In the Image of Grace

by Charlotte Ann Schlobohm

  “Over there,” Jeremy pointed out in a low whisper.

  I looked over at him. “Are you okay?” I asked, suddenly feeling very bad about laughing at him for eating a green hot dog. He looked very pale and his lips had no color.

  “I don’t know,” he responded. “My stomach is killing me.” He pulled the car up to the appropriate house and parked across the street from it. He put the car in park and leaned his forehead on the steering wheel. I rubbed his back which was all sweaty.

  “I bet he has food poisoning,” Isabelle concluded.

  “I’ll wait in the car,” Jeremy volunteered from underneath his hair.

  “You sure? Do you need medical attention?” I asked very concerned. He really didn’t look well at all.

  “I’ll be good,” he responded wrapping his arms around his stomach. “Perhaps sleep will help.”

  “All right,” I said as I unbuckled my seat belt. I then leaned in and kissed the back of his head.

  “Go on,” he urged reaching up and putting his clammy hand on my cheek.

  “You sure,” I queried to his head of hair.

  He sat up nodded. “Go.”

  I kissed my middle and pointer fingers and then placed them on his lips. Clarissa, Isabelle and I then got out of the car and stood across the street from our mother’s parents’ house. It was already starting to get dark out.

  “Let’s do this before it gets too late,” I said to my sisters. We crossed the street and headed for a peach ranch house with a wooden well for decoration purposes, on the front lawn. We walked up the paved driveway and stopped about halfway up.

  “I don’t see a car, maybe they’re not home,” Clarissa moaned.

  “It’s called a garage Clarissa,” Isabelle snapped.

  “But what if they’re not home?” Clarissa asked pressing her point.

  “We wait,” I replied looking for any life around the house.

  We had the slightest idea what our approach was going to be. It was obvious that they didn’t want to speak to us, so we weren’t sure how they were going to react to us showing up at their house. I figured if they didn’t believe us over the phone in person should do the trick.

  We walked up and I knocked on the front door. We waited a minute and I knocked again. We then heard some rustling on the other side of the door. An older Filipino gentleman answered. His head was full of fluffy graying hair. I immediately recognized the eyes, the same eyes as our mother and me and my sisters, even though his eyes were lost in deep set wrinkles, which seemed to of multiplied when he saw us at the door. He just stood there and stared at us from the other side of the screen door. I didn’t know what to do or say, so I gave him a little wave.

  “Helen” he screamed after a moment of awkward silence. “Helen get over here. HELEN!”

  Clarissa, Isabelle and I glanced in each others’ direction. Isabelle raised her eyebrows at me and Clarissa’s eyes darted back and forth from us to Robert Fernando behind the screen door. After about twenty seconds a short fair skinned woman appeared at the door. She looked much younger than her husband, for she didn’t have nearly as many wrinkles on her face, just a few laugh lines around the eyes and two deeper wrinkles on either side of her mouth. Her hair was cut in a short bob, white and totally flat. She took a look at us and immediately collapsed to the ground.

  Robert Fernando bent down next to his wife and fanned her face. “Helen, Helen,” he called. She didn’t respond. He then scooped her up in his arms and walked out of our sight.

  I opened the screen door, which luckily was unlocked and we followed him into the house. He placed her on the couch and then left the room. He came back with a mini purple plastic hand held fan. He sat on the edge of the couch, turned on the fan and lightly blew it into her face. The three of us stood in the middle of the living room and watched it all.

  “Will one of you girls go in the kitchen and get her a glass of water?” Robert Fernando asked over his shoulder.

  Isabelle went to find the kitchen. As Isabelle left Helen opened her eyes.

  “What’s going on?” She asked her husband.

  “You fainted honey.”

  Helen then looked over at Clarissa and me.

  “Is this some kind of a joke?” She asked with a scowl on her face.

  I bit my lip and shook my head no. Isabelle came back with a glass of water and handed it to Robert. Helen sat up on her elbows.

  “I don’t understand,” she said taking the water from her husband.

  “Um, we’re your daughter’s children,” I explained wringing my hands together.

  “That’s not possible,” Helen said sitting all the way up.

  “It’s a pretty bizarre story actually,” I said.

  Robert stood up. “Girls have a seat,” he said pointing to a love seat and lounge chair.

  “How’s it bizarre. Where is Grace?”Helen asked.

  “We don’t know. That’s part of the reason we came here. We thought perhaps you could give us some insight and maybe tell us a little about her. We never knew her,” I said.

  “Girls,” said Robert. “How did you find us then?”

  “We found your son,” I told them. “He told us where we could find you.”

  “He did call yesterday Robert,” Helen said. She then stood up and walked over to where we still stood. She walked up to me and looked me in the eyes. She then reached up and placed her hand on my face, then drawing it away to cover her mouth turning away from me. “You look exactly like her,” she gasped into her hands.

  “There’s actually a reason for that,” I pointed out.

  “You’re her daughter that should be good enough reason,” Helen said walking up to Isabelle and looking at her.

  “Technically, we’re her twins.”

  “Clones to exact,” Clarissa chimed in.

  “No, not that,” Helen cried placing her hands on her cheeks. “I refuse to believe that.”

  “It sounds like somebody has spoke to you about it before,” I said still wringing my hands.

  “Yes, when our son called he told me something along that line, he said that he skipped out a few details seventeen years ago to spare us some heartache, but he said that Grace only told him about one child.”

  “We believe she actually only gave birth to one and then somebody else carried the three of us,” I said realizing it was all true as I was saying it.

  “How many of you are there?” Helen asked.

  “There were four and Elizabeth, the one that Grace actually did carry, recently passed away.”

  “I’m so sorry girls. What happened?”

  “She killed herself,” I said looking at the ground.

  Helen covered her mouth with her hand. She was silent. She looked at the three of us and left the room through a doorway that led into what looked like a hallway.

  “Please,” Robert said waving his hand so we would sit. “Can I get you girls anything?”

  “No thank you,” I said. Clarissa and Isabelle both said the same.

  “I’ll see if Helen is okay,” Robert said excusing himself.

  The three of us went and sat side by side on the love seat. I nervously bounced my knee and tried to pry my hands apart, but they were still stuck wringing themselves together. As we waited for the two of them to come back I looked around the living room. To me, it seemed pretty modern for an older couple. They had the black leather love seat which we were sitting on and corresponding couch and arm chair, a flat screen on the wall above a low, light wood entertainment center holding the electronic devices that correlated with the TV. The walls were covered in black and white nature photographs held in black steel frames. The interior didn’t exactly go with the exterior. From the outside you’d think their whole house would be cute and country. The three of us didn’t say anything as we sat there. We just waited. After a few minutes they came back and Robert was smiling and Helen was holding what looked like a photo album hugged to her chest.

  “I’ll fix us some
snacks,” Robert volunteered walking into the kitchen.

  The three of us nodded and smiled. Helen came over and sat on the coffee table in front of us. It was weird being so close to her, being so close to somebody I was related to besides my sisters, the woman that brought our mother into the world. A scent of clean laundry and spring rolled off of her.

  “This is our photo album of your mother. We started it when she a baby. It chronicles her life.” Helen smiled and handed it to me.

  It was a brown leather bound album with a small square cut out of the front with a baby picture of our mother. She had small patches of wispy dark hair and wide happy eyes. We started flipping through it seeing pictures of her baptism and first birthday and first stitches.

  “She had to get those stitches when she tripped over her own feet outside on the sidewalk,” Helen said smiling at the memory.

  We went through years of her life. Helen narrated when appropriate. We saw her first day of school, playing in the snow and getting the training wheels off her bike. It was all so sad. Our mother’s life lay out in pictures in front of us and she was never able to share any of it with us.

  “Do you know what happened to her?” I queried as we were half way through the album.

  Helen sucked on her bottom lips and then mouthed no.

  “Can I show you something?” I asked. I wanted to show her the pamphlet for the Xtials, but I didn’t want to freak her out. I reached into my jacket and pulled out the tri-folded paper.

  Robert then came back with a tray of snacks and drinks, placing it on the coffee table next to Helen. I handed Helen the pamphlet.

  “I don’t understand,” she said when she saw her daughter’s face on the front.

  “It’s a fake religion our father started so he can scam people into investing in his Clonation Foundation.”

  Helen looked up. “That sounds familiar,” she said. “Robert didn’t Grace once say something about that?”

  Robert came over and sat on the arm to the loveseat. “Yes, maybe about a year before she went missing. She said she took a job there because she could conduct research on therapeutic cloning, for finding cures to certain diseases. I wasn’t quite sure what she meant by therapeutic cloning and then she told me that it’s when you clone embryos, so they can extract the stem cells.” He paused and rubbed the back of his neck. “I remember I got mad at her because she quit her job at the university to go work at some quack pot place. I didn’t support her at all. The creation of life just to take it away was absurd to me. Granted I know more about it now, but I wished I was more informed then. Then maybe I could have supported her.” He stopped and shook his head. “The Clonation Foundation,” he muttered. “After that we didn’t talk much. My God do I regret that decision today.”

  “That’s where we were made,” I said. “The Clonation Foundation.”

  “I still can’t believe it,” Helen gasped shaking her head.

  “Neither can we,” Clarissa said.

  Robert walked to the large picture window that looked out into the street. “Is that the car you girls came in?”

  “Yes,” I responded.

  “Do you know that young man near it?”

  I suddenly realized I forgot all about Jeremy, what with everything going on. “That’s our friend. He stayed out there because he was feeling sick. He might have food poisoning.”

  “I think he’s getting sick in the street,” Robert said. “You might want to invite him in.”

  “You sure? It won’t be a bother?” I asked because I already felt like we kind of ambushed them.

  “Go invite that boy in,” Helen urged waving me to get Jeremy.

  “I’ll be right back,” I said standing up and heading for the front door. I ran across the street where Jeremy was doubled over standing over a pile that once was his lunch. “Hey,” I said bending over next to him making sure to avoid his mess.

  He turned his head and looked at me. His mouth turned up into a meek smile.

  “You okay?” I asked him.

  “At the moment yes, but I think that’s just because I barfed. I feel as if another wave will come soon. Would you mind going into the glove box and getting me a napkin?”

  “Sure,” I said standing up. I opened the driver side door and climbed across the seat and opened the glove box. I pulled out a handful of napkins and emerged from the car. I handed them to Jeremy. “Come inside with me.”

  “Not like this,” he groaned wiping his mouth.

  “They told me to invite you in. They saw you getting sick in the street. They seem really nice.”

  “All right, I guess they don’t need somebody vomiting in front of their neighbor’s house.”

  Once inside Robert escorted Jeremy to the bathroom so he could clean up.

  “He’s tall,” Helen noted when the two of them left the room.

  “Yeah, a lot taller than me,” I said.

  “Your girls’ shorter stature probably comes from my side of the family. Is your father short?”

  “Actually that isn’t taken into consideration when it comes to us. Our shortness is from either you or Robert,” Isabelle stated.

  “What do you mean?” Asked Helen.

  “Well,” she said, “Since we’re clones we’re an exact replica of your daughter. Our father had nothing to do with our creation. We only have her genes.”

  “Oh,” Helen said.

  “So therefore we’re actually more like her twins, but in time delay and you are technically our real mother.” Isabelle waited for a reaction from Helen.

  Shock filled Helen’s eyes.

  “We are your daughters,” Isabelle said.

  Helen’s mouth hung open.

  “Can you tell us about her?” I asked Helen. I wasn’t quite sure if her expression was positive or negative or just confused, so I wanted to veer the conversation a little.

  “Of course,” she said. “What do you girls want to know?”

  “Everything,” Clarissa said piping in.

  “She was wonderful, always so bright, brilliant actually, always at the top of her class, so gentle and kind. She was a genuinely a good natured person,” Helen said with a smile on her face remembering her daughter.

  Robert came back into the living room. “I’m going to make Jeremy some tea,” he said. “It might help settle his stomach.”

  “All right dear,” Helen said.

  Helen told us more about our mother. She sounded like a lovely person. Jeremy stayed in the bathroom close to the toilet. When the tea was done Robert brought him a cup in there. Time went by quickly. Before I knew it, it was totally dark out, but it was weird because one minute it was totally dark and the next we saw a bunch of lights outside the window. The night flickered with red and yellow.

  “What’s going on out there?” Helen asked.

  Robert went and looked out the window. “Jesus,” he said there’s a ton of cop cars out there. I think there’s also a van from the TV station. I wonder what’s going on?”

  Helen shrugged. “Who knows with our crazy neighbors?”

  “I’ll go check on your friend,” Robert said not concerned about the police cars.

  Helen looked at us. “If a dog barks to loud our neighbors call the police,” she said. “They have nothing better to do.”

  As soon as Helen finished her sentence there was a pounding on the door. A puzzled look came on her face and she went to answer it. She opened it up and a police officer stood at the door. He looked young and fit. He stood tall sticking his chest out, wearing a bullet proof vest, which I thought was odd if it was just her neighbors calling about something another neighbor did.

  “Ma'am,” he said. “May I come in?”

  Helen quickly shut the door on him. “Robert,” she called. “Robert.” She looked at us. “Why do they want to come into our house? Do I have to let them in?”

  From the other side of the door we heard, “Ma’am, we’re coming in.” Within seconds the door exploded open and what I
assumed were swat team members invaded the house.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Get the girls out of here,” one swat guy shouted to another one, all garbed in the same black gear. They too had on bullet proof vests like the cop, but they also wore helmets and knee pads. One of them came and grabbed me right under the armpit and quickly escorted me out of the house. I didn’t have time to protest, or ask what was going on, or anything. All I saw was Clarissa trying to pry her swat guy off of her and Isabelle leave out the front door with another. Helen stood plastered up against the wall. She looked too frightened to move. Her face was frozen in place with her eyes bugging out and her mouth opened wide. It looked like she was trying to scream, but nothing was coming out. I was dragged outside where it was unexpectedly bright.

  Flood lights glared in my eyes, followed by the lights of police cars and emergency vehicles. A couple of fellow swat team members ran up the sidewalk. They bent over me and we ran down the sidewalk together. The only sensation I had at the moment was one of cold. It wasn’t like they gave us time to get our jackets or anything. Bright lights glared everywhere. Caution tape was set up along the perimeter of the yard and swarms of people stood on the other side of it. A news team was on the other side with television cameras and photographers were clicking away with their cameras. I took a quick look over my shoulder and Clarissa was running down the front walk also protected by swat team members. I don’t remember hearing much as it was all going on, just a light buzz, white noise. I was pushed through the crowd. Paramedics ran up to me and started asking me questions. I didn’t hear or even try to respond to what they were saying. I was looking for my sisters, Helen and Robert and Jeremy, who I last heard was laying on the cool ceramic tiled floor of the Fernando’s bathroom, trying to find some kind of reprieve from his stomach madness.