now.”
“No? She used to, a lot. Dope too, I think.”
“You mean drugs?” asked Eileen, disgusted by the very thought of it.
Imogen nodded her head and an uncomfortable pause ensued. Eileen and Dorothy were in shock and neither knew what to say about it. Then, Dorothy changed the subject, “How long has it been since you’ve seen her?”
“More than a year. She just sort of disappeared. I honestly thought she might be dead by now.” She made the sign of the cross, as if to ask forgiveness for that statement. “She was pretty bad then. She must’ve sobered up pretty quick. That don’t usually happen.” Thinking a moment, she then smiled. “Maybe it was the love your son showed her.”
Somehow, Eileen didn’t think so. “Would you like to see a recent picture of her?” Eileen asked, digging into her purse. She only had a few snapshots, which she now produced for Imogen.
Imogen’s face froze when she looked at the picture. “This isn’t my Candace,” she declared.
“Excuse me?”
“This isn’t my granddaughter, there must be some mistake.”
Eileen was puzzled. “But she had your address in her book, and your son’s. Yours was listed under ‘Grandma.’ She said that she was from Erie too.”
“Look for yourself. Her picture’s there on the wall.”
Eileen and Dorothy got up to look. Imogen pointed out the pictures on the wall which contained her granddaughter, including some high school photos. The girl was thin and blonde, but that was about the extent of the resemblance. The girl on the wall had a different bone structure. She was plain looking, with a sad look in her eyes. The women agreed that the two girls were not the same person.
“She must have stolen her identity!” Dorothy shouted.
“But why? What could she possibly be up to?” Eileen didn’t understand what was going on. “I’m going to call the police.”
“Let’s wait until we get home,” said Dorothy, who then turned to Imogen. “Do you know of any reason why this girl would be using your granddaughter’s name?”
Imogen shook her head, obviously worried. “How would she have gotten her personal things, like her identification, she would have needed that to get married, and her address book?”
The two younger women didn’t know how to answer this, so Dorothy simply suggested that she had found, or stolen the items. “I’m sure she’s all right,” Dorothy tried to comfort her.
As Eileen and Dorothy left, they assured Imogen that they would get to the bottom of this, and would find out where her granddaughter really was. Imogen only smiled slightly and told them to be careful. The smile didn’t fool Eileen. It was a fake smile of a woman who had accepted a long time ago that she would probably outlive the child that she had raised.
It had begun snowing more heavily when they left, which got worse as they went along, so they had to drive slowly. They alternated between rapid conversation and long silences of deep thought.
“Why in the hell would she steal somebody’s identity?” Eileen pondered.
“She probably took that particular girl’s because she was a drug addict, someone who was living on the streets. You know, nobody would miss her that way.”
“I still don’t understand why. That girl didn’t have any money, and neither does Jason, if she was going to swindle somebody, he isn’t a good candidate.”
“Then swindling him isn’t her motive. Remember what the psychic said? I know you have a hard time believing that, but I think he may be right.” She watched Eileen’s face as the possibility sunk in. “You can at least nab her with the identity theft. Are you going to call the police?”
“Yes, but I’ll have to tell Jason first.”
“Eileen, what if she killed that girl?”
Eileen paused for moment, and then said, “We don’t know that. She could still be alive, just... dropped out of society somehow.”
“If she did kill her, she could kill you too, if she finds out that you know her secret.”
That worried Eileen, but then she rationalized, “She’s nine months pregnant. I don’t think she’s physically capable of doing that.”
“Well, lock your bedroom door tonight. You can’t defend yourself when you’re asleep.”
“I don’t think I’ll be sleeping tonight.”
When Eileen returned home that evening she found Candy cleaning in the kitchen and acting strangely. Acting strangely was nothing new for her, but she was more elusive than usual. Eileen was scared to death that she had discovered what her and Dorothy had been up to. “Where’s Jason?” Eileen asked fearfully.
Candy put away the kitchen mop she had been using and told her he was upstairs. Eileen went to check on him. He lay in bed as he so often did now, asleep. She ran her fingers through his hair and called out his name, “Jason, it’s mommy.”
He awoke drowsy. “Mom,” he said to her. “Where’s Candy?”
“She’s downstairs Jason. Did anything happen while I was away?”
“She was just in here. I think she was. She was leaning on my chest. My chest hurts now.” He paused for a minute. “Mom, I’m gonna be a ded -a dad soon.”
Eileen smiled. “Not tonight sweetie, at least I hope not tonight.”
“I’m gonna be a gud -good one. I swear. A lot better than mine was.” He tried to laugh at his own irony.
“I know you will.” Eileen couldn’t break his heart just then. So she let him go back to sleep.
She went into her own bedroom, careful to leave the door open. The wind was picking up outside, which added to her nervousness. They were in for a snowstorm. Afraid to be in the house with Candy, but unwilling to leave Jason there alone, she came up with an idea. Maybe Dorothy would come over to stay the night. Then the next morning, they would confront Candy about what they had discovered. She had no idea how this was going to turn out. Dorothy was now sure that Candy was dangerous, and Eileen wasn’t so sure that she wasn’t. At the very least, she was a fraud, and she had some explaining to do. Would Jason stay with her once he found out the truth? Eileen already knew the answer. Jason wanted a normal family and to be a good father more than anything. He would stand by her, so long as she was having his child.
She decided to replace the statue of St. Joseph onto Jason’s bureau. When she had done so, she suddenly realized how hungry she was. She needed to go downstairs. She also wanted to see what Candy was doing. When she got down there, she found her sitting on the sofa. The television wasn’t even on.
“What are you doing?” Eileen asked, barely able to hide her disgust.
“I’m not feeling well. I think I’m going to go to bed soon.”
Eileen didn’t want her in the bedroom with Jason. “Why don’t you sleep in my room tonight?” she offered. “I’m going to have the neighbor over to watch a movie later.”
“That’s okay,” Candy responded. “I’ll sleep with my husband.” She stood up in preparation to leave the room. Her bathrobe, which was too small for her enlarged abdomen now, opened to reveal a wet spot on the front of her nightgown.
Eileen realized that Candy’s water had broken. “Candy, you’re in labor!”
“I am?”
How could she not know that? Eileen wanted to scream. “Of course you are. We have to get you to a hospital! When did it break? Was that what you were mopping up?”
Remaining eerily silent, Candy just stood there, staring at her.
“I’ll get your bag,” Eileen said, frustrated. She turned around stiffly, guardedly, and went up the stairs. Walking into Jason’s bedroom, she glanced down at him and shook him gently.
“Jason, sweetie, the baby’s coming.” He didn’t respond. It was like he was dead. “Jason, it’s mommy, can you hear me?” She shook him more forcefully.
“I’m not going to the hospital,” Candy’s voice interrupted from behind. “I want to stay here, with Jason.”
Eileen turned around to see her daughter-in-law silhouetted in the doorway. Her eyes welled up with t
ears as she looked at this woman who had ruined everything, and just came out and asked her, “Did you do this to him?”
“Do what?”
“Hurt him like this. Are you doing this to him?”
“How could I do that to him?” She asked, and started to circle ominously. The look on her face was so vile, it was evil to Eileen. It looked like she was going to kill her.
“Who are you? I know your name isn’t Candy.”
The woman clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes. “He hates you, you know. The way you dote on him, won’t let him live his own life. You suffocate him. He told me. He can’t stand the sight of you.”
Eileen had no response to that, dumbfounded with the realization that what she just heard was true. Jason had really said those things, and it crushed her emotionally. Then suddenly, and without warning, Candy physically lunged at her. She was fast, even while pregnant full term and Eileen wasn’t expecting it. She grabbed Eileen by the throat with both hands and squeezed hard. “I need you out of the way now,” she informed her with a scowl. Eileen gagged under a crushing grip but instinctively fought back, bringing her hands up to Candy’s face and gouging at her eyes, which forced her to release her hold. Eileen turned away, grasping her throat, trying to recover from being choked. Candy recovered even quicker. She grabbed Eileen by the shoulders and with incredible strength, flung her around and away so that she slammed hard into the bureau, the corner of which jammed into her back. Eileen cried out as she fell face-forward onto the floor. She couldn’t breathe and she