The Earring by A. Dacosta Brathway

The Earring

 The news was all over Baltimore about Sharon. Sadly, her single mother, Teresa, was trying to maintain a strong stance but that was a front. Inside of her was a mess. Her stomach ached. She could not hold anything down. Her head pounded from the migraines she developed. She wanted to do something but she was crippled, both psychologically and physically. The police had nothing that Teresa felt like she could hold on to for hope. As far as she was concerned Sharon was dead!

The phone rang constantly but Teresa would never answer it. Early on, when the police talked to her they were telling her that they had no leads. Teresa got tired of hearing that so she stopped talking… There were so many voice mails on her phone, it was full and not taking any more messages. She cut off her family too. As much as they were encouraging, Sharon was her only baby. Without her, life was not worth living anymore. So, Teresa did what she thought was best… She tried to commit suicide!

It was early Saturday morning and Tabitha was back at the stream, combing the dirt as the water flowed. Her thoughts were on Sharon. She had found a gun that had a connection to the weird plastic surgeon Tabitha felt had something to do with Sharon’s mysterious disappearance. Upstream was a dumpster that was being used by the man who took it upon himself to clean the area around the stream. Tabitha heard him yelling at some kids she saw running away from the dumpster. She ran to him…

“Sir, can I help you?” Tabitha asked as she approached the man. “Those goddamn kids! I don’t know why people think they can come here and dump their garbage. First it was the stream, now it’s the dumpster!” he complained. The man bent over to pick up what missed the dumpster when they threw the trash at it and fled. He slipped and fell. Tabitha ran to his side to help him. “Thanks Little Lady,” The man offered. “No problem… Let me help you?” Tabitha replied. Tabitha offered her hand to the man and he reached for it. It was slippery by the dumpster and Tabitha lost her footing. BOOM! Tabitha fell right on her butt! The man tried not to laugh but he could not hold it. Neither could Tabitha. They both sat in the dirt and chuckled over what just happened. “You live around here Sir?” Tabitha asked.

“I live down the block. With all the things changing around this neighborhood, I found that cleaning up Springfield Woods gave me some peace!” the man offered. “I’m here for a different reason. My friend is missing and I’m here looking for clues,” replied Tabitha. “Ohhh… You’re the missing girl’s friend. I see you down here from time to time… What kind of clues you lookin’ for?” the man asked. “Anything,” Tabitha answered.

 

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out an earring. It was a funny looking thing. It had a pearl sitting on a plate with diamonds embedded in the plate around it! “Oh my god! That looks like the earring Sharon’s mother gave her that was a gift from her mother to her!” Tabitha screamed. “can I have it?” she asked. “Sure, take it. Maybe it can be a clue to help you find your friend?” Tabitha took the earring. “Thank you Sir!” she yelled as she began to run.

The hospital was extremely busy. There was a drive by shooting and some of the victims ended up in John’s Hopkins. Tabitha maneuvered her way to the front desk. “I’m here to see Teresa Duncan please!” “She’s in room 213,” the nurse replied. A couple of days had passed since Teresa was admitted because of her suicide attempt. She did not talk much to visitors or family members. She just stared at the ceiling.

Tabitha entered the room quietly. “Ms. Duncan, it’s me, Tabitha,” Teresa turned her head slowly towards Tabitha and offered a slight smile. “I came by to see how you’re doing,” Tabitha asked but Teresa said nothing. She just stared at Tabitha. After an awkward pause, Tabitha reached into her pocket and pulled out the earring. “Look what I found!” Tabitha opened her hand and exposed the earring.

Suddenly the tears just flowed from Teresa’s eyes…

© A. Dacosta Brathway, February 2^nd, 2013.