Silence of the Nine 2 Page 7

  Gates grinned. “You seem very educated on what it takes to destroy your blood relative. What makes you such a Nine expert?”

  “I want to tell you but first I need you to keep an open mind.”

  “You can’t get more open than this. So let’s talk.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “So full of artless jealousy is guilt.”

  - William Shakespeare

  Julius squirmed and screamed at the top of his lungs in an effort to be released from Nine’s embrace. She did all she could to appease him and nothing seemed to work. No matter what she did, no matter what she tried, he made it known that he did not prefer her succor.

  “What is it that you want from me?” she asked looking into his beautiful but horror-filled eyes. Every time he would not allow her to care for him, it broke her heart a bit more. “I am doing all I can to love you. Doing all I can to make amends for what I have done to your mother but what more can I do?”

  Julius continued to cry and his wails reached another level, as if he understood every word she uttered and didn’t believe her.

  “I did not know my sister,” she whispered as a tear fell from her eye and onto his chin. “I did not get a chance to know her but I am trying so desperately to know you. I am trying so hard to love you. Please, my sweet Julius…please allow me.”

  “Let me try,” Chipo said stepping into the room without an invitation.

  For a second, Nine wondered how much she heard about the murder of her sister and how long she’d been there. Her red and gold head wrap matched her dress with beautiful African designs. Chipo relieved Nine of the infant and the moment he was in her arms, she sang an old African nursery rhyme, called Baba Jacob, that seemed to put him in a reverie. “Baba Jacob, Baba Jacob, Usalela, Usalela…”

  As she continued to sing the song, Julius grew quieter before closing his eyes and falling to sleep in Chipo’s arms. When he was peaceful, she placed him down inside of the soft crib and sat on the edge of Nine’s bed. She patted the spot next to her twice and Nine walked over to her and took a seat.

  “Why does it seem that some women have been given the gift of motherhood while others have not?” Nine questioned, looking into Chipo’s eyes. She was aware that her relationship with the old woman began with the death of her grandfather. But Chipo seemed so wise and Nine found herself drawn to her presence.

  “What are your intentions?” Chipo asked softly. “With the child?”

  “I care for him. Very much. I have bought him expensive clothing and am even trying hard to put him in a prestigious baby academy so that he can have a chance at a real life.”

  “But what are your intentions for his soul?”

  Nine stood up and walked across the room. She looked out of the window at the vineyard and sighed. “I told you already. Are you so old that you can no longer hear me?” she snapped.

  Although Nine was being rude, Chipo didn’t take it personally because the trait she exhibited was uncharacteristic of what she’d seen since she’d been staying in Nine’s home. “Money is not everything.”

  “You tell that to someone who has nothing, one who has lived in darkness all of her life.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I am certain she will see things differently.”

  “It’s hard to believe but it is true. When a child enters the world, he or she is the closest a human can be to pure Source Energy…or God. And because of it, they can feel, using their emotions, when another human’s intentions are off.”

  Nine looked over at her.

  “Now when this child grows older he or she may lose the direct access to the Source because, like most older humans, their minds will be focused on things, toys, and other people’s perceptions of them. It becomes harder to connect to who they really are, what they really want out of life. It becomes harder to look at themselves and say, ‘I am not money, I am not this body. I am spirit.’”

  “I do not say this much, Chipo, but I have to be honest. I am confused.”

  Chipo got up and walked slowly toward her.

  “Before you begin again, I apologize for speaking to you disrespectfully a few moments ago,” Nine sighed. “My words did not come from the heart.”

  “I never charge a person with insults from the ego.” She paused. “Besides, you remind me so much of Thandi. So much of her strength is present in you. So much of her appearance that sometimes it’s hard to watch you as you move around this house. It’s like I’m seeing a ghost. And yet that similarity, that association, is the reason I agreed to stay for a few weeks before going back to Africa. I feel like by being around you, I am being given a chance to stop Thandi from turning into what she was before she died. The woman Kerrick made her. A woman confused of her power and her own mentality.”

  Nine walked away and sat on the daybed next to the window. “I am not your daughter, Chipo.”

  “And yet both of you had the benefit of Kerrick’s rearing anyway. Of his beliefs and rigid behaviors.” She paused. “Don’t let him control you from the grave. Don’t let him make you evil until you can’t feel for others anymore.” She touched her face softly. “I too remember being in the thralls of a man. I was so empty and yet filled so much by him, that I allowed him to convince me to sell Kerrick my daughter.”

  “What was the price?”

  “Two goats,” she said shamefully. “We were farmers.”

  Nine smiled, knowing that two goats to a farmer were equivalent to thousands of dollars.

  “I was so consumed by my husband, who died some years back, that I allowed him to convince me to order vaginoplasty for Thandi to tighten up her vagina. I wanted her to remain pleasurable to Kerrick, to secure a long marriage and make him proud.” She sighed. “Now look…she’s gone.” She gazed into Nine’s eyes as if she were speaking to her own daughter again. “I put so much time into matters of outside influences that I cared nothing for her mind.” She paused. “To look at you swells my heart but when you look at me, what do you feel?”

  “Loved.”

  Chipo smiled. “The things we accrue in life are great, Nine. They allow us to forge opportunities for others and ourselves if we desire. But never allow things, money and fortunes to be a substitute for what we are put here on earth to do.” She paused. “I don’t know the dynamics of the Prophet family. And I must admit, I try to stay away for fear I might be stained spiritually by the knowledge of this family’s customs and beliefs. But I will say this. You must love that little boy. You must love him first and in turn, he will love you back. You can’t buy your place within the heart. Love him, Nine. It’s the only way.”

  At that moment, Nine willed herself that she would try her hardest to change. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?

  ****

  The Prophet Dinner

  Victory placed a beautiful silver gravy bowl down and skipped toward the head of the table before taking a seat. Her husband Blake on the opposite end looked upon her proudly.

  There was one problem with the event, white cat hair was over everything. On the plates. On the table and even the chocolate cake.

  Nine and Leaf were disgusted while the others acted as if it were not there. Maybe they were used to it but Nine was not and decided not to have a thing. She wasn’t there for food anyway.

  Still, for the first time in almost a year, everyone was together under the guise of a wedding ceremony. They were Victory, Blake, their daughters Bethany, Samantha, and Isabel, and their only son Noel. Of course Nine and Leaf were also present. Even Marina, although half-high and frail, made an appearance with her daughter Alice, who was peering over at Nine with daggers for eyes. The only Prophet not present was Justin, Leaf’s father. Then again, no one expected him to attend.

  “Everyone join hands so that we can pray,” Victory said, as she smiled at her kin as if they were the epitome of the perfect American family. She was doing her best to appear perfect in Nine’s eyes, hoping more money would flow.

  After everyone fused their
hands to the closest member next to them, Victory bowed her head and began. “Lord, thank you for bringing my family together again on this blessed occasion. I thank you, Father, for bringing Nine here especially because I know she is busy and not always able to attend family functions.”

  Nine squeezed Leaf’s hand to relieve some of the embarrassment and irritation she felt in the moment.

  “I know we don’t spend as much time praising you as we should, but I pray that this dinner, and the upcoming marriage of my two children will change that in your eyes,” she continued. “I hope you see that we may not be like other families but at the end of the day, we try to live your—”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Leaf said as he released Nine and Samantha’s palms. “Please tell me all of this is a joke.”

  “Excuse me?” Blake said as he glared his way. “My wife was praying!”

  The chain of hands broke and everyone gave Leaf their undivided attention since he worked so hard for it. Nine sighed, leaned over and whispered, “What are you doing, baby? You know I am here for—”

  “I can’t sit here and play this fucking game,” he said as he pushed back in the chair, stood up and paced the floor next to the table. “This was a mistake for me to come here.”

  “Come on, man,” Noel said. “We just saying grace. It’s not even that deep.”

  “You don’t understand. I don’t feel comfortable with any of this shit. It’s one thing to do what you do, with incest and all, but now you bringing God into the picture.”

  “So you’re extra religious now?” Samantha sighed waving at the air.

  “It ain’t about religion. It’s about…this…all of this.”

  “So because we have our traditions, we don’t deserve to be loved by God?” Blake questioned. “Is that what you’re saying, nephew? Because it sounds like you’re just like my brother, your father, always judging.”

  Leaf placed his hand on his forehead and looked down at the floor. He took a deep breath and gazed up at his family again. They may have appeared attractive and normal but in his perspective, they were anything but. “I’m sorry but this ain’t my thing and you’re not my people. My father never brought me around so I don’t understand why you do the things that you do and are okay with it. I’m not like ya’ll and I’ll never be.” He walked over to Nine and kissed her on the cheek. He could feel that she was tense and irritated but his decision to bounce was solid and he made his move for the door. “Take your time, bae. I’ll be in the car making a few phone calls.”

  I bet you will, Nine thought.

  He disappeared out of the house.

  “I am sorry, ladies, but he is all mine,” Nine joked as she cleared her throat. She was beyond embarrassed by his performance. Getting serious, she said, “I am sorry…he just…it is hard for him to—”

  “What I find jokey is how he can condemn us and yet he is off making a family with you,” Alice said slyly. “Tell me something, Nine. When he fucks you, does he call you cousin?”

  “Excuse me?” Nine yelled.

  “We all know he’s a hypocrite, Nine. Don’t act so surprised. His behavior is like the white man who sleeps with his slaves and then claims he hates niggers. You can’t play both sides. At the end of the day, you must choose,” Alice stated.

  “You would know something about the slave mentality, since you are stuck on light skin and dark skin politics and all.”

  Isabel laughed but stopped when Alice gave her an evil glare.

  “Nine’s right and what you need to do is shut the fuck up, Alice,” Marina yelled. “I’m tired of you bothering Nine and making her feel bad just because daddy left her the money instead of you.” Marina looked over at Nine with pleading eyes, in an effort to ask for forgiveness. Her sunken face gave off a zombie vibe more than anything else. “Please forgive my daughter, Nine.” She placed a thin hand over her heart. “I don’t know what happened between you two that would cause you to cut her out of the family fortune but I support you one hundred percent.”

  “Mama—”

  She jerked her head in her direction. “Mama, nothing,” Marina yelled cutting Alice off. “Even when you were five years old, you were nothing more than a conniving bitch. Don’t know why I would expect you to change when you don’t have it in you. That’s why the only person you could ever befriend in this family was Isabel. Everybody else too smart to hang around you.”

  “Excuse me?” Isabel responded, totally coherent.

  “Please tell me why you felt the need to bring my child’s name into the picture?” Blake asked releasing his tie to allow more air into his lungs. In case he had to blow her ass down. “Alice’s inability to handle life has nothing to do with me or my children.”

  Alice ran out of the dining room and Isabel followed.

  “Now look what you did,” he said looking at Marina. “You’ve upset them both.”

  “Please save the holier than thou attitude, brother,” Marina yelled. “At least I only have one kid who’s fucked up as opposed to four!”

  Everyone gasped.

  Suddenly the affair erupted into a forum, which they used to express their bitter feelings. They yelled about whom Kerrick loved more and whom their mother favored and in the end, the entire event turned out to be a complete spectacle.

  Nine allowed them to speak amongst themselves until she took too much of their resentment into her heart and gave herself a headache. “Settle down,” Nine said beneath the roaring, in a quiet whisper.

  But everyone was too consumed in ego, hate and bravado to consider her soft voice. This was not why she came and had she known, she would’ve refused her aunt’s invitation and found another way to address her concerns.

  She stood up and without raising her voice, every Prophet present grew silent. “I am ashamed of every one of you.” She looked at all of them. “They call us freaks, in-breeders and ungodly and yet you continue to prove them right.”

  Marina stood up and said, “Nine, I wasn’t—”

  “Please do not say anything,” she responded cutting her off. “I cannot take any more on. These problems are a product of grandfather’s sins, not mine.” She looked upon them again. “I am here because I am in the thralls of something that is very important to me. Something that, if done correctly, could set up this family for seven generations. It is a venture that is close to my heart, a wine that I am having made called Francesca.”

  “Francesca?” Victory blurted out. “After daddy’s maid?”

  On cue, Nine tossed a steak knife toward her aunt and it would’ve sliced her face if she hadn’t slumped down, allowing it to stab into the wall instead. In awe, everyone looked at the trembling blade.

  “That maid that you speak of took care of me. She loved me. She nurtured me and made me the woman I am today. And I will not tolerate you or anybody else speaking badly about her in this family.” She lowered her head and slammed a firm fist on the table. “Understood?”

  Everyone, including Victory, nodded in agreement.

  “I have one request and it is that all of you stay out of the spotlight. That you refrain from getting into trouble or bringing any attention to yourselves during this process. For honoring my request, I will increase everyone’s monthly allotments by five percent. Go against what I am asking and I will cut you off completely…maybe for life.” She stood up, walked over to Victory and lowered her head before kissing her softly on the cheek. “Goodbye, Auntie. I am sure dinner was great.”

  ****

  Isabel’s Room

  Alice sat in the corner crying as Isabel did all she could to keep her own sanity and prevent from sinking into the other world with colors and amazing flashes of violence. She had her own problems but Alice was an attention hog.

  “I hate my life,” Alice screamed as her eyes protruded. “Nobody loves me! Nobody cares about me or what I’m going through! It’s as if I’m invisible in this family! As if I’d never been born.”

  Isabel rubbed Alice
’s arm and tried to console her. “You want to do the oochie coochie? I’ll go down on you this time and lick you until you say stop. I don’t care how long it will take.”

  “No!” Alice yelled pushing her off. “I want to understand what is so bad about me that people don’t like me? All I want to do is keep this family together and no one seems to care! What about me!” she yelled stabbing a fist into her palm.

  Isabel positioned her body so that her head was in the center of Alice’s lap, and her back was on the floor, with her knees pointed to the ceiling. She looked up at Alice and said, “Yeah...your mother was acting like a mean bitch! She’s so pressed for money that she doesn’t care that she’s hurting your feelings. I know why you’re upset. Don’t worry, Alice, things will be okay.”

  “Mother?” Alice said coldly. “She didn’t do nothing to me.”

  Confused on which dinner party Alice attended, Isabel said, “She was the one who embarrassed you at the party.” She frowned. “Don’t you remember?”

  Alice shrugged and waved the air. “Oh…uh…yeah…she said a few words but it was Nine who was the meanest in the party. I saw her cruel eyes and the way she looked at me with disapproval. Like she’s better than me. Mother would not have said any of those evil things if Nine didn’t encourage her.”

  Isabel rose up and scooted away from her cousin as she tried desperately to determine who was really crazy.

  She or Alice?

  “Alice, Nine didn’t say anything bad. As a matter of fact, if I’m being honest, I think I saw a hint of pity for you in her eyes. It was as if she finally understood who you are.”

  Isabel tried to diffuse the situation by stating the facts but all Alice could think about was Nine witnessing how much Marina hated her own child.