Mending the Past

by Avery June Ligon

  “Oh.” Steward looked disappointed. “Well, I considered that, but I don’t think the Earth was offended, and I think returning it to the temple will make a lot of people happy, and happiness is really important. I want to make as many people as possible happy.”

  “That was supposed to be a rhetorical question, Steward.”

  “I thought it deserved an answer.”

  “Steward, nobody knew where,” Eileen paused, “she and the baby went. This little project of yours has upset a lot of people, and it must be using a lot of this family’s time and money. Ed’s setting off to find her. He’s taking Bud with him. He’s also taking her parents, and, no doubt, he’s paying for it all. Do you understand? Jet has run off. You’ve turned her into another Efrem.”

  “Hm, and Ed into another you? That does sound like a problem.”

  Eileen tried to glare at him, but she’d never seen Steward so serious. She looked away.

  “Where are they headed?” Steward asked.

  “India.”

  “India? How did they decide to go there?”

  “I don’t know. I assume they’re following Jet and my emerald.”

  “Jet isn’t in India. She doesn’t even know where we’re headed, and it isn’t your emerald.”

  Steward took his napkin from his lap, set it on the table, and then stood. “I have some business to tend to. Out of the country. It will take me a week, maybe a little more. I have an apartment in Rome, in the Trastevere. I’ll relax there before I return.”

  Eileen was surprised to feel disappointment at the thought of Steward leaving, but her anger outweighed it. She sat silently before Steward. Eileen watched as he walked through the door. She was about to turn away when Steward’s hair and then his face popped back around the door frame. He flashed his big grin and said, “I hope you’ll join me. I’ll see that you get my address in Rome.”

  Chapter 30 Loudly Disguised

  Jet and the baby were waiting for Steward at his apartment when he arrived. He wore a pair of white pants, a white top that reached his knees, and a pair of brown leather sandals. On his head he wore a golden crown shaped like a serpent. Its green jewel eyes flashed at Jet. Around his neck he wore three necklaces, all of which were huge. He walked with a golden cane and this too had a snake head with watchful eyes. What a weirdo, Jet thought, and held her baby tighter.

  “Hello Jet, and hello to the small person too,” Steward said. He walked closer and the baby sensing Jet’s uncertainty, started to cry.

  “Okay, okay, I take your point,” Steward told the baby. He walked to the table and removed his crown and massaged his head. “That thing hurts after a while.”

  Jet wasn’t sure if Steward was looking for a response, and she wasn’t sure what to say, so she stayed quiet. He pulled a heavy gold chain from around his neck and set it on the table. Then he pulled off a necklace made of carved wooden beads the size of small apples, and set that down too. He removed the final necklace woven from thick strings of different earthy colors, which matched a woven pendant sack. Steward lifted the cord and woven pendant over his head, and it seemed to Jet that he stood a little straighter. He leaned his cane in the corner and pulled off the long shirt he was wearing, revealing a white button up shirt. He looked like a person one might be reasonably employed by. Jet relaxed and the baby followed.

  “Well, my dear, we have a lot to talk about, and a bit to plan,” Steward said.

  “I’m ready.”

  “Let’s head to a restaurant. We can plan over dinner. But before we even walk out of the door, I think you should know that your husband is searching for you.”

  “Searching for me?”

  “Well, of course, what did you think he’d do?”

  “I don’t know. Work. Eat at restaurants. Maybe mope around a little while he waited to hear from me.”

  “Well, he and Bud and your parents left for India two days ago. They flew into Delhi.”

  “My parents? Bud? Why are they searching for me there?”

  “It’s where we’re headed.” Steward shrugged. “Maybe they know more than one could imagine possible.”

  “My dad too?” Jet asked.

  Steward nodded.

  “He barely leaves home.”

  “Well, he’s far from home now,” Steward said. He unzipped his suitcase and pulled out an envelope. “Come on. I couldn’t eat the airplane food. I’m hungry.”

  * * * * *

  Jet had asked Steward to order for both of them. She breathed in the toasted black pepper as she twirled noodles around her fork.

  “It was taken from the inner sanctum of a temple in Khajuraho. In time it appeared in the collection of an English patron of the arts who had a taste for ‘exotic’ and showy items,” Steward said.

  The saltiness and tang of the pecorino romano filled Jet’s mouth. She nodded to let Steward know she was listening.

  “Ed and I are among his sons. I have portraits of the three men who might have bought the linga hanging in my office. I’ll show them to you sometime. Anyway, the linga was a part of the family’s art collection for hundreds of years. My mother, and please don’t be too judgmental because she was, on the whole, a lovely woman, moved the linga to her desk.” Steward tore the crust off a piece of bread and put the soft crust into one of the baby’s hands and the crust into the other. “She used it as a paperweight.”

  Noticing the pause in their conversation, a white haired man sitting at the table next to them leaned over and asked Steward how their food was.

  “Wonderful. Always wonderful.” Steward said. The man patted Steward’s cheek and turned away.

  “It’s his trattoria,” Steward said.

  Jet looked at the owner. She should have recognized him. There was a picture of him as a younger man on the last page of the menu.

  “Anyway, when my mother’s desk became Eileen’s desk, the paperweight became her paperweight.” Steward looked at his hands. “I’m not sure how many transactions an object must pass through before the purchaser can claim innocence, or how many generations should pass before the karmic burden of theft will have dissipated, or just how excusable willful ignorance is.” Steward pointed up at nothing in particular. “However, I think that holding down a stack of papers relating to one’s daily to-do with a stolen religious object, is just too offensive. That’s why I moved the linga to the top of my list of objects to return.” Steward took a bite of his dinner and watched the baby chewing on the bread crust in his fist. “Besides,” he said, “the collection belongs to me, and the emerald is one of the few items specifically mentioned in my father’s will as being passed to me. There’s no disputing ownership, or responsibility. I felt a little badly about breaking into Eileen’s bedroom, but she never would’ve given it to me.”

  The baby began to fuss. Steward tore the crust off of another piece of bread and gave it to him.

  “I want to put the linga back on its empty altar. I want it done anonymously, and I can’t do it. I felt bad enough about breaking into Eileen’s room to retrieve something that, according to my dad’s will, belongs to me. I couldn’t make myself set foot in a temple that’s had a rule against non-Hindus for the last 900 years. I couldn’t do it.” Steward took a bite of the divided piece of bread. “I want to make the world a better place, not to enter a religious site where I’m not welcome. And that’s where you come in.”

  “But I’m not Hindu,” Jet said, looking up from her plate.

  “You only say that because you’re a United Statesian from a family of no consequence.”

  “Excuse me?” she said, staring Steward down over her fork which was stabbed into a pile of noodles.

  “You don’t need to be offended. I think you’re worth as much as anyone else. I just mean that your family didn’t feel the need to keep track of a background they were proud of, so you have no idea where you’re from.”

  “What? I’m not just tribe Californian?”

  “Ha ha, let’s be serious here. Your
maiden name was Sharma-De Soto. Just having the last name Sharma was about enough for me, but I did trace your lineage back far enough to know that you’re at least one quarter Indian. Some people would say, you’re qualified to enter the temple, others would keep you out. I think you’re at least one quarter better suited than me, so the job’s yours.”

  “Did you hear that, Baby?” Jet asked. “You’re an eighth Indian. Let’s try to remember that.” Jet leaned toward Steward and lowered her voice. “So while we’re being serious, how am I supposed to bring a huge emerald into another country? I can’t even imagine how many questions customs will ask, and I’m not sure how to answer any of them. And, I don’t mean to sound scared, but I’ve been mugged in San Francisco and all I had in my wallet was four dollars. How am I going to walk around India with a little baby and a huge jewel?”

  “Don’t worry about the airport or traveling in India, I’ll deal with all of that.” Steward pushed his plate away. “ I’ll keep the emerald until the night you put it back.”

  Jet finished her last bite and pushed her plate toward the center of the table too. “And that seems like an important point too– Will I just walk into the temple, through the front door and put the linga back?”

  “Well, that might actually work, but I’m not certain you can still walk up to the altar where the linga should be placed.” Steward paused as a waiter cleared the table. “I’d also be more comfortable if I knew that the first person to find the emerald was likely to be a temple official. I have a solution though.” Steward pushed an envelope toward Jet, and signaled for the check. “There’s a lot of information in there. For now, just look at the pictures of the temple. I’m sure you’ll agree that climbing it won’t be a problem.”

  Jet studied a photo of the temple’s exterior while Steward paid the bill. The temple was comprised of three buildings, each with a towering roof that sloped toward level at an increasing rate. The whole skin of the building, walls and roof, was carved. Statues carved three-quarters-in-the-round populated tiers of the temple.

  Steward leaned across the table to point. “Under the tallest roof, or shikara, is the inner sanctum. That’s where the linga should be returned.”

  “It’s fine that it’s tall,” Jet said. “The walls and shikara are heavily featured. I can climb it, but sitting on the peak of the roof doesn’t get me in. Even if it did, the angle of the inside wall will be the opposite of the outside.”

  He smiled. “I’m so excited to be getting to this point. Sitting on the top of the temple doesn’t help, but...” Steward flipped through papers in the envelope until he found an architectural diagram. “...if you look here,” he said, pointing at the drawing below the peak of the shikara, “you’ll see four openings. One on each side of the roof. These vents turn the shikara into a sort of chimney. The hot air leaves through these vents pulling the moist air hovering over the shaded water tank at the temple’s entrance into the building. This air enters through the front door, and sure, it doesn’t circumambulate, but it moves like another worshiper to the inner sanctum.” Steward took a deep breath.

  “So I’ll climb in through a vent. Is the inside also carved, so I can just climb down, or will I rapel in?” Jet asked.

  “Are you ready for something even more exciting? Come on,” Steward said, picking up his envelope. “I have something else for you, but it’s in my apartment. Can I carry the baby?”

  “Sure. Let me take the envelope.”

  Steward handed the envelope to Jet and scooped up the baby. “Come on. You’re going to love this,” he said. He grabbed Jet’s hand and led her past tables. “Grazie. Ciao,” Steward said as they walked past the owner and out the door.

  Steward didn’t let go of Jet’s hand until they were out on the sidewalk where he set their walking pace to fast. “You’re going to love this,” Steward said. “ And, you can learn how to use it here, but, if you keep working with me, there will be lots of opportunities to use it in the future, I’m sure.”

  “You realize that I have no idea what you’re talking about?”

  “There’s no point in explaining before I’ve given it to you.” Steward said, and he started walking faster.

  When they were back in Steward’s flat, he went to his suitcase. He pulled out a box and tossed it to Jet. “Open it.”

  Jet caught the box. It was light. She pried the end open and pulled out a big black sack.

  “Are you sure this is a solution?”

  “Go, put it on,” Steward said, pushing Jet toward the bathroom. “And don’t wear your socks. It’s uncomfortable, and it looks terrible. It’ll take ten seconds to activate. Don’t be afraid. It doesn’t hurt.”

  “You know, telling me I have nothing to fear, actually makes me really worried.”

  “Just go,” Steward said, pushing Jet toward the bathroom.

  Steward sat on the couch and fidgeted. He could hear Jet moving around in the bathroom, and after what seemed like a long time to Steward, he heard Jet gasp.

  She opened the bathroom door. “Wow. Weird. What is it?”

  Steward sprang from the couch. “Magna Stealth Gecko Suit. Here take these off.” He pointed to her feet. She lifted up her foot and looked at the sole. Steward had peeled the running sole free before she even had time to reach for it. He handed it to her. “It goes over your knee, when you’re climbing.” Jet peeled the other running sole off and stuck it to her other knee while Steward rattled off facts about what she was wearing. “Well, try it,” he said.

  Jet walked to the wall and tested her hand against it. She looked back at Steward.

  “The material imitates the setae and spatula on gecko toes. The adhesive power is the effect of Van der Waals forces. I’ve tried it on both rough and polished stone. It’s amazing.”

  Jet didn’t say anything– she inspected the hand pad and smiled. The baby fell out of his sitting position into a lump on the carpet and started to cry. “Just let me make a bottle and put him to sleep,” Jet said. Steward looked so disappointed that she added, “It won’t take long. Then I’ll try the suit.”

  “Oh, no. I wanted to...” Steward shuffled around. “Can I give him his bottle? I’ll put him to sleep while you try your suit. Please? I know how. I used to put Ed to bed sometimes.”

  “Of course. The baby would love that,” she said. Jet picked up the baby, calmed him down, and then transferred the baby to Steward’s arms. She watched Steward talk to his grandnephew over the kitchen counter as she warmed milk for a bottle. They cooed at each other and Steward made faces and shook his hair around.

  Jet brought them the bottle and helped extract Steward’s hair from the baby’s fists. Steward held the baby in his lap and the baby’s head in the crook of his arm. He tickled the baby’s cheek with the bottle, and smiled when the baby lunged for it.

  Jet walked to the wall to try her Gecko Suit. She began by traversing, just as Steward had. She moved along the hallway wall and headed for the ceiling. Steward was impressed, and also happy he had the baby to look at. He didn’t want to stare, and it was hard not to. No wonder Ed is chasing her around the world, he thought, strong, bold, looks great in skin tight suit. What’s not to love? He wanted to congratulate her on her aptitude, but he stayed quiet because the baby had closed his eyes. She climbed along the wall toward Steward and told him, “You guys have a nice time. I’ve put another full bottle in the fridge. I don’t think you’ll need it, but it’s there just in case he wakes up. Do you know how to heat it?”

  Steward nodded and whispered, “In a pot of warm water.”

  “I won’t be gone long,” Jet said and left through the window.

  Jet climbed up and across the facade of the building toward the corner. Climbing using the Gecko Pads was only slightly different from climbing, and this slowed Jet down. She had to form a new habit in place of one deeply ingrained. She climbed to the corner of the building, and straddled it. From there she climbed to the roof with her left hand and foot on the building’s facade
and her right hand and foot over the alleyway. Climbing up the corner using the Gecko Pads felt more natural– she moved faster. When she reached the top of the building she sat down and looked around. Tonight, she told herself, she’d climb around the surrounding apartments. That wouldn’t do for tomorrow, though. One could climb on apartment buildings in any city in the world. This was Rome. She’d be a fool not to scale the Colosseum and examine the reliefs at the top of Trajan’s Column.

  * * * * *

  Jet lay awake listening to the baby breath. She’d had fun climbing and was having trouble falling asleep. Also, Steward’s story had surprised her, and she was disappointed with herself for having grown bored of her husband when she hadn’t even begun to understand him. She was surprised too to find that she felt sorry for her mother-in-law. Mrs. Mae’s life had been full of difficulties and disappointments. These, Jet thought, are reasons for misbehaving, but not excuses. Lying to Ed about his father and then separating him from his uncle– those acts border on insanity. Well, insanity, she thought, that would be an excuse.

  Jet tried to imagine how it might have felt for Eileen to be left by Efrem, but she realized that however sad Eileen might have been, Ed was probably feeling worse. He’d been left by his father, believed he’d been left by his uncle, and now he thought he had been left by his wife, who had also taken his baby from him. Jet closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do tonight. It was time to sleep. The baby would be awake in a few hours.

  Chapter 31 Alive and Becoming Butt-Eye

  Bud was thirsty and his knees ached. A flight attendant had asked for the window shades to be closed and the cabin lights had been turned off. The guy next to Bud had his head propped up with a neck pillow, was wearing an eye mask, had covered himself in a blanket, and was snoring in Bud’s direction. Bud had asked for a blanket and had been told they were out. He glared at his sleeping neighbor, and then leaned into the aisle to look at Ed in the seat behind him.