Dante & The Dark Seed

by C. J. Pizzurro

  He was the spitting image of his father in his younger years. But Adel knew his son’s future was going to be much brighter than his ever was—if he had anything to say about it. Walking back into the living room to get a pen, Adel saw his son sitting at the bottom of the stairs. “Hey, stud, I’m going to need to some privacy with this guy. I’m working the case, so take your mother out to eat and leave me alone with this guy.”

  “I have a name,” Tim chimed.

  Adel shook his head. “Okay, I need some alone time with…Tim.”

  Adel Jr. had poked and prodded his dad over the years, hoping he would tell him what he knew about the men like Rip. But each time he asked, he knew that he was one less no away from a yes. “You got it, Dad. I’ll be ready when you need me.”

  Mrs. Saleh had come back with a sizable bag of ice and handed it to Tim, squinting at her husband. “I’ll just need to gather a few things and we’ll get out of here.”

  Adel Jr. rubbed his hands together. “I’m thinking iLove Garden,” then ran upstairs.

  Brianna came close, whispering in Adel’s ear, “I need you to protect your family over everything else. There are still good men at the precinct who can handle this, so you don’t have to be the hero, and if you promise me, I may bring back some breadsticks.”

  “I’ll tell Bonner soon, but if you know what’s good for you, you’ll bring me summa them breadsticks.”

  Adel smiled, kissing his wife goodbye, then led Tim to the kitchen table, insisting he make himself comfortable. Adel Jr. ran out, leaving the house quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

  They sat across from each other at the kitchen table, conversing for what felt like hours. Aghast at what he had heard, Adel’s jaw began to hurt. Rubbing his jaw, he took a deep breath, and dotted the last of the i’s in the black notebook.

  “Can we stop yet?” Tim asked.

  “Are you kidding me, Tim? We still have the finish the plan.”

  “Ugh, yeah, you’re right.”

  Adel got up, getting them both some coffee while Tim sat back, looking beat from being worked for information. Wearing only their tank tops and pants, dark bags had formed under their eyes.

  Things were far worse than Adel could have imagined. “So, what do you think about giving you some fake track marks to sell the story?”

  “I’ve told ya a few times already, I’ve disappeared before, I can just come back in the morning or something.”

  Adel flipped through the notebook seeing he filled seventeen pages front to back. His brow began to bead seeing what he had written. “It’s just crazy to me how long they’ve been doing this.”

  “Yeah…No kidding, they brought all my siblings up in it.”

  Adel’s mind raced away like horses on the track, remembering rubbing elbows with the people Tim mentioned. Never did he think they could be anything other than upstanding members of society. The same went for Rip before the incident with the boys. Remembering how they comingled at parties he attended as the Chief of Police, Adel wondered, They’re all in on it together. Who would I tell? Who can I trust?

  Adel’s hands began to clam up as his coffee sat in front of him, untouched.

  Tim looked at Adel concerned that he hadn’t said anything in minutes. Once upright and proud, he began to slouch.

  “Dude, drink your coffee. Seems like a waste if you’re gonna let it get cold.”

  “I’ll be alright, Tim.”

  Adel drank, feeling the warm coffee hit his stomach, as Tim tapped the table, impatient. “Ya know it’s getting late. I told you everything I know. I need to be where they think I am. Because if I’m not…I don’t want to think about what they’ll do to me…. My uncle probably will have people casing the place tomorrow. They’ve done it before.”

  Adel took a breath and lowered his shoulders.

  “My wife and kid should be back any minute, so let me just say goodbye then we’ll head out.”

  “Alright.”

  The family cat Jericho jaunted into the kitchen and began rubbing himself all over Tim’s pants legs. Then before he knew it, the cat left, trotting toward the garage door.

  Adel Jr. barged through not able to see over the four to-go trays, as the cat hissed and ran away.

  “Dad! We brought your favorite!”

  “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Thank you, honey!” Adel yelled from the kitchen, as Brianna made her way inside.

  “It was your son's idea. If it were up to me, I would have eaten all the breadsticks.”

  Tim just sat there watching, listening to what an authentic loving family looked like, and he couldn’t help but smile at the way they came in, greeting Adel with warm food. Adel turned to his son, thanking him with a hug, and even though Adel Jr. had no idea what was written in the black notebook, he could tell by the look in his father's eyes that it meant the world to him.

  Brianna looked to Tim as he stared at the bags of food, seeing there were four boxes. “We were hoping you two hadn’t left yet because we also got some food for you, Tim. Hope you like shrimp alfredo.”

  Tim chuckled, nodding his head. “Yes, ma’am, I’m a fan.”

  Adel turned around with a goofy smile. “Hey, I thought you got two orders for me…ah, I’m just kidding, Tim. They got some breadsticks too. You want some?”

  “Have you ever met a person who said they didn’t want breadsticks?” Tim asked.

  “Yeah,” Adel said.

  “Never mind then, just give them here.”

  Adel tossed the to-go tray in front of Tim and he dug in. Adel did the same while Adel Jr. came and sat beside his father. The sounds of their smacks filled the room, so Adel Jr. tried to see what his dad had written in the notebook, scooching it closer.

  He thought that his dad was distracted like a pig to slop, but Adel slammed the notebook shut.

  With a mouth filled with food, Adel mumbled, “Not yet.”

  But Adel Jr. knew he was ready.

  “C’mon Dad I’m ready. It’s not like you were in captivity for three years. I just want to know the truth….”

  Tim almost choked on his food while Adel stopped chewing for a second.

  Adel Jr. didn’t break eye contact, remembering the instructions he received when his family went on safari in Africa last year, In case you ever cross paths with a lion, never break eye contact.

  Adel stared at his son and chewed a few times, while his son never as much as blinked. “Ya know what son, you’re right. I can start telling you stuff bit by bit, but this right here,” Adel patted the notebook, “has to wait until another day. It’s the intermediate stuff.”

  Tim finished his bite, listening to their back and forth. “So you’re the kid Rip let go?”

  Adel Jr. looked to Tim because his question elicited that Rip’s decision received a fair bit of scrutiny, and he was, in fact, the man that kidnapped him. It was something that both Adel and his son felt to be true, but until that day, they weren’t certain.

  “Yep, that’s me.”

  “And you really don’t remember anything?” Tim asked.

  Adel Jr. shook his head.

  “C’mon, Tim, I already told you that,” Adel said.

  “I know, but I had always heard stories of how Rip could make people forget things. I just never believed it.”

  “It’s true. Anytime I try to remember, all I can see is this black haze. I can remember days leading up to it, but after that, it’s just darkness.”

  Adel wanted his son to have a happy life without having to deal with any of this. But having scars all over his body as a constant reminder of a time forgotten, he knew that it was shortsighted to have kept him from the truth. He smiled, watching his son soak up Tim’s every word. And like a chip off the old block, he too wanted to learn so he could prevent this from ever happening to another.

  “But there was something else that slipped my mind. Rip used to be a psychiatrist, so he of all people, would be the one to be able to wipe memories.”

  Ade
l squinted. “Of course, he was, that evil bastard.”

  Tim took the last bite and began looking anxious. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I’d really like to live, so we should go now.”

  Adel nodded and got up but not before looking at his son, grabbing him by the shoulder.

  “We’ll talk later when I get back if you’re still up.”

  Adel picked up the notebook, putting it between the other books on the tiny bookshelf in the corner of their kitchen.

  “I swear when the time is right, I’ll tell you everything,” Adel said heading toward the door. And while the door shut behind them, Adel Jr. sat alone staring at the notebook, wondering what horrors the pages contained.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Que Sera Sera

  It was the most splendid time of the year. Christmas and Chanukah were just around the corner. Anora on this day accompanied Dante to the Natural Resources library since it had books covering most of their classes. Containing Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, it had everything he needed if he were to join his parents in having a degree in horticulture.

  Anora and Dante sat across from each other at the end of the table in the dimmest back corner of the library. Tens of thousands of tomes were there. Most of the time, they would meet at D. H. Hill Jr. Library, where millions of books lined the walls reading about his passion and her possible major, world religion. But this day, he had had to cram for finals while Anora brought, with the help of Dante, a pile of books.

  Both of them whizzed through their 101’s earlier in the year, but Dante was hitting a wall, struggling to find his passion for his studies. Already having learned so much from his parents, he had just about done it all. Just because the subject was familiar, wasn’t a good enough reason to stay the course.

  Not knowing where he would be best suited in this life, thoughts of doubt kept racing through his mind, as sweat began to bead on his brow. Lifting his head from the pages, Dante’s olive skin whitened and clammed as he stared at the lone stream of light peering through the window. Having no idea what to do, he would have felt lost if it weren’t for Anora.

  Lifting her head from her Tibetan text, knowing something was the matter, she placed her hand on his. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

  Dante shook his head as the words on the pages began to blur. Anora got up and sat next to him. Again, he pulled his eyes from his studies, feeling compelled to study no further. So he laid eyes on his beloved.

  “I just…don’t know if studying the same thing that my parents did is what I’m supposed to be doing.”

  “You can’t be too hard on yourself, honey. So many people I know still haven’t decided their major.”

  “Yeah…I know…I just get this feeling I’m meant to do so much more than this.”

  “Don’t we all.”

  “You of all people should remember the time I told you about. I woke up in my bed after I was kidnaped. I was saved and so was Dawayne. I know it.”

  “We don’t know what happened. But that dream you keep having has to mean something. Either you’re tapping into something higher than yourself, your subconscious mind, or a combination of the two.”

  Dante pulled his hand away, leaning further away. He was quiet because he had always felt that way, even before speaking similar words that landed him in the mental hospital.

  “I just feel like the memory is right here…I just want to remember,” Dante said, rubbing his forehead as pressure built. He began seeing fragmented bits of memories and remembered the glorious realm of light, thought to be lost. But before he could blink, the vision faded.

  “Thought I lost ya for a second.”

  Wincing, Dante responded, “Yeah…I saw a bright light shining down upon me. I just have no idea what it means.”

  “Neither do I, handsome. You just wanna get out of here? We can study later.”

  Dante nodded his head.

  “We’re going to see my uncle soon, so it’s best not to fret since nothing can be done about it right now.”

  Anora took Dante by the hand and, without an inkling as to where she was leading them, he followed. She had told her Beloved on many occasions her favorite places to visit, one of them being Pullen Park. During Dante’s dubious downtown trips in times past, he always thought it looked grungy. But as they pulled in, he realized he couldn’t have been more wrong, seeing the sun's rays reflect off the water.

  “My parents have been taking me here since I was a little girl. I hope you like it,” Anora said as she found a parking spot.

  Off in the distance, there was a miniature train chugging along its track with people in each car behind it and a carousel across the way that was as still as the water upon the lake.

  This was exactly what Dante needed. He looked around, seeing most of the trees were barren, but the many evergreens were just that. With each step they took, the sun's rays refracted, creating tiny little rainbows of light across the water. Not once saying a word, they made their way across a tiny bridge that led to a small man-made peninsula with a little white gazebo near the water's edge.

  Taking him by the hand, she led him to the fence beside the gazebo, staring out onto the lake. Leaning over the fence on the tips of her toes, just as she had throughout the years, she looked back at Dante with welcoming eyes.

  Adoring her childlike demeanor, Dante leaned over, staring at the water. She scooched a few feet closer to him. “This is the spot my parents brought me to the very first time we came here.”

  “It’s really nice. I can see why you haven’t stopped talking about it. Thought you wouldn’t shut up.”

  Anora chuckled. “Yeah, and you thought it looked grungy.”

  “IT DID!”

  “Would you not read the Codex Gigas if you could get your hands on a copy, even if it was really beaten up and I mean…really beat up?”

  “Okay, now you’re just splitting hairs, yeah, of course, I would read it.”

  “Ah, so you do understand that intrinsic value is never based on what you can see on the outside. The same goes for this lake that you’ve never been to before today. Just as you wouldn’t judge a book by its cover, so, you shouldn’t you judge this lake. Just like you’d do with the people we’ve yet to meet. Never have I seen you judge them. This lake is no different.”

  Blank-faced, Dante knew she was right. From Chastity to Lerato, Dante never judged them, nor did he ever see them as anything other than brilliant and beautiful beings, unique in their own way. Even now, the very thought of them made him smile.

  “But there’s another reason why I brought you here. I wanted to help you slow down, ya know…enjoy the journey. School can wait because I know we’ll crush our exams.”

  “You got that right.”

  Just as she aimed to do, Dante’s mind had stilled itself.

  It’s all part of the journey, Dante thought.

  Feeling in sync with his path and ever close to his Beloved in spirit, Dante felt as though the separation between them was nothing but an illusion.

  “I love you, Dante.” Anora put her head on his shoulder.

  “And I, you.”

  What brought Anora and her family to the states was nothing short of a miracle but something baffled Dante to this day. Her mother survived constant abuse before her father whisked her away, but still, Dante could not remove from memory what was done to the mother of his Beloved. As much as they both loved religion, it was also because of religion that her father, Allesandro, had to help her mother Adara, flee Iraq.

  Dante had outliers like the Buddha, who was raised in the divisive caste system, and Jesus, who was raised as a Jew, to thank for breaking the mold of normalcy. But it was due to the current religious oppression, the dark controlling side, that Anora was beside him.

  Dante moved closer, wrapping his arms around her. “So, babe, when are you gonna show me those tai chi moves you’ve been practicing?”

  “You think you can handle this, tough guy?”
>
  Dante laughed, grabbing her around the waist, pulling her close. “Oh, I can totally handle this.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  One Tough Cookie

  Anora sat looking at the last question of her last exam, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw people starting to turn in their papers. Circling the answer she knew it to be, she booked it toward the front of the room where the professor sat reading her book.

  As Anora put her exam on the pile with the rest, her professor shut her book. With a kind smile and short blond hair, she looked to Anora. “Seventh person to turn in their exam. That’s not the Anora I know. I teach some of the 200 and the 300 level Anthropology classes too.” She leaned closer. “So I might be seeing you again, I hope.”

  Anora smiled, whispering, “Thank you, you’ve been my favorite professor, Ms. Cline, just don’t tell the others.”

  “Enjoy your break, Anora.”

  “You too, Ms. Cline.”

  “Won’t be much of a break for me. I have to grade papers.”

  “Well, I hope you enjoy it nonetheless, Ms. Cline, and an A on my exam would be nice.”

  “I’m sure you’ll earn one. Better get going though, the guy you were daydreaming about must be waiting.”

  Ms. Cline wasn’t wrong, and as soon as Anora walked out the door and into the hall, Dante was there leaning up against the wall.

  “You ready to go, stud?”

  “Just waiting on you. Counted six students ahead of you.”

  Anora swung her hips into Dante, knocking him off-kilter.

  “I just started daydreaming at the last question, thinking about how I’m gonna whoop your butt.”

  Dante chuckled, regaining his balance.

  “Getting ahead of yourself, aren’t we? You’re usually the one telling me to be more in the moment.”

  “Just you wait, tough guy. You’ll see soon enough how in the moment I am.”

  It was yet another beautiful December day, not a cloud in the sky. This past week had been an eventful one, with final exams coming to a close and George had finally gotten Dante a car. Without letting Dante make any decision about the make and model, George came home, dangling the keys to a ’94 Dodge Intrepid. Dante had his permit for years, but only now had he been deemed worthy to drive.