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On the Other Side(82)

By:Michelle Janine Robinson


Once in the club, Lester took turns dancing with both Constance and Damita and a few times danced with both of them at the same time. At one point there was a very romantic, slow song playing and Constance encouraged Damita and Lester to go dance.

“You don’t need to babysit me,” she said.

They were dancing close together, enjoying keeping time with the music, when suddenly the spell was broken by a scream.

Lester suddenly looked worried. “I think that was Constance,” Lester said.

They ran from the dance floor and found Constance sitting with her back up against a wall. She was drenched in a drink from her face to the middle of her dress.

“Constance, what happened?” Lester asked.

“It was him. He was here. This time, I saw him. He spoke to me.”

Lester looked around and ran toward the exit. He considered going outside and looking for Jack or whoever else might have frightened his sister, but he didn’t want to leave either Constance or Damita alone. Inside the club someone was watching the two women, but it wasn’t Jack.





CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX


“I know who you are.”

The first note was merely the beginning. Within weeks three more had been left. What Damita wasn’t sure of was whether they were targeting her or Constance. She assumed the notes were for her since they seemed to be left close to where she would normally be; whether it was her desk, her locker or her computer. If the note had read anything else, she would have believed it was nothing more than someone playing a foolish prank, but she knew better than that. Constance’s high anxiety and the notes together proved to Damita that there was more than simple paranoia going on.

Despite her initial desire to claim her independence, Damita had done a complete one-eighty and, instead, decided she might like living with Lester. They were happy and she was glad she had made the decision. She thought it was very funny when she moved in and he wrote a note in lipstick on the mirror that read I told you so. He had been saying all along that she didn’t need to find an apartment because she was going to change her mind and come live with him.

Damita came home that night, note in hand, eager to convince Lester that his sister wasn’t going crazy.

“Look what someone left on my computer today,” she said.

“If it was Jack, why would he leave it on your computer? Not only that, how would Jack get access to the office in order to be able to leave a note on anyone’s computer?”

“He could have gotten someone else to do it.”

“You’re right. Jack was a very manipulative fellow. He was capable of anything.”

“Lester, how dangerous is this guy?”

“He’s as dangerous as Neal was.”

“What are we going to do?”

“I know one thing, we’re not going to run. I’m tired of my sister running. She deserves to have a normal life.”

“Maybe the two of you should go to the police. I can’t go with you, but I’ll be there in spirit.”

“You might be right. At this point, that might be the best thing.”

Lester considered going to the police, but eventually dismissed the idea. The police represented a potential threat to Damita and Constance refused to go to the police anyway. Not only that, he was sure they wouldn’t have done anything. He knew they would have to handle the situation on their own.

The next day Damita went to work and was able to convince Constance to go as well. She was happy to see that she still had a job and they both tried their best to forget what had been going on with the notes and Constance’s feeling of being watched.

At the end of the day, Damita and Constance left work together and decided a trip to the mall would be the thing to put both of them in a better mood. They visited multiple stores, and both promised each other they would make sure they stayed together. Suddenly, Damita too felt it. There was definitely someone following them. She attempted to use the multiple store windows to hopefully get a reflection of who was there. She saw nothing. Then, suddenly, a face appeared out of nowhere. To Damita’s surprise, it appeared to be the man that had helped her escape from the Towers. He was standing there, not moving, staring at both her and Constance. By the time she got Constance’s attention to show her the man, staring at them both, he was gone. She didn’t see him walk away. His reflection was simply no longer there.

Instead of going home, Damita stopped at Constance’s house first. They unpacked some of the things they purchase and for a moment their little shopping spree seemed to help return things to normal. That is, until they were going through the bags of items and there was another Post-It note with the same message printed on it. “I know who you are.” The note could mean anything. It could be Jack or it could be someone who knew Damita had survived nine-eleven. It could also be someone who knew she had killed her husband.