Growl

by Ashley Fontainne

  “Ready for…what, Sheryl?” Meemaw whispered, her voice dry and husky. Mom reached over and clasped her right hand in Meemaw’s and then her left with Dad’s. I saw the confusion behind Dad’s face but swore I saw a hint of recognition behind Mom and Meemaw’s.

  Do they both know?

  I backed away a few steps from Papa Joe and whispered, “Tinker…here kitty kitty.”

  In a flash and without a sound, Papa Joe’s body disappeared and my furry bed companion, Tinker, sat in the chair. His fluffy tail curved daintily around his feet, his green eyes unblinking. My eyes moved over to my family as I watched their reactions from across the room. Part of me feared one, or all of them, might faint from the shock. After all, watching someone change into an animal was not an everyday occurrence.

  Freakin’ ever.

  The color disappeared from all of their faces. Each one looked like they’d just been drained of blood by ol’ Dracula himself. Mom and Meemaw were both visibly shaking, and Dad looked like he was about to toss his dinner all over the couch. Dad’s wispy hair looked like it turned whiter about as fast as Papa Joe turned into Tinker. Jaws hung open and eyes bulged out of their sockets. A collective quiet overtook the living room—even the clock wasn’t ticking anymore—as the enormity of what just happened inside the four walls of our home crashed down on top of them.

  Tinker/Nahu’ala broke the silence with a dainty, Meow.

  The minute the silence was broken, it seemed to bring the three of them back to life. Dad shot up out of his chair and in a flash was in front of Mom and Meemaw. He took a protective stance about two feet from them like he was guarding them from what he probably assumed was a demonically possessed cat. Mom reached out and grabbed his hand, and Meemaw closed her eyes and swallowed hard, her throat muscles undulating.

  “Sheryl, get…get away from it.”

  “Dad, it’s okay. Really,” I said. I leaned down and scooped up what used to be Papa Joe and cuddled the cat to my chest. “It’s not what you think, believe me.”

  “You tryin’ to convince me this thing ain’t straight from the bowels of Hades? Unless dinner was made with peyote and we’s just havin’ an awful hallucination, that there beast is evil.”

  “Please, sit down and listen. I have much to tell you and not very much time to do so.”

  “I ain’t gonna do no such thing until that thing goes away,” Dad grumbled.

  “Jared, sit. It’s okay,” Meemaw whispered. “Can’t you feel the power? The love? There is no evil here—only love.”

  Dad shifted his eyes over to Meemaw and gave her a stern look. The kind of look made to question a person’s sanity. Through her shimmering tears, Mom smiled weakly up at him. “She’s right, Jared. Can’t you feel it? The energy? Look, even the hairs on my arms are standin’ up!”

  Dad’s mouth dropped open. “Have y’all lost your minds?”

  In three quick strides, I was by Dad’s side. Out of the three of them, he was having the most trouble. I touched his shoulder and said, “Daddy…please. It’s okay. Let me explain.”

  With reluctance behind his wide eyes, he eased down on the couch between Mom and Meemaw, his gaze never leaving the furry body in my arms. I backed up and sat on the chair closest to me, and Tinker jumped down and back over to the chair where he’d changed. The second his furry feet touched the cushion, Papa Joe was back, his body erect in the chair. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad jerk, but Mom and Meemaw never moved or said a word.

  I smiled at Papa Joe before training my eyes back on my bewildered family. With a deep breath, I began the tale.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “The night I dreamt about the Shadow-Man seems to be the startin’ point for me, so I’ll lead off with it. You see, he is real and not someone I made up. His name is Hattak’katos, which roughly translated, means man and cat. He is the brother of Nahu’ala. He came here that night to kill me while I slept. Thankfully, my guardian protected me,” I smiled, motioning with my hand over to Papa Joe. “He was here, in the form of the cat you know as Tinker. But when he changed to his true form, I discovered Tinker wasn’t his real name. When I fell back asleep, he stood guard over me. When Hattak’katos appeared again, that is when Papa Joe’s true form took over, and I woke up and saw him. I heard the conversation between the two great powers in my mind. Hattak’katos wanted me, but Nahu’ala informed him I was already taken.”

  “Taken? Sheryl, what in the world…?”

  “Dad, please, let me finish? Everythin’ will click when I do, okay?”

  “I remember Nana sayin’ that name. Nahu’ala. Sometimes, late at night, she would mumble it in her sleep. One night, when I was around ten, I asked her about it. That’s when she showed me the totem necklace. Told me her guardian gave it to her. Said his name was Nahu’ala but I was to never mention it or speak it out loud. Ever. She was adamant about it. The look on her face was so sad when she spoke his name. And then, when you came along,” Meemaw said, turning to Mom, “the same thing happened—remember?”

  Mom nodded, her eyes lost in the memory. The look on Dad’s face was laughable as his eyes bounced between his wife and mother-in-law like a ping pong ball. “Yeah, and I was around the same age. I’d spent the night with Nana…heard her whisper the name in her sleep…asked her about it the next mornin’. She did the same thing with me. Showed me the necklace, told me about her protector, and then said to never mention the name. Of course, I didn’t listen to the last part—I told you. And, if I recall correctly, you flipped your lid.”

  “I did,” Meemaw said, her voice quiet and heavy. “Because after the first time I asked about Nahu’ala, I began havin’ nightmares about a huge, black panther chasin’ Mom down in the woods. I…I heard her screams of terror as she ran. Watched her shimmy up a tree as the water rose behind her. The dream terrified me—and I didn’t want the same thing to happen to you. I…I sensed the…oh, I don’t know what to call it. The energy, the force? Whatever you call it, the dreams were forebodin’.”

  I watched a lone tear trickle down Mom’s face, her eyes closed as she listened to Meemaw. Worry creased her forehead as she nodded in silent agreement. I wondered if she was reliving the day I called Tinker Nahu’ala and her reaction to it.

  “But it did. I started havin’ the same dreams. Watched my petrified Nana run through the forest. Heard the monster behind her. Listened to her scream. I had the dreams up until…oh, God…until I had Sheryl.” Mom’s eyes popped open, and both she and Meemaw stared at me.

  “Mine stopped the day I gave birth to you, Jolene,” Meemaw croaked.

  I let their words settle over the room before I said anything else. Poor Dad looked like he was watching a spaceship full of little green men land in our backyard.

  “And the cat! Oh, gosh, Mom. Remember the stray I named Fluffy? The white one with the green eyes that showed up on our doorstep—oh, Jesus! Right after my first dream!” Mom gushed. She grabbed Meemaw’s hand and hung on for dear life. “Remember, Mom?”

  Meemaw nodded her head, her tears flowing faster now. “Yes, yes I do. And I had one, too. Named him Ralphie. He appeared the first night after I overheard Nana cryin’ in her sleep.”

  Both of them turned their attention over to Papa Joe. His lips parted in a genuine, heartfelt smile so full of love, it would have melted an iceberg. Waves of love rolled off of him and coated the entire room with an invisible embrace of warmth. “Yes, Little Ones. I’ve watched over your family for many generations and have been known by many names. Ralphie. Fluffy. Tinker. It is part of my duty, guarding the next in line—and my kin.”

  “Wait…are y’all under the same delusion here? Because it sure sounds to me like y’all are. Seems to me y’all are tryin’ to convince yourselves that Papa Joe is some kind of…I don’t know what to call it. A werecat? And one who is older than dirt?”

  Mom shushed Dad with a wave of her hand. He was the one who looked appalled now. “What are you sayin’, Papa Joe? Kin? Many generations? I don�
�t…”

  I stood up and went over and knelt down in front of my mom and Meemaw. Tears of my own clouded my vision as I looked at their confused faces. For a split second, they looked like little girls rather than grown women. The buried memories of the interactions with their guardians and visions of their possible futures barreled back from the depths they each hid them in. With wide-eyed wonderment, both of them stared at me, waiting to hear the answers to their numerous questions. Telling them this part was what I feared the most. I knew it would be the hardest for them to hear—especially Meemaw. “Remember how Nana told us how she survived the 1927 flood? How she was out down by Caney Creek, pickin’ collard greens? How the scream of a woman in pain lured her further out into the woods until she got lost? Then a black panther chased her up into a tree?”

  No answer. Just two sets of impatient, glossy eyes stared at me. Neither woman blinked.

  “And recall she said the big cat ran away before the flood waters came? Well, that isn’t entirely the truth. The cat ran away, but way before the waters rose. Hattak’katos left because he didn’t want to face his brother, Nahu’ala, or drown in the flood he, for lack of a better word, conjured up.”

  “I…I don’t understand…” Meemaw muttered.

  I swallowed hard and kept my voice steady. “Nana was out in the woods gatherin’ collard greens, like she said. She liked to be outside, communin’ with nature—a habit she never gave up, as you both well know. And she did follow a scream she thought was of a woman in distress. But…it wasn’t. It was a ploy by Hattak’katos to draw her deeper into the woods and pull Nahu’ala out—away from the spot he guards.”

  “What? Why? And what do you mean ‘flood he conjured’?” Mom whispered.

  “Hattak’katos was unable to find the location of the sacred place his brother, Nahu’ala, is charged with watchin’. He tried for centuries to find the spot. It has been his drivin’ force ever since he turned and embraced his abilities. It is what he lives for. Over the centuries and after many defeats, his obsession made him go mad. He went so far as to enlist the help of the government. Of course, he didn’t exactly tell them the entire truth—only enough to catch their interest. The rest they did on their own.”

  “Wait…our government is involved?” Dad asked, shocked.

  “Yes. Hattak’katos, in his human form, was instrumental in craftin’ the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Recall from history the first Native Americans forced to move were the Choctaw—from right here in Delta country in 1831. The history books I read in school taught that it was because of the government’s interest in ethnic cleansin’. That President Andrew Jackson was just continuin’ the work of cultural transformation started by George Washington and Henry Knox. And maybe, for them, it was. But that wasn’t the reason Hattak’katos was involved. He wanted to rid the Delta of his brother—and any possible descendants—for free reign to pursue the location of the sacred place.”

  “How do you know all that, Sheryl? I mean, he let all those people—his own people?—die the horrible way they did, yanked from their homes, just to find some supposed sacred tract of land? That’s a mighty big claim there, Sheryl. A mighty big claim. Again, I ask, how do you know?”

  “Heartbreakin’, isn’t it, Daddy? One of the worst acts of hatred ever committed, and it was orchestrated by one of their own. I know because I saw it with my own eyes, in a vision that I’ll explain later. But it doesn’t end there. That tactic didn’t work, so Hattak’katos opted for a different approach. In a fit of anger, he decided to destroy the entire area by unleashin’ the flood. Since he couldn’t find the location, he decided to destroy it. Plus, he knew his brother was in love with Nana and hoped he would leave his post to save her. Hattak’katos planned on wipin’ everythin’ away all at once. He would destroy his brother and his descendants in the flood. That was his plan. With his obstacles gone, he would have free reign over the territory he has always wanted. The opportunity to look for the sacred place without interference or fear his brother would find him.”

  “Boy, howdy. I think I’m gonna need a drink,” Dad said as he moved over to the small decanter on the bookshelf near him. In one swift movement, he snatched a glass, filled it to the rim with tequila, and chugged it back. On any other day, Mom would have given him a thorough dressing down for drinking, but today, she didn’t even flinch. She and Meemaw were frozen in their spots on the couch, trying to grasp it all. I waited until Dad sat back down to continue.

  “It almost worked, too. Nana did scurry up a tree when the waters began to rise, but she slipped and fell back into the water. She…she drowned before Nahu’ala got to her. Once he did, he was devastated. He was too late. He broke the one and only rule he had been given and took her to the place he guarded. The place no one but the guardian knows how to get to. The place of healin’ and mercy—a sacred place where the Tree of Living Water sits—the flowin’ water created by God’s hands in the Garden. He took Nana to the spot Hattak’katos longs to find, and she was brought back to life. But after everythin’ she’d suffered, her memories of that time sort of got jumbled around inside her.”

  “Mom died?” Meemaw said, the shock and disbelief seeping out of her. “How…how can that be?”

  “Yes—technically. It was only for a few minutes between the time she was found and taken to the sacred place. But Nahu’ala’s love and prayers for her swayed the Lord. He allowed her to come back by drinkin’ from the waters by the Tree. But the gift of renewed life came with a very high price, which is what leads us to where we are now. Hattak’katos is after the location—as he has always been. He wants to control the power of the water. Removin’ his ancestors from the Delta didn’t work. Causin’ the flood that wiped out a huge section of the Delta didn’t work. His tactic this time started when he tried to make Nana tell him where it was the night he stalked and killed her. That didn’t work either and is why he came after me—and why she died. You see, it was impossible for Nahu’ala to protect us both at the same time. Though it broke his heart, he had to let the love of his life go to watch over me. After he saved me that night, he realized too late why Hattak’katos left without puttin’ up much of a fight. By the time he arrived in the glen, it was too late. Nana was already gone.”

  “Oh, dear Lord,” Mom gasped, her face a sickly shade of white. “So Papa Joe’s real name is Nahu’ala, and his brother’s is Hattak’katos—and they both have the ability to…to…”

  “Skin-walk. Yes, they both have the ability to change forms, and they have been here for over four-hundred years. One guards. One hunts.”

  “Skin-walk? Like shape-shiftin’, right?” Mom ventured.

  “Yes. But there is more, Mom. What I’ve just relayed is the easy part. The difficult, flip side comes next.”

  I watched the wheels spin behind both of their brilliant blue eyes as they tried to digest my words. All the color had drained from their faces, and they looked like two ghosts sitting in front of me. I glanced over at Dad and flashed a feeble smile, but he didn’t return it. My attention returned to Meemaw when she gasped, “My birthday…Mom said I came late. That she musta gotten pregnant the last week Pop-pop was alive, before the flood. But, that’s not true, is it?” The knot of tears in my throat kept me from answering. I responded with a slow shake of my head. “Bernard Kovlin isn’t my father, which means…”

  Papa Joe rose from his spot on the chair and moved across the floor with fluid grace. He squatted down next to me and reached his gnarled, wrinkled fingers out and took Meemaw’s hands in his. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to—his face said it all.

  “You?” Meemaw croaked.

  “Yes, my daughter. Me.”

  Mom began to softly cry. Dad’s lips were drawn so tight, it looked like someone had stitched them together. Meemaw and Papa Joe were lost in a world they seemed to be the only people in at the moment. Even though Papa Joe had been a part of her life since her birth, the sudden shift in his role must have made her head swim. I understo
od her pain and confusion, for I experienced a fraction of it when I found out that Papa Joe was much more than a close family friend. He was family. But it hurt my heart to see her so upset. We all were having great difficulty absorbing the fact that he was my great-grandfather, Mom’s grandfather, and Meemaw’s father.

  In a word, it was damn near incomprehensible. Then again, maybe this part would be easier to accept after seeing him turn into a furry house cat in front of their eyes. Good thing we started them off with just that. Had Papa Joe turned into Nahu’ala…I shuddered to think about what would have happened. Dad would probably have drunk the entire bottle of tequila and Mom or Meemaw would have had a stroke.

  “Gertrude…my Gertrude. I haven’t missed a day of your life since you were born. Nor yours, granddaughter and great-granddaughter,” he said, looking over at Mom and then to me. “The three of you are my greatest joy, along with Beulah. But I hope you understand, at least a little, why the secrecy has been in place all these years.”

  Even though the secret had been kept for over four generations, it didn’t seem to matter anymore. Papa Joe was different—otherworldly. Peace, joy, and love surrounded him. Like an invisible blanket, it stretched out from his body and enveloped us all in a cocoon of love and strength as he spoke softly about the woman he loved from afar all his life.

  And how he’d watched his family from a distance with a heart full of pride and sadness for over seventy years.

  It was close to midnight when Papa Joe and I finished our stories. The tears that flowed down all three faces during the last few hours dried up. My guess was no one had any liquid left in them to spill. The questions posed by Dad, Mom, and Meemaw had all been answered, heard with their disbelieving ears and destroyed minds. Shell-shocked from our words, the three of them sat in silence as they each tried to make sense of it all.