A Fistful of Honey

by Malena Crawford

  Alena paused for a few moments to think. “Power.”

  Gloria smiled knowingly. “By way of light?”

  “Yes. I guess that was what was going on. A lot of it.”

  “Very good.”

  “Is it, Gloria? I have so many questions. Who was he? Did he know about me and my initiation this whole time? He had this strange symbol lit up on his chest before he passed. Sort of like the markings I saw in Isis’ temple, but not exactly. It appeared right before the Shetani came out of him. You know what it was, don’t you?”

  “Hmm. It isn’t my place to speculate but I believe what you have seen is one of the three sacred symbols. Your father clearly carried the blood. As do you.”

  “The blood? What symbols, Gloria?”

  “In time, Alena. In due time. Something tells me that it won’t be long before you learn the meaning of what your father has given you.”

  “Of course,” Alena said in frustration. She cocked her head back against the plush sofa. “How could I forget, that’s how this thing goes. Wait and learn. It was then that Alena remembered the vision that Maya had in Oshun’s mirror. In all the excitement of her father’s funeral she had completely forgotten.

  “There’s something else. I had Maya with me when my mother called me with the news. She got into my things and found Oshun’s mirror. She was looking into it and I saw her in the reflection, but it was of an older version of her. She was a young woman sitting on a throne in the middle of six other thrones. She was being crowned. And then all of the sudden a dark cloud of soot fell over her and her throne was empty.”

  Gloria’s face knotted with confusion.

  “Can it be? Can the Oracle be the heir of a Bridger?” she whispered aloud to herself.

  “Gloria watch out!”

  A gust of gray mist had surged into the apartment from the ceiling, taking on a gruesome, beastly form. The creature lunged toward Gloria crushing the tea pot as its hulking fist tried to descend on her. Gloria raised her amulet to it and commanded it to flee. It slinked away as quickly as it had come, disintegrated in the light she had summoned.

  “Your arm, you’ve been hurt.”

  The shattered glass had etched a long scrape along Gloria’s forearm. Alena held a napkin to the thin trail of blood.

  “Wait. How did it hurt you? They can only hurt you if there’s a breech in your heart.”

  Gloria’s expression suddenly turned dire and her eyes flashed with a fearful revelation. She thumped her fist hard against the table rattling the teacups.

  “Never mind that! It’s the child! The Shetani are going after Maya! Here, take this.” She walked to her credenza and pulled a velvet pouch from its drawer then coiled an odd necklace into Alena’s palm. “It’s a talisman I made for your girl. It’s got a shard of the spirit crystal in it. Kiss it! It needs your motherly imprint on it.”

  Alena did as she was told.

  “Now call your husband, Alena! Call Gabriel! Hurry!”

  Without another thought Alena furiously dialed his cell phone number but it kept sending the call to voicemail.

  “No answer! No answer!” Alena’s panic was ratcheting up, her eyes frantic.

  “Come on! We’ll go to him! Hurry, child, hurry!” Gloria pleaded.

  Gloria called a cab. Inside it Alena continued called Gabriel’s number until finally she heard his voice on the other end.

  “Gabriel, is Maya okay?” she blurted out.

  “Alena! I’ve been trying to call you! Something’s happened to Maya, she’s had a… a seizure or something.”

  “Oh my God! Is she okay?” she wailed.

  “She’s unconscious but still breathing on her own. Her vitals are stable. They’re running tests now.”

  “Where is she, Gabe?

  “Presbyterian, Children’s Unit third floor. Hurry.”

  ***

  The taxi ride to the hospital was almost unbearable, a breakneck blur of city lights and sharp turns. All of the sounds and sights around her were swallowed by her racing thoughts. She tried to push aside the sickening dread as she prayed with Gloria.

  Gabriel’s eyes were feverish and desperate with worry when Alena and Gloria rushed through the hospital doors. “Gabe! How is she doing?”

  He was relieved to see her but gazed uneasily at Gloria.

  “She’s okay,” he answered weakly.

  “This is my neighbor Ms. Chukwu, I believe you two have already met.” Gabriel nodded politely toward Gloria.

  “What happened to her, Gabriel?”

  “Alena, I…I don’t know. She was fine, all day,” he explained. “Everything was normal. She’d just had her bath, she’d gotten in bed, I was about to tuck her in for the night. One second she was her regular self and then just like that, she became… delusional. She started talking gibberish. I didn’t understand. It was like she was fighting someone, screaming ‘Get away from me, my mother will find you. My mother will know and find you.’ It made no sense.”

  He looked at Alena. “Do you have any idea what was she talking about?”

  “No,” Alena lied, then she glanced at Gloria, who was clutching the amulet around her neck.

  “I thought she was playing a horrible joke on me at first and I was waiting for her to knock it off. But she wouldn’t stop. She kept screaming it over and over and then her eyes, her eyes rolled back into her head and she started convulsing. And then she fainted.”

  “Oh God. My poor baby. What did the doctors say?”

  “She’s still not conscious, stable but unconscious.”

  “What room is she in?”

  “308. They’re getting another room ready for her observation and when it’s available they’ll move her.”

  “I’m going in.”

  “Wait, they told us to sit tight and let her rest while they analyze the scans. The doctors should be back around any minute and we can go in with them.”

  “I need to go to her Gabe, right now.”

  “All right I’ll go with you,” Gabriel said.

  “I’d like to see her alone please.”

  Their anxiety and tension hung in the air.

  “Huh?” Gabriel said.

  “I just want a minute alone with my daughter. I’m going to let her know that her mother is here.”

  “Okay. Fine. Remember the doctors said—”

  “I know,” she said, cutting him off. “I’ve got it. I’ll be only a few minutes, I promise.”

  Gloria squeezed Alena’s hand and whispered sternly into her ear. “Fear not. You know what to do. You know how to save her.” Gloria grasped her amulet tighter as Alena hurried into Maya’s room.

  “I’ll be right outside,” Gabriel called out behind her.

  Alena sensed them instantly, a damp black smell curling from underneath the door. She threw it open then ran to Maya. An oxygen tube murmured under her nose.

  “It’s me. It’s Mama, my angel,” she cried out. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.”

  Maya looked so small and fragile. There was no doubt the Shetani had descended on her precious child. Their putrid stink lingered on her. Alena closed her eyes and breathed in a prayer and then reached deeply into her heart, drawing from her fires of wisdom and power there. Opening her eyes again, she armed herself against the beast’s heavy malignant presence. Her palms began to throb with rings of heat and her hands and arms were encircled in gold and azure light. Steely cold air crept along the nape of her neck. Alena’s hands clenched into fists.

  “Show yourself!” she demanded. “Show yourself now, demonic cowards! It’s me that you want, come for me!”

  Wide streaks of pitch black smoke crawled down the walls, seeped from Maya’s bed sheets, and then dripped into a pool in the floor before gathering itself together as a Dark Beast. Alena steeled herself.

  “You dare lay a hand on my child! My child?”

  Its ember like eyes formed and latched onto hers. She could feel the vile thing scanning her heart for fear,
or doubt.

  “You silly, silly girl,” It hissed. “So you’ve learned a few tricks and you think you’re safe do you? Have you any idea how many Bridgers we’ve killed?”

  The Dark Beast then struck her chest and jolted her off of her feet, sending her smacking into the wall with a loud thud. The force slammed the breath out of her lungs. Gabriel rushed into the room.

  “What in the hell is going on in here, Alena?”

  She scrambled back to her feet ignoring the sharp pain in her back. “I fell… lost my balance. Just wait for me outside.”

  “Two minutes,” Gabriel warned, reluctantly closing the door behind him.

  “Hell is just what you will get if you don’t give us the girl,” the Beast hissed.

  “You will leave my child alone! You know who I am. I have no fear of you. I will destroy every last trace of you. You have no power over my child and none over me!”

  “Ha! Then why do you tremble? Either we kill her now or we take her slowly. What do you think will happen once we invade her mind? Have you ever witnessed mania loose in the mind of a child, Alena? Tragic, we assure you. Deadly.”

  Alena took a deep breath and steadied her thoughts on truth.

  “I am Victory. I am Joy. I am Peace. I am Life itself.” She repeated the mantra over and over. She drew in even deeper from her heart and placed her glowing palms against Maya’s forehead and chest.

  She recalled Mary’s words from her first encounter with the Shetani. “Hail! In the name of Jesus Christ you are cast out! Release her and never return! In the name of Christ you are cast out!” she chanted. Her words were gaining new strength and life. Immediately the dark beings spiraled out from her daughter’s bed sheets and dissipated into the light.

  “Don’t you ever even think about touching a hair on this child’s head again! Flee and never return!”

  She wrapped her arms around Maya and clung to her. With her mother’s heartbeat sounding in her ears, Maya woke. She stirred and fluttered her eyelids, her eyes cracking open slowly. Alena pushed the tube aside.

  “Mom?” she sniffed.

  “Maya, baby! Talk to me! Are you okay? Oh, Maya,” she whispered, lifting her daughter into her arms. “You gave us such a scare.”

  “I’m fine Mom,” she said looking around the hospital room. “Where am I? Where’s Dad?”

  Alena breathed out with overwhelming relief. The sweet sound of Maya’s voice reminded Alena of how close the Shetani had come to taking her daughter from her.

  “Oh, my baby. My precious, precious baby. I’ll explain later, honey. I’m going to bring your father in. We’ve all been waiting and praying for you to wake up. Just one thing, do you remember anything strange happening to you?”

  Maya paused then nodded.

  “What do you remember?”

  “The monsters.”

  “They’re gone now, do you hear me? They will never hurt you ever again I promise you that, okay?”

  Maya nodded once again.

  “Baby, how did you know? How did you know that I would….protect you from them?”

  “Mom, you and Dad want me to choose, but I already chose both of you. I chose you as my mother because you’re the strongest. I knew that they would come and when they did you would make them go away.”

  Maya’s words mystified Alena. What else does she know, and how? She then remembered the talisman Gloria had given her.

  “Maya, listen to me carefully. I’m going to put this special necklace on you and I need you to keep it on. Don’t you ever take it off, not even in the bath okay? Do you understand? Never.”

  Maya nodded.

  “You are Mama’s brave angel. If those monsters ever come back, this will protect you. It’s me in here, I’m right here with you. Always.”

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  It was late February when the rains began, soft and steady at first and then a winter monsoon. It was as if even the weather was preparing for something significant. Spring was arriving and with it, the clock ticked closer to the Spring Equinox, the opening of the Cosmic Door. Gloria hadn’t spoken of it. Deliberately, it seemed. Any time Alena brought it up she’d simply nod and say “due time.” Alena could not deny that with each passing day she felt the magnitude of what was to come. With Gloria remaining oddly silent on the matter, she nestled into the comfort of her nights with Michael. What she could also not deny was that as guilty as she felt for it, their romance was flourishing. That evening they had sloshed through Manhattan back to her apartment for a home cooked steak and salad dinner. The recipe was Venezuelan, Carne Mechada, a dish she hoped would rival Mike’s paella.

  “I hope this tastes as good as yours,” she said.

  Michael took a bite and closed his eyes as he chewed.

  “So?” she asked, her hopeful eyes lingered on his face. “How’d I do? Do I get an ‘A’ or what?”

  After a few moments he gave her a thumbs up.

  “Estaes la másdeliciosa carne mechadaque he tenidodesde mi abuelita. Esoficial. Tienesquecasarte.”

  Alena laughed heartily, letting her head fall back. “What! Now you speak Spanish, too? The surprises just keep coming! You know I have no idea what you just said but I’ll take it as a compliment,” she said, beaming.

  “I said that this is the most delicious Mechada I’ve had. It’s official, you must marry me, Alena,” he joked.

  “I’m so happy that you really like it. I spent three nights perfecting it for you.”

  Michael leaned over to give her a congratulatory kiss.

  “All that for me? Am I a lucky man or what?”

  “You are. But it’s also a special occasion.”

  “Yeah? What are we celebrating?”

  “I was going to wait to tell you until it was official but you know how bad I am with secrets. I’m going to be moving soon! I’ve finally saved enough for a deposit and if all goes well, Park Slope will be me and Maya’s new home!”

  “That’s great, Leen. You did it.”

  “You don’t sound all that excited. This is huge! We’re on our way to a whole new life.”

  “I am very excited and very proud of you—you know I am. But it’s just that I was thinking…hoping, maybe you and Maya could live here instead of all the way out in Brooklyn. I want to take care of you two. Plus, it’s closer to her school, and like you said, I set it up pretty lovely. For you.”

  “What? Mike, thank you for thinking about us but you know I can’t move in with you. Especially not right now.”

  “Leen, we have something strong, don’t we? Something real?”

  “Yes, of course we do and it’s amazing.”

  “Then why are you fighting it so hard Alena, I want to lay the world at your feet. I want to protect you.”

  “It’s not about that. What kind of mother would I be? You couldn’t even begin to understand the weight that is sitting on me right now. I’m fighting off the courts and the supernatural to save my daughter, Mike. I almost lost her for god sakes.”

  “You may be surprised at how much I do understand.” His eyes locked on hers.

  “Alena, I need to tell you something,” he said strangely.

  Alena smiled and skewered a sliver of tomato with her fork. “Oh goodness, is it bad news? Don’t tell me you’re pregnant,” she joked.

  “No, but it did happen after we made love.” Alena drew her head back slightly and searched Michael’s face. He took in a long inhale.

  “The morning after I woke up to this incredible brightness. And then, I wasn’t me anymore. It was like I had no senses just the awareness of this light and somehow I knew that I was a part of and it was a part of me. It was God. Alena, God came to me. He or it told me that I had a destiny, a contract that was not fulfilled yet. I’d been here before, on earth, but this time I needed to finish my assignment.”

  Alena stared at him in confused wonder.

  “I’d been feeling things before but it’s like I got this huge download from heaven and I could see the world
clearer than I’d ever seen it before. You remember that kid they shot over in Crown Heights last summer?”

  Alena nodded.

  “A cell phone. The police claimed they shot him because they said they mistook a sixteen-year old kid’s phone for a gun. We know that was bullshit, they murdered him. But why? Racism yeah, but it was deeper than that.” He took another deep breath.

  “Remember when I told you that I’m sure I’m a part of your journey?”

  “Yes.” Alena remembered the conversation and the awkward moment well.

  “Well something is happening here, more than meets the eye, and I think it has something to do with what you’ve been going through.” Michael crossed the room.

  “I started seeing them that morning too. Alena, I can see them just like you can,” he said abruptly. “The Shetani.”

  The blood drained from her face. She swallowed hard and brought an involuntary hand to her mouth.

  “And they’re exactly how you said. Creepy sons of bitches. They smell god awful. I’ve watched them slide in and out of people. They take them over and make them…do things. Today I watched one slink into a dude on the subway and the minute it slid in he starts talking crazy and threatening people on the train. We’re just hosts to them, the weakest of us. That cop? A host. Most of the American government, shit, the worldwide government? Hosts for the Shetani. This is spiritual warfare out here. But I’m sure you already know that. I’m not telling you anything new, it’s just…Wow. This is what you’ve been seeing all along, Leen?”

  She had been dumbfounded by his words. Michael draped his hand over hers.

  “You all right? I know this is a lot.”

  “I…I’m listening Mike. Just go on, please,” she stammered. Michael continued.

  “Whatever the God thing gave me made me start to understand why things like this are happening, especially to black men. My purpose is the same as yours, Alena. It’s to help everyone else see God in themselves, to help them remember who they really are. There’s something my brothers and I had lost. It’s a vital part of who we are, and for whatever reason, I’m here to bring it back, with you. If they knew where they came from, and the power that they have, then they would understand why those cop hosts are trying to kill them.”