Arkansas

“Arkansas,” he said sarcastically... “Don’t you wanna move to Alaska instead?”

“My family lives there...” She utter with a sigh. “It will be temporary... Until we can get back in our feet.”

“Babe... no... just no! Antoine... his friends... his school... my family... what’s everyone gon’ think?”

“Chris... It doesn’t matter. It will only be temporary...”

“Em, I can fix this. I can get anot—”

“Another job Chris? We’ve been through this... You’ve been looking for 6 months now...”

“Emily, I can fix this!”

“Babe... I know that you’ve tried hard. But it’s been 6 months... Covid is not going away anytime soon. We just ran out of savings...”

“I... I can’t... I just can’t... Plus, we’ good here. We’ ok, we’ good... I’m going to make it right... For you, for Antoine, and our baby...” as he gently touches her belly, “we can stay here in Detroit... We make it work...”

She softly approaches him, and whispers “Christian, look at me... Babe... please... We are in this together. I know you love me... I know you love us... But it is ok to look for help.”

He quietly listens to her, somewhat slowly nodding to what she is saying.

“What your dad gon’ think about me?”

“Sherman and Lily love you. They w—”

“Em... Sherman resents me for taking you, his baby, away from him. Besides, I’ll be the only black man in Greenwood... I’ll be lucky if I don’t get pulled over every 100 feet!”

“Chris... People are great in Greenwood, lovely, kind, and welcoming.”

“Em, there's a small difference between us...” he muttered to himself.

“Babe, not everything is about race.”

“Ok Em, fine... I’m sorry...” he quickly uttered, “I’m just concerned... Plus, I am already hearing your mom giving me her BLM spiel.”

“They are just helping us in this time of need...”

He paused. Sighed. Looked at her, and said:

“I'm a black, big-lipped man, with jazz running through its veins... I will not belong... I made up my mind, I ain't goin'!”

As they are approaching Greenwood, Antoine is all excited looking through the window. Christian is on the passenger side, as he refused to drive, and Emily is singing Chris's favorite song, trying to lighten up the mood.

The white picket fence, the all-American truck, the red barn... all signs that they had arrived at the old vintage country home.

Sherman quietly waves, standing on his porch.

Lily rushes to the car, embraces them, and says: “We’ve missed y’all soooo much! It’s been 2 years too many! Antoine, you are soooo big! You are growing more handsome by the minute.”

Chris awkwardly smiles, greets, and goes to the back of the car to start lowering the luggage, when he hears:

“Boy, what are you doing?”

Chris looked back confused, and before he could say anything, Sherman continued:

“We got a surprise for y’all. No need to unpack. Just follow us.”

Chris looked at Emily, disoriented. She quickly replied:

“A surprise? You shouldn’t have! Yes, we’d love to go!”

They got into the car and followed their truck.

“Here we are!” said Sherman, with a proud voice.

Perplexed, Chris looks at Emily to gauge what was happening.

“This will be your new home,” said Sherman, “since we know you will need 3 rooms, and we didn’t want you all crammed into our basement, we got you a proper, heartwarming home to raise your family.”

“What!? No way!? Are you serious!?” said Emily, barely containing herself.

“A proper family home... as it should be,” said Sherman, while looking at Chris.

“Wow, a new home! That’s awesome! Thanks, grandpa and gran gran! I’m off to explore!” said Antoine, as he quickly rushed in.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd, I don’t know what to say..." said Chris perplexed, "thank you, but I think there has been a small misunderstanding... We just came temporaril—”

“Aww, mom... dad... this is a lovely gift! You didn’t have to!” said Emily, rushing with a smile.

Lily hugged her daughter, as they both wandered off inside.

Chris stood up there; awkward silence in the air.

Sherman looked at him, and slowly approaching said: “ Son if you need help, we are here.”

“Th-Thanks...” said Chris, him an uncomfortable smile.

“Besides the house... I’ve already made arrangements to get you a job at the factory...”

“I truly appreciate all that you’ve done Sir, I really do. But I am an engineer. I value your support but... but... I can provide for my family, Sir.”

“Chris...” Sherman chucked, “your family is also my mine... Are you really going to let your ego get in the way of their future?”

Chris stood silenced...

Sherman gave him a gentle embrace, slowly slapping his face, whispering into his ear, “See you on Monday; first light at the plant kid.”

That night, Chris couldn’t sleep. He took his small black notebook... sat by the porch...

Words began to pour into his trusted journal to quench his anxiety and take the edge off.

The next morning, Chris looked for his Moleskine. He had placed it next to his bed, but it had vanished.

“Babe, did you take my journal?”

“We just moved in, and you are already asking me for your stuff?” she joked.

“Ah, it must have been Antoine who took it then.”

“Chris, forget about the journal. Please... come... sit next to me. I was waiting after we moved to tell you something important...”

“What?” he chucked, “am I going to be a father again?”

A nervous smirk on her face, “I got the results from the ultrasound... How do I say this... There... There... There are 2 bab—”

A curious giggle interrupted them, and 2 small feet were dancing offbeat with an old bedsheet.

They both laughed a bit, clearing up the air.

Chris said, “Well, isn’t it Antoine who’s here? Did you have fun chasing the cat? Why did you take my journal? Are you ready to apologize?”

He approached him and removed the bedsheet...

Chris and Em were shocked to see that beneath there was a pale, little girl with long black hair and worn red hairbands.

Surprised, Chris jumped, and almost fell to the ground.

“Who are you? What are you doing here!?”

“I am just playing...”

“What? We just moved here. What do you mean playing?”

“I just came to say hi to my new neighbors.”

“Chris, you are scaring her! Don’t be rude! She is just a kid...”

“Excuse my husband, he lacks manners from time to time. What’s your name, young lady?”

“It’s alright. My name is Allyson, but my friends call me Al.”

“That’s a beautiful name, Allyson! Would you like something to drink? Perhaps something to eat?”

“No, you are very kind, I’m fine thanks.”

“Have you met Antoine? He loves to play! Come on, let’s go! I have some games that you'll like.”

Chris looked for jobs the entire day to no avail. Frustrated and exhausted, he reached for his bed to get some rest.

He sees his journal, right where it was yesterday.

The lid is now open.

He sees that all pages are blank. He panics.

He rushes through them, with the hope of finding his treasured notes.

Everything is gone.

A tear streams down his face, landing on the last page.

Slowly, a map of sorts comes into view, with weird shapes moving through.

Baffled, he exists the room to tell Em, but the entire house is empty.

Bewildered, he starts to yell, “Em!!! Antoine!!!” but to no avail.

Empty home, no signs of anyone, just silence and despair.

The shapes on the map are still moving; so he frantically goes outside trying to make sense of it.

Running, screaming, sweating, panting... He starts to follow the map, with a million thoughts rushing through his head.

Alas, he arrives at an abandoned barn.

Going inside, he sees a rotten flight of stairs to climb, which could collapse at any moment.

Hesitant, he gathers some makeshift boxes and tries to climb.

Midway, they break.

When he is about to fall, he jumps and grabs into a loose wooden plank. Adrenaline pumping through, he manages to hold on tight and climb.

Holes, dust, hay, and rats decorate the stench.

Everything is dark, but the map and his resolve lighting up the way.

After stumbling and crawling, he finds a small locked chest.

Trying not to fall, he takes it and rushes back home.

“Where were you? We were looking for you everywhere!!!” screamed Em, “I didn't see leave!”

Confused, Chris replied: “Where was I? Where were YOU!? I came outside and y’all were gone!”

“What? We were here! We haven’t gone anywhere... We waited for you for like 30 minutes, and then went inside the room and didn’t see you. We saw that the car was parked. We called you to your phone and nothing...”

Chris just sat, breathing profusely.

“What is that that you got over there?”

“What, this chest? You wouldn’t believe me.”

After he explained, Em said: “Chris, you’ve been drinking again!!!???”

“No babe, it’s super bizarre, but you got to trust me on this one, ok?”

Antoine got closer, tried to open it but to no avail.

Slowly they stopped arguing and both started trying to open the chest.

After 10 minutes, Antoine turned it around, and read: “Macaulay Family, 1939.”

“This is older than this house” Chris exclaimed.

30 minutes passed; no solution in sight.

Emily got desperate, took a hammer, and slammed the chest open.

To everyone’s surprise, $20,000 in cash were inside!

An eruption of euphoria overtook the house.

After the emotions subsided, Chris said, “Em... we need to return this money.”

“We what now?”

“We need to return it. It is not ours to keep.”

"Seriously?"

"Yes!"

"Chris, this will mean the world to us."

"I know, but it feels wrong".

“Chris, this is a gift for our family, so I will store it away.”

Unfazed, the next morning Chris made the rounds around town, knocking on every door; asking if anyone knew Allyson or the Macaulay Family, but to no avail.

“This money was sent by Sherman to spite me.” Chris thought as he walked home.

He told Emily, and they called Sherman. To their surprise, he had nothing to do with it.

Confused, Chris returned to the barn, and slowly went inside.

It was empty.

Losing hope, he began walking home again.

He saw an old lady. In his desperation, he approached her; described Allison, and asked her if she had seen her.

The old lady paused, looked at him, and 2 tears rolled down her eyes...

“Allison Macaulay, you mean?”

“Yes, I think so..." replied Chris with a worried tone.

“How do you know her?”

“I... I... don't in fact. She just showed up to my house yesterday.”

“Young man, are you playing with an old lady’s heart?”

“No, not at all.”

“Al was my best friend... She disappeared on Halloween, 1939, never to be seen again.”

Chris froze.

“She was a kind gentle soul, neglected by her parents; concerned only about money.”

He thanked the old lady, and slowly made his way back.

Chris told Em what had transpired.

“She wanted us to have it. She knew that this would mean a lot to us,” said Em.

“We should return the money,” Chris said.

“What? To whom? Are you gonna go around town asking? ‘Hey, did you lose 20k?’ that sounds like a plan...”

Chris, glass of whisky in hand, wandered off to his journal to relax.

He saw that all of his old entries were there.

On the last page, no map, just a message that read:

“A gentle soul, I read; who loves his family.

An honest man who needs a break; a small token to alleviate.

Love is what matters, and life is short.

Family is a treasure; more valuable than gold.

Take this money to set you free; cherish love and family.”