person perceives events or things. The more psychotic-spectrum studies were really more of the schizophrenia and bipolar situations…which Josh is not!”
“Easement, Av, easement!” Dr. Walters and Avery’s conversation was working Josh up a bit. And it reminded Avery of Josh’s situation at the Bishops’ house.
“So, how does all this explain how my cousin thinks he can still talk to a cousin of ours that just died, and how he just starts writing all these weird numbers down?”
Dr. Walters was already nodding his head after a sip from his coffee. “Well, that’s where you slide more into behavioral reasons than something dealing with hardware, like the physical brain…” He shrugged, knowingly. “Our buddy, here, misses your cousin and his brain constructed a meme for him to interact with your departed cousin!”
“Ok,” Avery pressed, “I actually get that! But that still doesn’t explain these numbers he’s been writing down these past two weeks, according to Josh’s family nanny…more to the point, how could Josh had known to write down all those family members’ names of that lady at the circulation desk? We never talked to her before!”
Dr. Walters leaned back in his chair; a finger tapping at his chin. “But you’ve been to this museum several times before?”
Avery froze for a second; all the while, Josh looking on. “Well, yeah. But we never talked to that lady before, much less about her family!”
Even the scientist had to nod at that point! “Yeah, in science you often deal with things we aren’t able to explain…at that time! Look, Science does not need to fill in the blanks to make events in life gift-wrapped nice and neatly for humans! Just because humans didn’t know how to fly for thousands of years did not mean we could never figure it out…I’m guessing someday—much later—humans may also figure out what we call today the Paranormal!”
It was an unsatisfactory response from the scientist for Avery. But he knew that Dr. Walters knew a lot more than he did, so Avery did not press the subject any further. Dr. Walters got out some free coupons for the boys to use for several days at the museum, and sent them on their way.
The Next Day; The Bishops’ Residence. Chastain Park…
It would be one more day before everyone got back from the funeral out in Albany, New York. Things had quieted down a bit for Avery and Josh since the situation at the museum the day before. Avery figured it was better for Josh to relax at the house. Perhaps with all the activities at any given museum there were simply too many stimuli?
They were playing one of the latest modern day video games when the doorbell rang.
“Ding, ding, ding, ding, di—”
“Ok, Josh, we get it, buddy…just keep on playing, will you? I don’t want to have to start over. Took us too long to get to this level!”
“Alright, Av…”
When Avery reached the front door, he peered through the eyepiece of the door and saw that it was Emilina! But she wasn’t scheduled to be back for another couple of days…
“Hola, Emilina…” She did not smile back. In fact, her eyes darted around inside the house as Avery spoke. “Everything ok?”
“Where’s Josh?”
Avery paused. “In the family room…come on in—”
“Not this time, mi hijo…can you step out here and shut the door?”
Another pause by Avery. “Sure…”
Before Avery could say anything else, Emilina pulled out her little note pad she had with her the other day. “Avery…remember all those numbers I told you that Josh was writing in this pad and those other pieces of papers?”
“Of course.”
The nanny seemed to think more on whatever was on her mind before she went on. “Av, what do you know about estates?”
Now he was frowning. “You mean property stuff?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, we all know that’s how both of the Bishops made their money to afford all this…Emilina, why are you asking me all this?”
“Account numbers, Av! All those numbers were hidden bank account numbers to all of your cousin Marge’s wealth, man!”
“What?!”
“Si…” She had several other pieces of paper with her and brought them up to show Avery. “I hope you don’t mind, but I had a friend of mine look at Josh’s writings on my note pad…he’s an analyst, so I figured he might have a little insight, you know? He pointed out to me that if you pay close attention to how Josh wrote all those numbers, they correspond to how most banking systems work!”
“What a minute,” Avery finally said; things starting to click for him. “So…you have copies of my cousin Marge’s accounts?”
“Not me, mi hijo…those original papers that Josh wrote on and what his parents did with them that I could not find? Well, guess what I found in some old trash that I left in the back of my car I was about to throw out that came from this house?”
“All of cousin Marge’s bank accounts— photo copied,” Avery said slowly.
It was at that point that she held up a couple of pieces of crumpled-up papers with Josh’s writings of those series of numbers, and then she held up her tiny note pad—letting them face Avery, several series of numbers had matched exactly!
“Oh, my god,” Avery said under his breath. He thought for a moment as Emilina looked on. “Josh was writing down what he somehow saw in this house! So, then…all that stuff about ‘easement’ and ‘sub-header—”
“Section three of your cousin Marge’s will was about how she wanted her money used in a land-dispute she had with a certain someones…”
“The Bishops,” Avery said. “They shared some land with cousin Marge but wanted to use it very differently than she did. Sounds like Daren and Shawna were trying to take advantage of cousin Marge’s sickness!”
She quietly looked at Avery, worried about what life would, now, throw at him and his cousin, Josh.
“So, what now, Emilina? No doubt, all this seems to be true! But we’re not lawyers—“
She feigned an apologetic face. “Again, mi hijo, I hope you don’t mind, but I took the initiative to contact your parents yesterday! Don’t worry, I waited until after the funeral service.”
Avery nodded his approval.
Emilina felt it was appropriate that Avery should keep all the copies and other papers she had accumulated in her research. She and Avery gave each other a warm embrace. It was a different hug this time. For given what they both knew about Josh’s parents now, Avery and Emilina were not sure they would see each other again, since she was the Bishop family’s part-time nanny. Indeed, what would happen to Josh, in the likelihood that both of his parents would face long jail-terms for white collar criminal offenses! In Avery’s and Emilina’s minds, Avery’s family taking him in seemed the logical contingency.
Emilina began to walk off the Bishops’ porch before Avery called out to her. “What do you think about Josh saying he’s able to talk to cousin Marge?”
She thought on the question, yet a few steps away from the front door. “Did Josh write those numbers down because he saw them, or heard them around the house? Or did he get them from somewhere else…?”
They both looked at each other before Emilina finally walked off to her car, nothing else said between them...
~fin~
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