Chapter 502

Olivia

I stared numbly out the window at the lazily falling snowflakes. It was a little late in the year for snow, but I didn’t mind watching the fat snowflakes fall and disappear on the ground.

I let out a small sigh and glanced over my shoulder at the flickering fireplace. The twins were fast asleep in the nursery, my own dinner time was coming close, and I wasn’t feeling very much up to eating.

“Maybe I should eat something,” I muttered under my breath, pushing away from the window and heading toward the dimly lit kitchen.

Just as I was about to open the fridge to peer inside, though, I was stopped by the sudden, shrill sound of the landline phone ringing on the wall. I nearly jumped at the sound; it wasn’t very often that anyone called either of us on the home phone.

Clearing my throat, I picked up the phone and pressed it to my ear. “Hello?”

There was a brief silence on the other end, and then an automated voice caused me to jump again. “This is a collect call from the Eastford Detention Center. If you would like to accept the call, please press ‘one’. If you would not like to accept the call, hang up.”

I furrowed my brow. Eastford Detention Center… That was where both Jenifer and Colin were serving out their prison sentences. Colin hadn’t called a single time since he had gotten locked up, but Jenifer did call Nathan on a rare occasion.

Finally, taking a deep breath, I pressed ‘one’ and waited. The phone rang a couple of times, and then I heard a click and a meek, familiar voice come through the other end.

“...Nathan?”

I swallowed involuntarily. This was the first time I had heard her voice since that night in Alvin’s house. Since my dear childhood friend had…

“Jenifer,” I breathed, feeling my heart pound in my chest.

There was a long pause, and for a moment, I thought she had hung up upon hearing that it was me and not Nathan who had answered. But then, finally, she answered.

“Olivia. Is Nathan there?”

“He’s, uh… He’s away on a business trip,” I managed despite the growing lump in my throat. “I’m sorry. Did you have a message for him?”

Jenifer’s sigh came crackling through the phone. I could hear a plethora of other voices in the background; likely other inmates making their daily calls. No matter how angry I was with Jenifer for taking Alvin from me, I did hope that she was comfortable there and not being treated poorly.

“No,” she said. “I just wanted to talk. But dammit, now my call is gonna be wasted.”

I could hear a rustling on the other end, as if she were going to hang up, but for some reason I felt compelled to stop her. Maybe it was my loneliness, or maybe it had something to do with the fact that my baby, the one who she had supposedly hexed all those months ago, had just been stillborn.

“Wait!” I called out, maybe a little louder than I intended. I cringed a bit at my desperation and swallowed. “Wait, Jenifer. Don’t hang up.”

There was another pause before she answered. “What is it?”

“I don’t want you to waste your call,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “Why don’t we talk instead? It’s… It’s been a while.”

For a moment, I thought I heard Jenifer scoff. But then, after a pause, she actually answered. “Sure. We can talk,” she said.

There was another awkward pause. I bit my lip, wondering what to say next; I had gotten this far, but hadn’t considered what we would actually talk about.

“So… What’s it like over there?” I blurted out. “Are they treating you well?”

Jenifer actually scoffed this time, just as abrasive as always. “It’s a prison, Olivia,” she began, but then seemed to stop herself. When she spoke again, her voice was just a touch softer. “I mean, it’s not bad. The food isn’t horrible, and my bunkmate is pretty cool.”

“That’s… That’s good,” I said. “What do you do to pass the time?”

“Read, mostly,” she said. “There’s an arts and crafts group once a day, too, so I do that. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m making birdhouses.”

“Birdhouses.” For some reason, hearing her say that made me smile just ever so slightly. “That sounds nice.”

Jenifer scoffed again, but it didn’t sound as if there was any real heat in it this time. “I mean, I’d rather not be here at all, but birdhouses are nice,” she said, then paused again. During those moments of silence, I could almost picture her biting her lip. “But I’m the one who got myself in here, so…”

Her words left me taken aback; it was unheard of, in my experience, for Jenifer to admit that something was her own fault. Something about it made me soften.

“That takes a lot of courage to say that,” I said softly.

“Yeah.” Jenifer sighed again. “I’ve been going to therapy, you know? And they’ve got me on this new medication. I actually feel… pretty good, if I’m being honest.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words would come. On one hand, I was happy for her; to hear that she was getting the help she needed was more than anyone could ask for.

But on the other hand, my child was dead. And I had a burning question on my tongue.

“My baby died,” I suddenly blurted out. “Stillborn. Four months early.”

There was a long, tense silence. The sound of the murmuring in the background didn’t cease, so I knew she was still there, but it felt as if time and space had stretched between us. Clearly, I had left her taken aback.

“Olivia, I—”

“Just tell me,” I said, my voice trembling now. “Was it the hex that did it?”

Another pause. Then: “No.”

“You promise?” I whispered. Tears were in my eyes now, burning and causing the dimly lit room to swim around me.

“Olivia, I swear I cleared that hex,” she said rather quickly. “And besides, I… I only ever wanted to scare you. The hex was only meant to leave a mark on your baby’s foot, nothing more. Not… kill it.”

“You’d swear on your own child’s life,” I said.

“Absolutely.” There was no pause this time. And for the first time since I had met her, Jenifer’s voice was clear and direct. No games, no twisting of words, no hidden meanings.

She hadn’t killed my baby. No one had. Not Jenifer, not Dan. Just… nature. And in a strange sort of way, that made my heart wrench even more; not having someone to blame, some outside force to exact my revenge on, just left me even emptier than before.

“Th-Thank you,” I finally said, realizing now that I had been silent for quite some time. “I’m sorry for dropping that on you. I just—”

“I understand,” she said softly. “Hey, listen, I have to go. I’ve used up my time.”

“Right.” I wiped my tears and plastered a smile on my face as though she could somehow see me. “It was nice talking to you, Jenifer.”

Jenifer paused again, but this time, it felt a little less tense than before. “You too,” she finally said.

Click.

The line went silent, and I was left standing there, a silent sob wracking my shoulders. I slammed the phone back onto the receiver a bit harder than I meant to and pressed my palm into the wall to steady myself as I took in ragged breaths.

I wasn’t standing there for long, though, before another sound caught my attention: my cell phone this time, buzzing on the counter. I wiped my tears again and sighed as I walked over to it, then narrowed my eyes as I saw the text on the screen from an unknown number.

“Your husband is cheating on you. I have proof.”