The Soulkeepers (9 page)

Jacob said this absently because the unusual
movement of a puddle at his feet distracted him. The water swept
towards him to one side of the dip in the parking lot, as if it
were blown by the wind. Only, there was no wind. In fact, there
wasn't even an incline. The weirdest thing was that he could hear
it; the water seemed to hum as it moved as if the molecules were
whispering to him.

"Do you hear that?" he asked Malini.

"Hear what?" Malini's eyebrows scrunched as
she saw the water run out of the hole and flow between his feet
toward the grocery store. "That's odd," she said.

They turned their heads to see where the
water was flowing and saw Dane Michaels and Phillip Westcott
saunter toward them. Dane looked bored but when he spotted them his
expression morphed into something like relief. Why Dane would be
relieved to see he and Malini, Jacob didn't know but he didn't like
it. The two boys were smoking and Dane took one last drag on his
cigarette before flicking it at the pavement.

"If it isn't our two special friends, P.S.
and Kung Fu," Phillip said.

Dane slammed a fist into Phillip's shoulder.
"Don't be rude, Phil," he said.

Phillip looked confused but shut his
mouth.

Dane scanned Malini from head to toe and
then raised an eyebrow in Phillip's direction. Jacob wasn't a mind
reader but he was fairly sure Dane had just realized Malini was a
girl, too. If looks could kill, Dane would have fallen over dead
right then because Jacob didn't like his sudden appreciation of
Malini. He didn't like it at all.

"Dane," Jacob said. It sounded less like a
greeting than a threat.

"Hey, we were just on our way to my house.
Why don't you guys come hang out with us?" Dane said. His
expression was stiff.

"I don't think so, Dane. We're busy," Jacob
replied.

Dane ignored him and snaked his arm around
Malini's waist. "Malini, come hang out with me," he said,
softly.

"Don't touch me." She pushed him away. "Have
you been drinking?"

Jacob could smell it too, a faint spicy
sweetness that hung in the air around the two boys.

"Oh, come on. You can't be having much fun
with Lau. Come with me." Dane pressed his hand into the small of
Malini's back.

Malini slapped his hand away. "Go home,
Dane."

Phillip laughed. "Looks like she wants to go
with Jacob, Dane. Guess you're not enough fun for her."

And that was the end of the fake politeness.
Dane's face warped into rage.

"Is that it?" Dane moved toward Malini
again, grabbing her wrist. "You wanna have more fun? I can be fun."
Malini tried her hardest to push him away but Dane dug his fingers
into her like he had something to prove, turning her skin red
around his grip.

"Come on Dane, that's enough. Back off,"
Jacob said. He set the groceries down. His fists clenched and he
took a step forward.

"What's wrong, Jacob? You don't want Malini
to have any fun without you?" Dane said, then leaned forward and
ran his tongue up the side of Malini's face. Phillip laughed
hysterically but Malini looked like she might vomit as she
struggled to free herself.

Jacob didn't wait to see if she would
succeed. His fist shot out toward Dane's jaw and he threw his
weight into it. Dane's head snapped back, forcing him to retreat a
step. His hand reflexively shot up to the point of impact, wiping
away the blood that bubbled out of his split lip. Malini didn't
miss the opportunity to free herself and lunge behind Jacob.

Phillip stopped laughing.

"You are going to wish you never set foot in
Paris, freak," Dane said.

And then, the side of Jacob's jaw exploded.
Before he could recover, Phillip's hands were on his shirt, and
then holding his arms. Dane pummeled his stomach and chest. With
each hit, pain radiated and the taste of blood filled his
mouth.

But Jacob wasn't giving up. He knew how to
fight. It was the one benefit of the time he'd spent living in
public housing. He turned his body sideways, shoved his shoulder
into Phillip and sank a sidekick into Dane's knee. But Phillip was
stronger than Jacob hoped and he couldn't get his arms loose to
block Dane's punches. He took one to the face and felt his lip
split open. Another and his eye started to swell. The hurt wasn't
as bad as the loss of his full range of vision.

Jacob could hear Malini
screaming as he took blow after blow, the pain driving him toward
the edge of consciousness. What he worried about most was Malini.
If he passed out, what would Dane do to her? He had to protect her.
No matter what happened to him, Jacob couldn't let them hurt Malini
and somehow he knew they would. With everything he had left, he
turned his face towards her and mouthed
Run
!

That's when he heard the hum again from the
water at his feet. It was like when he was little and he would
place his hand on the speaker of his father's stereo. The buzz
would tickle his fingers. Only now, the hum made his whole body
prickle.

His thoughts became clear and quick; so
quick that everything around him seemed to move in slow motion.
Dane's arm retracted. Malini's mouth opened as if to scream and
Phillip's head nodded at Dane, but whatever sounds they made didn't
reach Jacob.

His body was a string map. Every finger and
toe was the end of a string that was tied to the center of his
chest, right over his heart. The strings were tight and when he
strummed them with his mind they played a note, the same note as
the water. In that moment everything felt connected. Using the hum
was instinctual. It was like knowing what to do with his kidneys.
He didn't have to understand how they worked, they just did.

With a new strength, he wrenched his arms
free from Phillip's grip. As Dane's fist neared his head, he
gathered the hum tightly inside and then let go. His arms flew out
towards Dane and he expected them to pound into his chest, to push
him. But he missed. Jacob's arms stopped short of Dane's chest but
those strings inside of him released.

Like a slingshot, the hum shot towards Dane
but instead of a stone flying loose, the rain started
again—sideways. Not from the sky but from everything wet: the
pavement, the trees, and the tops of the cars in the parking lot.
It came from behind Jacob, like someone had turned on a fire hose.
In a mighty gust, the water washed Dane and Phillip against the
wall of Westcott's grocery and knocked the air out of both of them.
Jacob stared in shock. The impact was so strong he hoped the boys
weren't dead. The water fell to the pavement as abruptly as it had
come.

After moments of painful silence, he was
relieved to hear a sharp intake of breath from the two boys,
followed by plenty of coughing and spitting. He didn't press his
luck. He grabbed the groceries and Malini's hand.

"Let's get the hell out of here," he
said.

"What the hell was that?" Malini gasped,
falling into step. They hurried up the sidewalk towards Laudner's
Flowers and Gifts.

"I don't know. I guess…weather."

"No, Jacob. That was not weather. That was
some kind of miracle. Did you see the water wash those two away
when you pushed Dane?"

"It was a coincidence. It had to be."

"Were you just there? Did you not see
Phillip fly over your head? He was behind you Jacob! The water
washed him away. And look at me! I'm dry as a bone. If it was the
weather, why am I not wet?"

"I don't know… I don't know."

"What?"

"I don't know what happened, okay? Let's
just forget it ever happened."

Malini narrowed her eyes and filled her
cheeks with air. Her body stopped moving. He pulled her hand gently
but she stood her ground.

"I'll tell you one thing,
you are not going to be able to forget about
that
anytime soon." She pointed at
his face.

Jacob turned to see his reflection in the
window of his uncle's shop. His left eye was a swollen red slit and
blood from his lip oozed down his chin. He dabbed it with his
finger. The door opened and John stepped onto the sidewalk, his
mouth twisting into a grimace.

"Aw hell, Jacob! Could you possibly make my
life any more difficult?" John lifted the groceries from Jacob's
arms. "Your Aunt Carolyn is going to have a field day with this.
Get in the car!"

He did as he was told.

John asked Malini if she needed a ride
somewhere but she insisted she was meeting her dad at his office.
He didn't ask twice.

As John pulled away, Jacob watched Malini
through the window of the truck. She remained standing, on the same
spot of sidewalk, staring after him with her lips parted slightly.
Her expression was unforgettable, like she had just seen a ghost…or
a miracle.

The Not So Ordinary
Sunday

Every day with the Laudners was bad but, for
Jacob, Sundays were the worst. They were Catholic, which meant they
dressed up in their nicest clothes and attended church every Sunday
morning at nine o'clock. The Laudners had a specific pew where some
Laudner had sat in their Sunday best for one hundred and fifty
years. Apparently, they had never missed mass, but as the story
goes, twenty-five years ago a visiting family unknowingly sat in
the pew before the Laudners arrived. The priest politely asked them
to move.

Jacob struggled to understand the meaning of
this Sunday ritual. His family had never practiced any religion.
He'd met religious people on Oahu, but he filed the whole concept
of religion in the same part of his brain where he kept information
on Greek mythology and Santa Claus. It wasn't that he thought
people were stupid for believing, he just thought they were
naive.

The worst part was remembering all of the
rules. None of the Laudners ate breakfast before church in order to
keep the sacrament of Holy Communion sacred— whatever that meant.
He wasn't allowed to take communion because he wasn't Catholic, but
he was also not allowed to eat breakfast. So, stomach growling and
head nodding, he'd endure the hour long service and try his best to
tolerate the stand, sit, and kneel routine.

After church, John would pick up Aunt
Veronica from the Paris nursing home for brunch. Aunt Veronica's
daughter Linda, son–in-law, Mark and their two twin girls would
drive from Morton to have brunch with the Laudners. Linda insisted
that they couldn't possibly pick up her mother themselves with the
added travel from Morton and John said he was more than happy to do
it.

Everyone would finally join together around
the large pine table around one o'clock. By that time, Jacob was
starving and regularly snuck food from the refrigerator when no one
was looking. A slice of ham was his favorite because he could shove
it all in his mouth and swallow in a matter of seconds.

This particular Sunday was exceptionally
stressful as the fallout from his fight was still fresh. His eye
was an obnoxious purple and his lip was puffy and probably
infected. John had tried to back him up—turns out Dane had a
reputation for trouble—but Carolyn wouldn't hear it. She hadn't
punished him exactly, just yelled long tirades until Jacob felt
small and tired. Carolyn had never acted as if she liked Jacob. The
fight didn't help.

This Sunday, he was determined to keep a low
profile and go with the routine, not an easy task considering Aunt
Veronica didn't like him either. She'd never told him so. Actually,
she never told anyone anything. Dementia had rendered her mute
years ago. But she would point at Jacob and hiss if he got too
close. He was pretty sure that wasn't affection spraying out from
between her teeth. Luckily he could smell her coming. The old lady
stench was warning enough to beat feet.

He'd legitimately inhaled several pieces of
fried chicken when his cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket.
Carolyn looked positively bewildered as she glanced at John and
then around the table.

"It's my phone," he offered.

"Who could that be?" she asked him with a
sharp look.

Jacob slid open the phone and read a text
message from Malini asking him to dinner. When he raised his head,
Carolyn was glaring at him, like a predator ready to pounce on its
prey. He wasn't thrilled about being the prey.

"My friend Malini is inviting me to dinner
at her house tonight. Can I go?"

Carolyn's head shook and she began to say no
but John interrupted, talking over his wife as if he couldn't see
her obvious disapproval, "Of course, Jacob, I'll give you a
ride."

To say he was surprised at John's
concurrence would have been the understatement of the year. After
an awkward silence, everyone went back to his or her food. The rest
of the table began a conversation about the fried chicken
recipe.

"Was that Malini I saw you with yesterday?"
John asked him, quietly.

"Yeah. But she had nothing to do with it,"
he whispered. "I just know her from school."

"She's Jim Gupta's daughter," John said. It
wasn't a question. The town was too small to not know the one
Indian family who lived there. "He lives right by his office. I
know just where it is."

At quarter to six, John and Jacob excused
themselves from a lively conversation about why Linda and Mark
didn't visit Aunt Veronica more often to drive to the Guptas. He
thanked John as soon as he climbed into Big Blue.

"It's no problem Jacob. I'm glad to hear
you're making friends. I want you to feel like you're at home here.
It's about time you settled in."

He nodded to be polite but cringed when he
thought of settling in to Paris. This was a resting point, a
waiting room until he could save enough money to go to his real
home.

"I need to tell you, I asked about your
mother's things. The police won't release them because they're
considered evidence. I'm sorry."