by H.L. Nguyen
Chapter 7
Learning Latin
Dinnertime came around; the wonderful aroma of the freshly cooked food gathered and lingered towards the back porch. The men of the family, forced to sit on rusted lawn chairs after a hard day’s work had no other alternative. With limiting choices, they were obligated to adapt. However, they made the most of an unpleasant situation. They covered up the imperfections with fluffy towels, which served as a dual purpose, hiding the corroded embarrassment and adding comfort. This gave them the perfect vehicle to sit, relax, and watch the sunset in a serene setting.
Unexpected smells from the kitchen hits them like a sack of bricks. The luring aroma peeled them from their chairs and led them inside. If the Olympics introduced a new sport called culinary precision, Mrs. Sands would win the gold and silver medals in the same event. She knew how to pair the different ingredients into one complete meal. Sometimes, she amazed herself.
Like always, Jake came to the table first and quickly tried to snatch a drumstick from the plate, but Mrs. Sands’ catlike reflexes slapped his hand away.
“Ouch Mom, that hurts,” Jake said.
“You know the rules; you need to go wash up first before you sit at my table,” Mrs. Sands said.
Traveler and Major Sands came wandering in later.
“What’s for dinner?” Traveler said while salivating.
“Oh, it’s just chicken and potato with some vegetable; nothing too fancy,” Mrs. Sands said.
Major Sands glanced over at the uneven plate setting.
“Are we expecting a guest?” Major Sands said.
“Oh, I forgot to mention it. I met this wonderful person at the farmers’ market today, a Mrs. Robins,” Mrs. Sands paused to check with herself to see if she was right. “Yeah, I think I got that right.” She nodded with approval. “We got to talking and started up a very friendly conversation. I found out that she’s living right next to us.” Traveler’s ear perked up a little to listen in. “Well, she told me that her granddaughter is visiting her for the summer and she doesn’t like the food she cooked.”
She explained that Mrs. Robins is a vegan and on a gluten free diet. “So she asked me what I was making for dinner and when I told her, she asked me if her granddaughter could come by for lunch and dinner.”
“Did you say yes?” Major Sands quickly interrupted.
“Of course, I said yes. I mean, who am I to turn down a guest?” Mrs. Sands said.
Traveler started to get a little worried because he knew exactly whom she was referring to.
“I also thought since she is around Traveler’s age that they could hang out. You know, like a play date. So the both of you, go wash up before the guest arrives.”
Traveler could not believe his ears. Did I just turn five years old again? What was my mom thinking of setting up a play date for me? Nevertheless, he knew better than to argue with her before dinner. The last time he did that, he did not get to eat at all. He followed his Dad up the stairs thinking how this night would turn out.
Traveler had to look somewhat decent for his guest. Instead of heading to the bathroom, he decided to make a detour to Jake’s room. Walking into the room, the decorations distracted him. Instead of staring at wallpaper, posters of women filled the gaps of the wall. Traveler turned to the top of the dresser. He did not know what he was looking for, but he knew it would be here.
Jake had a massive collection of different types of colognes and hair products. Some made in Europe, others from China; Traveler once overheard Jake talking to his friends that he would only use the European ones on his dates. They were the ones that smelled the strongest. He did not remember which ones were the European ones, so he just picked up any hair product at random. Reading the label it said, THE REAL LOOK. The model with jet-black spiky hair looked overly happy on the label. He had two of his index fingers pointing at his hair with a big grin on his face. He opened the top and the pungent smell hit his face almost knocking him out.
“Gee, this stinks. It smells like rubber tires.”
As he squeezed more hair cream onto his hand, he got a weird feeling. He turned his head towards the door and there he saw Jake looking much bigger than before, standing at the door.
“Hey doofus, what are you doing in my room? You know you don’t belong here,” Jake said.
“Jake, it’s not what you think.” Traveler put his hands behind his back. “I wasn’t stealing anything.”
“Then what are you doing in here? And show me your hands,” Jake demanded.
“Please don’t hit me. All I wanted to do was borrow some of your hair stuff,” Traveler said.
“Really? Do you even know how to use that stuff?” Jake asked while chuckling. “Who are you trying to impress? Grandma isn’t here and Mom is already married.” Traveler’s silence was expected given that he was trembling.
“So you want to borrow my stuff? Huh. Well, you can forget about it. As a matter of fact...” Jake lunged forward putting him in a headlock. “There’s a special price for being here right now and it is time to pay up.” Jake gripped his own hand, and then proceeded to do his signature move, “the knuckler.”
“Jake, stop that please. It burns.”
“Okay, I’ll stop, but you can never come in here again. Not even to save my life. And you better not touch my stuff. You understand?”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” It was somewhat hard to talk with Jake still applying the knuckler, but Jake let him go.
“Okay butt head. This is strike one for the night and you don’t want to know what happens when you get to strike three.”
Jake walked out of the room pointing at his own two blue eyes and then shot back the same two fingers at Traveler, indicating that he was always watching. However, Traveler did not listen to him. He knew he risked getting another beat down, but he did not care. With Jake in the bathroom, he quickly squeezed out a huge clump of hair cream and ran into his room.
Traveler came down the steps, looking clean and refreshed. His appearance was very different from before. He also changed his shirt for the occasion. He came down with a blue and white stripped, button-down collar shirt and khaki pants; the clothes he wore to church sometimes.
However, when he reached the bottom, Mrs. Sands’ eyes lit up, a reaction he hoped to see. Unfamiliar with styling, Traveler used up all the hairstyling cream and attempted the spike look like his brother, but the result was different. The gleaming shine from his hair could have help planes land at night. The light clothing and his skinny stature made him look like a candle with his head lit on fire. In addition, his hair was no longer red. The excessive amount of cream turned his hair into a deep black.
It took every ounce of the muscle in Mrs. Sands’ face not to laugh.
“Oh Traveler..,” Mrs. Sands said.
Traveler knew a compliment or complaint had to be coming, but a knock at the door interrupted the moment.
“Oh good, she’s here,” Mrs. Sands said with delight as she rushed over to the door.
Even without the sun, Traveler still saw the glowing aura around her. She looked pretty wearing a pink dress with a white band wrapping around her waist. She walked in wearing black shoes and white knee-high socks. Her light blonde hair was in a ponytail with a white bow holding it up. Traveler could not believe it, but she looked more beautiful than before.
“Aww... don’t you look beautiful. You must be River,” Mrs. Sands said.
“Thank you Mrs. Sands, thanks for inviting me over. I could not stand another day without some kind of meat,” River said.
“It’s my pleasure, darling,” Mrs. Sands said. “I am around these knuckleheads all day and it feels nice to have a female presence. Why don’t you have a seat here and we’ll get started with dinner.”
She pointed to a chair that Traveler usually sits in.
“Mom, that’s my chair.” It was not like Traveler to be so territorial like that, but he would have never thought he would be seeing Ri
ver again. He wanted to be in a comfortable spot.
“Traveler be nice to our guest and have a seat.”
Major Sands and Jake finally came down and saw their invited guest.
“Well hello again Miss Robins, how are we doing this fine evening?” Major Sands said.
“Good Mr. Sands, I am really hungry,” River said.
“Well don’t you worry about that, Mrs. Sands will take care of you.”
“Okay, enough with the chit chat,” Mrs. Sands said with a blushing face. “Everyone have a seat before the food gets cold.”
Just as Jake sat down, he glanced at Traveler.
“Hey butt head, what’s that in your hair?” Jake asked.
“Watch your language around guests Jake,” Mrs. Sands said quickly.
“Okay Mom,” he turned to Traveler again and with a low grumbling voice asked. “What is in your hair, Traveler?” Jake said.
Traveler tried to inch down a little further underneath the table. “Nothing is in my hair,” Traveler said.
“Traveler, I told you not to touch my stuff. Anyways you look ridiculous,” Jake said.
“Look Jake, this is no way to act in front of a guest. Your mother worked hard on this dinner. Show some respect.” Major Sands attempted to defuse the situation.
“Sorry Pops.” Jake looked over at Traveler again, but with fiendish eyes. He held up two fingers, his index and middle, indicating it was strike two. River did not know what to do so she just sat back in her chair drinking her water, watching the whole thing.
When the tension subsided, everyone dug in to his or her meal. There were ahhs, ooos, and mmms, all around the table, but the enjoyment stopped for just a minute when someone made a request.
“Mrs. Sands I was wondering if I can have some ketchup,” River said which unknowingly opened an uncomfortable subject.
There was a collection of utensil clattering, a few small gasp, and then all eyes turned towards Mrs. Sands. She swallowed her food slowly, put down her utensils, and rested her chin on her hands.
“Honey, I’m just curious, why do you need...” she tried to force herself to say the word. “...ket-chup?” Mrs. Sands said in the kindest way, but had a small undertone of irritably. The rest of the family was surprised at how calm she was.
“Umm, did I say something wrong?” River asked while looking around uneasily at the men. “I am sorry if I offended anyone.” River felt as if she was in the middle of a minefield.
“Oh no honey, don’t worry, I just wanted to know why you need...” she cleared her throat. “...ket-chup,” Mrs. Sands said.
“Umm.” River said more nervous than ever. “I just saw the potatoes and usually I eat it with potatoes.”
“Did you try them before asking?”
River frightfully shook her head no.
“Can you please try them? The only reason I say that is because I don’t allow ketchup at this table.”
River quickly tried the potatoes and the tension on her face slowly melted. There was a large smile afterwards.
“I am sorry Mrs. Sands; these are the best potatoes I have ever had.”
“Thank you dear. Oh, I hear you like to read. Traveler loves to read too. Don’t you Traveler?” She winked at Traveler. Traveler froze midbit of his meal and gave her the “what the heck” look. She thought she was helping, but she made matters worse for him.
“I know he won’t mind sharing his books with you,” Mrs. Sands said to River.
Traveler realized his mother was not going to stop and turned his head to hide his glowing cheeks. He did not know if he was angry or embarrassed.
“After dinner, why don’t you and Traveler go up to his room and see his collection. The rest of the family will take care of the dishes,” Mrs. Sands said.
“Okay Mrs. Sands,” River said.
They made their way to Traveler’s room but the ten-foot trip up the stairs felt like an eternity. Traveler was still at a loss for words.
As they got closer to his room, River decided she needed to break the ice again.
“What kind of name is Traveler?” River asked.
“Well, what kind of a name is River?” Traveler sniped back.
“I am just trying to make a conversation.”
“I see, I am sorry, I am just nervous.”
“Well, talking helps.”
“Well, it’s actually an interesting story. My dad was backpacking throughout Germany, where he accidentally bumped into my mom and her ice cream cone. They tell me it was love at first sight. He repeatedly apologized for making a mess and afterwards, they went to a café and talked for hours.
When my mom came back, she kept telling that story to her friends. My mom referred to my dad as “the traveler.” From what I hear, it sounded mysterious and thrilling. And when she finished telling the story, they would all gasp and flutter their eyes.”
Traveler noticed the same effect the story had on River.
“So when I came along, they never thought I would be born on the day that they first fell in love with each other. Both of them thought it would be special to name me, Traveler.”
“Wow, that is a great story. So let’s go see those books,” River said.
River walked up the stairs until Traveler had a sudden epiphany. He had forgotten about it until now. He tapped lightly on River’s left shoulder. When she turned around giving an over the shoulder look and flipping her light blonde hair in the same movement, Traveler had this small tingle sensation traveling down his body.
Still beautiful. Traveler thought. “Instead of seeing my books, do you want to see something cool?” Traveler asked.
“Sure,” River said.
“Up in the attic about a couple of weeks ago, I saw something that looks really old. Do you want to go up there and see it?”
“Sure. It sounds mysterious.”
They had changed their plans and headed to the attic, which was still dark and musty from Traveler’s lack of attention. They reached the middle of the attic and in one single movement, Traveler stirred the darkness with the one and only light source. Again, a lowly rush of voices entered Traveler’s hearing radius. If he was alone, he would immediately march down the stairs, but he had company this time.
“Did you hear that?” Traveler asked.
“Hear what?” River became a little frighten by the question.
“Those voices.”
“No... Do you hear voices Traveler?”
“Ummmm... Of course not.” He bent down to reach for the black case with the silver handle he found earlier.
“What’s inside the case?” She asked.
“I don’t know I walked away before I could find out,” He said.
He placed the case on the table and again, the voices got louder and louder. His hands trembled, reaching for the clasps. He had a feeling deep down that this was a bad idea, but he unlocked the case anyway. CLICK. CLICK. The sounds were tensed enough causing Traveler to flinch. He slowly lifted the top and the voices stopped. They both stared into the case.
“That doesn’t look cool,” She said.
The case lined with black velvet had an outline of a mirror. Inside, they found a mirror with an intricate handle design that wrapped around the edge.
“River, look at it. It looks really old,” He said.
“I am looking at it. And no, it doesn’t,” She said.
The mirror’s shiny appearance made it look deceivingly new. He lifted it out of the box, glancing at himself in the reflection.
At least the mirror works. He thought.
Then, River shrieked forcing him to drop the mirror. Traveler gasped thinking he just broke a 100-year-old piece of a family heirloom. Yet, when it hit the floor, it just bounced up and landed flat on the ground without a scratch. Traveler was relieved.
He turned to River.
“What happened?”
“I saw a spider.”
“Where?”
“Over there.”
> “Really, come on River, that’s a Daddy Long Leg spider; they don’t hurt humans.”
“So, it’s still creepy.”
He bent down to pick the mirror up with a tighter grip this time; he brought it up to show River. She grabbed it.
“You know what’s funny?” She said as she fixed her hair in the reflection. “I had a pet tarantula back at home and one day I got rid of it because it started scaring the heck out of me. I don’t understand.”
Afterwards, she turned it over, checking out the intricate backing.
“Wow. It must be really old. Look at the writing on the back.”
Traveler grabbed the mirror to look at the writing.
“It looks like Latin.” River said with assurance.
Per obsidendi coram me ego tibi monstrabo tuum verum proelium
“Awww ... I never learned Latin,” Traveler said with disappointment.
“Well lucky for you I did.”
Traveler’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“So, can you read what it says?”
“Sure.”
She grabbed it and looked at the back of the mirror. “BY BLOCKING MY SIGHT, I CAN SHOW YOU YOUR TRUE FIGHT.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where did you learn Latin?”
“My mom, she majored in Latin in college. She also teaches it at the University.”
River explained that her mom was a chaperone on a college field trip to Rome this summer. She could not go along because the school would not pay for her and so her grandmother took her in for the summer. She explained her situation in more detail, but Traveler was not paying attention. The mirror had more of his interest. He closely examined the intricate patterns and began spinning its handle. Then, that same action allowed him to notice an engraving of an eye on the back of the mirror.
Hmm, blocking my sight. He thought.
He covered the eye with his thumb and glanced at it. Nothing happened. A brief moment had passed and...nothing happened again. Traveler was sure this was the answer. He looked at the mirror with despair, searching through the crevices for another solution. Suddenly, the mirror glowed in his hand. The mirror was not defective; it just needed time.
Though Traveler expected something to happen, it scared him a little. He watched two small stars that appeared at the bottom of the handle. They grew a little brighter as the seconds passed. They ascended along the handle intertwining themselves like a double helix. The two stars raced along the handle until they met in the middle, then splitting into two more stars continuing around the path until it reached the top. The stars meeting at the top were a sight to see. For when they collided, they burst into a tiny dust of light settling into the cervices of the design. Next, the front of the mirror sparkled red, displaying a small showcase of fireworks. Mesmerized by the fireworks, he curiously turned it over. Expecting to see his eyes was the natural thing to anticipate, but the mirror glass had turned into some form of deep dark glass. It was as if someone took a permanent marker and blacked out the entire glass. Intrigued by the light, River stopped her story and fixated on the mirror too.
“What do you see Traveler?”
“I don’t see anything, there’s no reflection. There’s nothing here but a black glass.”
“Really, let me see.”
Traveler held up the mirror giving her a perfect view of the black glass, but the glass was not black anymore. She saw her own reflection as clear as water; however, something strange happened. The mirror flashed this white light around the edges. The attic began to feel like it was spinning, but the room was not spinning. Traveler’s body kept twisting starting at his feet. He had confused facial expression because he thought he would feel pain, but there was none. The moment felt forever, but to an outside observer it was only a brief moment.
Traveler’s body rose in mid-air and continued to twist. His body kept twisting right into the engraved eye until he was thin as a rope. He looked like a tiny human tornado getting smaller and smaller as he entered the mirror’s eye. When the mirror’s eye blinked, Traveler disappeared from the room. The mirror spun around several times in midair before falling to the ground. One would think it would break into a hundred pieces, but it did not. When it hit the ground, it bounced up and right back into the case.
With Traveler departing the attic, River stood in the attic alone.
