Chapter 11
Chapter 11
We were all in my mother's courtyard. Festive balloons and colorful streamers hung from the trees, full of the delicious chocolate guava cake Tia Carmen baked.
Mami had always gone all out for my birthdays, but this year was different. I invited only those I was closest to. Today reminded us of my fate, inevitably ticking down along with time. I buried my thoughts, parts of me not wanting to believe this was reality, that this would be my last birthday spent at home.
My wedding day to Meroveo De Los Santos would be occurring in a matter of weeks. I was being forced into marriage with a man I didn't know.
Left no choice but to accept his proposal. Cruelly forcing me to say yes. He was a man whose darkness I could feel touching the corners of my soul.
After that night at Lazuli, my mother made no attempt to run or leave the family again.
The sorrow in her eyes when she came into the room still haunts me to this very day. I remember her hands shaking as she took my face into her palms, eyes broken in pain, tears streaming down her cheeks as she told me my fate.
"The only way to survive a marriage with a man like him is to make him love you."
I had never seen her independent spirit so defeated… so helpless. She was the epitome of strength and defiance. To see her so shattered broke my heart.
She refused to give me any details, only telling me I would be Meroveo's bride.
Mami always told me that she wanted me to be free to love who I wanted and that love would awaken for me in its own time. Someone I could love… Someone like Aristeo.
I knew my mother would never have accepted the marriage if she had seen another way.
I would have pushed more– demanded more –had it not been for the unease, the startling way her usual kind eyes would freeze in pained horror.
I understood her silence for the first time in my life.
Whatever the repercussions would have been, they would have devastated us.
Demitria Solomon would have never given him her permission otherwise. I knew that with the entirety of my being.
Meroveo wasn't a good man. Something otherworldly and calculating was under the surface of the immaculately dressed gentlemen he presented to the world.An unknowable shadow intertwined with his soul.
Mami had been on a silent campaign against Tio Franco, calling him the fox in the hole, a coward blinded by greed.
The day we came back, he was nearly close to tears of joy. It was a spectacle, welcoming us home and making a show of forgiving my mother. Mami made it known that day, in front of everyone, that she was only a part of the family in name alone.
And she's kept her promise.
Mami refused to bless the upcoming batch of rum that was going to the market, refusing to bless the soil for the upcoming season of the sugarcane fields. Something she had been doing for over sixteen years. This tradition spanned generations even further, and it was a sacred ritual of blessing for the crops in our family.She withheld her prayers. Instead, cursing the crops in front of my uncle, promising that one day, the crimes of his greed would bleed red in retribution.
She refused to enter the great house and hadn't exchanged a word or glance with Tio Franco. His usual bull-headed grumpiness had diminished, and he'd been the happiest I'd ever seen him.
Mami now only wore white or blue, still carrying herself with absolute dignity, keeping her hair covered, secluding herself, working her craft, and healing her clients.
Samara refused to accept when I told her, raising hell and threatening to go to the police, but no one would listen. Everyone stayed silent on the subject. She bravely confronted Tio Franco, which did nothing but earn her a harsh reprimand from her grandfather.
Samara and Julian were on the old karaoke machine, belting out songs, singing in terrible unison.
Amias covered his ears, and chocolate frosting was spread on his face. Tia Carmen clapped her hands joyfully, singing along, and Mami shook her head at the antics of my cousins. Samara's mother looked on disapprovingly at her children. At the same time, Jamira and Lucia fanned themselves, getting their cards read by Tia Delphie, and Anthea was nursing the newest baby girl in the family. Despite being quieter than my regular birthdays, this was the best one yet.
Julian surprised me by taking a few days off from university to celebrate my birthday. We went camping on the beach like we used to when we were kids. We ate roasted fresh fish wrapped in banana leaves cooked by the fire and exchanged the same old scary stories we had always heard.
We recounted the tale of La Sirenas , mermaids who were said to dwell deep in the waters. These mythical daughters of Our Lady sometimes lured men to their deaths, giving treasures to those they favored.
Samara loved them. She claimed they did the work of God.
Julian, Samara, and Amias competed on the most creative backflips from the pier. Julian was up to his same childish pranks, putting pinching crabs in the twins' tent.
The company was a much-needed distraction.
"Happy Birthday, pretty Dove," Aristeo whispered down to me. Aristeo and I had only spoken a little one-on-one since the night of the dance, but it wasn't for his lack of trying.
I avoided him, keeping our conversations short when we returned to school and turning down his requests to walk me to class or have lunch together. I knew it hurt him, but I feared what Meroveo would do if he found out.
I was now publicly his fiancé, and I didn't want Aristeo to get hurt in any way. Keeping my distance would keep him safe. Mami told me Aristeo wouldn't take no for an answer when he overheard the twins talking about my party at school and insisted on being there.
"Thank you for coming ." I smiled at him, meaning the words, genuinely missing his company. He was my friend before Meroveo, my first and only crush, and he deserved an explanation.
"Dove, do you think we could talk alone?" Aristeo asked politely, taking my hand. His green eyes looked down at me urgently, begging me not to refuse him.
"We can," I said, moving away from the sounds of the twins now on the mic and into my mother's garden. The trees would offer us privacy. I caught my mother's weary eye and heard her silent warning of caution.
" T hings were supposed to be different for us. From what our families wanted," Aristeo began, rubbing the back of his head nervously.
The towering plants hidden away in Mami's yard shielded us. The large elephant leaves and thick vines offered a semblance of privacy.
"Just our families?" I teased softly, trying to lighten the mood, wanting to finally know if he would have given me his ribbon if Meroveo hadn't interfered that night.
"No." Aristeo smiled wistfully. "I wish I had wrapped the ribbon around your wrist." His eyes were shining with emotion.
"Me, too," I admitted sadly, reminding myself that whatever was between us could never be.
"I refuse to accept this, Dove." Aristeo stepped closer to me, his hand going to my cheek. "You can't marry a man like him. He doesn't deserve someone as sweet as you." Cold anger reflected in his eyes."I'm not afraid of him or his family name. I want to protect you," Aristeo said valiantly. I looked up at him, touched that he cared, but I couldn't help but think his words were na?ve and foolish.
Everyone should be afraid of Meroveo.
"Don't push me away anymore, Dove," he gritted his teeth.
"I don't want anything to happen to you. I couldn't stand it if he hurt you. Try to understand, Aristeo," I pleaded, knowing it was impossible.
"Dove," he whispered, pulling me into him, and I realized then just how close we were. He smelled good and clean, with no hint of spice or lingering trace of warm tobacco or heady mint. "Let me kiss you. Let me at least have that," he whispered, looking into my eyes as he gently pulled me closer.
My heartbeat thundered in my chest as the soft flutters kicked up again in my belly, and he closed the distance between us. I've always wanted my first kiss to be with him. I closed my eyes, giving him my silent permission, feeling his hand cup my face. Our lips were centimeters apart, so close that I could still smell the rich chocolate on his breath.
But before his lips could land on mine, I felt an odd sensation on my legs.
Something crawled under my dress, pulling me out of my dreamy haze.
It felt cold and wet, slowly tickling, wrapping, and moving up my leg toward my thighs. Glossy, scaly, and smooth, a sudden flick of something wet against my skin.
I screamed, jumping away, looking down, and my heart stopped at the sight.
On the floor was a snake.
It flicked its long tongue in and out. The alarming signature of dark brown diamond markings on its back clearly indicated a barba amarilla , a yellow chin. Its body was large and coiling on the floor.
Its bite is fatal, and the venom is known for melting through flesh and bones in minutes. It continued to flick its tongue out repeatedly. Its yellow pupils inhumanly focused on me, tearing through me, angry and accusatory… familiar.
"Get away from it!" Aristeo said frantically, stepping in front of me protectively and grabbing a metal rake to strike and attack.
The snake bared its fangs furiously at him, a long and insidious hiss filling the air as it slithered closer to us.Its sole focus was on Aristeo. He couldn't stab it, no matter how many times he tried to strike.
"No," I yelled.
The snake stopped moving, turning its eerie attention to me as it lowered back to the ground and crawled on its belly.
"I'm yours," I said frantically, pleadingly, ignoring Aristeo's bewilderment. My eyes never left the slits that stared back at me as if understanding my words.
It lingered for a few more agonizing moments before returning to the maze of plants.
T ia Carmen lit several white candles in the yard. At the same time, Mami created a sacred V eve symbol on the floor using a special powder of grounded pearls, black salt, holy thistle, cornmeal, and vervain roots.
Vervain – Verbena officinalis - the sacred herb of Our Lady, used for spiritual protection to ward off evil. I had seen her perform this ritual only once when I was a little girl and a neighbor's daughter got sick. Nearly dying from a fever after she claimed to see a woman dressed in black by one of the old ruins calling her to come play with her. No doctor's medicine could bring her back from the coma she had fallen into. After performing this ritual, supplicating to the lady and protective spirits, the girl woke the following day and fully recovered. Mami forbade us from ever going near the old abandoned mill.
Not all the spirits that dwelled on the islands were good, like the momo. Some parts of Salamanca were notoriously haunted. Sometimes, you could hear the sound of chains rattling and dragging with the tortured wails and moans of the dead.
Mami always warned that there were some spirits of the earth that humans should never know, the old gods, that, when called upon, became one with their souls.
My mother used her gifts and faith to help heal people, just as others could use their gifts to harm, hurt, control, and possess others. Those who worked with malignant spirits used supernatural forces for power.
Meroveo was born with one of those souls.
I watched as my mother carefully drew out the sigil of Our Lady under the Banyan tree, the moon's halo high in the sky. The Sacred Heart she created glowed under the light of the white candles.
In the middle of the flames, contained by the intricate curves and lines, the V eve acted like a door between the spirit and the mortal world, a gate to the crossroads.
Samara stood beside Tia Delphie, who was chanting, shaking the rattle gourd louder following the sacred rhythm of the drums Anthea played. Dancing shadows flickering in the dark, the spirits surrounding us, the air heavy with the presence of the hallowed. We were no longer alone.
The veil between the two worlds was lifted.
I watched as my mother killed a white guinea hen, letting the blood drip onto the sacred symbol, the sacrifice of blood needed as an offering. My mother wiped my body with the branches of the holy leaves while calling Our Lady. I closed my eyes, feeling the brush of the cooling spray of seawater on my skin. Her voice rang out loud in supplication.
"Blessed mother of the seas
Mother of all living things
Mother of the deep and sacred waters,
You who wear the seven skirts of the seas
Hear your children
Come to our aide."
The trees bristled as she recited the prayer fervently with command, banishing the evil spirit in the language of our ancestors.
The wind solemnly responded to our prayer. Between the scent of myrrh and sage, I heard the whisper of Our Lady's answer.
Tears streamed down my face, knowing that this time, the ritual would not work.