Opal is October’s birthstone. She is also a major character in my meta-verse.
Opal
Close-up
Origin (PG-13, vulgar language)
NéNé woke to a loud knock on her tenement door. Better not be no damn police, she thought to herself. She put on her robe then reached for the baseball bat in the umbrella stand. “Who the FUCK is poundin’ my door at three A.M.?!?”
A sobbing voice replied, “Auntie, it’s me… Opal! Please, open the door!”
Now, NéNé was furious. “Bitch, I don’t know what game you playin’. Get outta here or get a stick up yo’ ass!”
“Auntie! Please, momma’s key don’t work! There was an accident or somethin’. Been out all night. Can I crash on the couch?”
“Oh, you gonna get it! I don’t believe in no ghosts!” NéNé threw open the door and went to swing at the unwelcome caller. When she saw the young woman, she dropped the bat.
“Sweet Jesus, have mercy,” NéNé whispered before fainting.
NéNé was lying in the doorway when she regained consciousness. The girl claiming to be Opal held an ice pack to NéNé’s forehead. She was still in shock. NéNé struggled but only managed to pull herself onto the couch. “Stay away from me, you!”
The girl was in tears. “Auntie, what’s wrong? You high or sumpin’?”
NéNé reached to touch the stranger’s face. She was real. Not some waking nightmare. NéNé used the sleeves of her robe to dry the tears. “Who are you, girl?”
“Auntie, I’m Opal. Your niece. Your sister’s daughter. Ginny’s cousin. They just released me from the hospital. I think. I got amnesia or somethin’. All I remember was a car crash and tryin’ to go home but the door was locked.”
NéNé covered her mouth as she sobbed. “Opal, I’m not Auntie. She passed away eight years ago. It’s me, NéNé… Ginny. Your momma died about five years ago. Sammy moved away. And… there was no car accident. You been dead for twenty years!”
Opal grabbed NéNé’s hand. “What you sayin’?”
Her cousin tried to remain calm. “Opal, that outfit that you got on. It’s the same outfit you wore to the premiere party… in 1990. You remember?”
Opal scowled in disbelief. She was at that CD release party earlier that night. It was LeSean’s debut with Rotten Apple Productions. NéNé had to be high. She was there, too. The cousins hung out with LeSean and his crew after the show.
“I was there, Opal. I had to work the next morning, so I took the subway home. You stayed to party with the boys. You always was a groupie. You got into LeSean’s red ragtop. That’s the last time I saw you alive.”
Opal began to shake. “What happened?!? Tell me the truth, Ginny. I need to know.”
“We filed a missing person’s report. The cops weren’t really interested. Just another missin’ hood rat. One of LeSean’s gang had a younger brother, Tony. He told us where we could find you. And we did… in the sewer. Oh, dear God!”
Opal tightened her grip on NéNé’s hands. Her body trembling so hard, she made NéNé shake. Opal began to remember. She was with LeSean and four of his crew. They drove to a reservoir with weed and alcohol. Events flashed quickly. She could not remember exactly what happened. There was violence, pain, and a skull-shattering blow that felt like… a car crash. “Tell me the rest!”
“I can’t!”
Opal insisted. NéNé shook her head then continued. “The police found Tony a few days later. They said that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Probably suicide over the guilt of your murder. They closed the case before the coroner turned in the autopsy. He said that you had been raped multiple times. And not by Tony neither.”
A golden tear streamed down Opal’s cheek. NéNé looked at her. Opal re-opened her eyes. NéNé gasped. Her cousin’s eyes were black through and through save for a burning light.
“What happened to LeSean?” Opal’s voice had changed. It was cold, dark. As if it were not even her speaking. Rather she was possessed.
NéNé shuddered. “I… I don’t know!”
Opal rose from the couch. She stopped in the doorway to pick up the baseball bat. It began to glow the same light that shone behind her coal-black eyes. Opal started down the hallway.
“Opal, where you goin’?” cried NéNé.
“To find LeSean.”
