My Name Is Karma

by N. A. Cash

  I sat there dazed, unable to believe that I was capable of what she had just said. There was no way I was skilled enough to do any of those things. I’d been quite skillful at minor manipulation with the help of Aunt Vern’s concoctions. But for me to do what Aunt Shugs described on my own? Impossible!

  It was like Aunt Shugs read my mind. “You don’t believe you’re capable, huh?”

  I shook my head no.

  With that, she went to a nearby closet and brought back a wooden statue of a cow. She held it out to me and said, “I would like this to be a horse.”

  I looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “I can’t do that!”

  “Yes, you can. Don’t you see?” She moved in closer to me. “You are special. Whatever he did brought out the natural abilities you have. We never knew what the extent of what the powder could do or even why it affected all of us so. Maybe something in our DNA? I don’t know. But, it seems to have affected you more than all the rest of us.”

  I shook my head vigorously, trying to clear my thoughts and shunning the idea that I could be that special.

  Aunt Shugs placed her free hand under my chin and held it gently to cause me to look at her. She spoke in a soft and calm tone. “Your mom was the only one among us to have kids. The rest of us were too afraid. When your mom told me she was pregnant, and then about her dream, and later on sent me a picture of you after you were born, I wished every night that I could meet you. Maybe that’s why you knew to come to me.

  “Maybe I’m supposed to help you figure this out. I’ve been preparing for this. Sultren thought he would destroy you, but he only woke up the inner you.”

  She held one of my hands and dropped the wooden cow into it. “Just think horse,” she said.

  Despite my confusion, I stared at the cow and thought about the word horse. Nothing. I then imagined a picture of a horse. Nothing. I thought about a different horse, and still nothing happened. Frustrated, I squeezed the cow in my hand. “It’s not working!”

  Aunt Shugs placed her hand on mine. She paused for a quiet moment. “You have to feel it,” she said. “You have to know what you want and feel it. Imagine it’s real.”

  I then looked back at the cow figure. I closed my eyes, and the memory of me riding a horse for my first and only time popped into my head. I threw myself into the memory—the sensation of the horse underneath me…the freedom I felt once I got the hang of it…galloping around the yard…feeling the wind on my face and the muscles of the powerful creature beneath. I heard Aunt Shugs gasp, and I opened my eyes. In my hands now lay a beautiful carving of a wooden horse that resembled the same one I had just pictured.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Shocked, I dropped the horse to the ground and scurried back into the chair. Aunt Shugs placed one hand on mine. Instantly, her touch calmed me.

  She picked up the horse and held it in her hand for a moment, running her thumb over the figurine. “It’s okay, child. You have to get used to it.”

  Her soothing demeanor relaxed me some, and sheer exhaustion began to overtake me. Preternaturally attuned to me and my needs as she appeared, she said, “I know you must be tired now. You’ve been though a lot today.”

  I nodded slightly, feeling myself sink even deeper into the couch. I wanted desperately to sleep. Even as the tension began slowly to leave my body, though, I still had so many questions. I tried to get as many answers as I could before I fell asleep. The questions poured out of my mouth, my brain growing groggier by the second. “I still don’t know how he found me,” I mused, mid-yawn. “How did you discover your gift? Did you have much contact with my mother? What if he comes back after me? How do I control these powers?”

  “If you want, you can stay with me for a short while and I’ll teach you everything I know,” Aunt Shugs said. “You can even help out in the bakery if you want something to do while we catch up.”

  Her face was so hopeful, I couldn’t say no. Besides, she was the only family that I knew I still had. “Sure,” I murmured. “I’d like that.”

  I rested my heavy head against the back of the couch. Before I knew it, I’d drifted into a deep sleep.

  When I awoke, I lay on the couch with a soft blanket thrown over me and a pillow under my head. At first, I was slightly confused as to where I was, but then it was as if the memory of what had happened burst past some held-up dam in my head. I jumped up and looked around the room. When I saw that I was the only one there, I rushed down the stairs. Midway, the scent of breads and cupcakes hit me. When I arrived downstairs and peered out into the store, I noticed night had fallen. The blinds were closed, and Aunt Shugs was nowhere to be found.

  I cautiously walked to the back room. I cracked the door open and heard a sweet sound of humming coming from the room. I opened the door wider and saw Aunt Shugs bustling around the room, gathering baking ingredients. As if she sensed I was there, she stopped midway while pouring sugar into one of the vast mixing bowls, turned to me, and enveloped me in a warm smile.“You’re awake!” she laughed.

  She put the sugar on the table, crossed the room, and hugged me. I greedily breathed in the scent of cinnamon on her clothes and felt my stomach rumble. “Oh, you must be hungry,” she said.

  I felt a reluctant smile touch my mouth. “Are you sure you can’t read my mind?” I asked skeptically.

  “No honey, I can hear your tummy.” She playfully patted my stomach. “So, what’s your liking? I don’t have a lot of proper food here, but we can call for takeout.”

  I was suddenly bashful. “I don’t want to impose. Anything would do.”

  “Aww, you’re not imposing. It’s a pleasure to have someone here with me and even more so family!” She smiled even brighter, if that was possible. “Oh! I know. How about we have breakfast?”

  “Breakfast? It’s late…I think.” I trailed off, not sure of the time.

  “Oh, honey, it’s never too late to have breakfast. Plus, I have to try to answer all those questions of yours.” She paused and examined me, her eyes glimmering mischievously. “How ’bout I show you?”

  “Show me…”

  I barely got the words out. In awe, I watched her move around the kitchen with lightning fast speed. I only knew that she actually was in the room because of the puff of flour I saw, the inner room door opening and shutting, and the sound of various machines whirring and clicking. A few minutes later, she stopped in the front of me with two plates containing French toast, bacon, eggs, a waffle, two blueberry pancakes, hash browns, and two links of sausages each. I stood there, dumbfounded.

  “Well,” she said with a pause to catch her breath, “Let’s eat!”

  She hurried past me into the front of the room. I still stood, shocked. Only the sound of the swinging door yanked me out of my reverie. I walked out after her. She’d put the food on a small green table with two chairs. She stood behind the counter and fiddled with a coffee maker. “Coffee?”

  “Umm, sure.”

  I sat down. The food smelled delicious. My stomach rumbled angrily.

  In less than a minute, Aunt Shugs came over with two steaming cups of coffee that smelled heavenly of mild French vanilla, complete with a pinch of cinnamon on the top. My jaw literally dropped. “How did you know…”

  “How you like your coffee?” She said finishing my question.

  She merely smiled, bowed her head to silently and briefly say grace, and then said, “Eat, child, I could hear your stomach from here.”

  I laughed and dug in. The food was delicious and flavorful. It brought back memories of sitting at the table with Mam and Aunt Vern…even with Mam and Pap. I was surprised that only happiness from these memories. I looked up at Aunt Shugs and saw her watching me, smiling. “So, to answer your questions…” she began “…my gift includes not only being able to bake and cook well, but having an uncanny knowledge of what people like. I can’t, up to this day, tell you how I know; I just know. I can tap into people’s happiest memories of food and re-create what they li
ke, just the way they like it.” She paused and took a sip of her coffee. “That’s how I knew you liked all of these food for breakfast, and the way you like your coffee.”

  I nodded. “It brings back the memories of me sitting around the table with my Pap and Mam and Aunt Vern. How are you able to move so quickly though?”

  “That’s another weird one,” she laughed. “I didn’t know I could do it until one day, I was so frustrated. I had a very demanding client who wanted a specific meringue that would have taken over twelve hours to make. She was leaving town the next morning and I had stayed out too late to make it in time. Child, I was scared I wasn’t going to make the deadline—and disappoint a very important client. So, I started making it and in my mind, I just kept on saying hurry. I said it over and over and before I knew it, bam!” She hit her hand on the table for emphasis, and I jumped. “The meringue was made. It only took a half-hour, with more than enough time to go into the refrigerator. After that, I just moved quicker and quicker, over and over until I was perfect at it.” She winked. “It also helps to keep clients when they don’t have to wait.”

  “But the appliances…” I said.

  She laughed out loud. “Yes. The first couple of times I deliberately tried using them…oh I made a huge mess! I think I went through three stoves in about a month!” She had a private chuckle at the memory. “I don’t understand that either, to tell you the truth. It’s like they’ve grown accustomed to me and just work to my speed. I’m sure it had something to do with the special ones that Mam sent to me. She tinkles with metal because of her gift. She’s known to make a lot of cool gadgets, so whenever I need an appliance or a kitchen tool, I just write to her and she sends it.”

  “So, Grandma and Grandpa are still alive?” I asked surprised.

  Aunt Shugs rested down her coffee “Yes, hon. Well Pap is but Mam died a few years back. He still lives on Sandy Island as far as I know from the last post card that I got about six months ago. He sold the farm and now just spends his days tinkering away on the inventions. Dad seemed to love Mam’s gifts more than his own and spent many days learning from her. Mam used to say his ability to read her mind drove her nuts sometimes!” She giggled deviously.

  I sipped my coffee and nodded, pleasantly surprised to hear that I had other living family members.

  Aunt Shugs proceeded to call the roll. “From that postcard, he said your uncle Fetu lives somewhere in the North Pole. His gift of fire comes in handy up there. Your uncle Lelei, unfortunately, died a few years back. He had lung cancer.” She paused to cross herself.

  I sat for her moment of silence and then nudged her to continue. Her head snapped up when she felt my hand on hers. “I’m sorry, he was my favorite sibling. Always so fun loving and sweet. He could swim like a fish. Literally. That was his gift.” She paused. “I guess that’s why smoking was a bad idea, you know. You need your lungs to breathe, right?”

  I nodded. “Right.”

  I did want her to continue, and she did. “Anyway, your aunt Kilee lives in France. She became a famous model. She’s always been so beautiful. You know your Aunt Vailea obviously and your Aunt Penina.”

  “Aunt Penina?” I asked.

  “Yes. Carol.”

  My ears immediately perked up. My heart thudded in my chest. “Aunt Carol!” I exclaimed. “That’s who Mam and Aunt Vern went to see! Where is she?”

  Confusion, followed almost immediately by sadness, descended across Aunt Shugs’ face. “I’m sorry honey, I don’t know.”

  My face fell, and she reached over to pat my hand. “Penina was always a wild and adventurous one. She had the voice of an angel before the powder. She’d always wanted to travel the world to sing. After the powder, her voice was even more beautiful and mesmerizing. Needless to say, she used her gift to get money so she could travel and see the world. She always wrote me from different parts of the world—Malaysia, Egypt, Australia, Russia, the Maldives, Puerto Rico, Peru, Panama, Alaska…I don’t think she ever really lived in one place for any length of time.”

  I sighed, my heart breaking all over again. I was never going to find Mam and Aunt Vern. Aunt Shugs appeared to know what I was thinking—yet again. “Cheer up child, they will show up,” she assured me. “Your mom and aunt are very resilient. I’m sure they are okay.”

  I wished I could believe her.

  After a pointed moment of silence lapsed in between us, Aunt Shugs spoke. “So, I have a question for you,” she said. “Tell me about who you were following and why.”

  As sad as I felt, I ate as much as I could manage and savored my coffee. I then pushed my plate to the side and told her everything about Owen and our encounters, right up until the phone call I got from him. I told her about the night I followed him and everything else I could remember. She sat silently and attentive, picking at her food every now and again.

  “Sounds like this Owen character knows more than you think he knows,” she said after I was done.

  “I think so,” I agreed. “I don’t know how, but I know he’s been targeting me.”

  She sat silently in thought for a few minutes, as if taking it all in. She then she got up to carry the dishes to the back room. “Cicely’s calling,” she announced over her shoulder.

  I furrowed my brow. “I didn’t hear the…”

  Right then, the phone on the wall rang. I walked over to the wall phone and picked up the receiver, all the while staring at my aunt in utter disbelief. “Hello?”

  Cicely was frantic on the other end. “Karma! Oh my gosh! You don’t know how worried I’ve been! I just got the message on my phone! How are you? Are you okay? What happened?”

  “I’m okay, I’m okay,” I assured her. “I just had a tiny fender bender.”

  “A car accident?!” she squeaked, practically deafening me in that ear. “Tell me you’re okay. Oh my gosh!”

  “Yes, I’m okay.” I glanced at my aunt, puttering in the background. “Oh, Cicely, I have so much to tell you. I can’t over the phone though. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but I’m safe.”

  “When are you coming back? I have a lot to tell you too. I got a call from Dr. Dune. He said to tell you your test results are in. I didn’t know you went to a doctor. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  The stain and the fingerprint. In all of the excitement, I’d forgotten. “I’m fine!” I said, my volume and energy matching hers. “Tell Dr. Dune I’ll be back in about a week. Also, please call Dr. Brown for me please, tell him that I’ll be out for a few weeks, and ask him to arrange for an adjunct to cover for me?”

  “Oh, I think he already did that. I think he knew that something was wrong from the first day you didn’t come back and called another prof in. You never miss class.”

  She made me smile. “Okay, then. Well, I’ll be back in about a week. I’ll fill you in then.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I’ll wait, but Karma?”

  “Yes?”

  “I don’t know how to tell you this.” She paused and took a deep breath. “There’s a guy looking for you. And he’s very angry. An old man. I saw him in one of my visions."

  My heart skipped a beat. Sultren. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” she said, her voice laced with fear. “He appeared in my visions several times.” She paused. “Karma? Come back soon okay? I had a vision of him saying that he’d stop at nothing to get to you, even if that meant destroying everything, and everyone, close to you.”

  I nearly dropped the phone. It took all I had to stay calm so I wouldn’t alarm her. “Okay, I will. I promise.”

  When we hung up, I leaned against the wall to catch my breath over my hammering heart. What am I going to do?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  The following week went way too quickly. Aunt Shugs and I spent every waking moment together. She spoke a lot about herself and her siblings when they were kids…about the mischief that they got into before and after they’d discovered their gifts. Since everyone lived in different parts of th
e world, they would make a point to gather at least once every five years to catch up with each other back on the island. Aunt Shugs hadn’t linked up with her family in a while, and she readily admitted that missed them.

  I believed that I must have gained an extra fifteen pounds from gobbling Aunt Shugs’s desserts and savory dishes. She taught me—the slow method—of baking and cooking some of her best recipes, and she gave me written copies of those that I hadn’t immediately perfected. She let me help out on one of her busiest days, and I realized that she wasn’t lying when she said her treats were ridiculously popular. On that day she chose to open the shop, the line of customers wrapped nearly twice around her building.

  We also found an abandoned spot out in a forest, several miles from her shop, for me to practice my newly minted powers. I was learning how to better control them through meditation, but sometimes, they got too strong for me when I was frustrated, or angry, or even sad. During those times, I ended up destroying a stand of trees. I’d also inadvertently bent the steel in the walls of an old, abandoned factory that she’d taken me to. Sometimes, my gifts scared even me, but Aunt Shugs was patient with me, allowing me to cry and fail. She repeatedly assured me that she understood what I was going through. She wasn’t going to let me crash and burn.

  I didn’t want to leave Aunt Shugs. I felt such a strong connection with her. But it was time; I knew that I had to return home. I still hadn’t figured out exactly what I was going to do about the potential threat on my life though.

  I woke up early that Monday morning to the smell of coffee and bacon. Since I stayed in the room above the bakery, I woke this way most mornings. I slowly got out of bed, got dressed, and packed the clothing that I had bought on trips to the mall with Aunt Shugs. I stuffed all of my belongings in a sturdy medium brown suitcase splashed with bright pink flowers. I stopped at the door and took one last look around the room that had come to mean so much to me. As I slowly walked down the stairs, I ran my fingers along the wall of the staircase and felt a warm vibration underneath from the wood. I smiled at the thought of how much I had changed and grew in my abilities during the time spent with Aunt Shugs. When I arrived at the bottom of the staircase, I saw Aunt Shugs sitting at the table with a smile and breakfast waiting for me. I sat across from her, returning the smile. I broke the silence first. “I wish I didn’t have to leave,” I sighed.