NO LAUA
There is hardly a one among us who is not touched in some shape or form by the insidious crime of kidnapping or hurting a child. In my work, persons gather in my office either for valid retribution or reformation. Other human frailties such as infidelity or greed are everyday occurrences which do not truly merit our services, but that is not to say that whatever transpires without the four walls of my office does not cross the smooth, worn surface of my desk.
A young couple in their early thirties appeared in the news and social media as of late because of the unexplained disappearance of their nine-year-old son Benjamin from their newly renovated Jade street home in Makaha. The parents, Mandy and Warren Evesca claimed that their little one was taken right out of the living room while the mother napped on the couch and the father prepared lunch in the kitchen. Benjamin busied himself on the living room floor with his mother’s cell phone, so that by the time Warren entered the living room with a plate of sandwiches and drinks, his son was gone but the cell phone was still on. The parents immediately reported their son missing and then made their plea on the six ‘o clock news for Benjamin’s safe return. Clearly, the Evasca’s story was too cut and dry as they say, the front door was locked and the latch was off-kilter according to Warren Evesca. Whenever one opened or closed the door, it took two tries to secure it and it made an audible enough noise that even Warren himself would have heard it from the kitchen. The question became how did the intruder enter through the front door without being heard? Mandy was a light sleeper, therefore the same noise from the front door would have roused her from her nap immediately but in accordance with her statement, no such noise took place. Soon the parents became the number one suspects in their son’s disappearance, the authorities so much as said so on the evening news. Once the couple who garnered the sympathies of many, they were now outcast and disgraced and through a friend of mine from the police department, they were now seated in front my desk with no hope left to carry them from day to day.
They were browbeaten and defeated and the filter of love and respect between the two no longer existed, even in their state of exhaustion, they attacked one another with such verbal contempt that one would think they were mortal enemies rather than a married couple. Aunty Rita inquired of Mandy if she had the same cell phone which her son played with on the day of his disappearance. Indeed, she did and my aunt asked her if she would mind finding any photographs which might have been taken from that same mid-afternoon? Mandy began swiping through her phone until she found what my aunt asked for and handed Aunty Rita the phone. My aunt's face was void of expression, when she found what she was looking for a briefly shared her find with Uncle Ivan and Uncle Tiny before I was handed the device. No one would have seen what was in the picture before me if they were not looking for it, it was the last picture taken by Benjamin himself, there were several others before the last one of course, but this one verified everything. I handed the phone over to the parents and urged them to enhance the picture and to look behind Benjamin just off to his left. The hallway closet door was just off to the front of the couch where Mandy slept was wide open, emerging from its confines was a face, just stepping out and heading toward Benjamin.
The couple gasped and dropped the phone.
….………
In less than an hour, the five of us stood in Mandy and Warren’s living room, we had only to wait for Uncle Tiny’s arrival and then we would proceed. I explained to the couple that what took their son was almost a fully formed human that never got its chance to be born and live a full life, and so it felt cheated and it did not want to be alone. It was then that I heard the crunch of tires on the gravel path outside the home, it was Uncle Tiny. Being the bull of a man that he was, he carried the box on one shoulder and placed it on the living room floor and urged me to give him the signal when the time was right. I instructed Warren to step forward and open the closet door and call out to his son, he was hesitant at first but I reminded him of the necessity to do so. He stood there and pulled the door back and began to call out, “Benjamin! Benjamin! Benjamin come out here right now Benjamin! NOW!”
In the distance a meek voice replied calling out for his father, we all heard the sound of hooves walking toward us from somewhere within the two and a half foot by five closet. It came closer and closer as the little voice called out, “Daddy? Daddy?”
What emerged from the empty space was Benjamin but not Benjamin, his hair was tousled in a tangled mess and his brows were thicker than what his parents remember, he still wore his shorts and tank top but his fingernails were a thick brown color and his eyes were a dull red hue. Warren and Mandy screamed in horror as they sought the comfort of each other's arms. It stood at the precipice of the closet and would come no further, all the while aunty Rita, uncle Ivan, and uncle Tiny prayed in Hawaiian and armed themselves with red ‘alae salt and pure water from within a niu. I pulled Warren away from his wife and instructed him to tell the entity to bring Benjamin back and that he would replace Benjamin with a more fitting playmate. Warren did exactly that and the thing that looked like his son expressed a look of confusion, it was at that moment that I gave my uncle Tiny the signal and he opened the box. My uncle who had the strength of an Ox reached into the box and removed a black pig which he carried to the edge of the closet and placed in front of the entity. It’s face contorted into that of a ravenous animal and grabbed the pig and disappeared into the closet, all the while we could hear the poor animal screaming in pain and terror. A second later, little Benjamin Evesca stepped out of the closet, he was pale and weak but very much alive. Uncle Tiny kicked the closet door shut and while I and Aunty Rita walked the small family outside, my uncles busied themselves by nailing the closet door so that it could never open again.
….………
The Evesca family moved to town and were exonerated by the authorities and the public. Once everything passed and became forgotten, the little family of three were able to go back to a normal life. The photograph from Mandy’s phone showed a selfie that Benjamin took, which was one of many. Just behind him off to his left one could see an image of something stepping out of the closet and heading straight toward the little boy, it was the face of Benjamin. During the drive from my Kaimuki office to the Evesca’s house in Makaha, the couple revealed that they’d had a miscarriage well into the pregnancy. The loss was difficult for them since they had already set up a nursery with a bassinet and painted the room with the intention of welcoming home their new child, they had also picked out a name but chose to wait until the infant was home. However, the child never had the chance to live and so it was angry and vengeful. It took out its hate and ire on Benjamin, stealing him away as a permanent playmate for all eternity.
….……..
During my training, my mother paused one afternoon to tell me that life does not begin in the womb for it already exists in the universe or the lani pa’a, the firmament. She said that life, like the universe, was always in a constant state of change and that change is always inevitable. Those who choose to do nothing or live in the past are like pillars of sand and salt, while life itself continues to change and evolve no matter what, the pillars of sand and salt erode and become as dust carried away by the elements. But once in every great while, life sees a glimmer of hope in we human beings and it is kind enough to gift us with something special, that something special happens in the womb. At that moment my mother kissed me on the forehead and said that something special was myself, her son.
Hanson Boy Napualawa
- - - - - - - - - -
Don't miss Mysteries of Hawaii's Ghost Hunters Midnight Tour
Saturday, October 28th, 11:45pm
For more information, check it out HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment