Defiant Destiny

by Madison Cumbee

  “What is it?” Azra asked.

  “I caught the last minute of this show a couple days ago. It’s about one guy’s theory on the supernatural.”

  The middle-aged man on the television screen was sitting on one of those uncomfortable looking chairs with a bookcase full of leather-bound books behind him that was supposed to make him appear like he could be a doctor or at least someone who knew what he was talking about. After the name of the show disappeared from the screen, the man started speaking. “We’ve all heard the stories: farmers are abducted onto aliens’ ships, invisible hands have helped a drowning woman reach the surface and stay alive long enough to be rescued by the Coast Guard, a man is pushed off the top of a building when no one is there but him, voices tell a troubled teen to do awful things, and so on. Who can account for all of these unnatural occurrences? Sure, some of those people might be crazy, but they can’t all be, can they?” He let his questions hang in the air like he actually expected an answer. Then he went on, “I’ll assume you agree with me that no, the hundreds of thousands of similarly unnatural stories cannot all be a coincidence. But now the question is: What’s the real story behind the stories? What is the explanation for all of these inhuman occurrences? Well, I have come up with an answer…… there is another world beyond this one that normal human beings cannot see or understand.”

  “Do you think he’s on to something?” Dagan asked.

  “I don’t see how anything put out on television could have gotten past our censors.” Azra assured him, but as he said this, I noticed that Azra leaned forward where he was sitting on the tan, leather couch with Odeda and Zev with the slightest hint of concern in his expression. The man on the television screen had his full attention. I began listening again with new interest. “You see, it’s kind of selfish to think that we humans are the only beings alive that have souls. I’ve always left room in my mind-set for anything that hasn’t been discovered yet. And after talking with dozens of men and women who have had “otherworldly experiences,” I have come to the conclusion that perhaps they have actually been shown something otherworldly.” This man was getting too close for my comfort and from the looks of it, my brothers’ and sister’s comfort as well. “Take unicorns for example,” the man went on, and we all relaxed. After giving a lecture on unicorns, the idiot went on to centaurs that once roamed the earth and frolicked through pastures being friendly toward all of the little boys and girls who lived near his chosen place of frolicking. Zev started to laugh, and pretty soon we were all laughing at the ridiculous man and his ideas.

  Ding-Dong.

  My head snapped over to look at the door. Keira was here. I had completely forgotten myself while listening to the dim-wit on TV. Those nerves that I had been ignoring all day suddenly came back with a vengeance.

  I looked around at my family, who were all looking expectantly back at me. “Well…” Odeda said, and then she rolled her eyes at me, “Go open the door before she leaves.”

  “Right,” I jumped up and walked over to stand in front of the door. I took a deep calming breath and opened it. Damn she looks good in anything. Keira had on athletic shorts, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. She had her chestnut brown hair pulled back and her dark green eyes instantly shined when they locked with mine. When a smile spread across those beautiful full lips my breath caught. “Hey,” she said softly.

  “Hi,” I got out. I couldn’t think of what I was supposed to do next; I even forgot to breathe. I can’t believe I am about to say this, but Odeda saved me. She practically pushed me out of the doorway so she could take over her role as hostess. “Hey Odeda,” Keira said as she turned her smile to my sister.

  “Come on in Keira.” She opened the door wider and gave me a look as Keira stepped over the threshold. Leaving me standing alone by the now closed door, Odeda ushered her into the den. “Everyone say hello to Keira.”

  Zev and Azra stood up and gave her a friendly welcome. When Dagan didn’t immediately respond to her liking, Odeda walked over to where he sat and pulled him to his feet. “This is Dagan. Do us all a favor and don’t judge us by anything he does or says because no matter how many times we try, we can’t get rid of him.”

  “Ha ha, Odeda. You’re so funny,” said Dagan sarcastically. “Actually, Keira, I am the only interesting person in this house, and everyone else is just jealous of my far superior skills.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. It’s nice to meet you,” Keira humored him.

  After a brief pause in the introductions, Odeda began steering Keira toward the next room. “Why don’t I show you around? This is the dining room, and over through this door is the kitchen.”

  “Wow, it’s so beautiful,” I heard Keira comment as Odeda continued to drag her around the first floor. Once they had left the den, I dropped onto the couch where Azra and Zev had sat back down. I needed to get it together. A tongue-tied, smiling fool could not be very attractive.

  “Well, I think she’s okay,” Dagan input as he resumed searching for an interesting channel on the television. I decided that it wasn’t worth trying to get Dagan to understand what an understatement that was, so I just leaned my head back and closed my eyes in an attempt to collect myself.

  “And now for the second floor,” came Odeda’s tour guide voice as she and Keira walked back into the room. Odeda had her by the arm.

  Keira looked a little flustered, and I knew Odeda was being her usual controlling and oblivious self. “Odeda, how about you let me take over the, uh,” bombardment, “tour.”

  She looked at me like I had just asked her if she would go jump off a cliff. “What? Why?”

  “Yes, Odeda why don’t you let Uriel show Keira around while you and I discuss that thing that we have to do tonight?” Azra said, understanding my effort to keep his wife from being too overwhelming, if it wasn’t already too late.

  “No, I’ll be done showing her everything in just a few short minutes,” she protested, “then we’ll come back down and you and I can talk.”

  I stood up and walked over to where Odeda was practically cutting off Keira’s circulation; she really needed to learn to take more notice of her unnatural strength around humans. I unclenched her hand and gave her a little nudge toward her husband. “No, I insist. I’ve got it Odeda,” I told her firmly.

  After piercing me with her eyes for a moment, she conceded with a sigh. “Fine.”

  “Shall we,” I said turning to face Keira and gesturing toward the stairs. She nodded and together, we walked up to the second floor. We stepped off the last stair step. “This is an extra room Dagan uses the most; he wears out the television by playing all of his videogames nonstop,” I explained. Keira stood beside me, silent, which made the knot in my stomach tighter. What is she thinking about? Moving on to the next closest door, I stood out of the way so she could look inside. “This is Dagan’s room.” All of the action figures and animated characters on the posters were always a clear give-away which room was his. The next door on the right framed a room that was also obvious as to its inhabitant.

  “Zev’s, I’m guessing,” Keira inferred after a second’s glance.

  “Oh, what gave him away? All of the sports paraphernalia or all of the sports balls overflowing from the closet?”

  This earned me a musical laugh. “Actually, it could have been process of elimination; I already saw Azra and Odeda’s room downstairs- you’re going to have to explain that to me- you already showed me Dagan’s room, and I figured this wasn’t really your taste.”

  “You’re right. It’s definitely not my style. And what do I have to explain?”

  “How your parents can be okay with two teenagers of the opposite sex sleeping in the same room with only one bed.” She looked up at me, like this was a question I should have foreseen. And it was; in all of my conversations with Keira, we had not discussed parents. That is one reason why I hardly ever made friends with humans; it kept me from having to make up so many stories and remember all of the facades, like I ha
d to now.

  “My parents don’t really mind at all actually….. you see, they’re dead.” At least it’s half true, in a way. Dead, destroyed, is there really a difference?

  Keira’s expression changed instantly. She looked concerned and regretful. “I-I didn’t know or else I would have never- I didn’t mean to-”

  “I know you didn’t. How could you know? It doesn’t really matter anyway; they both died when I was very young so I’ve gotten over it.” She didn’t look like she bought that, but she didn’t ask any more questions. “Why don’t you pick the next room on this fascinating tour of my house?” I said purposely changing the subject and lightening the mood.

  “Let me see…” She took a few steps down the hall and gravitated toward my open door. “I choose yours.”

  I followed her into my room, but she had stopped a few feet from the door. “Oh my goodness,” she said, her voice raised barely above a whisper. She walked around the entire room taking in my music first: my collection of trumpets I had chosen throughout the years, my records, caskets, and CDs along with a player for each type. Keeping a good five feet between her and my bed, Keira stepped around it from one wall to the other, but I thought I saw her eyes flicker over where I slept. I was glad Odeda had forced me to make my bed that morning. She began an inspection of the movies I had enjoyed over the years since they were invented, all of which now encompassed the wall parallel with my music. The way she moved around my room was like a dance; the way she swayed closer and further away from my collections whenever she found something that interested her had me in a temporary trance. An excerpt from William Butler Yeats’s A Vision was brought to the forefront of my mind: She moved like one of those bright beings pictured in the sunny walks of fancy’s Eden by the romantic and young, a queen of beauty unadorned save by her own transcendent loveliness…

  “You have your own library, Uriel.”

  It took me a little while, but I answered, “Yes, I have three.”

  Her eyes questioned me. “Music, movies, and what?”

  “I think you’ll like this.” I walked over to the door that was in the center of the wall that held my DVDs and opened it. I stepped inside and turned around so I could see Keira’s expression as she walked through and took in my favorite room of the house. Her breath came out in a gasp and her eyes shone again, the way they had when she first arrived. As she made her way around this time I followed closely behind. Keira stopped several times to skim over the titles on the diverse spines, but if I’m not mistaken, she didn’t take particular interest in the one book I had forgotten to return to its proper place. And I was grateful for that. Walking amongst my literature, Keira was now the one in a trance, and I knew for certain that we shared the same intense passion for books. From floor to ceiling, I had filled my extra room with all the pages I loved.

  “This is-”

  “Perfect,” I finished for her. I had always felt instantly at peace whenever I surrounded myself with the things I loved most, and then, with Keira standing beside me, I knew something had always been missing from perfect serenity. This mortal had a strange affect on me.

  She turned to face me and agreed, “Perfect.” We were inches apart, and with Keira staring up into my eyes like she was, I forgot about everything else. All of my books that had been my love for centuries instantly left my thoughts. There was just her and me. Keira’s breathing quickened as I realized that mine had too. With a small tilt of her beautiful face, a strand of her hair fell loose. I lifted my hand to brush the strand out of her eyes and couldn’t help but let my skin linger against hers. Keira closed her eyes and pressed her cheek softly into my palm. I began to unconsciously lean down toward her when Zev’s shout broke through our intimacy. “Are you guys ready to start practicing yet?”

  I’m going to kill him. Basketball had been the furthest thing from my mind, but I couldn’t let Zev’s question go unanswered. “Yes, we’ll be right down,” I called without taking my eyes from Keira’s face. I let my hand drift back down by my side, and we stepped away from each other and made our way downstairs and out to the backyard without saying a word. It was a sunny August day with a light, cool breeze- perfect for a little workout. Zev was waiting for us with a basketball at his hip held in place by one hand; the other was on his unoccupied hip bone in a sign of obvious impatience. Mood killer. “You ready?” he asked us before taking a three point shot and effortlessly swishing it. I saw Keira tense up by my side. She was nervous, and why wouldn’t she be? She was about to have a practice with two guys who had been playing basketball since the sport had been invented, not to mention our naturally superior reflexes, strength, speed, et cetera. Once Zev retrieved the ball, I told Keira, “Come on. That shot was just lucky; we can take him.” She smiled hesitantly and started to follow me out onto our homemade court. When I was close enough for Zev to hear me, I whispered under my breath, “Take it easy. I’m going to play on her team so that everything’s fair.” He gave a small nod that Keira wouldn’t notice.

  My brother’s smile was reassuring and directed at Keira. “We can warm up with a few shots and then just play around for a while. Sound good?”

  “Yeah.”

  Zev passed her the ball and she dribbled a few times before taking her first shot. She was a good distance from the hoop, but her hands guided the ball up into a perfect arch and backspin before it went in for two points. “Nice,” Zev encouraged. Keira looked at me, and I smiled my approval. I hadn’t known what to expect of her sports talent, but she seemed to know her way around the court. After each of us had a few shots under our belts, we started the scrimmage. Zev held back when he guarded Keira but thankfully made sure that it wasn’t obvious to her. When he was up against me on the other hand, Zev let loose his restraint and came at me with almost all he had, and we were both dripping with sweat after an hour and a half of “noncompetitive playing around.” I was used to exercising for long periods by myself, but trying to win against Zev who was naturally more muscular than me was a lot more exhausting. Keira, however, had barely begun to perspire. I guess I did a good job of not letting Zev overpower her. “Wanna call it a day?” asked Zev who – I noticed with pleasure- was a little out of breath.

  “Sure,” Keira laughed. Apparently we had amused her.

  Inside the house the three of us were instantly greeted by delicious aromas. We followed our noses into the kitchen and saw Odeda leaning over the stove adding ingredients to one of her numerous pots. “That smells wonderful!”

  Odeda looked up and smiled. “Thank you Keira. I figured you guys had worked up an appetite so I decided to whip something up. Would you like to stay for dinner?”

  Keira glanced my way, and I realized that she wasn’t sure how I felt about her staying. Of course I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. “Please stay.”

  “I’d love to,” she beamed.

  “Great. I think I’ll go take a quick shower if you don’t mind. Zev, you might want to do the same,” I made a face after getting a whiff of him.

  “What? Me? Come on, I smell great. Don’t I Odeda?” He walked over and engulfed our sister in a bear hug. Odeda was gasping for a fresh breath as she shoved him to an arm’s length away. “Leave my kitchen right now. I don’t want your stench poisoning the food. Go.”

  Keira and I laughed at Zev’s fake hurt expression as he exited the room. “I will only be a moment,” I told Keira as I followed him up the stairs.

  ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂

  A little while later, I hopped down to the first floor while still towel-drying my hair and saw Keira and Odeda laughing as they cooked together. Deciding not to interrupt their niceties, I walked on to the laundry room and discarded my towel. On the way back, I popped my head into the kitchen and asked the ladies, “Do you two need any help?”

  “No,” they both said and then shared a look and started laughing.

  With a smile on my lips, I left them and went to the den where Azra and Dagan were watching TV- like the
y hadn’t moved in the two hours or so since I had left them. I sat down next to Azra, and when he saw the smile that was spread across my face, he asked me, “Why are you so happy?”

  Dagan added, “Yeah, did you get to guard Keira in a man to man defense or something?” He laughed at his own attempt at a joke until I beamed him in the head with one of the decorative pillows that, thanks to Odeda, always covered the couches.

  “It’s amazing that you don’t have any girls interested in you, Dagan. I can’t believe that none of them find your crude sense of humor attractive.” He threw the pillow back my way, and it missed me by a good foot before it landed on a nearby table nearly knocking over a lamp. Turning to Azra, I answered his question. “I just saw your wife laughing with Keira.” He wasn’t impressed. “And she was letting Keira help cook,” I finished. At this Azra began to understand my initial expression of surprised delight.

  “My word. How is that possible?” asked Azra. “She won’t even let me help her with preparing meals.”

  “I know.” After a moment’s consideration I added, “I told you Keira’s special.”

  Zev appeared in the entrance to the room. He walked over and sat in an empty chair. “What’s with the faces?”

  “Odeda is letting Keira help cook dinner,” Azra said still sounding amazed and a little disbelieving.

  “Nuh-uh,” Zev smiled and reclined.

  “She is,” I confirmed.

  “Wow… Keira’s good.”

  Odeda never, ever, ever, ever, lets anyone help her cook. She doesn’t even like us to help set the table most of the time. She says that the kitchen is her space- that we men are not allowed into it.

  “Maybe it’s just because Keira’s a girl,” Dagan suggested.

  “No, remember when I invited the girls’ softball team over twelve years ago? One of them touched Odeda’s spatula and she nearly had her hand ripped off when Odeda snatched it back from her,” Zev pointed out.