ASKING QUESTIONS OF THE YES YES BOARD
By Sheila M. Curtin

         Tuesday nights we played spades, or twenty-one, depending on who was available and how late they could stay. Dee would take the deck of cards out of the smooth wooden case she kept them in, the one with the lion's face engraved on top, an antique relic if ever you've seen. Pretty thing though, and oh so dramatic, but then again, Dee always was. Dramatic. Big 'ol drama queen.
     Tish had won again, seemed like each and every hand, and Nina swore once again the girl was walking with the devil. Way too lucky, way to coincidental, if you catch my drift. We'd played for money and we'd played for favors, and when we'd run out of those we played for secrets. It was nearly eleven o'clock but we still weren't ready to break it on up and go home when Dee suggested we play the oui ja board. We'd heard all about the wee jee board, and all about the various prohibitions regarding its use, but after three forties and two buds of green we'd lost just about all our fears and inhibitions. Go ahead, bring it on out Nina taunted, daring us to pick up that planchette and start asking questions.
     Dee wanted to turn off the lamps and light some candles, make the game seem all the more sinister, improve upon the occult-like atmosphere, but Nina wasn't going along with that nonsense at all. Just get the danged board out she interjected, always the little bully, and no one argued the point. Dee grabbed a dining room chair and dragged it over to a closet just off the living room, climbed up and started digging through stuff she'd relegated to the back of the shelf over the many years of her tenancy. After a few damns, where'd I put it she finally located its whereabouts, folded in half and sitting in the bottom of a cardboard box, just like any other run of the mill Parker Bros. game. Those of us expecting her usual grand theatrics were sorely disappointed. It wasn't even a fraction as spectacular as we'd been led to expect.
     Tish cleared the coffee table of plastic cups and ash trays, got the bottle of Windex and wiped the glass clean. Dee placed the board in the center of the table, turned the bulb on the three-way lamp down to 40, and we all gathered round the board. I just couldn't suppress a giggle, and Tish's nervousness forced a laugh to accompany mine. Dee, ever the Nubian priestess, began her little introductory spiel, the board was first used in Egypt..., and ... the board is a door to the nether world.
     I could see that "oh come on" look flash in Nina's eyes as they rolled around in their sockets. Oh yeah it was discovered in Egypt hell, she coughed, interrupting Dee's unenlightening infomercial while passing a spliff of freshly rolled yerba bueana in my direction. Is this all there is to this thing complained Tish as she stared down at the board, an expression of obvious disappointment replacing her usual vacuous grin. I looked down to personally inspect this veritable compendium of ethereal knowledge; the magical door to the nether world was nothing but a cardboard square with a bunch of numbers and letters arcing across its top, and the words yes and no at the bottom. It was accompanied by a queer little three cornered piece of plastic. No big deal, not the least bit cryptic or threatening, obviously just as the box disclaimed, for entertainment purposes only.
     Nina sat up a little closer to the board in her usual me first position, and following Dee's instructions placed her fingertips on top of the planchette. I placed mine on next, barely touching the thing, waiting for Nina to ask it something profound. The best she could come up with was asking if Roger was sleeping around. Sleeping around? Try sleeping all over. Oh bruh-uh-therrr, I responded, now rolling my eyes, as if anyone in the room couldn't have answered that one for her. Nina's feigned ignorance of her beau's penchant for clandestine liaisons could truly grate on one's nerves. One's very last nerve. Pass the bullets.
     The little piece of plastic moved off on its own in answer to her query, moving down towards the left to where the word YES was located. Nina got really annoyed and snarled cut the crap Reese. I hadn't moved the thing. You ask it something, she demanded, as if I was just going to hand her the chance to get even. I needed to take a moment, get a thought or two together in my head, organize my priorities, well, let's see, when am I going to get some big money. Under the circumstances it was the best I could come up with. Nina lanced me with her world-famous look of death. Crackhead, she spat, pushing back a little further on the couch. I pretended not to hear her libelous commentary. The little piece moved again, ever so slightly, toward the letter N leading the third row of characters on the board. Now, I hollered, I'm gonna get some money now, I repeated my just-prophesied good fortune but Dee told us to put our fingers back on the little triangle. The piece moved of its own accord, of its own energy, effortlessly, incredulously, not spelling now, but the letters N-E-V-E. Never. It was my turn now to be annoyed with Nina, sitting there with a malicious grin spreading across her face. I didn't do that, I swear Boo, for real, she continued spouting her denial of having moved the piece. What an actress. As if.
     Tish had been sitting there, quietly watching the little plastic triangle moving around the board and she'd gotten hooked on the game, she had a question to ask too and wanted to know what the board would tell her. She told Nina to slide over, let her get a chance to play, and Dee took over my spot at the table. First thing out of Tish's mouth was a question concerning Ty, but I opined there was nothing new to know, the brother was over at Greenwood resting in peace. My candid observation brought a startled gasp from Tish's direction, but what Tyler had done was crazy, noone could understand what possessed him to try to hold up a numbers' spot. His coffin had to be kept closed for the entire wake and funeral. Those who knew said the shotgun they'd fired on him didn't leave much Tyler left to bury, he'd been identified solely through fingerprints. Tish had never gotten the chance to say goodbye to her roughneck lover.
     She seemed truly upset by my callous reminder of Tyler's recent demise. I tried changing the subject, but Tish couldn't let it go. I could see Nina looking me over with that gonna kick your ass when we get outside gleam shining in her eyes. I didn't feel like having at it with Nina tonight, she was in one of her rough and ready moods, like something in her day  had gone wrong and she needed someone to share her pain and aggravation. I turned around and apologized to Tish, who, exhibiting her usual magnanimity, accepted my apology without further ado. I want to speak to Tyler, Tish began to cry as she addressed the board.
     Dee took her fingers off the planchette momentarily, reaching for a hit of the spliff burning up in the ashtray. The little piece of plastic bolted across the board, this time too quickly to be denied. S-O-O-N was the message sent out from the netherworld, and at this point I'd had just about enough of this particular game. It was starting to frighten me, the way this piece of plastic was able to jump all across the board on its own. Even hidden magnets couldn't explain the answers it provided, and everyone had kept their hands in plain sight. The actions of the oui ja seemed to only encourage Tish, who became all the more intrigued at the thought of the possibility of communicating with her dead boyfriend. Dee warned her again, and Nina agreed unconditionally for once, that the oui ja might really be dangerous, if it really was answering us, there was no way we could really know just who on the other side we were talking to. The whole thing was giving me the creeps. But Tish wouldn't hear of it, the thought of a chance to speak once more with Tyler consumed her. She leaned forward to play again.
     A shadow crossed the board as she put the tips of her fingers to the planchette, moving rapidly in her direction and covering both of her hands momentarily. It's appearance was accompanied by a strange odor, as if someone had been relaxing their hair and left the chemicals on a little too long. Nina had to pass comment, accusing Tish of probable flatulence. Tish didn't respond, didn't eve seem to hear her. Since the board had answered her initial question she seemed lost in another world, completely oblivious to the real one.
     After another thirty minutes or so of asking the most inane questions ever raised, questions to which if we didn't already know the answers we just really didn't need to know, Tish stretched her arms toward the ceiling and announced she was ready to go home. Work tomorrow. I decided I was ready to leave also, and offered to help Dee clean up the mess we'd made of her living room. Nina carried the glasses to the kitchen and began rinsing them out, all the while haranguing Dee about what an ultimate waste of good card playing time that had been. Dee countered that perhaps Nina wanted to lose more money to Tish, a non-too gentle reminder of how Nina was twenty dollars in the red since the evening began. The reminder of monetary loss seemed to soften the edge on Nina's attitude, she turned her full attention to the sudsy dishes filling the sink. Enough said.
     By the time we'd finished tidying up it was close to twelve thirty, Dee suggested we call a cab and share a ride home instead of walking the five or six blocks apiece. After trying three or four car services with no success, Nina hinted we might have better luck if we tried to catch a cab outside on the street. Ten minutes later we were still standing in front of Dee's building, trying to flag down anything passing by with livery plates. None of them stopped, most already had passengers, and we were forced to finally admit if we wanted to get home we'd have to start walking. We regretted this choice when we turned the corner and found the avenue completely deserted, with not even the usual derelict holding up the wall near Little John's, the after-hours spot located further down the block.
     Tish left us at the corner, explaining it was faster for her to cut across Lawrence Avenue, this way she'd be home in no time at all. There was a 24-hour bodega right next to her building, with plenty of people coming and going till all hours of the day or night. She was sure she'd be all right once she got there. I got stuck walking with Nina, who wasn't quite done complaining. I waved goodnight once more to Tish as she crossed the street, taking her shortcut home.**
     Lawrence Avenue was much darker than usual, as if the street lamps had been dimmed, and the darkness played on Tish's fears as she made her way along. Shadows of lampposts and street signs took the forms of unfamiliar people as she continued walking, only adding to her anxiety. She could just make out the form of a young man in the darkness, dressed in a black and gray leather jacket and jeans, standing under the No Parking sign near the center of the block. Something about him seemed so familiar, his height, his jacket, heart rending reminders of her deceased love. She felt compelled to watch him as she hurried along, his silhouette strikingly similar to her beloved Ty. It wasn't until she had almost reached him that she realized there was no one there, the form she was so certain resembled Ty was only a trick of light playing against the darkness, another shadow in the multitude of night shadows. 
     A small group of people were standing in front of the bodega when she reached her building, at least two of them were obviously selling some sort of contraband to interested passersby; they nodded politely at Tish as she passed. She returned the gesture and continued into the lobby, headed toward the back and pressed the button for the elevator. Several minutes went by as she waited, she pressed the button again and heard the elevator alarm go off some floors above. Someone had gotten themselves stuck. She was forced to walk the four flights up to her apartment.
     The stairwell leading to the upper floors was located toward the back of the building, next to the tenant mailboxes lining the wall. She caught a glimpse of herself in the polished bronze as she walked past, along with the sudden movement of someone hiding under the stairs. She walked a little faster hoping to outpace the intruder, but whomever had come out from under the stairs was walking just as quickly behind her. Too late to turn around and try for the building's entrance, she had no choice but to continue on up the stairs, and pray she could make it into her apartment before she was caught. Fear galvanized her flight, she took the stairs in bounds of three and four at a time, without looking back once to see who was following her. She was shaking from fear, images of what would happen if she was caught played over and over again in her mind, adding to her terror. Her muscles weakened as her levels of adrenaline pulsed and ebbed and her legs felt like lead, she was having a hard time getting them to move any faster, second floor, third floor and she continued in terror with those footsteps fast at her heels. When she got near her floor she pulled the keys from her pocket and ran her finger along their edges, feeling for the key to her door. The footsteps were now right behind her, she could feel hot breath on the back of her neck. A hand brushed against her back and she decided right then and there to face this creep, better in the open hallway than alone in her apartment. She spun around holding her keys tightly in her raised fist, ready to fight back; the hallway was empty. There was no one there.
     She was sure that someone had chased her up the stairs. She'd seen the reflection in the mailboxes, heard the footsteps right behind her, the soles of shoes pounding the marble steps just as hurriedly as hers, she'd felt them touch her, for heaven's sake. She knocked on Mr. Jimmy's door, not sure if her next door neighbor would be awake at this hour of the night. His wife, Jerrilee answered her knock.
     Mr. Jimmy came to the door when he'd heard his wife speaking with Tish, he figured there was some kind of trouble if the girl had to wake them at this hour, and within minutes had his robe on and with baseball bat in hand began checking the vestibule for any intruders. He found no evidence of anyone hiding in the hallway, but just to be sure escorted Tish inside her apartment, peeking in closets and under the bed in case anyone was hiding inside. Everything checked out fine. Jerrilee brought over a cup of chamomile tea to calm Tish down a little; she was still shaking badly.
     Both Mr. Jimmy and his wife stayed with Tish until they were sure she'd dozed off, then quietly let themselves out, locking the door behind them. Jimmy promised he'd speak to the super about the incident in the morning,  it wasn't the first time a tenant had been chased by someone hiding under the stairs, at least this time the intended victim had escaped harm.**

Continue to Page Two...

Copyright (c) 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011  The Night Watchman - All Rights Reserved