The Vaticinator

by Namita Singh

sigh heavily, “But I guess it’s okay here…” I concede reluctantly, “If you can use it for entertainment there, then I am sure you can use it here….now you already know how important Silvia is…so, I guess, it should be okay.”

  Aakir frowns, “You told him?” he asks me, not at all being subtle. I am quite sure Neal will realize too that Aakir is talking of the ‘severity’ of the partner situation.

  “Yeah.” I reply to Aakir, feeling the same awkwardness creeping up.

  “Yeah, I am aware.” Neal says dryly, “But,” he looks at me “You don’t have to sound so disappointed,” Neal huffs, “I am not in favor of such a big alteration either…but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

  I roll my eyes, knowing very well that he doesn’t consider it to be very big deal, “Yeah, so, will you?”

  Neal mimics my rolling of eyes and lands his eyes on Aakir, “Alright, I will. But I need a lot of hours for that. Like, a lot of hours. In silence; preferably alone. I have been having difficulties in attaining the projection stage during meditation, so I require absolute concentration for long hours. Our flight is at after midnight, right? We still have time before that.”

  “Yeah. But, oh, uh, you don’t have to worry about the long hours.” Aakir says, his face contemplating. “I think I can make you project instantly.”

  “What?” Neal and I say simultaneously.

  “Okay, it’s just a theory but I think my astral form may be able to provide the push your astral form requires to be out of your body.” Aakir explains, “Since, you know, our bonding was made in the astral form. So the excess energy I am sustaining at your expense can actually help you project yourself with ease.”

  “Um…” Neal says.

  “It’s just a theory but everyone, Jennifer, Uncle Nik and Uncle Terry, they all consented that it might be a possibility. I hinted that you may be able to alter the future and make none of the therians attack us; I also revealed that you have been having problems with projecting your astral form, and hence require longer hours for that-”

  “How did you know that?” Neal asks, frowning, “I was talking to Josh about that at home.”

  Aakir taps his ear, “Heightened hearing.” He says, then dubiously turns to look at me, “You told him about our hearing, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, I did.” I assure.

  “Okay,” Neal says, “What did they say about that? I can make the therians not come for us?”

  Aakir sighs, “Actually, you can’t. I’ll tell what they told me, but later. Anyways, the gist is, that when I told them it requires hours for you to project, this idea of me helping you project suddenly came to my mind and I put it forth in front of them. And they all agreed that it’s a possibility. So…we should probably try it for Silvia.”

  “Ah, well. Okay.” Neal says, shutting down his laptop’s lid.

  “Great.” Aakir says, walking towards my bed. He takes off his shoes and lies down on the side of the bed that is empty. He lies down still and closes his eyes.

  “Um?” Neal says, his hands still lingering on his closed laptop, his eyes watching Aakir in confoundedness.

  Aakir opens up his right eye, “I just need to will myself to project. As my astral body leaves, I simply fall asleep.”

  “Yeah, that’s dandy.” Neal says, drawling, “But I need to meditate a little and I can’t do that with disturbances around.” He purposefully looks at me and then at the ceiling where a restless Rome is still roving about. “I need complete silence.” He declares.

  Aakir sighs, closing his eyes again, “Just try it, okay? Maybe you won’t require absolute silence.”

  Neal rolls his eyes but complies. He pushes his laptop away and gives me a funny look. I watch, slightly surprised when Neal easily switches to the lotus position, his legs intertwined, making me raise my eyebrows at the flexibility. I didn’t know he did meditation with all the perfect rules in the yoga book. Neal closes his eyes, breathing deeply, his hands resting on his knees, palm facing upwards. Then there is nothing. Neal doesn’t move and Aakir is seemingly off to sleep. Five minutes pass with me moronically staring at my brother and my partner, both of whom are nearly comatose from what I can tell. Neal is sitting absolutely straight, his spine erect, yet his posture managing to look slightly slacking. Dubiously, I stand there for another ten minutes waiting for Neal to snap open his eyes and complain that he requires absolute silence. Because even with no one speaking in my room, Rome’s movements are loud enough and distant sounds of people talking and utensils moving are not completely inaudible. Or it just maybe my therian senses.

  Irrespective, I watch as my partner remains motionless, his face devoid of emotions, his posture slack, but at the same time completely spiffed. On the other side is Aakir, drooling in his ‘sleep’. With no movement from either of them for a long, long time, I assure myself that they are definitely off to la-la land. Impressed, I take one last look and turn around to exit the room in search of my mother. I am suddenly feeling famished.

  15.The Building Trust

  I am, I believe, illegally sitting on the airplane which has just been declared to be landing at the airport of our destination. At first, I had again thought of reflecting on what kind of bizarre situationsI have been landing myself into but then I thought, what the hell. I may continue to have insightful thoughts upon the reversal of my completely normal life but let’s be honest; it’s just a waste of time and my energy, not to mention my worrisome thoughts only to manage to make me feel more like a girl. And considering my potential gay status, it’s good if I do not acquiesce and surrender to my sappy thoughts. Besides I have realized that I am not exactly saddened at the thought of not going to school. So I let my case rest.

  I look to my left only to find a tensed Aakir, his eyes fixed at a position diagonal from where he is sitting. I sigh. Neal and Aakir succeeded in their mission. A confused Silvia sitting two rows ahead of me is a proof. What none of us anticipated was the sudden melancholic state of Silvia upon her arrival with us. In a state of confoundedness and blurred conceptions, a highly bewildered Silvia listened to Aakir and agreed to jump off the cliff with us. But her assent doesn’t imply she is all dandy with it now. From the moment she stepped onto the airport in Latvia, she has been bawling her eyes out, more than once coming to the conclusion that she is making the wrong decision of coming with us. The ladies of our house comforted her to the best of their abilities but none managed to convince her that her decision is not wrong. Silvia is going to be completely flipped if she realizes this decision was not even hers to make.

  Neal had looked embarrassed upon witnessing the dour state of Silvia, his impassive face that I have come to decipher sometimes, displayed him to be internally gnawing at his conscience at making an innocent girl acquiesce to something she may never have agreed to in her normal state of mind.

  Hypocrite. I snort.

  What? I can’t possibly be expected to feel all mushy to discover that my partner has a conscience after all. He had been in fact bending the wills of students of our high school for almost three years.

  I look at my other side to find a softly snoring Neal, slumped against the window he has so demanded to sit right next to. And well, he snores too, for the record. I keep the information tucked away in my mind for a rainy day.

  Every one of my family members is silent. Aakir is, of course, tense, dubious about the decision he has made regarding Silvia. Rahul is sitting next to him, completely oblivious, as if we are going off on a vacation. Faith on the other hand is still providing comfort intermittently to Silvia, both of whom are sitting together. My mother and Aunt Rufina have also taken their turns at explaining and assuaging Silvia. They didn’t succeed too well but Silvia is not literally bawling her eyes out now, settling to instead just occasionally sniff, failing against the betrayed trails of tear streaks. Father and Uncle Terry are sitting together, completely mute. The same silence is observed from David and Jennifer who are sitting in the front most row.

 
; How in the world my family could manage all of us to be shipped to a new country, much less a new continent, within a span of a few hours is beyond my comprehension. My curiosity did spike up, making me ask Father and Uncle Terry about it. Both have muttered something about ‘contacts’ and ‘emergency’and then both chose to busy themselves with some or the other work. Even now they are being shady. I mean, seriously?

  But all of us have not come. Aunt Gwen is not with us. Now that had had me flipping out while departing from the house with Gwen aunt walking back inside the house. There was already a lot of chaos with everyone fretting over the abundant amount of belongings we are dragging with us; two suitcases alone carrying the innumerous books of my father’s library, some so old that they required to be packed with disinfectant with enough room space about them.

  While packing things for, maybe, a permanent departure, you’re sure to flip out to realize that a family member is being left behind. It’s not like I deeply care about that woman but she is still family. And Uncle Terry’s partner. How can he even manage to leave her behind? Is that something you manage to accomplish with age? But then I had learned that she is not permanently remaining behind. She has chosen to stay back to ‘handle’ Rome’s situation and decide his ‘fate’. Uncle Terry