Me Without You Page 5

  Jonah may not know how sick Rebecca was, she believed her mother would bounce back the way she always did. "Come to think of it, the woman rarely gets sick!" Jonah thought out loud. She had no memory of Rebecca getting ill, not even a common cold. So for people to visit Rebecca like she was already on her deathbed was almost amusing. It would not be a surprise to Jonah anymore if Rebecca was found out to be immortal. There was just something in Rebecca that made her invincible.

  Jonah tried to open the door to see more clearly. "Maybe her unwanted guest had already left." She silently turned the knob when her bandaged hand slipped its grip, making a noise as the lock bolted back to its place. Horrified that Rebecca’s guest and her mother had the clearest idea she was snooping, Jonah jumped to her bed immediately.

  Should anybody come knocking… they’d think I am asleep…

  All of a sudden, she felt pain surged through her stomach. She curled to her side to contain the pain but it continued to throb. She was feeling like a ball of air was running inside of her belly and wherever it touched, it hurt—cutting off her breathing. Then, she sensed a tingling sensation, numbing her hands down to almost half of her arms.

  The physical pain was in no match to the feeling of panic which came over. It was the worst thing. The feeling of the inevitable reality of death, approaching—just like a knowing thought that she was going to die. It was so horrible and frightening.

  The sensation was not new to her. She had the same episode once when she had thought about Xavier, which prompted Jane to bring her to a shrink as soon as it was arranged. Jonah had to conclude, it was the physical manifestation of all the stress she was having concerning Xavier.

  Jonah crawled out of her bed to go the loo when the door adjoining Jonah and Rebecca’s rooms burst open without warning. And her oldest sister, Jane entered her room in a rush. Jane came in still bringing Rebecca’s medicines and stopped on her tracks.

  "Jonah!" Jane blurted out.

  Jonah stood up clutching her tummy. She had the strange inkling that Rebecca was dead! It had to be the trigger why she felt the way she did.

  Jonah looked towards Jane, who stared back at her and instantly they both knew. Jane’s lips trembled and painfully wailed. Jane was weeping with no tears welling up her cheeks to match her anguish.

  "Your mother is dead!" Jane announced solemnly, confirming Jonah's initial thoughts. "Your mother is dead!"

  It was evident from her sister’s swollen eyes that Jane had been crying. But Jonah felt nothing! There was no surprise. No grief… Nothing!

  Why can’t I cry, too? Of all the things that entered Jonah's mind, she was mindful of the most natural thing to act at times when somebody died—like crying.

  "I killed her," Jane said much to Jonah's amazement."Change your clothes," she instructed. "Aunt Judith will talk to all of us before the coroner come up with— "

  "The coroner? What’s with the coroner?" Jonah interrupted.

  "Somebody killed her, Jonah," Jane answered flatly. "Your mother was murdered!"

  There were people waiting sullenly for the demise of Rebecca Blood. Others hoped for it. Everybody got what they wanted. She died that night, not of natural causes. She was murdered! And unknown to the world, a potent power of healing was relinquished upon her death.

  With the death of the greatest healer, a new healer was born that same night. Unfortunately though, it was not the beginning of healing…not for Rebecca Blood and those she left behind.

  Chapter 7

  The Seven Deadly Sinners

  "Gross!" Jonah looked at her fingers which revealed something that looked like burned skin. Actually, she had rubbed them violently that the skin had been badly scraped. A few areas were already bleeding and juicing out to a pulp.

  However, the sight of her battered hands did not stop her from scratching last night. It was so tempting that her skin crawled. It was the worse attack of skin asthma she had.

  Worst, Jonah couldn’t sleep in her bedroom that she had to go and share with Jane in her room. Jonah had watched Rebecca's body taken in a gurney to the morgue hours after she died. But Jonah felt a part of her mother lingered on. It was crazy how Jonah was already feeling like she was seeing a ghost in Rebecca’s form wherever she looked.

  And Jane had to insist, I accompany her… Jonah thought.

  Jonah and Jane were at the morgue the very next day. Jane had asked Jonah to come along as Aunt Judith was at home together with their other siblings supervising what could be an investigation after Rebecca’s death.

  Jane had been gone longer than expected as she went inside the morgue with the man in charge. Jonah thought, they would just be providing what Rebecca needed.

  Does she need people to wait on her when she is dead? Jonah reflected. She was waiting at the manager’s office of the funeral house which was just as cold as the morgue adjacent to it. Once in awhile, Jonah would hold her breath afraid, she might be inhaling some toxic substance in the air amidst the dead bodies inside.

  Jonah fingered the two boxes with Rebecca’s gowns on each of them. She had wanted to take a peek on what Rebecca will wear in her deathbed. It was Jane who chose to bring along the two gowns to see what will look better. Jonah shuddered involuntarily with the thought of Rebecca fitting into them like she was still alive.

  What a mockery that the gowns were designed by Brice…

  In bright hues of red and gold which would have made the Blood matriarch really stand out, Brice had desired to design the gowns for Rebecca when she was still alive, hoping to earn a grain of approval. But their mother never appreciated the creation. She never even wore them. It wasn’t the right color she reasoned. Rebecca Blood had always preferred something white.

  And now in her deathbed…she will be dressed in a very festive mood. It was so ironical. Jonah thought.

  The family had no time to discuss how to bury their mother because of the surprising turn of events. Their father had been cremated when he died. Rebecca had single-handedly decided the cremation even when some of Jonah’s siblings had begged off to wait for awhile to see their father.

  Brice, in particular, had been travelling somewhere in Asia when their father died. He had wanted to see their father and pleaded to wait until he arrived. Being the only male child in the family, Brice had been implicitly handed down the responsibility of looking after the whole clan. However, he had chosen another path in his life which dismayed their father totally.

  Rebecca, on the other hand, had been triumphant when she found out Brice was gay and desired not to be the forerunner of the Blood legacy after their father died. Rebecca had wanted Jemmah to take the responsibility.

  "It’s in Jemmah’s blood to become like me," Rebecca had once told Jonah. She had not understood the kind of responsibility their mother intended. Not that their holdings were far too unmanageable with every help they had.

  It was always Jemmah before she left home. The rest of the children including Jerone, Jenssen and Jervais were all supernumerary characters in Rebecca’s eyes.

  Jerone would have made a good manager being educated in that line. Jonah mused. Jerone was the business-type among the Blood children. But she was also the one who did not really know her own strength. Jerone was always seeking and searching for something that she did not even know in the first place.

  Jenssen would have shone in all their father’s foundations with her compassionate heart and preference for the marginalized. She was so caring nobody would think she had Rebecca for a mother who was totally calloused where the idea of true love was concerned.

  And Jervais… Jonah thought. She could understand why Rebecca never paid any attention towards her. Jervais had two faces. When Rebecca was around, Jervais became quiet. She was aloof and often preferred to be ignored. However, the people who got close to her knew she has a nasty sense of humor and a spirit of adventure. And that was the true face of Jervais.

  However, Rebecca did not even care to tap Jerone’s expertise and allowed he
r to carry on after their father died. Their mother hired so-called experts to manage the business empire that Joshua Blood established with his bare hands. She only made them sinfully rich when some of her children were there waiting for her to give them a little push.

  Jenssen had to beg funding agencies for her causes when her family could very well support her. Rebecca just ignored her.

  It had always been Jemmah…

  Jonah was thinking there was almost like a pattern where the favor of Rebecca was concerned. There was almost a two-decade gap between the older to the younger with Brice coming in between the women. It seemed like Rebecca went after the last of the first three older sisters, Jane, Jerone and Jemmah—who were in their forties. And when she failed, she shifted her attention to the last among the next three younger ones, Jenssen, Jervais and Jonah—who were in their twenties with Jonah having only celebrated her eighteenth birthday.

  "That’s why she was into me," Jonah reflected presumably. She ran her hands through her arms feeling suddenly cold all over.

  Although, Jonah had reacted negatively when Rebecca’s attention shifted to her after Jemmah left their home, she often wondered if it was intentional. In truth though, perhaps she liked the idea that Rebecca wanted her to follow in her footsteps. Maybe she did…

  Unlike their father, Rebecca will probably have the traditional burial rites with the visit to the morgue and the two boxes of gowns Jonah was carrying. Jane had also mentioned about going to the church after the funeral house to arrange for a religious service.

  Rebecca will surely twist and turn inside her coffin. It was a common knowledge that Rebecca was not in good terms with the Church ever since they can remember. To have a religious funeral service was almost a sacrilege for Rebecca’s own style of religion.

  I wonder who will give the eulogy… Jonah thought to herself. "Jane would probably arrange the church services after this. But where is she? Jane, come on. Where are you?" Jonah said out loud impatiently. She was already feeling restless waiting for her older sister. And she did not like the thoughts which entered her mind.

  The loud ringing of Jonah's phone which bounced off through the walls of the funeral house was both a welcoming and embarrassing interruption. Anxious that the sound will summon the dead to life, Jonah hastily picked the phone.

  It was Hugh.

  "I heard about your mother," Hugh immediately blurted out. "I'm sorry!"

  It's weird but I am not sorry… Jonah almost said out loud. She just kept silent not knowing what to say. Of course, Hugh probably had already heard it. Well, who wouldn’t have heard the rumors going on around? Aunt Judith and Jonah's other siblings took care of the details for the talks to make its rounds. Aunt Judith had vehemently insisted that the rumor spread out. Although, Jonah could not quite comprehend the whole reason, it was of utmost importance that people will think so for the safety of Rebecca’s children.

  Rebecca Blood was poisoned to death by her seven children— the seven deadly sinners. Jonah thought.

  Jonah mused it could not be considered a rumor anymore. As far as people were concerned, it was a reality. Rebecca’s children, all seven of them, had the motivation to kill their own mother.

  "Jonah?" Hugh asked. "You there?"

  "Yeah," Jonah answered. "Hmm, so you haven't left yet?"

  "I am leaving. Then, I heard—" Hugh said. Jonah heard a pause from Hugh's end. She was feeling him hesitate for a while. She imagined somebody was trying to tell him the next thing to say. Jonah hoped it was Xavier.

  "Is X with you?" she shoot him the unexpected question, longing that her intuition was right. "You still there?"

  "Huh?" Hugh stammered. "Yeah— I— I am still here. So how are you taking it? How are you feeling?"

  "Yeah— X is with you? Can I talk to him?" Jonah said getting excited.

  There was another pause and a muffled silence. "He sends you his—"

  "Love?" Jonah said and laughed sarcastically."Yeah, right!" In her mind, she saw Xavier quite clearly, turning his back on Hugh after knowing she wanted to talk to him.

  "Condolences," Hugh supplied.

  "You still owe me, you know!" Jonah told Hugh.

  Hugh chuckled out loud. "I don't believe you. You have a mother to bury and you are still thinking about—" he stopped in mid-sentence.

  "Let the dead bury the dead, remember? Or something like don't pity the dead but pity the living," Jonah said. "And I thought you've heard about—"

  Just then, the door opened and Jane appeared together with the manager of the funeral house. She looked at Jonah forlornly.

  "What?" Hugh asked.

  "Hey, I can't talk now," Jonah uttered. "Later?"

  "Okay, later, " Hugh answered. "But later, right?"

  "Definitely!" Jonah told him and hanged up.

  Jane reached out towards Jonah as she sat next to her and whispered, "The coroner’s has requested an independent autopsy. They also want to extract a part of your mother’s brain to see if the drugs they found in that vial matched whatever they’re going to find out in her body. And how much was taken for her to die." Jane let out a long sigh. "They are so positive, she was killed."

  Jonah squirmed a bit. She felt uncomfortable when the manager cast them a watchful eye. He probably learned about the rumors and believed them to be true.

  There was no doubt that everybody in town was already salivating on the rumors about the seven deadly sinners Rebecca produced."Who cares?" Jonah said out loud still absorbed in her own thoughts.

  "What did you just say?" Jane asked looking confused.

  Jonah dismissed the subject immediately."So how long are they going to keep her here?" she asked clearing her throat as the manager looked away instantly.

  "Would you believe it?" Jane shook her head. "It can take a month."

  "A month?" Jonah shivered. "Can’t we do something about this?"

  "We can go ahead and bury her without a part of her brain. Would we like that?" Jane said.

  The thought of Rebecca’s body still so much a part of the world instead of being laid to rest felt like Rebecca was still very much alive and present.

  With a part of the brain…the monstrous concrete body part which controlled the body of a cold-hearted individual…still very much present and corporeal…Silly…she is dead. Jonah chided herself silently.

  "Can the brain live apart from the dead body?" Jonah blurted out. She just couldn’t help herself. "I mean… do we have some kind of tradition or belief about it?"

  Jane smiled sweetly. It was the first time Jonah had seen her smiled an authentic smile for the longest time. Jane gathered Jonah in her arms and said, "Silly girl, are you scared of your own mother? What can she do to you now? She is dead."

  Chills ran through Jonah’s spine. Her gut feeling told her Rebecca was more powerful than she was alive because she was dead. And Jonah dared not encounter Rebecca at her spiritual state when no corporeal entity can hinder her.

  "I can still feel her, Jane!" Jonah told her older sister.

  Jane watched the manager as he went through a few papers in his hands and lowered her voice. She told Jonah, "Worse, her eyes won't close no matter what. They had to do a few stitching to get it done nicely. Aunt Judith said, it could only mean one thing—"

  "What?" Jonah asked, sweeping the place with her eyes.

  "Unfinished business!" Jane replied matter-of-factly.

  Chapter 8

  The Broken Habak

  Hugh was standing near the window, his curiosity still piqued after Jonah suddenly ended their phone conversation. Hugh looked towards Xavier who was also standing a few feet away from him. He had wanted to talk to Jonah on the phone privately, but Gilda insisted he called her right there and then. He had never felt so uncomfortable with Xavier within earshot, listening to every word he said. For Hugh, it was one thing to put him on the spot. It was another thing to have others witnessed such a compromising moment.

  Hugh playfully threw the phone towards
Xavier who looked like he was enjoying himself catching Hugh at such an awkward state with Jonah.

  "You should have talked to her. I didn't know what to tell her," Hugh told him. His mood suddenly changed and became somber. "I think hearing from you would make a huge difference. After all, she just lost a mother."

  "You did well on my behalf," Xavier said, staring longingly at the phone. "It would have been what I would say, no more, no less. You did even better." Xavier passed the phone back to Hugh and took a seat across Gilda.

  Gilda was silently examining in her hand what was once a whole ancient belly chain they called habak at one point. It was almost half a meter long with little dime-like trinkets with bizarre markings on them hanging on its chain.

  Gilda had felt so triumphant when she discovered that Rebecca was holding the piece of jewelry in her deathbed. Gilda had to pry it away from Rebecca who had been clutching the habak when she died. Unfortunately though, Rebecca's hand had gripped around the habak so hard, that only a few minutes after her death, her fist had toughened like a ball of steel around it.

  Gilda had found it too difficult to remove the habak and broke it when one of Rebecca's daughters suddenly entered the room.

  The half's good enough for now…Gilda was thinking. The other piece will find its way back when the new greatest healer surfaces.

  She ran her thumb through each trinket like a blind person would go through Braille, occasionally mumbling to herself. It has been said that the mystery of creation and destruction of all the material and immaterial component in the universe was written in the little trinkets which the greatest healer can only discover. Fingering her own habak around her waist which sent out ticklish sounds of bells ringing to her ears, Gilda had yearned at one point in her life to claim the greatest healer's habak and to reveal its secrets to her.

  "It has been claimed," Gilda said out loud for the two boys to hear. She paused for awhile, then continued, "Unfortunately, we seemed to have half of the habak which explains about destruction. We need to find the other half which will teach the greatest healer about healing."