by Rona Go
Without lifting her eyes away from the oldest sister, Aunt Judith asked, "What is going on here?"
Jervais shared her I-told-you-so look on her two other sisters before answering, "We were just chatting, Aunt Judith. But we're off to bed now!"
Chapter 16
Brunch
Jonah woke up with a start. The first thing she did was open the drawer of the bedside table to see if the habak was still there. After Aunt Judith paid them an unexpected visit and Jervais returned to her room, Jonah and Jane were not able to talk anymore about the habak or where to hide it. Jonah had been anxious that her Aunt Judith will order a general cleaning to find the habak first thing in the morning.
Peering inside the drawer, Jonah heaved a deep and long sigh of relief to find that the habak was still there. Her hand quickly reached out for it, but she stopped in mid-air. Her pulse was drumming so hard in her ear, her body almost shook in synched with the beats.
Jonah figured Jervais had really heard something when she touched the jewelry. And so did their Aunt Judith—for this reason she visited them in Jane's room at such a late hour.
"We can't let Aunt Judith running here again for a visit, can we?" Jonah spoke to herself. But why didn't she or Jane hear it? Was it possible that Jervais could hear it because she was the new healer? Jonah shook her head as if her actions would somehow delete the crazy ideas that were running inside her. There's no way Jervais could have killed their mother… Jonah assured herself. But the habak still needs to be kept hidden and safe.
Jonah considered telling Jane they deposit the habak in a safe to hide it. With that, she hurriedly went to her own room to shower and get dressed.
Jonah was about to go down when she was tempted to look inside Rebecca's room. She entered the bedroom hesitantly. The sheets were all new and fresh. There were even fresh flowers everywhere. But the vision of Rebecca's dead body with her eyes open, lying on her bed was still visible in Jonah's mind.
She opened the heavy curtains and a few of the large windows to allow light and air to come in. Even with the wind blowing in Jonah's direction from the outside, she could still smell the faint scent of Rebecca inside the room. She trembled inside.
"This was a mistake," Jonah murmured and turned to leave.
But before Jonah could reach the door, she saw movement from the corner of her eye. She wasn't certain at all, but it looked like a shapeless and dark shadow coming out from the floor. When she tried to look, there was nothing there.
However the sense of the dark, shadowy thing Jonah saw was still very much present and she could feel it. It even seemed to have followed her from behind, pushing her to glide towards the door in a few hurried steps.
As Jonah opened the door, she heard Aunt Judith's stilettos at the end of the corridor coming towards the direction of Rebecca's room.
Not knowing what was more frightening—Aunt Judith or the shadowy thing which could be a figment of her imagination, Jonah opted to back away and used the door to her room to exit Rebecca's bedroom.
Jonah slipped out her own room and went down for breakfast. She had wanted to go down early to avoid bumping into anyone. But it seemed she was the last one up. She passed through the grand, empty dining hall where they usually gathered for meals when they were complete as a family. It had been years, since the room was put into good use. She proceeded down the kitchen where they usually take their meals on their own. It was frustrating for her to find out that Jervais and Brice were already having breakfast in the kitchen.
Jonah would have skipped breakfast and slipped back from where she came from without being noticed when her phone alerted her for an incoming message.
"Brunch!" Jervais called out.
Brice motioned for Jonah to join him and Jervais when he, too, noticed her.
"I'll get this first," Jonah said, walking around the two who were already seated in the tall, four-seater bar. Without looking at Brice, she added, "Did you sleep here last night?"
About tym u go 2 Church. Wil c u there…Pleeasseeee. The message read. It was from Xavier.
"No!" Brice replied, digging into his sausage hungrily. "I just got here. Jane has something in mind."
"Who's it from?" Jervais inquired, looking up from her orange juice.
"Nobody!"
"Oh, it's from your boyfriend!" Jervais concluded which made Jonah blushed. "So, did he tell you where to meet him?"
"Oh, young love—so romantic!" Brice said. "I thought you almost went crazy when he broke up with you. Now, you're back with him?"
"Of course not! That's so exaggerated!" Jonah grabbed herself a banana as the bantering became dangerously drawn to Xavier. She was going to excuse herself when Jervais instructed her to sit.
As Jonah pulled herself up the tall stool, Jervais added, "Eat!"
"All of you are turning us into Romeo and Juliet. We're nearing the end of the world and I am still not free to choose the guy I want to be with," Jonah complained when asked about her and Xavier."What if we end up like Romeo and Juliet and killed ourselves instead?"
"Juliet!" Jervais jested."We're nearing the end of the world as you've said. Nobody does that anymore. The ratio is 1:10. For every one Juliet, there are ten Romeos. Why kill yourself over one man—who's dying by the way!"
"Jervais! That's so mean," Jonah gasped. "And besides, it's not true."
"I have to agree, it is not true!" Brice chimed in. "Or I won't be into bromance only of late."
"We're talking about Juliet here, Brice—" Jervais mocked.
"Child, you are too young to be a sexist!" Brice answered. "Didn't your mother teach you well?"
Jonah began to laugh and said, "Apparently not!"
"Ha-ha-ha!" Jervais said sarcastically. "I learned my morals from watching a lot of X-men!"
"And I got mine from Spongebob!" Jonah teased back.
"Girls, you're both pathetic!" Brice said, unable to hide the grin that spread through his lips.
"So, Juliet—where are you meeting him today?" Jervais asked.
"I am not—" Jonah said truthfully. She was still undecided whether to meet Xavier or not. Although, a bigger part of her really wanted to be with him, the other part remained incurious. Her mind was trying to find the best reason to see Xavier even when she didn't need any. "If I were, it will be for one thing only—to find out if his Aunt is the new healer."
"What?" Jervais and Brice said at the same time.
Tik…tak…tik…tak… The rhythmic staccato of stilettos approaching warned them that their Aunt Judith was heading towards the kitchen.
"Aunt Judith!" Jervais mouthed. Jonah slid down her chair and grabbed hold of the banana, preparing for her exit.
"We can't leave at the same time," Brice said in a low voice. "It's so—not nice!"
"Don't worry, people can blame it on Spongebob!" Jonah said.
"You stay then," Jervais said. "Entertain her for a while."
"You, too?" Brice asked his eyes registering momentary panic."You can't leave!"
"X-men!" Jervais answered, trying to keep a straight face.
Just then, their Aunt Judith entered the kitchen. Both girls bowed their heads a little. It was Jervais who said, "Good morning, Aunt Judith. We were just leaving!"
Aunt Judith looked at both girls with a scowl."It's already happening. You can't leave," she commanded. "Jane is on the phone—something terrible has happened to Jemmah!"
"What?" Brice gasped.
"It sounded as if Jemmah was in a car mishap," Aunt Judith said. As if she was in deep thought, she bowed her head and stopped moving for a while. She wasn't even blinking.
Jonah followed her Aunt Judith and became still. In a matter of seconds, she saw from the corner of her eye, the same dark, shadowy thing she saw in Rebecca's room, rising from the floor and gliding towards Brice and Jervais. She shifted her position and walked away from Jervais who was nearest to her. As Jonah was doing this, she could see the dark shadow on her side following her.
"Don't move!" Aunt Judith commanded sharply.
Although, it was difficult feigning not to see the dark, shapeless object, Jonah stopped on her tracks and attempted to stay unruffled. She was carefully observing her Aunt Judith.
Aunt Judith was quick to move as she approached Jonah first. She put her hands together like she was scooping something out of the air. Then, she placed her hands an inch away from Jonah's shoulders. She began tracing Jonah's outline, occasionally taking something out from the imaginary circumference and putting something back in while mumbling unintelligible words to herself.
When her Aunt Judith was down to her legs, Jonah caught Jervais' eyes. Her older sister was restraining herself from laughing out loud. To avoid from the temptation of joining Jervais, Jonah directed her attention to Brice who was looking at the whole thing with fascination. Then, Jonah fixed her eyes on Jervais' face again. From her side, she watched just as the dark breath of shadow started pulling away from her.
"Woo-hoo!" Jervais mouthed quietly towards Jonah. She was gesturing with her hands on the air as if seeing something spooky.
Brice playfully slapped Jervais' hands and signaled for her to be quiet. However, there was a naughty smile on his face.
When Aunt Judith finished what she was doing, she stood up and halted once again. She was concentrating hard and had stopped moving. Jonah could see the perspiration trickling on her Aunt Judith's forehead down to her face.
"The smite!" Aunt Judith declared.
"The smite?" Jonah echoed.
"Not a friend nor a foe, but very dangerous," Aunt Judith said."Jervais, do keep on being childish. It has its benefits sometimes!" she added sarcastically. She dug out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her face.
"I'm—I—was just," Jervais stammered, her face flushed hotly with embarrassment.
"You will never understand!" Aunt Judith said and dismissed Jervais with her hand. However, she threw Jonah a peculiar look.
Jonah did not dare pursue questioning her Aunt Judith about the smite even if she wanted to. It was strange that she could see the smite from the corner of her eyes and Brice and Jervais couldn't.
There were a lot of weird stuff starting to happen around the house and Jonah was clueless. She didn't know until when she can turn a blind eye to it all. The smite…the ruckus Jervais heard…the effect she had on the habak…even her effect on the woman and Xavier.
Could I be the new healer that they were all looking for? Jonah reflected. But I didn't kill Rebecca…
With Jonah's suspicion that her Aunt Judith had a hand in Rebecca's death, there was no way she could approach her and tell her everything. Worse, Aunt Judith was the only person who knew things.
Jonah walked back to where she sat earlier in the bar. Jervais followed reluctantly. Brice offered Aunt Judith a glass of water which she took in her quivering hand.
Just then, Jane entered the room. With her puffy eyes, it was obvious she had been crying.
"Jemmah's in the hospital. But the police want family members to go to the station. They wouldn't tell me why on the phone," Jane announced. She dabbed at the fresh tears as they glistened at the brim of her eyes. "They think there's foul play."
"Of course, there is!" Aunt Judith uttered strongly. "The timing doesn't suit if all is an accident."
All of the four Blood siblings' attention were glued to their Aunt Judith. It was Jane who spoke first, "How do we go back to our normal lives?"
"Normal my foot! This is your normal now!" Aunt Judith said. "The ripple effect of murder! Get used to it."
"We didn't ask for this!" Jervais said. "We didn't choose this kind of family."
"Oh, people like you whine about your roots. Why don't you do something with your fruits?" Aunt Judith scoffed.
Chapter 17
The Rendezvous
It was almost too difficult for Xavier to breathe inside the Church. It wasn't the Port-a-Cath that was inserted on his right chest. He was beginning to get used to it after having all his chemotherapy sessions and blood transfusions done through it. In fact, it even made him feel cool sometimes, thinking he was Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man, with this gadget inside his body.
It was the atmosphere. The air was thick just like the day he learned he had the kind of cancer of the blood. The pregnant, prolonged silence cannot be broken even perhaps by a jackhammer—mainly because of waiting.
Waiting for what was to come, especially anticipating a negative outcome, painted the air heavily. Xavier stood up again and went near the door to take a peek if Jonah had decided to show up.
Please, God. Let her come! He silently uttered a little prayer.
Xavier was never huge on prayers. But when he got sick, there was nothing else to relieve him but his one-way conversations with God. After some time, the silence on the other end did not seem disheartening anymore. For he was able to talk and pass on his burden outside of himself—to the air and a seemingly watchful but indifferent universe.
I need to see her. Xavier whispered again but the tensed-filled air still remained unbroken. He edged his way back to the long narrow bench by the door and sat on it.
Seeing that Xavier had returned to his seat, Jonah sauntered through the carpeted floor leading to the balcony. In ordinary days when she and Xavier had their rendezvous, she would have wanted to go through the main door to evade inquisitive eyes and detour to the second landing. Unfortunately though, the entrance to the balcony was located outside of the building. For once, Jonah was grateful she didn't have to pass through the huge main door to reach the balcony.
Jonah had told Jervais that her sole purpose for seeing Xavier was to put a closure to whatever they had. And for this reason, she would rather avoid Xavier than tell him to get lost forever.
I can't see him now…Jonah told herself.
Hugh caught sight of Jonah inconspicuously climbing the stairs to the balcony. He hurried to catch up with her and tell her where to find Xavier. Although, he suspected, she already knew where he was.
It feels great to see her… Hugh thought.
Hugh was skeptical when Xavier invited him to tag along knowing it was a rendezvous with Jonah. Hugh could not comprehend Xavier's motivation. Xavier insisted it was the best time to give Jonah the habak. However, Hugh had a sneaking suspicion Xavier had a greater and deeper impetus to include him in such a meeting.
Xavier, swinging both his legs, thought of another prayer. It often entered his mind— always nagged him in fact— after he became aware of his poisoned blood.
If I only had hope…a small amount of it, then perhaps—
Xavier was way beyond his fear, anger and denial. It was the lethargic response to both life and death which berated him to no end. He could not distinguish whether it was such a good or bad thing to be disinterested with his fate.
Jonah…she's my cure! Xavier realized. Not for his disease—but his passion for life or death. Gilda was right when she said he had to keep his heart alive.
Jonah sneaked to take a peek at Xavier from the balcony but she could not see him seated at the far-end, near the door.
So, she sat back and whispered her own prayer; Dear God, why did he have to get sick? If I can only cure him…if I am only the greatest healer…If I only killed Rebecca…
Hugh saw Jonah hunched on her seat and in deep thought. Hugh decided to back away and instead wait for her downstairs. But before he could turn around, he muttered to himself, "Hear her prayer!"
Xavier stood up and put on his disposable mask. He walked just outside the Church to check out for any signs of Jonah. There was none. He went back inside and chose to sit near the altar. He lowered his mask to his chest like a bib. This time, he allowed himself to clasp his hands together and lower his knees to a more fervent prayer.
Oh, God! I don't want to die not fearing death even just a little. For then, it would mean I am not in anyway grateful for the life that I have now. If I had to die sooner, let me hurt for life because I loved. Please bring her b
ack to my life before I lose it.
Xavier's chest had felt like something was pressing forcibly and tightly. And the muscles in his jaw had somehow constricted. He could also sense the little muscles in his brows furrowing into a grimace. Xavier almost welcomed the thought of shedding a few tears, but none came. He lowered his head on his outstretched arms and took in a lungful of air. Slowly, he could feel himself relaxing a bit.
Jonah bolted upright as she watched Xavier making his way to the altar and kneeling. From afar, Jonah could see that he was in earnest conversation with God.
Jonah was in the middle of contemplating within herself and sometimes, addressing God in her own meditation. What could he be telling God? He is hurting. It sounds crazy but I will offer my own life for him, dear God. If it takes for me to leave him for good just as his mother says, then I will. If it means he will get back his life and health again. If this is the option that we both had to take, then, make it so.
Jonah wiped off the tears which suddenly flowed through her cheeks. Sadness was engulfing her by the minute. She took a long and lingering look at Xavier. Then, she got up and left the balcony.
When Jonah reached the foot of the stairs, she was surprised to see Hugh casually leaning and waiting for her. Hugh smiled upon seeing Jonah. Feeling awkward, Jonah returned a guilty smile. Hugh had known all along that she was in the balcony, hiding from Xavier.
"He is down here!" Hugh said. He gave her a teasing look. "Did both of you set the exact place where to meet? This is a huge place. People can get lost a lot of times. I can't even find my way sometimes."
Using the back of her hand, Jonah smacked Hugh on the stomach. She told him, "Very funny, Hugh! Have you been here long?"
"Long enough to know we're all playing hide-and- seek." Hugh replied and grinned mischievously. The next instant, he was coughing out loud, unable to restrain the laughter from escaping him. It was quite a while before he was able to tell Jonah, "Oh, I get it. People get missed if they don't want to be found."
"You are right!" Jonah said. "Right now, I don't want to be found."
