The next day, Maria, Rafi, and Mom went back over to Spinneret Street. Mom had handled all the official business with the funeral home that morning — Maria couldn’t bear to be there for that — but she needed help organizing and cleaning the house. It had been left to them in Grandma Esme’s will, and Mom had hinted that her plan was to sell it. Maria was just waiting for her to say it outright so she could argue. The house was all but built out of memories. Every architectural imperfection and secret hideaway was another family story told in wood and concrete.
When she thought about it practically, Maria knew that her family could use the money. And their house was bigger than Grandma Esme’s, so it didn’t make sense for them to move. She just hated that she was being forced to think practically at a time like this.
Mom fiddled with the lock on the front door, as if she couldn’t figure out how to work it. Finally, she said, “Huh,” and pushed the door open. “I could have sworn we locked it when we left the other day.”
Maria shivered. She was sure they’d locked it when they’d left on Monday.
And there was more amiss than the door. Mom and Rafi didn’t seem to notice, but to Maria, the differences were obvious. There was still a large pile of stuff on the living room floor, and the cabinets and shelves were still teeming with books and bric-a-brac. But everything had been rearranged, just a little bit. Objects were in different orders or inches from where they had been.
“Someone’s been here,” Maria said.
“What? For real?” Rafi said, looking to Mom to confirm or deny this.
“Maria, stop scaring your brother. This is not the time for that kind of behavior.”
“I’m not kidding,” Maria argued. “They could still be in the house right now. We shouldn’t be here.”
Rafi grabbed Mom’s hand, looking like he might cry, but Maria was too scared herself to enjoy that fact.
“That’s enough, young lady,” Mom said, disappointment and worry competing on her face. “Both of you, outside. Right now. I’ll come get you in a minute. Hopefully you’ll be ready to behave a little more maturely then.”
Mom ushered them out over Maria’s protests. Maria and Rafi stood there in the little front yard, their eyes glued to the door. Every second that went by was another second in which Maria was convinced something terrible was happening to her mother. What if the spiders were in there wrapping her up in a web right now? Maria wished she’d worn the spider ring today. Maybe then she could ask the spiders to leave Mom alone, please.
Finally, the front door opened and Mom came out. Maria and Rafi exhaled together.
“Okay, guys, all clear. Now can I count on you two to be helpful today and work together? We’ve got a lot to do.” Mom said this to both of them, but she was especially watching Maria.
“Yes, ma’am,” Maria said.
As soon as she was back in the house, though, she went straight for Grandma Esme’s bedroom and peeked under the bed. Sure enough, the door to the seashelf had been removed. Maria found it all the way across the room, as if it had been flung there in frustration. Someone definitely had been here since Monday. And whoever it was, Maria had a pretty good idea what they’d been looking for.
“What are you doing in here?” Rafi stood in the doorway. He eyed the piece of wood in Maria’s hand with a mixture of fear and suspicion.
“None of your business,” Maria said.
“Mom said we’re supposed to work together.”
“Trust me, Rafi — you don’t want to work with me. The less you know about what I’m doing, the safer it is for you.”
Rafi rolled his eyes. “You’re just trying to scare me again.”
“Believe what you want. But don’t come crying to me when the spiders …”
“What? When the spiders what?”
But Maria couldn’t speak. Her throat was closing up again, the way it always did when she was terrified. She’d been in such a hurry to check the seashelf, she hadn’t noticed the spiderweb stretching over the inside of the doorway. Now a fat black spider with a bright red spot was scuttling down that web, lowering itself right into the air above Rafi.
Rafi could see the fear in Maria’s eyes, but he didn’t turn or run. Instead, he scoffed.
“Let me guess, when the spiders come and get me? Maybe when I’m asleep?”
In the second before the spider landed on Rafi, Maria reached out and grabbed her brother’s hand. She pulled him so hard they both fell backward, and he let out a yell of surprise that Maria matched with a scream of her own.
“What in the world is going on back here?” Maria’s mom rounded the corner to the room so fast she nearly collided with the black spider, which dangled in the air a few feet above the ground. But she recoiled just in time, sizing up the situation and reaching immediately for her foot. Shoe in hand, she pulled back her arm to strike.
“No, Mom, don’t!” Maria shouted.
“Maria, it’s a black widow. See the little red hourglass on its belly? That’s because when it bites you, you can go thirty minutes before you feel it, and then you don’t have much time left. One bite from that thing and I’d have to take you to Dr. Gutierrez right away.”
“I don’t care. Don’t hurt it,” Maria pleaded.
“She’s right,” Rafi said. He was breathing heavily beside her. “Grandma Esme always said we shouldn’t hurt the spiders.”
Their mom looked at them as if she wanted to disagree. Or maybe she was just processing the fact that, for once, she was the one who wanted to kill a little creature, and Maria was the one who was sticking up for it. Unless Maria was crazy, the black widow spider had paused as well, like maybe it knew Maria held its fate in her hands.
“All right,” Maria’s mom said at last. “But if either of you starts feeling sick, we’re headed to the doctor. Now I’ll go get a jar from the kitchen, and we’ll release this little guy in the woods at home. Both of you stay where you are until I get back.”
The black widow spider had other ideas. As soon as Maria’s mom disappeared down the hall, it turned to look at Maria and Rafi. Maria knew she wasn’t crazy this time — the spider clearly moved its body around to face them. Then, so fast that Maria could hardly follow, it pulled itself back up to its web, then scurried into the corner of the ceiling and disappeared.
Maria exhaled.
“That was close. I hope we made the right call,” she said.
Rafi stared at her as if she had just sprouted an extra set of eyes. Then he gave her a hug, jumped to his feet, and ran to the kitchen, leaving Maria to wonder whether her life would ever feel normal again.
Maria was exhausted when she got home that evening.
Even ignoring the close call with the spider, cleaning Grandma Esme’s house had been draining, physically and emotionally. Every single object had been just so heavy with history. But the funeral, which was happening first thing the next morning, promised to be more draining still. Maria wasn’t sure she had it in her to put on a brave face in front of strangers.
On the bright side, Maria’s mom had heard from Derek’s parents that his whole family would be there, and that knowledge gave Maria courage.
Maria avoided her room for as long as she could that night. She reread a book that she’d left in the living room. She asked her mom five times who was going to be at the church in the morning. She even offered to help her mom do the dishes from dinner, which was the exact moment when her mom guessed she was afraid to be alone.