddy. Swallowing down her anxiety she again hastily patted the shelf. Metal clanged as her fingers painfully rammed a metal box. Ruby’s wings fluttered behind her which spurred her to snatch the box and sprint out the door with squeal.

Ten steps away from the coop Heidi bent over, elbows on knees, gasping. In between gasps laughter stuttered like an engine out of gas. I think my mom’s craziness has rubbed off on me. She smirked and shook the cobwebs off her hands and let sunshine warm the prickles from her skin. Curious, she shook the weighty box. Her stomach fluttered; she really did not want to go back into the coop to look for the book. Turning toward the sound of beating wings she almost stumbled, surprised to see Ruby standing in the doorway, eerie eyes locked on hers. I am letting my mom’s paranoia get to me. There is no way this chicken causes people to disappear! For two months she had spoiled the lone bird. Every morning she would take her coffee cup and sit on the wooden bench and toss grain to Ruby. Out of immense loneliness she talked to her, too, revealing her fears and biggest secrets. She also felt close to her mother while chatting with Ruby. Not once had she felt afraid, but today was different.

The old rickety door clanged loudly as she entered the kitchen of her mom’s house, flopping the box onto the vintage table. My house now. Anger and frustration rolled over her like sticky mud, making it hard to breathe. She wasn’t angry at her mom as much as she was at the entire situation. Her mom vanished two months ago and the police had found zero trace of her. Not one clue. Her mom didn’t return as planned after a two-day trip and the friendly old neighbor who was caring for Ruby alerted Heidi. She was grateful Janet had kept her phone number. Heidi didn’t hesitate, she immediately drove the five-hour trip to her mom’s house. Since then, she had been living here, caring for Ruby, and praying her mother would walk in the door any moment.

That phone call had been a blessing. Heidi lost her job months ago and found herself depending on her abusive boyfriend, Johnson, way more than she wanted. One day she mustered up the bravery to leave and she emptied his bank account and ran. Even though she knew it was wrong she felt she had no choice. Survival trumped morality in her mind, her head had no room for guilt after the things he had done to her. Johnson has been after her ever since. More than once she picked up the phone to call her mother for help, but shame and anger always stopped her. She was down to the last dollar of stolen cash and mentally exhausted and Janet’s call had felt like a life-line. She had rushed here to look for her mother, but she also hoped it was a safe place to hide until Johnson gave up on her.

Sixty days in this old house; memories swirling with the dust. Sixty days of worrying about her mom and alternating between being angry and feeling hopeless. Most days the loneliness was overwhelming. But this morning she found her mother’s letter in the back of the nightstand drawer. At first, she couldn’t believe a word, but as the day wore on, she started to accept it as a bizarre possibility.

The dusty shoebox-sized box on the table silently called for her attention. She unhooked the clasp and peered inside. Her heart tumbled around in her chest like a chicken with its head cut off. Lots and lots of cash. Heidi almost knocked the box off the table in her haste to empty the box onto the marred table top. There has to be at least $20,000 in here! But where is the book?

Heidi rubbed her face and sighed. About five years ago, every conversation with her mother was a struggle. Her mom’s mental health had deteriorated; she was confrontational, delusional, and, well…just crazy. Her mom pleaded numerous times, often tearfully, that Heidi care for Ruby if ever needed, basically if her mother died. She finally promised her mother she would take care of the chicken, not really meaning it at the time. The memory made Heidi’s esophagus burn. She knows she thought Chickens don’t live that long, right?

Three years ago, though, the conversations took on an insanely different tone. Her mom was still obsessed with Ruby, but she also sounded fearful of the bird. That was new so Heidi jokingly suggested that it was time for a chicken stew. Her mom responded with intense anger. She hyperventilated, she cried, she screamed, and pleaded for Heidi to ‘take it back.’ She was beside herself and told Heidi that if she had to choose between Ruby or Heidi, she would always choose Ruby. That hurt! She said she had no choice, Ruby had to be her number one priority in order to keep Heidi safe. Heidi tried to calm her down and told her it was a joke, but her mom hung up forcefully. Her mother did not call back, and being as stubborn like her mom, she did not try to contact her either. A part of her was relieved to be rid of the stress of her mom’s instability and constant drama. A part of her also grieved every day for the mother she once knew.

Heidi screeched and flailed on the chair as her new cell phone rang and vibrated. Her heart stopped when she saw the number. The text that soon popped in had her shaking once again. “I am coming soon. I will get my money back and you WILL pay!” She didn’t know how, but Johnson had found her! Like an icy shower, dread washed over her and she couldn’t stop the sobs. He was out for blood. She was exhausted, she wanted to give up. Her desperate eyes spied the black book hidden among the bills.

A trickle of sweat seeped under her arms. All this time I thought my mom was unhinged, but the book is real! She squinted through the window to the coop. The bird only left the coop when it was feeding time. And she hadn’t laid an egg since Heidi arrived. She never understood why her mom wasted time with the old bird. Now she did. The hen had never seemed scary. Yes, she thought Ruby was a little odd, and sometimes it seemed like Ruby was actually listening to her as she talked. Reading that letter changed that. Ruby was a terrifying creature.

She collapsed onto the kitchen chair and glared at the scattered bills and daintily gripped the book. A faint silvery wing graced the cover. She turned the pages and saw they were filled with names, one per line. All of the names had a line drawn through them with a dollar amount to the right of the name-amounts ranging from $5 to $5,000-like a hit list. It was obvious the book was a least a few decades old. Spidery fear tickled her scalp. How did my mom become the keeper of this book? How did she become the caretaker of Ruby? Could the revelations in the letter really be true? Tears sprang to her eyes. I am sorry I didn’t have more faith in you, Mom.

She sighed deeply and sadly looked around. Maybe her mom was sane, after all? The small book was strangely heavy in her hand as the words from the letter came back to her. She flipped to the last page of the book and inhaled. Written in her mother’s own neat writing was the name “Sunny Redmond---- $-IOU.” Heidi’s brows arched in confusion. Why would my mom add her own name to the list? Why? Shock and sadness made her heart clench painfully.

Shuffling to the window again, Heidi gazed at the dark chicken coop within the shadows. Wings flashed; her breath hitched. Ruby seemed disturbed. She held her breath and watched. Understanding and clarity mysteriously flowed through Heidi’s entire being.

Grabbing a pen from the kitchen counter Heidi cautiously drew a line thru her mother’s name. She hiccupped. Next, she crossed out the “IOU” and wrote, “Paid in Full.” She could barely take a breath; she questioned her own sanity. She paused and then just as carefully on the next line she wrote, “David Johnson---$0”. Her heart fluttered. She didn’t understand how she knew without question that the dollar amount was correct. She quickly stashed the money in a kitchen drawer and gathered the book and box. Was she really going to do this? Was she just falling for her mother’s madness? She closed the book cover and cradled it with trepidation. She moved quickly giving herself no time to change her mind.

Standing at the door to the coop crazy fear almost paralyzed her legs. She stepped inside with a glance at Ruby; she was peacefully perched facing away from the door. Heidi quietly sighed with relief. Two steps in, turn, deposit the box and black book, then exit. Others somehow knew about Ruby and her ability to banish (or should I say vanish?) someone from their lives. They left money for Ruby’s caretaker, according to the letter. How much of this was a mad woman’s imagination? Am I now a madwoman, myself?

That evening she locked all the windows and doors aware Johnson could be nearby, watching. She imagined him creeping around her house and waiting in the darkened corners of her room. She had strange dreams of Ruby and real (or imagined) sounds kept waking her up as soon as her eyes closed. Unease plagued her the entire night. Once she even believed she heard the fluttering of wings. That sound scared her almost as much as the thought of Johnson in her house.

Heidi pried her gritty eyes open to the early morning sunshine. Guardedly she ambled into the kitchen and peered out the window. Everything looked normal. The fleeting movement in the coop window caught her eye; Ruby was awake, as well. In the glaring brightness the revelations of yesterday seemed like a dream but that didn’t stop her from running outside. She needed to see the hen. Ruby uncharacteristically scurried to the doorstep and whirred her wings. What do I do now? Swallowing her unease, she crouched down and carefully petted the top of Ruby’s black head. Then she noticed the cell phone laying at the coop step, screen cracked. She recognized the phone immediately as Johnson’s.

Rising abruptly, she looked in every corner of the yard, terror making her legs quake. Ruby caught her attention when she began clucking loudly. Ruby sang a chicken song and beat her wings a few more moments before settling down on her perch, at ease. Heidi knew at that instant that Johnson would never bother her again and peace flew through her veins.

She entered the coop, crouched down, and peered into Ruby’s eyes. Fear was totally absent as she reached out to caress Ruby’s head. She smiled wide when Ruby trilled softly. They were a team now, and they would take care of each other from this day forward.