My mother handed me her phone and headed straight out the front door, “how did this guy even get my phone number?”
I called after her, completely ignoring me she walked toward the Hawaiian man where they both exchanged a hug.
….……..
“How have you been Dora?” Boy had grown from the young teenager she remembered to a fully grown mature man.
“I’ve never forgotten what your parents did for my Theodore,” Dora became misty-eyed as she reminisced over the reason as to why her son’s life was saved.
“It was one of my parents best accomplishments, I learned much from that experience,” Boy’s eyes twinkled with fondness while recalling the moment that his mother and father brought Theodore Manley back to life.
“What can I do for you Boy?” Dora asked knowing that Boy didn’t just show up for small talk.
“It’s actually what I’m going to do for you, do you mind if we take a drive around the area?” Boy gestured toward the door and Dora was more than glad to agree. Kealoha came around and opened the door to the back seat and waited until Dora was comfortable. Boy seated himself on the other side of the old woman and the Imperial Crown drove off down the street. “I have to ask you to stop your search into Joe Black’s life, it’s not a good thing. Literally, you should let dead bodies lie.”
Boy knew that Dora was a relentless researcher and that once she got started there was no stopping her.
“What is this about? Is there some criminal element involved? Is my life in danger? I’ve survived too many threats to ever give up a good story Boy. That’s been my career, that’s who I am,” Always straight to the point and never one to mince words or dilly dally, Dora was a force of nature.
“You’re so much like my mom, I can appreciate your resolve but you’ve gotten too close with this one. A contract has been taken out by one of Joe Black’s surviving accomplices, so for your own piece of mind I’m asking you to let this one go and forget about it.” Boy ever more like the parent than Dora was, put her at ease, but at the same time, Boy was very serious.
“I’ve told you that I’m not afraid Boy, I’ve been threatened before so no contractual hit is going to scare me,” Dora was very flippant in her reply but she was not expecting what she was going to hear next.
“It’s not that kind of contract Dora, it’s a curse, and it’s not on you, it’s on your son. It’ll go away if you drop your investigation,” Boy eyes never left Dora’s, they were very intense and pierced through to her soul. " Just stop, that’s all you have to do and it will go away and your son will be safe. Otherwise, everything my parents did to save your son’s life will become undone.”
At that point, Boy’s car was back at Dora’s home where she was let out by Kealoha, but not before Boy parted her company with a hug. The gravity of what Boy told her suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks and she broke down crying on the sidewalk.
….………
The big black car drove off and left my mother crying on the sidewalk in front of our house. I rushed outside to check on her, I helped her get to her feet and her eyes were red from crying and I was pissed. “That mother fucker, I’ll kick his ass!”
“Don’t be stupid!” My mother hissed and slapped me across the head. “That man’s parents were responsible for saving your life! Don’t you ever let me hear you say that again!”
….………
BOY’S OFFICE
“He crumbled to the sidewalk right in front of me, his body contorted in a strange way. His hands and arms retracted into his body and his spine became crooked. He couldn’t speak, he just…….he just mumbled and drooled all over himself…….I’ll stop the investigation…just…just don’t hurt my son,” Dora looked down the entire time, too afraid to make eye contact with the person sitting just off to the side from Boy.
“She’s agreed to stop the investigation and all the physical information she’s gathered will be thrown away and burned. The online information will be deleted, are we agreed to let this go and put it to rest?” Boy asked the sender of the curse. Ivan, Tiny, and Rita observed silently as they always did while Tabby took notes on her laptop.
“It’s good,” the young hapa girl confirmed. “Consider the curse lifted.”
She stood up and walked around Boy’s desk to where Dora sat. Extending her hand in a truce, Dora took it in hers and stood up to give the young woman a hug. “I’m Joe Black’s granddaughter, let’s hope we never have to meet again, okay?”
There was no answer from Dora, stricken with fear she could only nod in agreement.
….…….
DAYS LATER
My mother told me a strange story about how when I was a little boy I died from spinal meningitis. She and my father were so grief-stricken that they took my lifeless body to a Hawaiian couple who were rumored to be kahuna that possessed miraculous healing powers. Whether it was true or not, my parents were desperate and when they went to see Victoria and Kahi Napualawa, they were told to leave my body with them and that they would call my folks when the ceremony was done. A month later, my parents received a call from the couple and immediately rushed to their house. My mother claims that when they walked into a bedroom in the back of the Napualawa’s home, they found me sitting up, fully healthy and completely cured of my spinal meningitis. She and my dad were thankful to the Napualawa’s ever since. With the Joe Black case she was meddling where she should not have been meddling, it was the same thing I told her before, to let it go. The power that cured me all those years before was taken away by one single curse. She was forced to give up the case in order to save my life. It turns out that Boy was witness to my resurrection all those years ago. That's why and how she knew him. Mom still felt an obligation to that family. That’s completely understandable.
Nowadays when she wants to go out on dates, I’m not so hard on her. She deserves her moments of happiness, after all, she’s earned it, no thanks to me.
Wow!
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