The family struggled to hold their father down but in his dotage, he gained a whole new kind of strength. Even his youngest son could not hold his father’s feet, nor could his oldest son contain the old man by holding his wrists. Their mother could only stand by and watch in utter shock as her once feeble husband screamed in a voice that was not his own. All the while her sons looked at the eleven-year-old girl who stood at the foot of their father’s bed.
They needed to know what the next step was,
“Tabby! Tabby what do we do now? Tabby!” Don shouted. Frustration was setting in and he was losing his patience.
“Tabby!” Don’s younger brother Adam was in tears now, his emotions were frayed after eight hours of the spiritual battering that he and his family endured. He was at his wit's end waiting for Tabby to put a stop to the madness.
…
Tabby’s body was present but her mind was somewhere else. The scene before her changed suddenly and she was transported back four years previous to the bedroom in her old home. Her seven-year-old self-watched helplessly as her father thrashed about in his bed while his body intermittently contorted into a painful tableau. Her brother Daniel finally managed to tie his father’s one hand to the bedpost before he secured both feet. Suddenly, Hale Kahana’s body went limp while simultaneously, Daniel’s body jumped and shuddered as if he’d been jolted with electricity. Tabby already knew that whatever it was that had possessed her father had now taken a hold of Daniel. His eyes were bloodshot with dark circles beneath them, his cheeks were shallow and he salivated uncontrollably. He was slowly stalking his way toward Tabby like an animal stalking its prey. She was no longer his sister, the thing that possessed him could smell the blood coursing through her veins but what was most intoxicating was the aroma of her fear.
Daniel took a running leap at his sister and was yanked back to the floor. It was Tabby’s father; he managed to untie himself and now had his bonds tied around Daniel’s neck as he yelled at Tabby,
“Ha’alele!”
Tabby had never seen the look of urgent fear on her father’s face before and it scared her to her core. The last thing she heard as she took the basement steps two at a time was the voice of her father invoking a pule (prayer) to release Daniel of the thing that took his body. It wasn’t just a random possession, a kahuna had sent it as a vile curse to harm her father. However, at the most crucial moment, it released her father and jumped into Daniel. Tabby waited for most of the day for her father and Daniel to come out of the house and get her, but they never came. The neighbors saw her sitting by herself on her lawn and asked her where her family might be? She couldn’t say anything to form her speech aright. A few minutes later her neighbors ventured into her home and emerged visibly shaken, an hour and a half later the police were there as the EMT brought the bodies of her father and brother out on gurneys. She never knew what transpired in the basement of her home.
….
Tabby was back in her own body now, the air in the room was freezing cold and the energy wheel in the glass bell jar spun wildly. The smell of sulfur was absent as was the smell of excrement and bile.
This was not a demonic possession.
“Tabby!!! Whadda we do?!!!” Don had a hold of her now. “Tabby snap out of it! We need you!!!”
“Let him go,” Tabby exhaled.
“What?” Don was shocked.
“I said let him go, untie him,” Tabby said.
Adam nearly collapsed; the need to battle against something that only seemed to get stronger each time they attempted to restrain it was now over. His mother Alison, knelt next to him and helped untie her husband. Mr. Layden Hoapili’s body was relaxed and he was breathing easily. The life he led was one filled with hard work and it showed in the number of callouses on his hands and the war mapped lines on his face. But late night meals on the run and drinking took its toll on his body. His family felt relieved that he was his old feeble, useless self again. Of course, they wished he was as strong like before but not in the supernatural way that unhinged their life.
“What now?” Don asked.
“Your father probably had people in his family who were chosen to be the Haka,” Tabby began. “In some Hawaiian families in Ka’u there was one person who was designated the Haka or the medium. That person was trained to channel the spirits of deceased family members and sometimes, the family gods. That’s what’s happening with Mr. Hoapili; because of the state he’s in he’s able to channel these things without a problem,”
Alison gasped, “So when I thought he was talking in his sleep, he was really channeling a family spirit?”
“Yes,” Tabby answered. “So when he began to speak in what all of you thought were strange voices, you all jumped the gun and assumed he was demonically possessed. He’s just trying to relay a message,”
“How did he suddenly get so strong just now?” Adam asked.
“Wouldn't you get pissed if you were trying to talk to your mom and your brother kept trying to hold you down? Same principal here,” Tabby replied.
“So, what do we do now?” Don asked.
“Listen,” Tabby replied
…
AFTER
Tabby rode her bike to Manoa park and found a bench where she could sit and gather her thoughts. She’d learned everything from her father but after his passing, she decided to study every book and every website and every document about exorcisms in every culture. It became her specialty, the thing she'd be known for. The thing that made her grow up quicker than she had to.
The park bench was still damp from the early morning rain but she didn’t care, she needed a moment to rest before exhaustion set in.
“I’ll find the person who did it, Papa, I’ll get revenge for you and Daniel, I will,” Tabby’s tears dropped on the wide blades of grass at her feet as the rains from Aihualama followed her sadness and covered her like a protective veil. It was almost as if she were being absolved of her worries for the day. She made no effort to move from the deluge but sat there in the empty park all by herself.
That moment was a reflection of her life in that she was always surrounded by so many great and unusual circumstances but in the end, she was always alone. Very much alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment