Taka

by Miranda Bailey

  “Mexico, of course.” Salvador replied.

  “Oh, right. I thought Mexico had a president?” Mira asked, even more confused now. But she had learned where her grandparents came from at least, she realized. Mira smiled at finally knowing something about her family history.

  “It does, but we were-people; we have our own system.” Salvador said calmly.

  Mira let her head fall to her right shoulder at the term “were-people”. Oh dear, he’s a psycho; she thought as she remembered Angelica’s books upstairs. Why can’t a stunningly gorgeous man ever be interested in me and not be psycho? What is so wrong with wanting a non-mentally unstable man in my life?

  “Ah right, the were-people. So, you’re one of these were-people then?” She asked, wondering how to get him out of the house now. It was really sad that those beautiful eyes, the masculine beard covering his chin and the absolutely unbelievable body belonged to such a mentally disturbed person, Mira observed. Gazing at his face, Mira thought he must be in his late 30s or early 40s but was not sure. Such a shame. Maybe I should do an internet search for were-people; it is a bit odd that there seems to be all this mention of it now, she thought.

  “Yes, I am. As I said, we are of the Jaguar Clan. You are to be my wife. Now that your grandmother has passed I have come to bring you to our homeland so that we can be married and you can claim your birthright. Our marriage was arranged long ago, but your grandmother has put it off for several years now. We have allowed you the time to become an adult and to find a path yourself, but it is time you were introduced to the clan.”

  “Of course, Mr. Perez, let me show you the door. I’ll just have my lawyer contact your lawyer tomorrow and I’m sure we can settle all of this to both of our satisfaction. You have a good night now, and thank you for stopping by.” Mira said, standing up and making an attempt to usher him to the door.

  Salvador never budged, however, simply staring up at her instead. His beautiful lips pursed together in consternation and then he spoke again.

  “Your grandmother has not told you any of this, has she?” Salvador asked quietly.

  “No, my grandmother shipped me off to boarding school the moment I could walk, it seems like, and she was not a very talkative woman. I seemed to be more of a nuisance, a burden to her than anything. Over the last few years, we haven’t spoken at all, in fact, because she seemed to prefer it that way. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s been a long day, may I show you out, please?” Mira asked politely.

  “Have you found the books yet? The clan books? There should be three of them at least. Very old, leather-bound books.” Salvador asked as he stood.

  “Yes, but I could only read a few pages of the books. What has that got to do with anything?” Mira asked.

  “They are our history. Many centuries ago, one of our ancestors was taught to read and write Spanish and started taking down our history. Those books are the result of centuries of writing by our history keepers. That is your job now, and you have a lot to catch up on.” Salvador explained.

  Mira quirked an eyebrow at him that was meant to imply, “Wow, presumptuous much?” Apparently it did the trick because he went back to explaining how she’d been chosen by some counsel way down in Mexico to be his bride. Her eyebrow did not go down, if anything it went further up her forehead as her head dropped lower.

  “You were chosen for me after our elders consulted the spirit world. In our world, your name is Nik-tee-ha, which is our word for water lily. It actually means vulva of the water, which may sound rude, but it symbolizes the fertility we associate with the water lily. In our culture, the jaguar and the water lily give life and sustenance, without these things we would not exist, and we were each given a name to represent our own importance as the heads of our clan. I suppose you just think I’m crazy now, don’t you?” He spoke quietly as he watched her easing towards the bathroom with her mobile phone in her hand.

  “Well, maybe a little bit. It is a strange tale, after all, isn’t it? I’m just going to slip off to the bathroom for a moment; I won’t be long.” Mira practically ran once she got to the hallway, shut the door, and locked it behind her. She leaned against the door, fingers working frantically to bring up her web explorer and research the man in her living room. She quickly found information on him and learned that he was a respected archaeologist working at one of the universities in Mexico. Psychos didn’t usually have department head jobs did they, she said to herself. Nope, not at all. But the tale was too incredible to believe; Mira simply could not believe it. Besides, he kept saying “we,” Mira knew for a fact she’d never turned into a jaguar!

  “Okay, think about this, Mira,” she said to herself, “the man is obviously unbalanced, but he’s not harmed you; you don’t feel threatened, so let’s listen to him.”

  By this point, Mira’s inner historian was curious as well. She’d studied a bit about Latin American history in her university courses and found them interesting but had focused mainly on North American history. He might be worth talking to as a colleague, if nothing else. Opening the door she walked back out to the living room, wondering how she was going to convince him she was not his betrothed, or whatever he wanted to call her. She came to a sudden halt when she saw a giant cat sitting on her couch, the creature’s head resting on the arm of the furniture, peering at her curiously.

  It was a large black jaguar, that much she knew, but how Salvador had managed to get it into her house without her knowing about it stumped her. She’d have heard the creaky old door opening at least. She slowly walked into the room, looking for Salvador.

  “Erm, Mr. Perez? Hello? You seem to have left your cat in my living room!” She called out. The jaguar raised its head and emitted a long purr before rolling over onto its back, its legs pulled up as if it wanted its stomach scratched. Mira looked at the giant cat again, noticing now that she could, in fact, see spots on it, darker than the lighter black fur around the spots. She walked over to it, holding her hand out.

  “It’s a cat, Mira, not a dog, what are you doing?” She asked herself.

  The cat just purred louder and pawed the air, as if to beckon her closer. She sat down on the couch, realizing that the jaguar was obviously tame at least. She stroked its silky fur, giggling as it purred louder and twitched around, following her fingers with its body. She could tell it was male and hoped it didn’t decide to wee on the furniture; it would be worse than a small house cat. Giggling to herself again, she wondered aloud at the spots and how they were still visible. As she rubbed the fur, she looked around, noticing that Salvador’s clothes were resting on the couch he’d been sitting on earlier. At about the same time, she swung her head back to look at the cat she was still rubbing, and she saw the cat go from a fur-covered creature to a long, tall, naked man on her couch.

  She let out a shriek as she jumped off the couch, shuffling away from Salvador as he switched from a giant cat back into man form. Her legs caught the edge of the recliner, and she fell into the chair, stunned, absolutely silent. Mira’s jaw hung slack and her hands kept making a circling movement, as though to say, “What’s this?”

  Salvador sat up, a contented smile on his face. “I like how you rub my stomach. You have very gentle hands. As for the spots, we are what are called melanistic Jaguars. We are the same as the orange, black, and white Jaguars, but our pigmentation is different. Everyone in our clan is melanistic, meaning we all appear to be solid black, though we aren’t in reality.”

  “Oh.” Mira finally managed to garble out. “Well, erm, yes. What now then?”

  “Well, if you’ll kindly allow me to take my clothes back, I will relieve you of the burden of trying not to stare at my genitals.” He said, trying to smother a laugh. “I am sorry if I have embarrassed you, I forget not everyone is used to the nudity that comes with clan life.”

  Mira was certain her cheeks were not only flaming but actually on fire. She tried to stop herself from staring at him, but she couldn’t help it. For a moment, she thought
this getting married idea might not be so bad if that’s what he had to offer her! Well-endowed was definitely the polite way to put it. Stop it, Mira, she reprimanded herself, give him his clothes back.

  Standing up, she took the clothes and handed them over to him, going over to the window to pretend she was staring out of it and not really trying to catch glimpses of his beautiful body in the reflection he cast on the glass. Mira thought her knees might actually be going weak. She braced herself against the window frame and turned as she heard his pants zipping up.

  Salvador still didn’t have a shirt on, and she could see now that the tattoo that ran across his shoulders and down his back was a jaguar design. She wanted to run her fingers along the outline, feel the parts that the ink covered to see if they felt different. Mira had never felt a tattoo before and always wondered if that part of the person’s skin felt different. Clenching her fist, she smiled at Salvador as he turned back to her.

  “Well, obviously I know nothing about our shared heritage so you’re going to have to give me some time to come to terms with all of this. Marriage is certainly out of the question as we don’t even know each other. But I am curious about this inheritance, what is it exactly?” Mira was hoping it was a book or some other object; she didn’t need more money, she could earn that on her own, but she would like to have something of her grandmother’s past.

  “Well, it’s more of a role, as I mentioned earlier, than an actual thing. Your grandmother was our story-keeper until your grandfather brought her here. She brought most of the books with her when she left, which she should not have done, but we still have some of them. We hid them from the Conquistadors and the Spanish priests who soon followed. They are in our places deep in the jungle, where the Spaniards were afraid to go. You will hold a great position within our clan, within our community, and you will also learn the secrets that many others do not know. Let me ask you, why couldn’t you read the Spanish? Was there a problem with the ink?” Salvador was once again sitting on the couch, appearing relaxed and happy.

  “My eyes kept going blurry,” Mira replied. “I thought maybe I needed to have my eyes checked. It didn’t matter what kind of light I used or didn’t use; I simply could not make the lines un-blur.”

  “Ah, so you really haven’t shifted yet. As the story-keeper of the Jaguar Clan, you will be able to read the lines once you’ve shifted and undergone the induction ceremony. Only those that are officially given the role of story-keeper can read the lines. You will have no problems once you undergo the ritual.” Salvador said confidently.

  “Ritual?” Mira inquired, not liking the sound of that and remembering some of the pictures of depictions of Mayan rituals she’d seen in the past; they usually involved an altar, a bleeding victim missing a heart, and a scary looking priest standing over the victim with the still pumping heart held within his fist. She wasn’t taking part in any of that, she thought.

  “It’s not what it sounds like. We don’t sacrifice people anymore. No, it’s more of a spiritual journey. You’ll be given a drink to induce a trance and the spirits will escort you through your journey; however they see fit.” Salvador responded reassuringly.

  “Well, that doesn’t sound too bad. So, about this marriage thing?” She asked, eyebrow quirked again.

  “We’ll put that off, for now, shall we? You’re right; you need to take all of this in. I thought Angelica would have prepared you for all of this, but for some reason she has not. We cannot know her reasons now, I suppose, so we’ll just have to make do as we can. When can you be prepared to leave?” He asked as he stood up.

  “I guess I’ll need a few days. I’ll have to get my passport sent down to me, and arrange a flight.”

  “Ah, your mother was born in Mexico, if you can find her birth certificate, and yours, that is all you’ll need to prove you are a Mexican citizen. Do you have those here?” He paused to make sure Mira had the documents, which she retrieved from a desk her grandmother always kept such things in. She had a copy of her own birth certificate at her home in New York, but she knew her grandmother kept these types of things here too. Finding the documents she handed them over to Salvador, thinking that she’d come to trust him quickly. Perhaps too quickly?

  “I can arrange for an identity card however, in 24 hours, as that will ease things. I will bring it to you tomorrow evening, if that is alright with you? Good, I’ll see you around 6 tomorrow evening then? I should really allow you to get some rest now. Thank you for receiving me and listening to me. I will see you tomorrow evening then.” He gave a slight bow and headed to the front door.

  “Thank you for coming, Salvador, it must have been a long flight for you. Enjoy your own rest and I will see you tomorrow. Good night.” Mira smiled as she shut the door, wondering if the man really intended to marry her. He must be used to dating models and movie stars; women like her would be too plain for him. Maybe he felt duty-bound to the clan?

  Turning off the lights in the house and walking through to the bedroom, Mira considered whether she could really take part in such a marriage. Yes, the man was beautiful to look at but could she stay in a marriage where she was always wondering if her husband would stray to find more beautiful women? She knew she couldn’t and dismissed her attraction to him, telling herself she was going to follow him to Mexico to see what she could discover about her own past, but that was as far as it would go. Marriage, affairs, and things of that nature would just have to be ignored. Clicking the bedside light off, Mira closed her eyes, falling quickly into a sleep filled with sleek black fur and emerald-green eyes that glinted in the darkness.

  3

  “We’re going to start in northern Mexico Mira; we had trade routes that used to bring us up here, and this is where most of the clan members are settled now, but we’ll go down towards the Yucatan in a few days. Up here the land is more arid but a long time ago it wasn’t. The Yucatan, as you’d expect, is more tropical.” The small plane banked as the pilot brought them over the runway, aiming for the landing strip at a private airport Salvador had chartered for them. The man appeared to have some money.

  Salvador had arranged her paperwork, organized a flight, and prepared everything so that Mira could focus on settling up things at work to take another month of leave, and then prepare for the flight. The whole process had taken less than 48 hours, and now she was getting her first glimpse of a Mexican city. She was a little surprised she felt no connection to the place. Mira’s whole past, her family history, had been shrouded in mystery, and now it was all being laid bare for her. She suspected that’s why she loved history so much, delving into the past might reveal something of her own history, in an odd kind of way. Now, however, she was intrigued by the place they were flying into but she didn’t feel a connection.

  Salvador managed to quickly maneuver them out of the airport and into a waiting car. The driver packed away the bags and had them on their way quicker than any other trip through on airport Mira had experienced before. She watched out her window as a mixture of really expensive housing and cheaper housing passed her by with a few businesses passing between them. She was rather tired by now and laid her head back against the car seat, wanting to just rest her eyes for a moment, but too excited to keep her eyes closed for long. The car stopped at a gated compound before sliding past the opening gates. Mira’s eyes widened as she saw the house they were going into. House, she thought, more like a palace! White and almond stucco presented a cool façade on the three-story sprawling abode that could house an entire rugby team or three. The house was beautiful with cast iron detailing and scrollwork in the stucco.

  She walked into the place, hoping her jaw had shut by now, and followed a maid to her room. Salvador took her hand before she went into the room and pointed to a door just down the hall.

  “That one is my room, over there; if you need me just call me. Here’s a phone I set up for you to use here in Mexico as well, it’s all in English so you should be alright to use it. Call me or come to the
door, whatever you wish. I’ll be back in about an hour and we’ll go down for dinner alright?”

  Mira could only smile and shake her head. Exhaustion was settling in and she wanted a bath and a nap. She wasn’t sure why she was so tired; the flight was long, but that didn’t usually bother her too much. She slipped into the bubbles of the bath the maid drew for her and relaxed, wondering what was coming next. She fell asleep there and slept the rest of the night through after the maid picked her out of the water and put her back into bed. She had her first real restful sleep in days, a quiet sleep that was boring compared with the ones she’d been having lately.

  Over the next few days, Mira met her grandparent’s family members; aunts, uncles, and cousins she’d never known existed, were crawling up out of the woodwork. They all immediately accepted her and treated her as though she had always been a part of them, of their lives, and she started to feel like she really did have a clan, after all. The days were filled with exploring the city, shopping, and lots of eating, and the nights were filled with learning about her family history. The elders of the clan told stories to the younger generations, and Mira listened as though she were one of the children.

  One night the women gathered her up, speaking to her in Spanish that she was still having a hard time grasping, because they spoke so quickly, and took her out to the desert. A fire was lit and the men had their own circle, about 500 feet away. The women brought her a drink, and encouraged her to take a sip. She was thirsty and wanted more of the delicious nectar but the woman took the small bowl from her, telling her too much would make her sick.

  The woman began to sing then, as the men began to play beautifully crafted but odd instruments, things Mira had never seen before, and Mira watched the heavens as a languid feeling began to take over her body. She felt as if she was sinking into her own skin and smiled as she let her body relax back into the cooling sand. She turned her head to the group of men, knowing Salvador was there because he was the tallest man in the group, and watched as small plants began to sprout from the desert floor.