Chapter CHAPTER XVIII—DIVINE WISDOM

Now, at my lowest point in days, the guilt returned, delivering the final blow.

, I pondered.

Not only had my mother died, but I felt the Zux’ negative influence on my son. This theory alone could explain what I had seen, and I vowed to make them pay for their treachery.

I cried my last tear, allowing it to drop neatly onto my cheek, then I wiping it away roughly. I knew I needed to take this same energy and direct it towards a more productive task, defeating the Zux. Iris believed that I could fight them, so I had to believe in myself.

With my mind made up, I began to devise a plan. Firstly, I needed to remove any barriers or potential leverage from my past that the Zux could use against me. Most of that work had already been done for me, courtesy of General Hayami.

Severing all personal ties proved to be a simple task compared to learning about the existence of other dimensions housing planets full of sentient beings. I had only two true friends, Charnesha Queens and Yesenia Arelys Mansi, who I preferred to call Ary.

Ary typically worked off of the grid for weeks at a time, completely engulfed in her work. I felt her safety, in the cloud forests of rural Mexico, could be all but guaranteed.

Charnesha, on the other hand, had probably pulled her hair out by now. She had to have been worried sick about me and JJ. Last she had heard from us, I had been full of excitement about my date with Rahim and JJ had been safely at home with my mother. She had no idea where we were now or with whom.

I hoped she had not been reading the papers, but I felt positive that she had read them all. Regardless, I knew she would not believe a word of it. She knew me better than any other living person on this planet, and any other planet for that matter.

I decided to write her an email and let her know that I would probably never see her again.

I had gone in too deep to back out now. I took the only feasible option I had left, to write a farewell letter.

My thoughts became action and a cool, blue light illuminated the desk in front of me. Picking myself off the ground, I walked over to the desk and took a seat. I opened the laptop sitting conveniently in the center of the icy, blue circle emanating from the steel lamp shade above.

My email inbox filled the screen.

I chose to ignore all the unread messages, both spam and those with pleading subject lines, as I hit “Compose” and began to type:

“Friend, I know you’re probably worried about me, but I’m okay.

Well, ‘okay’ is a bit of an overstatement. I’m alive at least. Of course, that’s more than I can say for my mother. She was a good woman and didn’t deserve her fate.

Neither did JJ. He’s been taken, Nesha, by the same people that are responsible for my mother’s murder. I know who they are and I get JJ back!

I know what you’re going to say and I cannot go to the police for help. If I told them the truth, they wouldn’t believe me. There’s nothing they could do if they did!

These “criminals” are way out of their league!

I’m with a group of individuals that can help me though. Together, we will stop these evil bastards before they ruin anymore lives!

I love you so much! Please be careful!

Sincerely, Kaya”

I read the email over, ran spell check, and pressed send. I could have said so much more, but I needed to get going.

I needed to speak with my mother again.

On my way to the Spirit Room, I realized for the first time since I had awakened that extreme thirst did not consume my every thought. What a nice change that had been. I reached into my top and pulled out the charm and necklace that Iris had given me. As I examined it, I felt great appreciation for Iris’s generosity.

I knew I would never part with the beautiful gem.

The thought of a clock crossed my mind and the floor screens promptly showed me the time of ‘5:42 PM’. I wondered if the nocturnal Veex considered this time too early to rise. I had considered going back to sleep, but felt far too alert to do so.

It had taken me quite a bit of time to remember how the Veex night-vision contacts worked. I did not feel particularly fond of wearing them yet and willing them to turn on and off took great mental effort.

As I followed the floor maps directions, I thought about the two topics that I needed to discuss with my mother. First and foremost, my son’s strange behavior in my dream had left me feeling worried for his actual wellbeing, even more worried than I had been the day before.

My friend Ary, who I had assumed to be safe, could now be in trouble.

As I had eaten my breakfast, I took it up on myself to read the paper that had been left for me on the dinning room table. As I had become certain of my invulnerability to the headline news, I flipped to the front page and read an alarming an article.

In the ‘Americas’ section, the main headline read: “Mysterious Miami Illness Migrates to Mexico.”

I had dropped my silverware in shock, positive that the title, though a little heavy on the M’s, must have been in reference to General Hayami and her erotic killing methods.

I had perused the article as if my life depended on it, keeping my mind open. I doubted that the author would know the true source of the so-called disease, so I would have to connect the dots for them.

The first few paragraphs of the article served as an overview of the disease: the symptoms, the victims, and what the doctors knew about its origin. I had provided most of that information myself.

According to the reporting journalist, the “Night Cap Disease,” as they so cleverly dubbed it, had claimed the lives of some 63 people since its appearance in Miami. The MPD Chief of Police, David Rossini, assured everyone that Miami police and medical professionals had gotten the phenomena under control.

In actuality, General Hayami had moved on for reasons unknown.

One of the first Mexican cities to be affected was the capital and regional travel hub, Mexico City. The Mexican president had declared a state of emergency for the entire country. Though the cause of all the deaths had yet to be verified, the disease had reportedly killed over 21 individuals in the past four nights.

Unlike Miami, Hayami had not stayed on one place. The Mexican deaths had occurred in four Mexican states, including the Distrito Federal. The last state to report deaths was the southern state of Oaxaca.

Ary lived in the Mexican state of Oaxaca while on sabbatical conducting her research. I had thought she would be safe there in the remote, mountainous region.

I had rushed back to my computer to write her an email. I attempted to lightened the mood by starting with her nickname in the following message:

“Hey Ary, I hope you’re well. I don’t know how much you’ve been keeping up with current events, but I was reading the newspaper and saw that your home-away-from-home, Oaxaca, was the latest place where the “Night Cap Disease” had been found. I just wanted to make sure that you were safe.

Please do not go out after dark. It’s too dangerous!

I hope to talk to you soon.

Love, Kay”

Kay is what Ary always called me since I insisted on calling her by the nickname her mother had given her as a child. I only used “Kay” to refer to myself when I spoke to her. When she saw it, she would know that she did not need to stress. It served as a secret message between us that no one else would appreciate.

Surely, the police or FBI would be watching my emails and trying to source their origins. I assumed that Tala would handle these potential issues if I had been given a computer to use in the first place.

I reached the Spirit Room without running into anyone, familiar or unfamiliar. Not that it mattered, but I did not feel like participating in idle chitchat. I sought out my mother, the only person I wanted to talk to at that moment.

After crossing the threshold into the Spirit Room, I fully expected to be in the cow field in Freemanville, Alabama, but that did not prove to be the case.

I looked around, completely taken aback. I was not outside at all. In fact, I was back in my house in Miami.

Dread flowed through my veins, turning my blood into ice water. I felt unable to move a muscle. All I could do was stand in the hallway in between my bedroom and the living room and wait.

I listened for any signs of life. I expected my mother, but I did not want another run-in with the evil version of JJ. One time had been more than enough.

I finally decided to speak up, “Mamí,” I called softly. There was no answer. “Mamí!” I said with a little more fervor, allowing my voice to be carried down the hall.

“I’m in here, Sweetheart,” called my mother from what I presumed to be the kitchen.

I walked cautiously down the hallway towards her. She stood in between the stove and sink, mixing a batch of biscuit batter as if nothing bad had ever happened. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Without being prompted, she stopped stirring and looked over her shoulder at me wearing that concerned mother look she had perfected in life.

“What’s eating you, Suga?” she asked kindly.

“You can read my thoughts, so that must be a rhetorical question.”

“I was trying to be polite and let you get it off of your chest on your own.”

“Well—I’m not particularly comfortable here, that’s all.”

“This is our home!” she declared defiantly.

“I know that, Mamí!” I said defensively. “It’s just that—well, that dream I had about JJ earlier today really messed me up. That’s all.”

“Well, it was not my intention to upset you more, Sweetheart—really—but, I felt a little homesick and I guess I just forgot.”

“Forgot?” I nearly screamed at her. “How could you forget something that terrible? Have you developed Alzheimer’s since you passed away?”

“Watch your mouth, Kaya! You know your grandmother died from Alzheimer’s.”

“I’m sorry, Mamí. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. But really—how could you possibly forget?”

“I didn’t really forget. I guess I chose to ignore it. Although, it was a bit creepy.”

“Do you think it was real?”

“It’s hard to tell.”

I sighed, exasperated. “It just seemed so life-like, not too different from this place.”

I looked around the room. Everything was exactly where it would have been if our lives had not been destroyed.

I watched my mother as she walked to the refrigerator and took out a carton of almond milk. She checked the expiration date, nodded, and returned to the mixing bowl. She picked up the measuring cup and poured some of the milk in slowly. She held the cup up to her eye-level, nodded, and then added the milk into the mixing bowl. She commenced her stirring, apparently thinking about what I had just said.

“You have a good point, and I’m not trying to argue with you, but don’t you think you’re just borrowing trouble?” she asked.

“How so?” I retorted. “I’m just trying to get my son, your grandson, back safe and sound!”

“And I wouldn’t deny you that for a second, but I just don’t want my grandson to be thought of as evil.”

“Neither do I, but I know what I felt. That was Jarrice, my JJ, my flesh and blood, but he was different, wrong somehow—” Tears began to well up in my eyes, but I blinked them back. “They’re turning him into a monster, just like them!”

“Who? The other aliens?”

“Yes, the Zux! Who else? They’re behind this, Mamí. One-hundred percent!”

“Sweetheart, you mustn’t stress yourself over this—”

“And why not?” I shouted, cutting her off. “I have a gut feeling about this. My insides are practically tingling!”

“Are you sure that’s not just the avocados you had for dinner talking back?”

I gave her a dirty look. “No, Mamí. It’s not the avocados. This has Zux written all over it!”

“Please Child,” she said sarcastically, laying down her spoon and facing me. “Have faith.”

“Faith in what?”

“Proverbs 22:6. ‘Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.’ Have faith in the way that we raised him.”

“This is not bullies at school, Mamí. Those Zux are the epitome of evil! Look what they did to you! Do you think they care about Proverbs?”

“They should. No one is above God’s law.”

“You can’t tell that from their actions. Look what they’re doing in Mexico!”

“You may have a point there,” she said sternly. “What do you plan to do now that you know where they might be?”

“I honestly don’t know,” I said deflating. The thought of actually fighting these trained killers truly sobered me. “What if other Huzeen, like us, are living in Mexico right now? They could be the next target!”

“I guess that is a possibility.”

I wondered why she did not seem surprised by my use of the word, “Huzeen”, but I remembered that she could hear and see everything that I could even when I could not hear and see her.

Taking a leaf from Jules I asked her, “How do you feel about being an alien hybrid?”

“I’m a child of God. That’s all I need to know.”

“You’re completely right. Thanks, Mamí.”

I instinctively walked over to her and gave her a big hug, my first attempt to make physical contact with her since she had died. To my relief, she still felt warm to the touch.

“You are most welcome, Sweetheart,” she replied, patting me softly on the back.

Upon release, I looked into her eyes and smiled. She smiled back. I waited a second more before I turned on my heels and headed for my bedroom door, satisfied with my decision to see my mother. She had always been a great source of calm and reason for me in her lifetime. What a great comfort to know that she would continue to be there for me in death.

“I will always be here for you, Kaya,” my mother’s voice called from behind me. “Always and forever—”

Her last words faded as I crossed the threshold between my dimension and hers. I now had the strength to face my destiny no matter the outcome of the fight. My mother would be there to comfort me when the last Zux fell.

I smiled.

I could still feel the warmth of her cheek on mine when I walked out of the Spirit Room to an unexpected audience.