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Cavers Town

"I knew it could have been anyone one of us."

By Ashley Nicole BournePublished 2 years ago 18 min read
1

We were playing hopscotch in a small-town park not far from the neighborhood, expressing our hymns for Lauryn Hill, twisting from the root to the end of each other’s rich coiled hair, and our brown skin reflecting gold wherever the light touched us. We walked down the block to the local convenience store, that has not been renovated since the 90s, and a grown man shouting from across the street “Y’all stay blessed!” I told the girls to pick up their pace since the sun was going down, looking back at the grown man who stumbles into a dark alley way. We entered the store that smelled of cinnamon incense and aged walnut shrimp, the dim lights in the store stole our golden beauty, making us appear greyish, cold, and tired. We separated to different parts of the store while a worker, a short plus size woman with jet black hair and grey roots, followed me to the beauty section. The cashier, a beer belly man who chomped on a piece of gum like an angry alligator watched my other friends who were by the chip’s aisle undressing them with his eyes.

I remembered the woman’s breath scratching my neck as I was holding one red matte lipstick in each hand deciphering which one was redder than the other. Her name was Clarita. She moved next to me, picking up items off of the rack and placing them back as if it was a new spot she found. “Do you need help with anything?” she said like a jeweler silently questioning the finances of a man who wears a white t-shirt, black sweats, and sneakers. I have the money, but Clarita’s presence was choking my confidence, and I was too afraid to engage with her. I stayed silent and nervously placed back the matte lipsticks on the hooks. I walked away and reconnected with my friends who were each holding a bunch of chips like swaddled babies. “Nikki, you’re not gettin’ anything?” Lory said dropping a bag of chips every time she moved towards a shelf picking out more snacks. I held my right arm, looking around the store, and saw Clarita whispering to the cashier by the lottery counter. I took a sigh and said “Nah, I’m good.”

Lory shrugged her pointy mocha shoulders and continued to search for more snacks to add to her collection. My other friend Marianne went to get a small blue hand basket, packing all of the chips and a bottle of Schweppes Ginger Ale neatly. I walked over to a candy shelf at the back of the store that looked like no one has been back there in ages. There was a broken light on the ceiling and the teal wall resembled the skin of someone with severe eczema. The candy shelf was empty and had old chocolate bar wrappers stuffed in different holes on the side of it. I noticed that there was a missing person’s poster on the wall next to a mountain side picture of Cavers Town behind what used to be the candy shelf. I reached for the poster that was hiding from the rest of world, peeling it off of the wall, and I could hear the sticky glue resembling the sound of fresh scotch tape being pulled.

The poster was of two young African-American girls. I looked below the picture and read the information aloud as if I was reading the secrets inside someone’s diary. “Danielle McDonald. 15 years old, African American, medium build and Victoria “Vicky” Jones 15 years old, African-American, lean build. Both last seen on July 16th, 2012. Danielle McDonald wearing a white tank top, blue jean shorts, brown sandals and a pink bookbag. Vicky Jones wearing a white tank top with yellow stripes, black shorts, and sandals. If you have seen these girls or know of their whereabouts, please contact us. If you have any information whatsoever, please call Cavers Town Police on this number: 202 –192 – 0102.” I took a deep breath and slid the paper inside my front pants pocket. It is a shame.

Clarita grabbed my arm, hissing through her teeth like a mad cat, and yelled “Hey!” Startled, I tried to pull away, but Clarita had the grip of a mad gorilla. “Girl, whatchu’ do?” Lory said with great concern by the cash register. Clarita walked towards her as if appointed by a judge to speak, dragging me with her, and I could feel her nails dig deep into my soul. She said “I caught her stealing!” Marianne dropped her bag to the floor, tied her afro hair into a quick bun, and said “We don’t need to steal!” Clarita ignored her and tried to grab the paper out of my back pocket. The cashier didn’t even bother to intervene with us. He stood behind the counter with his arms folded over his fat belly and often made little smirks at me or at my friends. This was entertainment to him. I swung at Clarita’s neck, causing her to yelp in pain, releasing her grip of my arm, and I ran for the door. The girls grabbed their snack bags and we ran to Lory’s house.

Her house was in a cul-de-sac, surrounded by other beautiful American Dream homes that are found in home décor magazines. Lory’s house was a medium size house, had a small front yard and backyard, and a white picket fence in the front that needed to be repainted. I always felt at peace whenever I came over to her house, especially because her family were always protective of Lory that if anyone befriend her, they’ll be protected too. We stayed in her basement, sorted out the snacks, and talked about what happened earlier that evening. Lory laid on her stomach with a plush grey pillow tucked underneath her chin. She raised her big brown eyes at me that I noticed while I was trying to make myself comfortable on the floor. On the other side of the room, Marianne was laying on her back, her fluffy coils becoming a natural pillow for as she daydreamed at the ceiling. “Crazy, right?” I said trying to break the suffocating awkwardness. Marianne sits up and said “That lady be buggin’.” She laid back down, stuck her hand in an open sour cream bag of chips, and started to chomp. Lory is still looking at me with puppy eyes and said with an airy voice “How does your arm feel?” I was hesitant to say something at first because I didn’t want them to think that I could not handle pain. I took a deep breath and told them “It hurts, but nothing I can’t get over.”

With a mouthful of chips Marianne said “It’s just crazy.” Lory was plucking a few grey plush hairs out of her mouth and said “For real. Y’all heard about the girls that went missing in the caves?” Marianne’s face narrowed at Lory and I leaned in because I wanted to share what I found after she was done talking. “Well,” Lory grabbed a Doritos chip bag, “it was two girls, Danielle McDonald and Victoria Jones, but most people knew them as Dani and Vicky. One night, they went to the caves to explore like any teen would when told not to explore something that’s forbidden…” Lory popped a chip in her mouth. Marianne sat up straight, pulled at Lory’s plush pillow, and said “Well girl, what happened?” I leaned in further, the paper I took from the store crinkled in my back pocket, and I took a cool ranch Doritos bag to quietly open it. “A lot happened!” Lory said wiping the remaining crumbs off of her lips. She continued “I heard that Vicky and Dani had a thing going on. Next thing ya’ know both of them is gone. Authorities searched over the whole town, but none of them wanted to search the caves.”

I pulled out the missing person’s paper, unfolded it, and laid it out on the floor patting it down. The girls were silent, then Lory said “That’s why that store lady went berserk on you! You did steal.” Marianne scratched her head and continued to eat her chips. I looked at Lory, swallowed my spit and said “Look, it ain’t like that. I wanted to look more into their story because I heard about it too. I live near the caves they went missing at. Cops used to be all up and down the road searching everywhere else BUT the caves. I don’t get why they didn’t go there in the first place.” Lory got up, stretched her legs, and then I said “I heard a few screams a few nights ago. It sounded like it could’ve been them or someone. I have a gut feeling.” Marianne turned over on the floor at me. She said “You always have gut feelings and most times you end up being wrong. Maybe, you had a bad dream, like what is it, lucid dreamin’ something like that.”

Whatever, I did lie about the screams. I tapped on the paper repeatedly, I said “I know what I heard and it ain’t no dream!” Marianne turned her back to me and took the sour cream bag of chips with her. Lory shook her head as she sat back down, spread her legs into a V-shape, and stretched forward with her arms. The popping sounds of her vertebrae were the loudest in the room. “What if what you say is true? Are you gonna go out there and search those creepy caves?” Of course, I didn’t think that far, but I wanted to help in some way. Lory yawned and Marianne’s back was stilled turned to me. “I want to find them.” I said. Marianne turned around slowly like she heard the sound of a crazy woman next to her and Lory’s brows shot up high like a hot thermostat. I twirled the paper with my hand, then I laid down on my back putting my hands behind my head. “I trust my gut. I’m going to the caves tomorrow.” I wanted those young black girls to receive justice because deep down I knew it could have been anyone one of us.

The next day, my friends kept calling my house phone repeatedly. I ignored it as I sat on my bed putting on my combat boots adjusting the straps so tight that I think I could have been cutting the circulation of blood to my feet. Oh well, better safe than sorry. I grabbed my black book bag, my keys, a water bottle, and a pocket knife off of my dresser. My mom timidly knocked on my bedroom door. “Sweetie…” she said. “I spoke to your friends. They sounded worried about you. Is everything okay?” I rolled my eyes and opened my door to see my mom leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. I said “I’m fine mom. I’m going out today, so I’ll be home later.” As I tried to walk past her, my mom stepped in front of me. “If there’s something going on with you girls, you can always tell me.” It sounded like she was more concerned about my friends than she was about me. I nodded my head and left the house.

In order to get to the caves, I had to walk through the that dark alley way where that drunk man from yesterday stumbled down. I kept reassuring myself that this was going to be a simple search. If I don’t find anything, then I run straight home. It was very early in the morning, the sun was rising slowly, the pavement glistened, and the morning breeze had a deep-sea smell to it like an Old Spice deodorant. I reached the creepy dark alley way that led into the woods. I could feel the blood in my veins racing through my body. I looked behind me to see if there were other individuals outside, but no, it was a ghost town. I took a gulp and stepped forward. AH! I turned around without even paying attention to who was behind me and whacked someone in the face with the back of my hand. “Bitch it’s me!” Lory said holding the right side of her face. Marianne approached us laughing hysterically, clutching her stomach, and every other second complained that she couldn’t breathe.

“Why did you sneak up behind me like that?” I said stepping away a little bit to catch my heart. Lory stood up straight, still rubbing her face, and said “Well, ‘good morning’ would have been nice! We just didn’t want you to do this alone. Dang, you have some heavy ass hands.” I walked towards Lory and Marianne who tried to conceal her laughter, and firmly said “Next time announce yourselves.” Lory and I stared at each other for moment, Marianne eventually stopped laughing, and then we all burst into laughter. They’re really my sisters. We walked down the alley way linked together with our arms.

The alley way smelled like old urine, decaying sandalwood, and my nose was often bombarded with the scent of feces. At the end of the alley, the pavement turned to dirt very quickly. There was a church not far from the town and we all heard the bell go off which meant it had to been 10am. I walked first sacrificing my safety just in case we’re surprised by something or someone else in here. I had a pocket knife and knew how to use it. The first time I used it was when a boy tried to steal my bike from me while I was in the store buying some condiments for my mom. I saw him trying to pry at the rope tugging at the boy scout knot I made. I went outside to flash my pocket knife in his face and said “If you move one more muscle you could say good bye to your fingers.” He must of thought I was a wimp and said “You ain’t gonna use that on me! You’re just a girl.” I slashed his light skin fingers that the long streak of blood looked like thin thread from a red spool. He pushed my bike towards me, screamed, and ran away somewhere holding his wounded hand towards his chest. I am a girl…who fights back!

We were nowhere near the caves and had to have been walking for at least nine hours now. There was a creek just up ahead. I told the girls to follow and they trotted slowly behind me. We needed a good break! I sat on a rock while the others sat on the dirt. Surprisingly, the woods weren’t destroyed by litter, pollution, or infested with pests. This is what nature is supposed to be like…peaceful. I inhaled deeply and exhaled with a long-relaxed sigh. Lory smiled at me as she kept playing with the pieces of bark with her fingers. Marianne sat pretzel style listening out to the different birds sing from the trees above us.

Ribbit! Ribbit!

“Y’all look, look! A frog!” I said jumping to my knees at the frog hopping along the creek. Lory and Marianne had stopped what they were doing and looked at the frog hopping. Lory peered her head out more to see anything else and she said “Nikki look over there. It’s more!” Three more frogs followed behind the first one making splashes in the water. We chuckled at the slimy little reptilians. I stuck my hand into the creek to touch a frog like we were at a zoo. Marianne became squeamish and said “Ew, don’t touch me.” I looked back at her and said “Shut up.” The frogs were jumping so quick that I couldn’t even grab one. Then, I dived straight for one of them, breaking the surface of the water, and I pulled my hand out. I think got it. The girls were silent. “I got it!” I said ecstatically. Lory and Marianne’s face looked horrified at me. I was confused so I looked at my hand that was holding whatever I picked up. I nearly puked! I can’t believe I picked up a severed nose.

“AAAAHHHH!” I screamed and threw the nose on the ground in front of the girls. Lory screamed so loud that it shook the birds out of the trees. Then, Marianne screamed but her scream was a little hoarser and steadier. Our bodies froze like ice, the chills ran down our spines as we tried to gather our thoughts about what I discovered, and little spurts of breath escaped our lungs. “Is it real?” Lory said with her eyes closed. I took one foot and kicked the nose back into the creek. I could see the water washing the nose off revealing the pigment underneath the grime. The nose was brown. My heart sank to the bottom of the ocean, growing ice crystals around it, yet, still trying it’s hardest to beat for me. I looked towards Lory and said “It’s real…it’s real.” Marianne took a squat and murmured to herself “Fuck! Fuck!” Lory opened her eyes but this time tears were streaming down her soft cheeks and said “So like, you th-think it’s one of the girls?” I didn’t want to think that it could have been one of their nose’s because deep down I wanted to believe that they were still alive. They had to be. I need them to be. I shrugged my shoulders. I reassured them that everything will be okay and we won’t be in here for too long. Looking at their scared faces I could feel that we all knew that there was no going back.

It became dark. Luckily, Marianne packed two flashlights so we were fine for the most part walking through the woods. Occasionally, I’ll hear something move in the bushes but my conscious will be cleared because it was always Lory tripping over branches or getting startled by the sounds of the owls in the trees. We reached a spot where there were two paths to take. If my memory served me well, I think the left path would lead us to the caves. If we took the right path, then it’ll be a longer walk to the caves, and we will be on the opposite side. I turned around to consult with the girls. “Okay, I think the left path leads us to the cave.” I said. Marianne threw the flashlight on the ground and said “You think?! We’ve been walking for hours!” I stepped back because I didn’t understand where this energy was coming from. I said “If my memory serves me right, we gotta take the left path. Supposedly, it’s supposed to lead us straight to the caves.” She scoffed at me and Lory, like a church mouse, watched us quarrel. Marianne said with a serious demeanor “I’m tired, I’m hungry, I’m…fuck…I don’t want to do this anymore! I don’t know about you but I keep thinking about the nose.”

I took a deep breath and said “We made it this far! I know those girls are still out there. Yes, what we saw was a nose but it’s not their nose’s. It can’t be! I promise we’re going to be okay. I know we will.” Lory stepped next to Marianne and said with her airy voice “I agree with Mary. We can’t go on like this. What if that nose does belong to one of them? We could be next!” Marianne cut her off and said “Exactly! Besides, why are we risking our lives for people we don’t know? Make that make sense! If any of us went missing I know for darn sure no one is going to go look for us in the woods. It is what it is. Let’s just go home.” By this time, my fists were balled up by my sides. I didn’t know how to convince them nor make them understand why I chose to find Dani and Vicky.

“You guys, listen to me! You’re right, it could have been any one of us, and maybe no one would look for us if something happened. That’s the fucking problem. No one cares! That’s why I’m searching for them because these shitty ass authorities are not. To them, they’re just another case of runaways. To me, they’re young girls who are praying to world every day for someone to care about them!” After that, I fell to my knees and started to cry. Lory ran to me, held me in her arms, and Marianne still slightly unconvinced watched me with her arms crossed. Still crying, I said “I’m sorry to put y’all through this.” Suddenly, the nature around us became disturbed by someone running through the woods. The bushes were shaking, the creatures of the night began to howl, and the moonlight shined on us casting this blue pigment on our skins. Lory got up as well as I did too and Marianne stood close to us. We were looking around to see where the running was coming and WAM! Someone collided in front of me and both of us fell to the ground. Marianne and Lory screamed, the moonlight disappeared in the white clouds causing it to become dark again, and I yelled “Get off of me!” The person crawled off of me, sat by a tree curled up, and the moonlight emerged again shining on the person.

It was Danielle. She was missing her nose.

Short Story
1

About the Creator

Ashley Nicole Bourne

Actress, writer, and content creator.

Connect with me on:

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/official.anb_/

Yt: https://www.youtube.com/c/A%E2%80%99NikkiB210/featured

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