Against The Odds

by Senna Fisher

  Chloe sat on the front porch, watching the few people who walked past her house enjoying a Sunday morning stroll. She was tired and looked forward to a quiet Sunday morning. Her three kids were gone to the Mayville Youth Activity Centre two streets away, where they were entertained with sports and games. She was thinking about her husband Derek, how he had just left them with no word or explanation, almost two years ago. She thought about how she had first learned to hate him and then miss him and eventually, she had accepted his betrayal. She could never understand how a professional man with professional responsibilities could simply walk out of his wife and move away with a young waitress from the local pub. What makes a man do such a thing? She knew that she would always feel hurt and betrayed by him, especially because it has taken him four months to remember his three children and to phone them.

  She pondered the pattern that had marked her family and their lives. Her mother and her grandmother had lived the same pattern as her now. Both had three children and both had been abandoned by their seemingly good husbands. What is it about us that make men leave? Why don’t they decide to leave in the beginning? Before you are settled and have three children? Chloe thought of her mother with great sadness. She had never gotten over her father’s betrayal and had spent the rest of her life ravaged by twin emotions of hatred and self-pity. She had lost her will to live by the time she was forty-five, but had lived to the ripe old age of seventy-three. It had been a long and tortured life. Her father, begging for forgiveness over the years and had finally given up and moved away. None of them saw him again and had no idea whether he was still alive. Chloe wondered what it would have been like had he stayed with them. Would he have been a good father? Her twin brothers, who were six years old when he left, had fond memories of him and she knew they secretly believed that their mother had turned him away. She had only been six months old when he left and when he came over the years to try and speak to their mother, he was simply one of her mother’s ‘friends’. Chloe never regarded him as her father, nor did her mother want her to.

  Perhaps her mother had been right about their family. She had cried over the years, lamenting ‘The Curse of the Darkness’, saying that their great-grandmother Felicia, had hexed some friend of hers and the spell had worked on her family instead. But Chloe did not believe in magic. For her, the explanation was rational. Each of them had grown up with dysfunctional parents, so they learned that behavior. So, when her brother Timothy phoned to say he had left his wife for some younger woman, she had not been surprised. In her mind, that is what he had lived and learned. Only Trevor, the other twin, seemed stable and seemed unlikely to leave his wife. But Trevor was not a happy man. He was dull and uninspired and his wife controlled him like a naughty child.

  Chloe sighed. Where would it end? Will my children also behave like this? Will my children have such bad luck in relationships? She had tried so hard to make a difference this time. Derek had seemed like the right kind of man who would provide the stability and love she had badly craved. He had been a warm and loving husband, most of the time and she had believed it would work. The odd thing about Derek leaving and what infuriated her the most was that he seemed unable to explain his actions. They had had a bitter fight.

  “What do you mean you don’t know why you did it? You are a grownup, Derek. At least have the decency to take responsibility.”

  “But Chloe, I want to be honest with you. I am not going to give you some bullshit explanation to make you feel better. I don’t know how I moved from being your husband, to some sleaze-bag who chases younger women. I don’t know, because until it happened to me, I would despise men who did that. I don’t know.”

  “Well, when you know, speak to me about it. You’ve had your fun, now you want to come back? Are you crazy? Get out!”

  However, in the last year, since the night she dreamt of an old lady with short red hair, her attitude towards Derek had softened. When he came round to see the children, she was civil and sometimes, he even made her laugh. She did not know what had happened that night, but the old lady had taken her back in her life, when things were so good with Derek. She had also shown Chloe an image of the two of them, old and grey, sitting outside on this porch, watching the people walk by. That image had tugged at her heart and when Derek brought her flowers a few weeks ago, she had been beaming. She wanted to be with him now, but she could not bear him doing the same thing. She knew he missed her and the children, but she was not ready to forgive him yet.

  She looked up and saw the Raymonds walking by. They waved at her and Mrs Raymond walked up to the stairs.

  “Hello, Chloe, how are you?”

  “Fine, thank you. I did not see you these last few days. Have you been away?”

  “Yes, our daughter Rebecca got married on Friday, so we only got back this morning. We missed our neighborhood and friends. Where are those delightful kids of yours?”

  “They are spending the day at the Activity Centre, so I will get some peace.”

  “Oh Good. We saw your husband earlier in the week and he spent time speaking to George. My dear, he loves you very much. One day, you will understand, but it was not his fault.”

  “What? I’m sorry. I don’t ....want to talk about it.”

  “I know, dear. But remember that it was not your fault either. Both of you were victims of circumstances beyond your control. In this house, you will learn the power of love. It belonged to my mother, Nana, as we called her. With love, comes forgiveness.”

  “Thank you for trying to help, Mrs Raymond, but I think we will be alright.”

  “Okay, we will be off now, bye.” They waved and were gone.

  Chloe was thinking how nosy and presumptions the old couple had been. But she had the nagging feeling about something. The name Nana, it bothered her. Was she not the old woman who had come to her in her dreams? She had said she was Nana. Also, the old woman had also said something about the power of love and forgiveness and that stuff about victim of circumstance. Rowena Raymond was her daughter, so they probably thought in the same terms. But she kept thinking back to the way Derek had looked at her when he told her he could not explain. He had been totally honest with her, anguished by his own inability to explain these events. Was it possible, that there was really a Curse? What did the Raymonds have to do with it? Why were they so keen to get her to take Derek back? What did they care? Maybe they were Derek’s friends, trying to help him. Yes, that was it. She phoned Derek and he sounded half-asleep.

  “Derek, I need to ask you something.”

  “Good morning Chloe. How are you?”

  “How do you know the Raymonds?”

  “Who?”

  “You know, Rowena and George. The old couple who live further down the road. You know, the old man with flashing black eyes and.....”

  “Oh yes, I don’t know them. They came to me one day and just talked. They seemed to know me and I assumed you knew them. They spoke like they knew your family, some relative of yours, Felicia or Allison. I don’t know. Why?”

  “I just had a strange conversation with them. Did they say something about Felicia?”

  “Yes, they said it was her fault that you and I were having….ur.. problems.”

  “That makes no sense. Felicia is my maternal great-grandmother. She had been dead for at least 100 years.”

  “Oh, I must be mistaken. They must have used some other name.”

  “Derek, tell me again why you left.”

  There was a long silence.

  “Please, Chloe, I just woke up. I don’t want to say the same thing and we will fight. Tell me what you want me to say. I love you. And I want to be with you. Please, tell me what you need to hear and I will say it.”

  “Derek, this is important. Tell me the truth.”

  Derek was confused. Should he simply make up something to appease her? What do you tell your wife when you get up one day and take a long trip with a strange, childish waitress, don’t phone her or your children, even tho
ugh you have been missing them? What does a man say? How does he explain the pain of waking up, missing her laughter, her fighting, her teasing and even her bold, untamed anger? What is the right answer? Well, he would simply tell her the truth because that was all he had.

  “I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t know what happened, Chloe. I can’t give you an explanation.”

  “Okay, thank you. Sorry to disturb you. I know how you like to sleep on Sundays. Bye.”

  What, no screaming at him, about taking responsibility? About being a proper father? She had actually been nice this time. What is going on? Perhaps he was having a dream. He tried to call her back, but she was busy on the phone. Is she losing it? He got out of bed, and went over. His flat was nearby by and when he got there, she was at the gate, about to go out.

  “Hello, Derek. A bit early for you?”

  “Chloe, what is going on? I was worried about you. Are you alright?”

  “Yes, Derek, I need to go to the Raymonds. There is something strange going on. When I phoned them to say I want to talk, they seemed relieved. Why?”

  “What are you talking about? Chloe, what strange things?”

  “Look, I don’t know exactly, that is why I have to see them. I will speak to you later.”

  “No, you won’t, I am coming with you, okay?”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely. If there are strange things, then I don’t want you to be there alone.”

  They walked silently up to the Raymonds’ house. As they reached the top step, George opened the door.

  “Oh I am very pleased that Derek came with you. Please come in. Rowena is making some tea.”

  Rowena walked in, pleasant and friendly, offering them tea and cake.

  Did you bring the husband?

  No, I thought you did.

  Well, it is better this way.

  “Chloe, you said you wanted to talk. We will save you the awkwardness of asking seemingly odd questions. I think let us start at the beginning.”

  Rowena pulled out a copy of the spell.

  “Read this, and then we will talk. George and I will go into the garden, to give you some peace.”

  Do you think they will believe it?

  It doesn’t matter. At least we tried. Nana said we must at least try.

  You are right. I hope they work it out.

  They watched the couple through the window.

  Rowena said. “He says we seem like a nice couple so they need to hear what we have to say. She says she doesn’t believe in this nonsense, but yes, something is odd so they will listen. Okay, let’s go in, George.”

  “Okay. Now. This spell is the one your great-great grandmother Felicia cast on my great-grandmother, Portia. After a long search, we found it. Apparently, the woman who created it was so proud of her handy work, she shared with everyone and we found it on the Internet. It is called the Curse of the Darkness. Until some twelve months ago, it was working nicely against my family and clearly yours. My daughter and her husband have removed it. Now, you can live a normal life.”

  “Look, I do not believe in magic and curses and things. I don’t know how it works and it is too unreal for me. Assuming that I believe it, why would we suffer under it? I mean, it was intended for your family, not mine.”

  “Yes, well, Felicia did not think about it or did not know. But one of the fundamental principles of Wiccan is the ‘three-fold rule’. Everything you do comes back to you three times.”

  Chloe was so white that she looked like she would faint. Who were these people? I had just been thinking about the coincidence of three children...

  Derek saw that there was something wrong, but was plagued by questions.

  “How did you know who Chloe was?”

  “My son-in-law, Clayton, walked past Chloe one day. He has, shall we say, very strong instincts about people who might harm his wife. He went into a panic, especially since you lived in her grandmother’s house, Nana. Then Nana came to me in a dream, she does that all the time, and told me who Chloe was.”

  “Does she have short red hair and laughing eyes?”

  “Yes, that is Nana. Has she been to you?”

  “Well, I dreamt of a woman called Nana.”

  Derek was still trying to figure this out and asked many questions. George and Rowena did the best they could to answer their questions without reference to anything that would scare them. They said nothing about white tigers and talking butterflies.

  “But, if Felicia was trying to harm your family, why do you want to help Chloe, who is basically the enemy?”

  “Because, my boy, like us and our children, you had nothing to do with it. We have all been victims, really. We have been through a difficult time over this and we would not want others to suffer the same. Also, the spell is broken by the power of love. Part of that love is forgiving ‘the enemy’ as you call it. We have no problem with Chloe. She is as hard-done by this as we have been. In a way our motives are also selfish. Your happiness assures us that it is finally over for us and our daughter. You see, she got married this weekend and we don’t want anything to go wrong.”

  Derek was silent now. Whatever he might say, he knew they were kind and caring. He knew that they were telling him the truth. There was no malice in their demeanor and there had never been. He looked at Chloe and saw how distraught she was.

  “I think we will leave now. Thank you for sharing that with us. Chloe and I need to work through this. Thank you.”

  When they left, George said.

  “The girl has known all along.”

  “Yes, she just did not want to believe. We’ll have to wait and see.”

  Chloe and Derek walked back to the house in stunned silence. When they sat down inside, Derek asked.

  “So, what do you think? Look. I would not believe any of that stuff normally, but I must tell you, those are good people….”

  “I know, Derek, I know. My mother told me about the Curse of the Darkness. She used to cry about it. You see, they could do nothing about it. It depended on Portia’s family. My mother tried to find them, but their surnames had changed so many times with marriage, that we never managed to trace them. Each of them had one daughter, who somehow, got married and lived happily. My mother always said that the spell turned on us, because they got married and we got left.”

  Chloe was crying.

  “I never believed her. I blamed her for my father leaving and almost hated her for it. Oh Derek, she tried so many times to explain and each time she told me, I got angrier and she stopped talking about it. I wish she was here now. I wish I could tell her so many things.”

  Derek was holding her as she cried. This was so unreal, but if that was what made sense right now, so be it.

  When she stopped crying, she said.

  “Derek, I have been awful to you when you said you couldn’t explain it made me so angry, because it sounded like what my mother had said. I’m sorry.”

  “Oh Chloe, I am the only one who needs to be sorry. I was a pig and a terrible husband. I should have been stronger. But darling, those people are right. Our love must include forgiveness. Will you ever forgive me, Chloe?”

  “Perhaps, it depends on how well you try to make it up to me,” her eyes sparkled at him.

  Derek looked into the sky and thought, thank you, Nana, whoever you are.

  Nana was smiling. At last, these two have got it together. She felt tired now, because it had been hard work to get Derek to get out of bed to go to his wife. Also, Chloe had been so stubborn. The dreams did very little to push her to her husband. Well, it is okay now. The balance is restored. The power of love has finally succeeded.

  There was nothing left for her to do now. The Curse of the Darkness was finally broken.

  What would she do now? Perhaps, tomorrow, she would pay Jono a visit, just for a good laugh. But later, she would go and deal with that Brad Adcock and get him to finally get a handle on his red girl.

  #####

  Ab
out the Author

  Senna Fisher is a romantic fiction writer from Durban, South Africa. She has an affinity to things magical and spiritual matters. She is also interested in the power dynamics between women and men in a modern society. She loves to observe the world in nature and its connection to human experiences.

  Please feel free to connect with her at kenazpublications@yahoo.com

  Book 1: Against the Odds

  Book 2: Always at Odds

  Book 3: Cheating the Odds

  Excerpt: Book 2: Always at Odds

  Brad watched her as she walked into the room. Her dress was tight and passionate against her body, hugging her snugly like a desperate lover. He liked the way she swayed slightly with her hips moving in rhythm with her legs. Her legs were bare and her thin strappy sandals looked like they could barely hold her feet. Her black dress was everything he imagined ‘a little black dress’ to be and she was everything he imagined the owner of the dress to be, except her hair. It was wild and curly and seemed to have gone on a raid on her head. Large curls moved in chaotic disarray on her head and the curls moved in an uncoordinated fashion around her shoulders. Her hair was a bright red, the color of her lipstick. He looked at her breasts, so warmly relaxed against her chest and he wished he could lay his head there. She walked confidently across the room, apparently unaware to the curious stares of the men in the room. She stopped when she saw Jeremy Krause, the host of the party. He was at least 80 years old and he turned slowly to her. His weathered face lit up when he saw her and he embraced her and kissed her cheeks. She whispered something to him and they both laughed. She threw her head back and her defiant curls did a wild dance on her shoulders.

  Brad tried to reign in the horny thoughts that flew through his mind. He had a flash of her hair bouncing wildly in rhythm with her breasts as she straddled him. He could not take his eyes off her back and watched the way she leaned forward to shake hands with Jeremy’s friends. Jeremy wondered off to get her a drink at the bar and Brad noticed how she shifted from one leg to another impatiently as she made conversation. Good, she is a little bored. I think I can do something about that. He forced his eyes off her and decided to join Jeremy.