Ch 9 - Don't Say the j Word

“Havana will stop at nothing, he is a determined soul.” The priest circled the group holding his incense stick up high.
“Yes, I think we gathered that,” Nada mumbled pressing a fresh tissue against her lip to blot the gathering blood.“How do we stop him?” Farrah asked up righting a surviving lamp table. “There are two ways, the first one you may not like,” he raised his whiskery eyebrows and waited for Farrah to nod. “Go to the person who commissioned him. Plead with them to recall their will, once they agree then there may be a chance Havana will leave in peace.”“And the other?” Farrah placed a few books on the table.“The other is to keep praying and recite the prayers I give you. You must also acquire the Holy ZamZam water from Makkah, use it to sprinkle around your house. That should keep him at bay until he decides to leave on his own accord.”“Do I have to go to Makkah myself or can I buy the water from an Islamic shop?” “It is better to go yourself, or ask someone to fetch it for you. The bottles in the shop are old. Fresh water works best.”“We still don’t know who sent him.” Nada interrupted rising up to help her mom.“Yes we do. We do indeed. Tell me, have you had any visitors to your house recently?”Farrah straightened up and stared at the priest. “Yes. My sister came for a few weeks.”“And how is your relationship with her?” The priest asked casually turning his back to the shocked trio.“Just what are you implying? My daughter would hurt her own sister?” Naani stamped her stick against the dusty floorboards sending up a cloud of dust.The priest remained silent.“We get on fine. It’s not like we’re over friendly, but we stay in touch regularly.”“Did you notice any odd behavior from her? Anything missing from the house? Or anything appearing that shouldn’t be there?”“Yes!” Nada dropped the broken wood she was collecting. “My clothes went missing, then just as we were leaving the house they appeared, all torn and dirty on the hallway floor.”“Yes, that’s true. Her clothes did turn up after my sister left to go back to Pakistan.”“What else did you noticed?”“I saw Aunty give me dirty looks when she thought I wasn’t looking. Her kids don’t like me much either, they always make sarcastic remarks about what I’m doing or where I’ve been.”“Have any object appeared in your house?”“Like what?” Farrah moved closer to the priest.“Like tightly bundled hair, or a parcel of paper, welded nails or cotton thread that has been bound together?” The priest’s rheumy eyes glinted.“No. Nothing like that has been found.” Nada shook her head.“Yes,” whispered Farrah at the same time. “I’m sorry Nada, I didn’t want to scare you, so I didn’t tell you.”“What?”“Oh sweetie! I’m sorry, but I found something in your room. It was in your bed, under your mattress protector. I found it when I was doing the washing.”Nada’s stomach lurched. What had her mom found?Farrah opened her purse and pulled out a plastic Ziploc bag. Nada squinted and reached out for it.“Argh!” Nada shrieked as the bag slipped through her fingers and landed at her feet.The priest shuffled closer to retrieve the bag, he held it up in the dim light and then lowered it turning it over and over in his palms. Inside was a bundle of light brown hair, wrapped so tight that it resembled a body of a furry mouse, there was a few strands of long hair that escaped from one end acting as the tail and four shorter strands that poked out of the body of hair, the feet. “Scurrying mice,” the priest murmured to himself.  “Pests, rodents…”“What? What does that mean?” Nada ran her hands over her hair wondering if that bundle belonged to her.“You must go home and search every corner for anything that doesn’t belong. Then if you find something you must dispose of it that same day, throw it in a flowing river, burn it in the garden. But you must dispose of it straight away. How long have you had this?”“A few weeks,” Farrah bent her head ashamed.“Mm. What have you decided? Will you speak to your sister?”“It will damage your relationship if you accuse her Farrah.” Naani warned rising from her seat.“My life is already damaged. I need this to end.” Farrah replied.“Are you really going to accuse her? What if she didn’t do it?” “Who else could take Nada’s clothes? Plant this … this… mousein her room?”“Child you must remember, even if your sister does agree to call Havana off, will he leave? He has his own agenda. You must be careful not to enrage him further.” The priest closed the distance between them and placed a translucent hand on her arm. Farrah could see the blue veins throbbing and immediately turned away holding back a sob. Suddenly, she felt a wave of heat shoot up her arm, through her neck and into her brain where it exploded in a white hot flash. Her eyes closed on their own accord and mind traveled and soared as images flashed across her eyelids, images that didn’t make sense, all jumbled up in a broken jigsaw. She saw her sister, her nieces, her daughter, her house. She gasped as the bleariness sharpened and the image cleared – she could now see her house, a woman was walking up the stairs with a small brown envelope tucked under her arm. Yes, there she was heading towards Nada’s room. Her pale hand dipped into the envelope and pulled out the mouse shaped bundle, hurrying she lifted the covers and slid her hand in. When it emerged the bundle was gone. As the woman smirked and closed the bedroom door, Farrah saw who had sent the terror into her life. The priest removed his hand and like a light the images blinked out vanishing from Farrah’s mind.“But, but…I don’t understand. Why would she do such a thing?” Farrah clutched her chest breathing heavily. The air was too thick for her lungs and she doubled over panting with knowledge.“I cannot say. I have done too much already.”“Mum! Are you okay? What happened?” Nada wrapped her arms around her mom and pulled her up.“It’s not your aunty. Although it probably was her fault, but it was unintentional on her part,” she turned to the priest. “Why? And how do you know all this? Why didn’t you tell me before?”“I only see things as I see them, images and information are disorganized until something happens to clear them. The plastic bag helped make sense of it all. Now will you confront this woman? Or shall I prepare the prayers?”Farrah’s eyebrows drew together in concentration. “Prepare the spells. Confronting this woman will only make it worse.”Nada slid her hand into her mums hot one, she tugged herself closer and whispered, “Mum, who sent the J word?”