A Note Before Dying

Book One in the Mara Solomon Series

Adam Cole

Part one

(C) 2020 Adam Cole

Published by Nuncici Press, an imprint of Adam Cole Works LLC

M ara Solomon, talking to her mother on the phone, was in a hard place. 

“Yeah, I know, Mom.”

Mara turned her body clockwise, holding the phone by her fingers like a distasteful something.  Edna Solomon continued to complain.  Occasionally she would pause briefly to be sure her daughter was still listening.

When Mara was on the phone with her mother, she heard herself saying “I know” a lot.  Edna talked, Mara would listen.  Mara knew, Mara understood, Mara, “the big shot college professor,” was expected to help, even while her mother was beating her about the ears.

“The place is a goddamn mess,” Edna said from the phone.  Her voice was sharp, bitter, old-lady deep.

“Yes, I know,” Mara said.

“I can’t keep it clean by myself,” Edna said.

“I know, Mom, but…”

Suddenly Cybil, her downstairs neighbor, was standing in front of her.  “Dr. Solomon?” she said, as if Mara wasn’t on the phone.

Now Mara was between a rock and a hard place.  Cybil had heard her talking.  Cybil would never let her alone.

“I know, Mom,” Mara said again, because she didn’t know what else to say right at that moment.

“Dr. Solomon?” Cybil said again, as if Mara wasn’t on the phone.  She didn’t seem to register the idea of phone, or busy.  Or personal space.

“Okay, Cybil,” said Mara, holding out her hand for silence.  Her mother was still talking.

“And I need someone to come out and fix my dishwasher,” Edna said.  Mara, who would have loved to oblige her mother, if only to shut her up, tried to explain that she had a couple of things to do first.

“I can’t find my car,” Cybil said.

“I said I will when I can, Mom.”

“I don’t know where my car is,” said Cybil. 

“Will what?” Edna said.  “I need someone to come now.” 

Mara’s grey eyes lost their focus as she gave in momentarily to the overwhelming stimulus of these two unstoppable objects.  “I will when I can, Mom,” Mara repeated.  “I just have to help my neighbor—“

Mara heard the phone click and knew her reply had been unacceptable.

She sighed heavily and dropped her phone onto the sofa next to the newspaper and the book about Richard Strauss and the red hand-knitted scarf that she had just picked up from Target yesterday.  She would allow herself to be tired for one second.  Then caregiver instincts would seize her by the throat and she would move to the next problem.

Mara’s neighbor, Cybil Berger, lived downstairs.  Once she had found out that Mara was a musicologist, she had started to visit more often.  Cybil loved jazz, and she thought that was enough to give them something to talk about.  

Each time Mara came near Cybil’s door, Cybil would open it and say, “Hello, Dr. Solomon.  What are you going to teach today?”

Did Cybil understand that Mara was a classical music scholar who specialized in the Late Baroque?  For a while Mara couldn’t tell if Cybil didn’t realize or didn’t care.  She had finally decided that this was her neighbor’s way of beginning a conversation.

“I can help you with your work,” Cybil would say every time. “I know a lot about jazz.” 

Mara would then have to make some excuse as to why Cybil couldn’t come with her to the office to help.  After the hundredth time she ran out of excuses and would simply answer “Sorry, Cybil, not today.”

Cybil tended to recognize that the conversation was over at that point and would say, “Gotta go.”

Mara could not deny that she had developed an attachment to Cybil, but she also tended to dread hearing the same greeting every day. For this reason, she would try to sneak by Cybil’s door on her way out of the building.  Whenever it worked she felt incredibly guilty.

Mara believed that Cybil was on the Autism Spectrum.  Cybil was very intelligent.  She held a job as a data analyst for the CDC and drove her own car to work. But Cybil didn’t always deal well when things went unexpectedly.  There were some situations that really got Cybil confused.  Today her car had just been stolen, and she didn’t know what to do about it.

  Cybil was already dressed in her usual red plaid button-down oxford shirt, khaki pants and clean white tennis shoes.  She took a look at Mara through her heavy square glasses and thick black curly hair and said, “What are you going to teach today, Dr. Solomon?”

“I’m not going to work today, Cybil.” Mara replied.  “It’s Tuesday and I don’t teach on Tuesdays this semester.”

“Well, then, where are you going?”

“To the police station.  And you’re coming with me.”

Cybil shifted a little to her right foot. “I can’t find my car.”

“Someone stole your car. We have to file a police report.”

“I don’t know how,” replied Cybil, without blinking. 

“I figured, Cybil,” said Mara.  “So I thought I’d take you over there and give you a hand.”

Cybil stood in the doorway for a minute.  Then she said, “Then I could help you with your work.”

“Maybe,” said Mara.  “We have to take care of your car.”

“That’s fine,” said Cybil, satisfied.  She vanished into her apartment.  A moment later she returned with her black coat.

 It was April, and very warm.

More about A Note Before Dying

When Vival, Knight of the Fittest, risked his life to rescue the princess from Veer Isle, he never thought he’d be the one who needed to be rescued. And to make matters worse, the girl he was helping didn't want to leave!  The first book in the Nyla series introduces Vival, Knight of the Fittest, Tom the Incredibly Helpful Sword, two mysterious island dwellers named Cher and Sherluck, and Nyla, the mysterious girl with the bow.

Adam Cole is the host of TruerMU where he interviews celebrities and up-and-coming musicians and creatives.  His guests have included Shawn Mullins, Liberty Devitto and Rick Beato, among many others.  A jazz and classical pianist, Adam’s numerous fiction and non-fiction titles engage readers with the truth about music.  Visit Adam at www.acole.net

Can’t wait til next Wednesday?  You can get the whole book at  https://booklocker.com/books/7164.html .  (Just don’t post the ending, please!)

You can ensure the chapters continue to arrive on time by visiting https://www.patreon.com/adamcole and joining our growing fanbase.

What do you like?  What do you wish was in the book?  Post a comment at www.acole.net, or leave a post on Patreon and tell us what you think!