I Blame the Shoe

The autumn breeze plays with strands of my hair as I stomp angrily to Capital Two Bank, muttering to myself about bills and taxes. A crimson leaf falls onto my foot and I attempt to kick it off but end up on my butt. Then I realize…. 

MY WALLET!!! I forgot my wallet! I slap my palm to my forehead and lose my balance again.

I scream in rage.

I get up and turn around and walk to my house. I make my way through the overgrown bushes of my bedraggled property. I give myself a mental note to have them trimmed later and continue onto the wood platform that surrounds my house. The door creaks open and my younger sister Maya pops out.

“Robin! You’re home!” Maya flings her arms around me.

“Hey Maya! Can you give me my wallet?” I say, pointing. “It’s on the couch.”

“Ok!” Maya bounds over to the couch, picks up my wallet, and hands it to me.

“Thanks!” I say, ruffling her hair.

“Are you going somewhere again?” May asks me, with a tone of loneliness.

“I’m just getting money from the bank. I’ll be back soon. Don’t worry.” I say.

May jumps onto the couch and pulls out a book. 

“Bye!” I call.

“Bye.” Maya answers.

I close the door and head back to the bank. 

“Good afternoon ma’am. How may I help you?” The lady at the front desk asks.

“I’m here to withdraw some money.” I reply.

“I.D please.” She says.

I hand her my I.D.

“OK. Miss Robin, right?”

“Yes,” I answer.

“How much money would you like to withdraw?” 

“50 dollars please.”

“I’m sorry ma’am but you don’t have that much.”

“I don’t?”

“No ma’am.”

I mutter a quick “thank you”, grab my I.D and leave.

“SHOOT!” I yell once I’m outside.

I kick every pebble I see in the gloomy streets.

“Why are you back so soon?” Maya asks, popping up from the bushes.

“May! Why aren’t you inside the house?” I ask.

“I got bored.”

“You were reading.”

“I read that book like a million times already.” Maya complains.

“Fine, let’s just go inside..” I grab her arm and drag her inside. I walk to my room sliding my hand along the bricks.

I tell Maya to go to her room and walk to mine. I close the door behind me and trudge to my bookshelf and automatically reach for my favorite book: Harry Potter the Order of Phoenix. Then I trip over a shoe (who put that there?!) and crash land into the bookshelf. 

“God dammit!” I holler, recollecting myself and wincing at the burn on my left forearm. “Stupid carpet,” I mumble to myself.

As I step towards the fallen shelf, I notice a small outline of a rectangular shape on the wall behind where my bookshelf had stood.

I take a closer look and see a small circle, and a keyhole inside. But I don’t have the key for it.

“May! Come here! You won’t believe this!” I shout.

“Is it a bunny?” Maya asks, running towards me.

“Probably not.” I say.

She waltzes into the room and stares at the wall. “Whoa! This is just like the mystery books I’ve been reading!”

Carefully, she brushes her fingers along the indents of the door.

“Freaky, right?” I murmur.

“I think,” Maya says slowly, “I think I can pick the lock.”

“Hmm. Alright. Go ahead.”

She looks around and gets what she is looking for. She sticks a bobby-pin into the hole and twists it around until we hear a click.

“Done.” She says, sounding pleased.

“How-wha-how the heck did you do that?” I stutter.

“I was reading How to Pick a Lock.” She answers.

I gape as Maya opens the door and walks inside. 

“Woah!” I gawk, spinning in circles at the interior of the room.

Everything from ceiling to floor is covered in gold. Gold couch, gold carpet, gold everything! The only thing that isn’t gold is the jewels that embedded the walls. In the corner of the room there is a mummy coffin. Creepy.

I walk around and come upon a gold chest.

“Hey Maya! What do you think of this?” I ask.

“It’s not locked. Just open it.” Maya points out.

“Oh. Right.” I open the chest and inside are glittering gemstones: diamonds, emeralds, rubys, sapphires! There’s also jewelry: gold medallions, silver bracelets, gold earrings, pearl necklaces, jade anklets, amethyst chokers, opal rings, moonstone brooches, and tons of copper and gold coins.

“We’re rich!!!” Maya shrieks in excitement.

“Hold up. We are not rich. This stuff probably belongs to someone.” I say.

“Well duh! But whoever it belongs to probably doesn’t want it. I mean, who would leave all their precious stuff unlocked in a chest?” She keeps blabbering on.

She has a good point. But no. That would be stealing.

“We’re not taking it!” I snap.

“But why not?!” Maya counters.

“Let’s just go.” I say, sternly.

We head back out but continue arguing as I lock the door.

“Remember,” I tell her as we approach her room, “no taking anything. I don’t care if it’s one coin or a million. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Maya grumbles, shutting the door behind her.

I return to my bedroom door and hop onto my bed. Before I know it I’m fast asleep.

~~~

I wake up to the floor creaking and some not very quiet footsteps. Maya. Of course she would sneak back and steal some gold. I sit up just a little bit and peer at the door. I watch as Maya sneaks into the gold room. Each time she comes out, she has an armful full of gold and plops it into a garbage bag, then turns around to get more. I watch her for a few more minutes. When I’ve finally had enough, I decide to go out and confront her.

“Maya! I told you not to steal any gold!” I jump out.

“Robin! I-it’s n-n-not what it l-loo-oks like.” She stutters.

“Ok, so you’re not trying to get the gold from there?” I nod at the bulging trash bag.

“I-I can explain.” She says.

“Five minutes. Starting now.” I tell her.

“I need money to…” she looks around, “buy a… BUNNY!”

“As if I’m going to believe that.” I retorted

“Fine. My friend Audrey said if I give some jewels and stuff she’ll take me to Paris with her next month.” Maya admits.

I roll my eyes.

“May, all the gold you're taking is enough for me to take you to Paris. But you know this doesn’t belong to us.” I point out. “So put it back or else.”

“Or else what?” May retaliates.

Then, before I can answer, she grabs the bag and runs out the door.

“MAYA! Come back!” I shout.

“You’re still in your pajamas!”

I debate whether or not to go after her. I decide not to. If she needs me, she’ll come back. 

I walk back to my room and plop myself into the bed. I close my eyes, pushing all my worries away.

***

Days pass and Maya still doesn’t show. A couple weeks later, I’m sitting on the beaten up couch, changing channels on the television, and moping.

Knock knock.

“What is it?” I answer.

Another knock.

“Coming!” I call.

I open the door and a girl that looks too similar to Maya with messy hair and twigs stuck to her clothes is standing there.

“Robin!” The girl sobs.

“Umm…yes?” I ask.

“It’s me. Maya.” Tears run down her face.

“Maya?” 

She looked so different. Her hair looked like it had been chopped with a thorn. She was also way skinnier and nothing about her expression had the bubbliness Maya used to have.

“What happened to all the jewels?” I ask.

“I gave them to Audrey. I told her everything and asked if I could stay. She took all of the gold and kicked me out.” Maya admits.

“I told you it was a terrible idea.” I scold her, but pull her into a hug.

“I should have listened.” She cries into my shoulder. “I’m so sorry Robin. So, so sorry.”

“Why didn’t you come to me sooner?” I ask, leading her to the bathroom so she can get washed up.

“I don’t know.” She wipes away a tear. “I guess…I guess I didn’t want to hear you say I told you so.”

“But you did.” I say, stroking her hair. “And it’s not so bad.”

“You have no idea.”

***

It’s the middle of the night. I can’t sleep. I don’t know if it’s a sign from the universe, or if it’s just the fact that I haven’t eaten since yesterday.

I’m so, so, so tempted to just take a silver ring knowing nothing will happen and sell it or one of the gold coins ( Maya had taken some gold and nothing has happened to her). But I can’t. It would be wrong.

Tap. Tap. Tap tap tap.

Creeeeaaaak.

I stare around my room. Convinced I must be dreaming, I close my eyes.

A light thump. More light tapping noises.

Argh. I tiptoe into the hallway. I don’t think the sound came from my room. 

I creep into Maya’s room and throw open her covers. But Maya is gone.

WHERE IS THAT CRAZY GIRL?

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Robin, happy birthday to you!” Maya’s voice floats around the room.

In Maya’s hands is a divine cake. Two blazing candles sit atop the it. I playfully blow out the candles. Maya leads me to the kitchen and gets out a plastic knife.

“Here, you can do the honors.” Maya says.

I pull out the candles to cut the cake and money, tons and tons of money, pop out from inside.

“Maya! Omigosh. Where did you get all of this?” I ask, bewildered.

“Oh it was nothing. I just sold one of the gold bangles.” She shrugs.

“WHAT?!?” I holler. “After everything?!” 

“Robin. Think about it.” She looks at me and says calmly. “We have all this wealth within OUR home. Why shouldn’t it belong to us now?”

“Because—because—you know why. We don’t own it!”

Maya closes her eyes and breathes in. She opens her eyes again and they’re teary. “Robin. I’ve done something bad. Really, truly bad.”

All the light that was within me drains. “Wha—wha—what? What do you mean?”

Her lips are quivering as she speaks. “You know how there was a coffin…in the gold room?”

“Maya…what…what did you do?”

“It spoke to me. It told me something. And now I have to go. Goodbye Robin. I love you.” Maya hugs me right and steps away.

But now, her eyes glow red, like the crimson leaf that fell on my foot when I went to the bank.

I scream.

“MAYA! Omigosh Maya!”

Maya strides to my room. She swings open the door that had kept me away from the treasure filled worries. It illuminates my dark room with streaks of monstrous red.

“Maya…”

The coffin is open. And standing in front of it is… a mummy.

I scream again, loud enough that I see my neighbors bedroom light turn on.

“MAYA! Get away from it!”

But of course, she doesn’t.

She rests her forehead to the mummy’s, as I yell and shout. An awry feeling creeps into me, and Maya lets out a cry of pain.

With a hissing shrieking sound, the wrappings of the mummy fall off and move onto Maya. She’s encased in a white prison, out of my reach forever.

Mummy Maya walks into the coffin, lays down, and closes it over her.

I’m too shocked to scream again.

I back out of the room, until I realize what is now standing in front of me.

A woman with long, wavy brown hair and bright brown eyes is staring at me. Her face is red, and she’s breathing shallow breaths.

I goggle at her.

It’s my mom.