Visitor's Pass

Under any other circumstances, Evie would have found the repeat appearance of visitor’s passes to be just a coincidence. However, days before they began to appear she discovered a book. Something her mother kept hidden on the top shelf of her closet. It contained mementos from all the places her mother had been. In the very last page laid a visitor’s pass to an army base dated a year before Evie was born. That was the very first pass Evie came across, she kept the page open on her kitchen counter piecing together what it could’ve meant. Her mother was in no way facilitated with the military but yet knew someone who was. Someone Evie had no clue about. 

Evie had found the visitor’s pass to the military base after returning home from Sunday service. She was desperate to find her mother’s bible, the one she took almost everywhere with her. It was the perfect size to give to Evie’s daughter who recently taken an interest in Sunday school lessons. Evie knew that if it had to be anywhere her mother would’ve kept it in her closet. It was where her mother kept most things of importance to her and Evie was allowed to comb through it on certain occasions but never allowed to browse the top shelf. After her mother passed that rule stuck with Evie until she went in search of that miniature bible. 

That next day Evie found a visitor’s pass to Saint Antonio Memorial. She didn’t think anything of it except that the hospital wasn’t anywhere near her job. She was preparing to end the call with her daughter before stepping in her car to head home. The pass was dropped right in front of her driver’s side door, a place meant for her to see. Christopher Williams read the name on the line of the patient and Cristina Williams on the line of the visitor. It was marked for the day before. The day Evie found her mother’s visitor’s pass to the military base. For some reason Evie took it with her, she told herself it was an effort to rid the environment of fewer pieces of trash in the streets. However that could’ve been solved by the recycling bin a few feet from her car, yet the pass sat there in her cup holder.  

That Tuesday Evie found yet another visitor's pass. Returning from her lunch break, Evie found a pass belonging to a Taylor Hynes of Jefferson High. It was a high school visitor's pass left on the bathroom sink of the lobby restroom of the place Evie worked. She picked it up a bit confused but had every intention of tossing it in the trash. That was until she received a text from her daughter about school closing earlier which distracted her on her way out of the restroom. Her focus was on making sure her daughter got home from the sudden cancelation of classes. Her first thought was to call the school and demand an explanation and she had every intention to but getting her daughter home was the first priority. During her call with her Aunt Catherine pleading for her to leave whatever casino she was hustling at to pick up her great-niece, Evie placed the card along with her car keys into her purse. 

The exhaustion sat in when she crashed in the door on Tuesday evening. The pass she found in that public restroom was the last thing on her mind. She now had three and she was unaware. One resting on her kitchen counter, one in her cupholder, and now one in her purse collecting everyday wear. At this point, she wasn’t looking for them but they were appearing to her everywhere she went. Including the following day when she found a visitor’s parking pass placed in the windshield of her car. She began to see the strangeness of it all. She hadn’t needed a visitor’s parking pass since she got the job and yet here it was. She picked it up hoping to get it to the security desk of her office in case someone needed it. 

Evie returned to the desk to turn it in but the guard was nowhere to be found. She chalked it up to an impromptu bathroom break and placed it on the desk. Her boss got off the elevator as she turned to leave and found her standing at the security desk to be odd. 

“Something wrong?” He asked. 

“No, at all.” Evie nodded in agreement and didn’t want any reason for her boss to think suspicion of her. He came closer with a grin on his face and Evie’s first instinct was to place the pass into her pocket to avoid any more suspicion. 

“Kelly is really excited that Elena is coming to her birthday party.” He said. At that moment Evie had completely forgotten the request he asked of her a few days before. He needed quests for his daughter’s birthday party, something about last-minute planning, and Evie agreed to bring Elena since their daughter was close in age. To avoid any more awkward run in’s Evie headed home with the pass in her blazer pocket. 

On Thursday Evie began to look for a connection. A reason why she kept finding these passes everywhere she went. She combined her office in search of another one but had no luck. She checked every stall in her work bathroom but there was nothing there. She even missed a call from Elena while walking the circumference around her car before stepping inside. She didn’t find a card that whole day, at least while she was looking for it. She was exhausted from not only the workday but her search for a visitor’s pass to a strange place or whatever magnet was drawing them toward her. She was too tired to cook so Evie and Elena decided on a place to order from. 

The food came as fast as could be expected. They already knew what they wanted and the chefs were prepared to make it. She greeted the delivery girl, a kid she had seen in the neighborhood a few times before. She stood out, while most girls her age were babysitting or having fundraisers, she worked part-time delivering food with her newfound independence. They had talked the last time she made a delivery to Evie’s house. She complained about the menus they had to give with each order. 

“If the person ordered over the phone good chance, they have a menu.” The girl said and Evie responded with a laugh. 

The girl handed Evie the food and Elena who had followed Evie to the door the menu. As Evie closed the door and Elena put the menu on the table Evie saw a bright red card sticking out from under the menu. She instructed Elena to wash her hands and went over to get a glance at what caught her eye. She lifted the menu to find a visitor’s pass to the newly opened art gallery even a piece of smudged paint in the corner. She held it confused wonder why this was the chosen fifth pass but was distracted by the urgency of Elena ready to eat. 

Evie sat eating dinner with Elena but her mind was in another place. She was attempting to piece together the puzzle of why she was finding Visitor’s passes everywhere she went. She hoped if she could figure out why then they would stop. They were beginning to clutter her life. She had no luck at the dining room table trying to figure them out. She went to bed Thursday night accepting that she’d be finding visitor’s passes for the rest of her life. 

Friday was a light day at work so Evie decided to work from home. She also wanted to find the perfect gift to bring to her bosses’ daughter’s birthday party. She wondered what to give a girl whose father supervises accountants. Evie also thought that if she stayed home the likelihood of a pass appearing to her would be slim. Evie finally found a gift to give Kelly, a gift she had given her daughter a year before for her birthday. The only thing she had to do was pick it up. 

She was skeptical about leaving but convinced herself that the whole thing was just a coincidence. She imagined how it would be if she told her beliefs to another person. Who would see a connection of almost half a dozen visitor’s passes appearing in various places? 

Evie headed on her way to the store. She went the whole morning without a pass mysteriously appearing to her. She thought she had figured out how to end it. That was until a lady dropped all her purchases on the ground behind Evie’s car. She jumped out to help her. The woman had requested no bag, a firm believer in non-plastic. She thought she could carry everything to her car alone but once one thing fell so did everything else. Evie helped her gather her things, even load them into her car. The woman had no words to describe how grateful she was. She was in a rush but had left her wallet back in the store. She was in a hurry to get it and to get home. She reached in her pocket and gave Evie whatever was in there and darted back into the store. 

Evie looked down at the five dollars the woman gave her and folded into it was a visitor’s pass to the local golf course. It had the lady's name address and email printed on the card. She had gone to play with friends but that’s not what Evie focused on. The name printed clearly on the line was Cristina Williams. Evie ran to her car to get the hospital pass she had found a few days before. By that time, the lady was returning to her car she stopped her. 

“Are you Cristina Williams?” Evie asked. 

“Yes?” Cristina replied. 

“You accidentally gave me this and I found this a few days ago.” Evie gave her both cards. 

“How strange? I had lost it visiting my dad in the hospital. I was in a rush that day to my daughter’s car stalled on the way to her art show.” Cristina had no idea the puzzle she had begun to put together for Evie. Evie pulled out the card in her purse, the one from Jefferson High School. 

“Do you know by any chance anyone who goes here?” Evie asked. 

“Umm, my daughter. She’s 17.” Cristina was taken aback. She didn’t know if she should call for help or stay to figure out what was happening. 

“I don’t mean to scare you. I’ve just been finding passes all over the place lately. I found these three and the one for the art gallery, one for my job, and one my mother had. “ Evie began to describe all the cards that she found. 

“Well, that gallery just bought my daughter's art piece. She’s a junior at Jefferson. I had a job interview on the second floor of that building. They called me to come back Wednesday for the second round I must have put my pass on the wrong car.” She pointed to her car that was the same make and color as Evie’s, yet a different model. 

Evie was astonished at the pieces that were coming together. She had no idea of what it all meant. She told her of the pass she found in her mothers’ book from before she was born. 

“Fort Bash?” Cristina asked attempting to recall why it sounded familiar. She took out her phone and showed Evie a picture. “That’s my dad, Army Ranger Williams at Fort Bash.” Cristina described the picture and the people in it, none of whom Evie recognized. It wasn’t until she said the date, it was the same date on the visitor’s pass she found in her mother’s book. 

Evie called her Aunt Catherine while Cristina sat beside her. Luckily, she was at Evie’s house making an after-school snack for Elena. Evie asked Catherine if anything was written on the back of the visitor's pass. After a few seconds of Aunt Catherine removing the tape from the book, she read what was placed on the back. 

“Visiting Christopher before the separation.” Aunt Catherine read. She fell silent on the phone, a knowing silence. 

“Aunt Catherine?” Evie asked.

“What is this about Evie?” She asked.

“I met a girl here. Her father is Christopher Williams an army ranger from Fort Bash.” Evie said hoping her Aunt would fill in more blanks. 

“Your father Evie.” Aunt Catherine said softly before shattering Evie’s world.