He turns the knob, and click. The door opens. The next sentence dies on my tongue, and Ahkai gives me his blank, unblinking stare. If the door’s unlocked, that means …
I rush to the closet, worried that the cardboard box is gone, but thankfully it’s still there. I poke the box with the bottle of toilet cleaner, and then, using the spray nozzle, I lift the flap.
Just clothes.
I glance up at the clothing on the hangers; they’re mainly Daddy’s jeans and shirts, next to dresses—they’re all long-sleeved and white, red, or a combination of both colors. Mariss’s outfits …
I examine the colorful array of designs in the box. These aren’t just any old clothes; these are Mum’s clothes, all packed away in this box with the words “For Salvation Army” scrawled at the side in Daddy’s handwriting.
It’s like I’ve been punched in the gut.
I caress the soft materials. All the colors are still bright even though they’ve been shut away for five years. I lift a flower-print silk handkerchief to my nose.
Her scent is long gone, and all that remains is the musk of expired mothballs with a hint of mildew. These outfits deserve better; they belong on a vibrant, breathing person who can show off their beauty at parties and fashion events.
How things change …
A few months ago, I would have been horrified at the thought of giving Mum’s clothes away.
When I close the box, I’m immediately overcome with a sense of loss, and I get a flash of Ahkai looking down at the whittled Simba pendant and smiling. I uncover the box and take out the silk handkerchief, then gently fold and push it into my jeans pocket.
I finally understand, and I feel much better.
Now she’s always with me …
I push the box back into the darkness and open another drawer. Nothing here either except cotton balls and coins. I close the drawer, but notice it doesn’t go all the way in. I open it again and push my fingers to the back, feeling between the crack.
“Aha!” I shout, pulling out the brass comb. I knew it was real.
“Tell me you don’t see this!” I exclaim, waving the comb in Ahkai’s face. He has no reaction, and for a second I wonder if the relic is invisible to males. Ahkai reaches for the comb, examines it, and then rolls his eyes.
He tosses the comb on the bed and walks toward the door.
“Wait a minute.” I pick up the comb and study the markings. It seems to be the same spiral pattern that’s on Mariss’s pendant, but there is corrosion that prevents me from seeing the design.
REMOVES RUST AND MOLD is in bold purple letters on the label of the toilet cleaner, so I shake the bottle and spray the liquid on the comb. The corrosion clears away without me having to wipe it, and the spiral design is now as clear as day.
“Daddy told me he caught this comb in his net. Look, Ahkai!” I show him the marking. “This is the same spiral pendant Mariss wears.”
“Interesting,” he says, moving to examine the comb. “The symbol does look like a coiled serpent.”
I am too relieved to gloat and yell “I told you so!” Instead, I wait on his logical brain to accept that between the snake skin, the animal disappearances, the folklore book, and now the comb, I’ve been right all along.
Then, the comb starts to heat up, and it gets heavier and heavier, so heavy I’m forced to cup it with both hands. Something weird is happening. It’s like the comb is turning into a shot put ball and the spiral is getting darker and darker.
“Maybe the sulfuric acid in the cleaner is reacting to the metal,” Ahkai says, scratching his chin. I drop the comb on the floor to keep it from burning my fingers and it lands on the carpet with an odd thud.
I chew on my lip as yellow splotches appear on the spiral. We should move away in case the acid causes the comb to explode in our faces. But my words of warning are lost when the spiral bursts into different shades of yellow that dance around like sunlight on bubbles. It’s so captivating that I lean in closer, and a musty smell fills my nostrils, like decaying seaweed on a beach.
I lift a finger to poke the brass, and then … the spiral starts to wriggle.
And a black-and-gold snake pops out of the comb.
I jump back, just in time for its fangs to miss my face. I release a high-pitched scream, and Ahkai and I scatter in opposite directions.
The snake is about half an inch wide—the same width as an adult centipede, but it’s faster. And deadlier. I can’t just kill it with a shoe. It’s as long as a ruler, maybe even longer since it’s coiled against the bed. And it is angry.
Its yellow, deadpan eyes lock onto mine. I can’t look away. I can’t even blink.
The snake raises its head in the air, bringing itself to full height, and draws back its fangs in a long hiss. They look like sharp needles, needles about to rake into my flesh. And through my bones. I scurry backward until I hit the closet.
The snake props its tail against the bed, recoils like a spring, and then flies through the air toward me.
A real live snake is flying at my face.
I’m paralyzed with fear and my brain struggles to process that information. I only have enough time to do one thing before I die. Scream? Faint? Close my eyes? Fight! That command slices through my terror like a sharp knife. I’m not sure if it comes from Ahkai or in my head, but I know I can’t die like this.
At the last second, I use my only weapon: the toilet bowl cleaner. The squirt of liquid hits the snake right in the eye. It falls to the ground and slithers under the bed. My entire body trembles with relief, and I know my feet will give out if I try to stand up.
Ahkai is on the opposite side of the bed, pressed against the window. We both stare at each other, panting, trying to control our panic. His eyes bulge out of the sockets, and he opens his mouth, but I put a trembling finger to my lips to shush him. That snake could shoot out from under the bed at any moment, and we need to listen for any noises.
I get a moment of déjà vu, back to yesterday when I was in the same position with Mariss. I inch closer to the door, hoping I can escape again. With my neck, I motion to Ahkai to come toward the door as well.
Then, I notice a movement along the ceiling.
“Watch out!” I warn him in the nick of time. Ahkai ducks and the snake flies over his head, slamming into the windowpane, then dropping to the ground.
Ahkai tries to run to me, but as usual, he falls over his own legs and lands on the bed.
“Ahkai!” I scream, and rush to help him. But there is no way I can get to him before the snake does.
Ahkai lets out a battle cry and flings himself toward the snake on the ground. I cover my face with my hands. I can’t watch.
Silence.
I peek through my fingers. I’m shaking, afraid to peer around the bed and see a snake wrapped around my best friend’s neck.
Then, Ahkai gets to his feet. He seems fine, though he’s trembling, and his glasses are hanging from his nose. He clutches his heaving chest with his hand.
I peep over the bed and see the whittling knife slammed into the snake’s head. There is no blood, just yellow goo dripping from the fangs.
Ahkai grabs the bag with the cleaner and strides toward the door, not even bothering to fix his glasses.
“Now do you believe me?” I shriek. “Where’re you going?”
“To alert the authorities!”
I glance at the brass comb on the floor. The spiral markings are gone, and it looks like it’s been dropped in hot lava. I brush it with my finger; it’s not hot at all. I push the comb into my pocket and follow Ahkai downstairs, still terrified, but relieved to have him as an ally.
“Good afternoon, Fairy Vale Police Station,” drawls a tired male voice.
Ahkai opens his mouth, but no sound comes out.
“Good afternoon?” the voice repeats in an irritated tone.
I grab the phone. “Hello, my name is Josephine. My Daddy’s girlfriend is a monster!”
“Sorry, sweetie, I can’
t help yuh. My girlfriend is a monster too.” The policeman chuckles and hangs up the phone.
I stare at the receiver and back at Ahkai, whose face is to the ground. I’m not sure what to do, but then Ahkai lifts his head and looks me dead in the eyes.
“I am going to make snake repellent.” With squared shoulders, he does his soldier march into the kitchen.
I’m still shaken, sitting at the kitchen table, trembling. I marvel at Ahkai, who stirs a mixture of olive oil, cinnamon, and cloves in a pot. He gets palpitations if he has to talk to a stranger but can hum over a stove after being attacked by a supernatural snake …
I glance outside, hoping to see Jalopy in the distance. After I show Daddy the dead snake with a knife jammed into its head and explain the significance of the comb, we have to return it during the full moon tonight. I hope Daddy remembers exactly where he fished it out of the sea. In the meantime, I pray that no more of Mariss’s pets show up.
Ahkai’s concoction smells delicious, and I’m not sure how it is a repellent, until he adds the mixture to the toilet bowl cleaner. He shakes the bottle and heads outside.
I follow him, and as an afterthought, I grab a big bag of rice from the kitchen cupboard. Ahkai sprays the fluid along all the doors and windows. As an extra safety measure, I pour rice along the entrances too. Ahkai points out the spots that I miss; the mythology doesn’t seem so ridiculous to him now.
When we’re done, we bow our heads and recite the Lord’s Prayer.
It’s after three p.m., and normally the air would be filled with the chatter of our classmates walking home from school, but everyone is secured in their homes, locked down, waiting for the storm to pass.
Everyone except our parents.
We’re in the living room, eyes peeled on the road through the window. There’s still no sign of Miss Mo or Daddy. I punch Daddy’s number into the phone, over and over again, hoping to hear the sound of his voice.
“Maybe we should go to my house,” says Ahkai.
“I have to be here when Daddy comes home,” I point out. “He needs to know the truth, and fast.” Ahkai nods, but swallows.
“It’s okay, Ahkai, you can go home if you want.” I hope I sound brave. To my relief, Ahkai shakes his head and remains seated.
It’s almost four now, but outside is so dreary from the thunderclouds it seems like six. We leave a message on Miss Mo’s voicemail demanding that she comes over to Daddy’s straightaway.
Five o’clock, and still no sign of Daddy. I start to get worried. He needs to get home so we can return the comb to Mariss’s lair before she discovers our plan. Behind the thunderclouds, the sun sets. The sky looks like it’s on fire, the deep red and gold a beautiful warning of the pending storm.
In the distance, there is a silhouette. The big afro looks like a miniature sun going below the horizon. The hips sway from side to side, like the dance of a cobra for a snake charmer.
Mariss.
Ahkai is armed with another knife, so I grab a large chopping knife from the kitchen drawer.
Thumb over or under fingers? I shift my grip on the handle, trying to find the best hold to defend myself. The thought of using the blade makes me sick. I’m not sure if I’m capable of plunging it into someone’s flesh, even if that someone isn’t human. I say another silent prayer for the repellent to work so I don’t have to find out.
Mariss glides up the path to the house. I look at her, covered in long-sleeved clothing, and remember Ahkai telling me that fish and snakes are cold-blooded.
No wonder she never sweats …
Mariss passes the hibiscus bush and comes up the stairs, her heels hitting the pavement. I stare at her feet, wondering how someone with an anaconda bottom learned to walk so confidently in heels.
She’s almost at the door. She takes out her house keys from her bag.
It didn’t work.
Then, she staggers back from the step. Her chin pops up in the air, so quick that if I had blinked, I would have missed the movement. She sniffs the air, like how she sniffed the fish food so many weeks ago, but this time she gags.
“Yes!” whispers Ahkai. Mariss’s head snaps toward us, and her eyes turn yellow. Ahkai and I yelp in unison and jump back from the window.
“Josie Sweets,” hisses Mariss. I am so scared that my hands start to shake. “Josie Sweets, what did you do? You naughty girl! And is that Ahkai in there? Ahkai, cutie, come outside to me.”
Ahkai holds his knife in front of him, his hand shaking as well.
Mariss laughs and inhales. “Rice? You cooking pelau?” She lets out a loud cackle. It’s a far cry from her regular, high-pitched giggle. It’s cold and sharp, like jagged ice.
“Cloves? Sulfur? Cinnamon? I hate cinnamon!” Mariss says the word “cinnamon” as if it were the most disgusting thing in the world.
I turn to look at my mother’s picture on the TV stand, forgetting it’s no longer there. Mariss never brought it back from “the cleaners.”
A jolt of anger surges through me.
“Josie Sweets, I’m not going to hurt you,” says Mariss. “I could have killed both of you today when you were following me. It’s Vincent I got a problem with. Asking me about moving out? He will get what coming to him.” Daddy still spoke to her about leaving, even after I asked him not to! Why oh why didn’t he listen?
I forget that Mariss could probably crush me with her pinkie. “Leave him alone!” I shout.
Mariss doesn’t answer. Then, a piercing melody penetrates the air. I recognize the strange words from the song at Ramona’s wedding. Ahkai’s eyes glaze over, and he drops the knife. He takes shaky steps toward the side door.
“Ahkai! What are you doing?!” I yank on his arm, trying to pull him back. It’s like restraining a tank with a rope.
I hold on to the dining table with my other hand. That manages to slow him, but my palms slide down his arm, to his hand, now his fingers.
The force of the release causes me to fall back onto the table. Ahkai stumbles a bit, but then continues toward the side door. Mariss does a climbing riff. It reawakens the memory of a building wave, about to splash on top of my head. I cover my ears. She’s trying to mess with my mind.
I run in front of Ahkai and attempt to push him back from the door. He swats me away like a fly, and I tumble to the ground. When did he get this strong?
He’s reaching for the doorknob now. I need to break him out of Mariss’s trance! Otherwise he’ll walk right into her eager, poisonous arms. There’s one thing I can think of. I pray that it works.
I yell his name and clap at the same time, slamming my hands together so hard it stings. “Alpha Mike! Alpha Mike! Alpha Mike! Alpha Mike!” I stop before the fifth cry.
“Alpha Mike!” Ahkai is brought out of the trance with his own clap. He jerks like he’s been slapped around the head, lets out a choking sound, and scrambles away from the door. He fumbles with the knife on the floor, shaking so hard he can barely keep the weapon in his hand.
Mariss cuts off her long note, and then it’s silent.
Ahkai and I look at each other, unsure of what to do next. I want my daddy! But suppose he comes home right at this moment? What will Mariss do to him?
CRASH!
Ahkai and I scream and dive to the floor.
“Josie, stop playing cricket in the house!”
Mariss has thrown a rock through the newly repaired kitchen window. We peep outside and see Mariss, her arms folded and a frozen smile on her face. She stares at the side door, not moving.
Where is Daddy?
Ahkai runs to the phone to call for help. He presses the buttons, and then looks at me, shaking his head.
There is no dial tone.
Outside seems to get dark within minutes. Mariss is just standing there, eyes still fixed on the door. The thunder booms again, and the rain starts to fall.
“You can’t keep me out for much longer,” she says in a singsong voice. “If you beg, I’ll let you say goodbye to your daddy.”
She has to be bluffing … she has to be. Daddy is okay. Daddy is okay. Daddy is okay. But deep inside, I know he’s not okay. He should be home by now. He always comes home. Something is very very wrong.
Ahkai gasps. “The rain will wash away the repellent!”
We look at each other in horror and rush up the stairs. We slam my bedroom door, but when I go to lock it, I remember it’s broken.
“The drawers!”
Ahkai and I put down the knives and struggle to push the chest of drawers in front of the door. Facing the door, we pick up the knives, our hands quavering, and move backward until we reach the bed in the middle of the room.
I sit down on the tube of Benjie’s Balm.
Suddenly, I remember how Mariss retreated from a little bit of the vapor rub on my daddy’s knees.
“Put out your hands,” I say to Ahkai. I squeeze the tube and rub the ointment all over his body, careful not to let any of the balm get into his eyes. I have to twist the tube to get enough to cover my hands and neck, and as an afterthought, I rub some of the ointment on the white ribbon in my hair.
The rain slams against the roof. It pummels down so hard it rattles the window.
Mariss could get inside the house any minute. My hand starts to get tired from holding the heavy knife in the air.
She could already be in here.
A high-pitched wail of anguish comes from Daddy’s bedroom.
She’s inside … and she’s found her pet.
I remember Mrs. Edgecombe’s warning. Don’t piss them off, hear? Make amends! I wish I could burst into dust and disappear.
Then, something hits into my bedroom door. Ahkai and I flinch and press ourselves against the bed. The heavy drawers move forward an inch. Mariss screeches with anger and slams against the door again. A crack appears in the wood. It won’t hold for much longer. Ahkai and I brace ourselves for battle.
We wait, but there’s nothing. We look at each other, confused. Maybe Mariss has given up?
CRASH!
The noise comes from behind us!
We turn to see Mariss’s upper body protruding through the window. Her face hasn’t transformed like it did at the reserve, but she still looks monstrous, with her features twisted with pure rage and pieces of glass jutting out from her cheeks. Her hands clench on to the windowsill.
Josephine Against the Sea Page 15