Angel Blues

“Terry, do you remember when you were a little girl, playing in the back yard with Diana Jackson?” 
  Terry frowned slightly, looking into her tea cup as she held it with both hands. She sat that way for a few moments, then said; “We had a fight…and I got a spanking. Tahji was mad as hell because I got my pink and white starched pinafore dirty. Something about some yellow roses…”
  “Do you remember your first day of school?” Samantha asked.
  She frowned deeper. “Mrs. Dollinger, right? I missed the first week or two of school for some reason. Somebody died or something, right?”
  “Not exactly, baby.” Samantha and Lucille told Terry the story about her knowing that her playmate’s mother was going to die, then having visions about how she died and who had done it. As their story unfolded, Terry suddenly gasped and covered her face with one hand.
  “Oh, God!” she exclaimed. “I remember! I remember going to kindergarten all happy and excited…before Mrs. Dollinger. I started kindergarten twice…the first time…I…I saw that woman, she had shot Diana’s mother. Shot her twice in the head.” Terry shivered again. “I saw it. I saw it just as if I was standing right there when it happened. It was so horrible…Diana’s mother begged her not to do it. She just wanted to get home to her little girl. She couldn’t understand why the woman was accusing her of having an affair with her husband…she didn’t have a chance to explain why their cars were at that motel…Oh, Aunt Lucille, Aunt Sam, I could smell the blood, I could smell the gun powder. I could smell the sweat from both women.” She swallowed hard, trying to stay composed, but feeling a sense of dread. She lost her battle for composure and burst into tears. “I don’t want this, Aunt Sam, I don’t want it! I don’t want to see things like that any more…Oh, God! What did I do to Mama?” She looked from one to the other, terror in her eyes as memories started to form in her mind. Sam and Lucille had tears in their eyes as well. They’d been afraid this would happen, that once they explained to Terry that the second sight she’d had as a child had been lying dormant and was now active and growing strong again, Terry would remember things best left forgotten. 
  “Terry,” Lucille began, “don’t, honey. It’s not something you can help. It’s gon’ be alright. In time it’ll be alright.”
  “But what did I do to my Mama?” Terry was afraid of the answers but felt she had to know. “I had something to do with her death, didn’t I? It was because of something I saw, wasn’t it? What did I do?” She was sobbing now. “Please tell me, I want to know! What did I do?”
  “Tell her, Samantha,” Lucille said gently, wiping her eyes. “I’ll go check on Ruby.”