Page 237 of Lau Ahi
I carried that hope with me as I turned off the TV and leaned back into the soft blue and white upholstery of my sofa. The morning room was filled with sun and was the place I’d retreated to when I wasn’t in my bedroom. My home, my bachelorette pad as my parents called it, was in the heart of New Orleans. I’d only lived here for seven weeks before I was thrown into the asylum. It felt like I was walking back into a time capsule when I walked through these doors for the first time but it was welcoming in a way that the people who loved me had kept my home the way I’d wanted it.
“You always watching that thing like something good is going to come on it.”
I looked up at one of my favorite people in the world as she tossed her kitchen towel on her shoulder and gave me the type of motherly look that most people took for granted but one I had missed for more than a dozen years. She was someone that I’d trusted my entire life, held me as I wept over my parents’ graves and filled the void of a playmate when my brother had disappeared. She was also the person who’d kept my house in my absence and ensured my name wasn’t forgotten.
I turned and grinned, watching her put her hands on her hips and cock her head to the side awaiting my answer. “Whatchu expect me to watch, lady? You ain’t ever been mad at me liking the news before, why now?”
“‘Cause I don’t want you to be serious no mo’. You need to go out and live and date or do something.” Her voice was still stern but her eyes softened and I knew she was worried about me. Everyone was walking on eggshells except the person who should’ve.
How quickly she forgot never to underestimate her opponent.
“Ms. Lynn, why can’t I have time to myself?”
Ms. Lynn was in good shape and her honey-brown skin and pressed bob belied her age. She was dressed casually in lounge pants and a loose top that moved as she folded her arms angrily.
“Because that crow is hovering and I don’t know what she has up her sleeve. But it’s something and you know it as well as I do.” Ms. Lynn pointed her finger at me as if I were the crow she was speaking on. Since she wasn’t wrong about what I’d observed I didn’t bother trying to lie to her.
“Things are always happening, Ms. Lynn, but that don’t mean I ain’t prepared.”
My face turned serious my deadly intent clear and she visibly relaxed. Ms. Lynn had been around our family too long and taken too deep in our confidences for me to ever worry about scaring her away with my reality. I was truthfully shocked she hadn’t killed my aunt herself but when I said that her response was she was worried they’d never find me if she did.
That was a crazy amount of love.
She walked over and bent down kissing my head over the back of the couch.
“I worry about you, child. I find it so funny how folks keep coming back to life lately. First you, then your brother and now that big fine Hawaiian brother of yours. Seems like somebody’s protection spell is working overtime for your generation.”
I smiled and closed my eyes in gratitude because I was sure someone’s root work was in fact working overtime. Just like Iwas sure that crow was going to every conjure woman she had in her arsenal to get it to fail. I was sure someone had lost their life since I’d got free from the cage she’d trapped me in.
I patted Ms. Lynn’s hand that lingered on my shoulder to assure her I was okay. “Well, I’m thankful for their hard work but that doesn’t mean I’m not paying attention.”
“I pray so.”
I looked up at her and smiled, wanting to change the subject off a subject that was so heavy. I’d had years to dwell and I wasn’t going to spend my life doing it now that I was free.
“You were banging those pots for a minute. What you got going on in there?”
“Oh, you want to change the subject now that the heat is getting too much? Have you reached out to him?”
Another subject that was too touchy to talk about but she bulldozed right on through. I avoided her eyes instead letting my gaze wander out of the window that an untold number of my ancestors had looked out of. This property had been in our family for over two hundred years and the gratitude I had for knowing my family was immeasurable. This house made me feel closer to them. Connected. Protected. Their souls were on the other side but I knew they’d left their marks on these walls to ensure that no harm would come to the descendants that inhabited this place. I was thankful for the trust that my parents had set up, ensuring that the family properties could never be sold and the Benoit legacy would live on.
“No. I’m tired of begging. I thought after Ori’s wedding that something might come of it but it hasn’t.” I tried not to talk about my brother Beau —Angel— to many people. My heart was broken. I knew people thought I was some type of miracle having been missing for over a decade and being right under their noses. It paled in comparison to us thinking my brother had died as a toddler and yet he’d been a part of our organizationfor years. Being hidden in plain sight was almost a greater tragedy than him being dead. The worst part was that when we did find him he didn’t care about being a Benoit. He was happily Angel, the assassin. Which left me in an odd place. Odd but not unfamiliar.
Alone.
“He’ll come around—”
My head snapped back to hers and I frowned despite the gentle look on her face. “It’s been over a year.”
“And you’re that quick to lose faith? How would you look at us if we’d given up hope of seeing you again?” Her eyes flashed angrily and I knew she was frustrated with me.
“Well, I wish we’d been able to sprinkle thatbring back to lifeserum on the people I miss the most.”
“You’re going to make me hug you until you try to kick me again.”
I laughed as the memory slamming into the forefront of my mind. Ms. Lynn attempting to comfort me and me kicking her and running away because I didn’t want to feel my feelings.
The bell rang before she could put her arms around me and I turned toward the front of the house. My property was downtown and despite its location no one should’ve known I was home. The crow was the only person who knew I was home but she was never one to come down here. Nor was she welcome if she tried.
