Probe

by Douglas E Roff

  “I have looked everywhere, my boys, and perhaps I can dig a little deeper, but the script you sent reminds me of a dialect I once studied quite a few years ago; I just can’t seem to place it now. I’m puzzled. Usually I can find these things right away in the Aramaic Collection.”

  “Can you localize the region or maybe even a rough time frame?”

  “The region was the Middle East, but that’s obvious anyway. It’s not as if the Chinese were writing, and speaking Aramaic back then or ever. And as to chronology, I’d have to say maybe twenty-five hundred years ago, plus or minus a hundred years. I’d say early Roman era and more than likely, Lebanon. I believe I mentioned that to you yesterday. No, now wait a second, that’s not right. The script is more … no wait a moment. I think it might be a derivation of Imperial Aramaic used in Mesopotamia. Yes, that’s it. Mesopotamia. But if that’s true, then I should be able to translate this easily. But I can’t; it’s all gibberish. No, it can’t be, but it is. Confounding.”

  Misti was listening attentively to the conversation, one she would normally stay out of – too arcane and no rationality behind it. Things were the way they were. It only had to make sense to the ancients – not to the moderns.

  Misti said, “Wasn’t that an era when Aramaic was first spreading throughout the region. I mean lots of small cultures being conquered and forced to adapt to Aramaic? I think that was the time of Darius I, correct?”

  “Yes, my dear. And what’s your point, exactly?”

  “Is it possible that the script was used for the local non-Aramaic language spoken dialect and only later began using Imperial Aramaic? I mean there must’ve been a transition from local language to Imperial Aramaic. Like Chinese characters and derivations throughout Asia. Japanese isn’t Chinese, but the written characters are similar. Ditto for the dozen or so Standard Chinese dialects including Mandarin. I mean is that possible?”

  “Yes, yes my dear. Very apt of you, miss, er …”

  “St. James. Misti St. James.”

  “Well now I recall what I didn’t remember. It was a nice young man who was writing his dissertation on that vey topic. I helped him find a transitional dialect using Aramaic script. Oh dear, dear though. That might take some time to find. Can I call you back?”

  “Certainly. Call Dad. He’ll email our contact numbers. We’re up here in Barrows Bay. You know, Canada.”

  “Bright young man up there. Knew him ages ago. Eddie SinJin, I think. Anyway, no matter. Send me your digits as the kids say. I’ll get back to you when I find something.”

  Chapter 17

  Cindy’s smart phone ring tone played a familiar Beach Boys tune she liked as the display lit up. It was Noki calling. Noki had grown close to Rod and Cindy as well as to Cindy’s parents. Maybe it was an affinity for Moms and Dads, but at times Noki felt distanced and alienated from Edward and Bethy. It was acute with Maria and she even felt it slightly true of the notoriously non-judgmental Pops.

  Misti was always a mystery. What went on in her brain was, to Noki, a vast unknown of brilliance and contradictions. What she knew of Misti, and much of the Barrows Bay family, she knew only from her mind journeys with Adam. He too was often puzzled by his wife’s thought processes.

  “What’s up there, girl?”

  “Oh nuthin’. Just workin’ away, but I was wondering if I could drop by for a few. I have something on my mind and I’d like to talk to you and Rod about it. You guys busy?”

  “Not too busy to see you. Is everything OK? Trouble at Rancho Misti?”

  “No, nothing like that. But it does have to do with you guys, me, and the family at large. Some stuff I still don’t understand.”

  “Oh?”

  “Now don’t be that way. But, truthfully, I was over at your folks’ house yesterday and I had a chat with your Dad. Seems that the same … I don’t know, disquiet that I’m feeling is something your Dad used to feel too. Years ago. Less so now, he says. At least until the bunch of us all arrived here together. Now he says he’s back to feeling something, you know, something odd. Like something just doesn’t seem or feel right. I’d chalk his feelings up to different generations and some unusual living arrangements, but I think I’m feeling what he’s feeling too. And I can’t seem to shake it.”

  “Have you talked to Adam about it?”

  “Absolutely. But he seems to think that I should talk to you and Rod. You know, a better perspective on what most people would probably say is different … unusual … immoral. I would’ve been in the latter camp too not long ago. I think you see the conundrum. Not sure what to think anymore.”

  “All right, why don’t you start wandering over this way while Rod runs the girls up to visit Grandpa Mark and Nana Julia. Then we can talk without little ears hearing stuff they wouldn’t understand anyway.”

  “Will I?”

  “We’ll see. Maybe.”

  “You are a Mom. And you have all the lingo down pat.”

  ***

  Noki arrived a few minutes later after the short walk down the hill, bearing right to the center home in the cul-de-sac on the main road to the Institute. The landscaping in the overlarge front yard was beginning to take shape, but that was due to the almost daily efforts of Julia Eagan, landscaper-in-chief.

  Rod arrived back a few minutes after Noki. They settled into the living room, family photos on every wall, decorated in a Scandinavian modern: chrome and glass coupled with light oaks and sleek lines. Their taste was minimalist; her own home was decorated to the taste of both Misti and Adam: heavier pieces, darker woods, and more masculine lines.

  Rod said, “So what’s on your mind Ms. Noki? The insanity of Barrows Bay catching up with your more traditional sensibilities? I wouldn’t say I expected to have this conversation with you today. But I would say if I had, I would’ve expected it much earlier on.”

  “You did?”

  Cindy said, “We both did, sweetie. The truth is you’re a sweet girl from a traditional family raised in the real world. Our family here in Barrows Bay isn’t traditional, far from normal and it has never been even in the broader vicinity of the real world. When Misti arrived, things improved. Nobody in the family expected that. Mom, I mean Rod’s Mom, thought that her arrival would be catastrophic; that the two of them would cascade down into the abyss. In fact, their behavior has been the best it’s ever been until very recently.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  Rod said, “First you must understand that I totally love my brother and Misti. Cindy has the same long history with them both and she feels exactly as I do. Cindy knows Misti a lot better than me but our opinion of them both is the same. It’s never changed over the years. They’re both sociopaths, disturbed, or at least they were. I’m pretty sure they still are. But it’s also true that they keep each other calm and rather than amplifying the negative habits of the other, they keep each other even and focused on work and tasks. It accounts for the majority of the importance of helping each achieve happiness. Is it their kinda messed up situation that’s bothering you?”

  “It was in the beginning. Not now. Adam had been terrific and since I can visit his mind freely, I know who and what he is. Misti is a different story. I used to be uncomfortable around her, but even that has changed. We’re good now. But the situation here, seeing you and the girls, getting to know your folks as well as I have Cindy, then throw in Pops, and I’ve had extremely good, helpful and supportive experiences. But Adam, Misti and Edward are different cats, and, well, your Mom, Rod, has hardly said a dozen words to me since I arrived. I feel welcome some places and not in others. And I’m not always comfortable every day, even though Adam, goes out of his way to make me feel wanted and at home. I wonder – you guys seem so normal. How do you cope? You’ve got two precious little girls – how do they cope?”

  Cindy looked at Noki and smiled. “I know how it looks. And, it’s not that you’re wrong. You’re not.”

  Noki said, “You guys seem so
normal. So, do both your parents. And yet you both seem deeply, deeply involved in the rest of the insanity that permeates this place. Sometimes I watch you and don’t understand what you’re doing or why. It’s as if you can work in one normal and sane world and then seamlessly glide into the other. And still be you. You have two adorable girls. Don’t you ever worry about them and, you know, the others?”

  Rod said, “Yeah, truthfully, sometimes. Mostly we get flak from Cindy’s folks about the girls, but not so much anymore. Mark has finally made his peace with Edward and Adam. But it wasn’t always that way.”

  “I don’t want to speak out of school here, but your Dad, Cindy, said he never really liked Edward very much and outright thought Adam was a criminal. Thought the two of them were often up to no good and maybe both belonged behind bars.”

  Cindy laughed. “And he was right, of course. If you have taken a stroll through Adam’s mind, you must know what he has done. What he and Misti have done. I’m sure you know it wasn’t legal. Not even close. But you probably also know that it wasn’t immoral either. The people they’ve dealt with haven’t been good people and their latest adventures have been, at least to them, justified. Completely justified. In truth, Rodrigo and I have done our share of bad things too. Always legal, always sanctioned. But not what you would call ‘normal’.”

  “I know. I do. And I have been around Edward long enough to know he’s a special case all on his own. Not the usual academic and best-selling author. And Adam, as you say, is an open book. But along with what he has done is an understanding on a deep level of why he has done it. Adam does bad things, some very bad things. But he isn’t evil. And I wouldn’t even say he was a criminal. But he has broken the law.”

  “Over and over again, truth be told,” said Rod. “That’s the difference between the way I see things and the way Mark sees things. Mark isn’t wrong as he sees the world. He just isn’t as morally flexible as Cindy and I are. But it wasn’t always the case, even for us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that the killing and the brutality, even some of the cruelty was always confined just to Edward, Adam and Misti’s Dad, Carlos. Never anyone else.”

  “Not Misti?”

  “Especially not her. Edward was very strict with her growing up and she was always an obedient child when it came to him. I know it’s hard to see now but she was a real hand full growing up and the only person who could bend sufficiently and understand her unique needs was Edward. He gave her everything. In return, he only asked for one thing. Obedience. That meant she had to curb her proclivity toward antisocial behavior.”

  “I’m amazed.”

  “There’s more,” said Cindy. “You need to understand how we fit in, Rod and me. In a sense, we all have jobs to do within the family. Even my Mom and Dad.”

  “Which are?”

  “It’s the world we live in. Not just the world here in Barrows Bay but the world of this family and within the Eight Families. It’s a decision we all consciously made a long time ago. And when we were old enough to understand, to choose, we did. We opted in. And we could have opted out. My Dad can make it sound as if the odd folks and bad influences are all Adam and Edward but when it came to the decision about his little girl, he said yes to my education and training. With the RCMP, CSIS, the CIA, NSA and others. I’m no angel. Neither is Rod. Dad knew all about it. Even Mom knew and didn’t say a word.”

  Rod said, “And neither did my Mom and Pops. They said yes too because that was the family business, and none of it is like in the movies. Did they turn a blind eye? Maybe, but it was more like they wanted to have their say. Cindy and I would have done what we did anyway, eventually. We always wanted to be a part of the Edward show. There was only one way to keep him, Edward, in check. You had to be there on the inside to have a say and you had to be vocal. That was my Mom’s job, just like Cindy’s job is to handle the family finances. We all have ‘day jobs’ and we all have ‘other jobs’. And then Adam is an entirely different project. We all have tasks and responsibilities with him. Less now that he’s married to Misti; it’s her job to keep him in line. We couldn’t. She can. But now…”

  “Now what?”

  “Now there’s this thing that you two have in common. And what he has with Alana and with Vera to some degree. And, truth be told, Hannah is still in the mix too.”

  Noki said, “You must know that Hannah never stopped loving your brother. He doesn’t do the complete mind thing with her yet, but he will eventually. Hannah loves Vera; Vera makes Hannah feel loved, needed and happy. And Hannah knows she will never have Adam, not like she wanted to have him before. She will never possess him. That’s reserved for Misti and Misti alone.”

  Noki paused, “I still don’t completely know whether Adam ad Misti have a deal that is romantic or just creepy. But no matter what, it seems to be unbreakable. There is nothing, or at least very little, that he doesn’t understand about her. He’s warned her about her anger issues and acting out. But truthfully, he’ll never leave her, no matter what.”

  Cindy asked, “Aren’t things kinda fixed? The things you both see on your mind excursions?”

  Noki said, “No. There are past experiences that are real memories, thoughts, or struggles. But, that’s not at all I see. There are future possibilities I see too. They are possible, just maybe not all are probable. It’s more like ‘possible’ with a ‘hope’ or ‘wish’ factor thrown in. But nothing is fixed. We have free will.”

  “You can choose?”

  “Of course. I could terminate this pregnancy and leave this place and go back to my old life. I choose not to do that. I believe in what Adam is doing and what he will do. I have seen a future, but not the future. He has a destiny, but that isn’t fixed either. And I am a part of that destiny, but only so long as I choose to be.”

  Noki paused. “So are you. Part of what Adam and I see, I mean.”

  “Us? You’ve seen us too?”

  “Certainly. And your girls.”

  “Like what? Tell us.”

  “I can’t. I’m sorry, but Adam has forbidden it. I would never do anything or refrain from doing anything just because Adam, the male of the species, demands it. But you can’t really ever think of Adam as ‘just a guy’ ever again. He’s different and in special ways. If I hadn’t seen a future that he has predicted and the things that have come to pass, I wouldn’t believe any of this stuff myself. But we all have important roles, essential roles. And there will be others too. People we haven’t met yet. But they’re coming.”

  Cindy and Rod looked at each other. Now they had a million questions.

  Noki asked, “Do you have some envelopes? And stationery?”

  “Sure.”

  “Can you promise not to open any of these until the date I write on the outside of each envelope? Can you promise me that?”

  Rod and Cindy looked at each other. “Of course we can.”

  “Then here are five envelopes, with five things I believe will happen. In fact, five things I know will happen.”

  “How?”

  “I’ve seen each thing, and Adam has been the instrument of that knowledge. Beginning with our baby. You need to witness whether any of it comes true. If it does, then you need to understand that Adam is a new kind of creature with a destiny that only he and a few others can fulfill.”

  “There are others?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does he know them?”

  “Yes. But he hasn’t met them yet. Not in person.”

  “Then how?”

  “He’ll have to explain that to you one day. It isn’t for me to say. At least not now.”

  “You’re freakin’ us out, you know.”

  “Freakin’ you out? I’m the pregnant one seeing visions with a man I just met who is not my husband. Get in line.”

  Chapter 18

  After their late Sunday afternoon walk with Noki and Adam, the entire Barrows Bay conting
ent retired to Edward and Bethy’s home for dinner. Maria and Agustin were both in attendance today; Pops never missed a walk with his girls and even Maria was beginning to come around. Pops and Edward had reminded her that if there was any question of what did or did not comprise family, she had only to review the constituency of the Eight Families, particularly the Barrows Bay delegation, to understand that their family was comprised only of those who wanted to belong. No other definition really mattered; not to Agustin and Edward anyway.

  The only bonds required were willingness, tolerance, and love. It had worked well for them for many, many years; there was no reason to change now.

  Maria had struggled, not with the concept of a family she loved, but with her own perceived moral rectitude and strictures.

  “That is your own world, Maria; it’s not mine nor anyone else’s who lives here. You have no right to dictate what the rest of us may choose to believe, who we choose to love or how we choose to live. You may choose to leave or retreat into a cold and lonely world, but you may not impose your values on the rest of us.”

  Edward had been unusually blunt; perhaps a bit too blunt for Agustin’s sensibilities. It was difficult for him; he agreed with Edward, but he also loved his wife very deeply. But he had heard the two of them say blunt things to each other before; that was nothing new.

  “That is callous and cruel Edward,” was Maria’s response.

  “Then consider your own callousness and cruelty to two women whom you have judged. What does your faith say about that? They are here, they are loved, and they are welcomed. By all except you. And of the pain that Edmund surely feels, what do you have to say about that.”

  Maria went silent, turned, and walked away. This wasn’t the conversation she wished to have nor the reaction she wished to elicit. She had always been the peacemaker, the glue keeping the family intact and whole. The one who understood the needs of her brood, and somehow made sure they were loved for who they were. As is and whole in the eyes of her God.