Marine Snow's
Ep. 8: Funeral Home
Throughout the rest of the trip, I was silent. Not interested in seeing or calculating the number of changes that occur in this place. The faster the taxi goes, the thinner the oxygen my brain consumes. Bad state of affairs. With the whole body barely able to work together, it felt very impossible to face the whitewashed house on Alexander street. For the first time in my life, I have no plans.
A few minutes later, I tried to lighten the load in my mind by reading Hamlet. I finished Scene IV and V a few days ago. Now, the beginning of Act II has been opened. Without reading it, my brain had already brought out the outline of the story.
Housed in one of the rooms in Polonius' house, the man with two children was giving duties to his loyal servant, Reynaldo. Delivering money and a note to his first child, Laertes, who was in France. Shortly after Reynaldo left, Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius, came saying she was terrified.
Hamlet came into the woman's room in a state of chaos. His face was pale, there was no hat he used to wear, his socks dirty and sagging up to his ankles. Ophelia had never seen Hamlet act like that before. What surprised the girl even more was when Hamlet locked her wrist, nodded three times, then sighed as deeply as possible to let the grief in the man's heart out.
“Are you sure you're okay? Your face has become paler since you woke up.”
I closed Hamlet, raised my head, and stared at the reflection of my face in the small rearview mirror inside the taxi. Dominic's words are correct. No one can deny the power of God in the human body, I murmured somewhat annoyed. Now, I can't lie that I'm okay.
Dominic snorted a few seconds later. “I've sent Mrs Johnson a message that you're sick and need Dr's help. Hawkins promptly. Your family doctor must be on his way or he could be sitting in the living room and waiting for you.”
My time for thinking and expression grew narrower when the taxi we were riding in entered Joffre Avenue. My memory of the road very close to my house was moving fast. I used to spend a lot of time cycling and running with Dad and Dominic there. We do it every morning on holidays.
The driver turned the cab around like Dominic's. Alexander Street's. The speed of the taxi got lower as the man beside me told me the characteristics of my house. White paint, a sunflower-patterned door in a vase in the center, as well as a chimney on the left wing. The driver nodded, then gave a sigh of relief. Found her.
“211C, Alexander Street, Memphis,” he said. “Travel is quite long and stressful, Mr.”
Dominic laughed crisply while handing over the taxi fare to the Driver. “Thank you, Joseph. I hope you didn't tell me about the kidnapping I was doing.”
While receiving his payment, Joseph did not know who, nodding steadily. “If this is done for the good of Mr. Johnson, my mouth will remain locked.”
Waw. I didn't expect Dominic to conspire with the cab driver just to take me home. He's really outrageous. At any rate, I will definitely reply to every detail of his pretentious behavior as soon as possible. But not now. Later, after I made it through the house with all the events and memories that were in it.
“Come out, Aiden,” Dominic said slowly. After taking a deep breath, he continued. “You don't want to make Victoria wait too long, do you?”
With Dominic's words ending and the debate in my mind, my body moved. My pantofel shoes were on Alexander Street asphalt for 2 years when Dominic took my briefcase and backpack in the trunk. The Memphis Autumn Wind came back to my face, greeting me, and reminding me of my first encounter with Victoria Black, 11 years ago.
Now, Joseph's cab started walking away from where I was standing. I saw him turn and disappear at the intersection between Alexander Street and Central Avenue. I then thought, right now, nothing can get me back to my comfort and safety zone in Nashville.
It's too late to go back, Aiden.
“Aiden? You it?”
That heavy, half-ragged voice made me look. I stared at the tall, burly figure standing a few steps from the open door of my house, with all the hatred I had. That man made a big mistake in my past. And now, look what he's doing! Is he trying to be funny by welcoming me?
“Oh, good afternoon, Mr Black!” Dominic sprinted past my yard almost covered in brown leaves and immediately shook David Black's hand. “I'm sorry,” murmured later.
David, the man, smiled wryly. “Thank you, Dom. Thank you also for bringing Aiden back.”
Dominic turned his head towards me who was still standing by the side of the road. “Not a problem, Mr. Black. Aiden must return to Memphis immediately. He still doesn't realize if he needs ‘home’.”
“Thank you, Dom. Thank you very much. I owe you,” David said as he looked at me. The man turned his eyes to Dominic, patted him on the shoulder, and tried to smile. “You can go inside and see Victoria. I'm sure he'll be happy when I see you.”
Before stepping into my house, Dominic gave me a code to follow. I responded with a snort, and inevitably, stepped closer to home. David stopped my steps by standing covering the door. For the umpteenth time, I clucked in front of him.
“Thank you,” said. “Shofia and Victoria will definitely be happy with your return.”
I was about to step up when the man called me back. “Aiden, didn't I explain why I married your mother? You should be able to understand─”
“Do you think the reason that Dad asked you to be a replacement for Shofia, can I take it for granted?!” cut me quick.
In order to avoid an emotional outburst, I clenched my hands together. My brain ─with all the rational rules it has-say, a fight with this selfless man won't pay off. My energy will only be drained away and nothing will change.
“Aiden, can we at least─”
“We've talked about this many times, Black. And be content with the status of the stranger I gave you.”
I heard his slow snort. Not wanting to form another bland conversation, I barged into the house. The living room, filled with people with unfamiliar faces, didn't affect me at all. Perhaps more precisely if it is said that I ignore them. My head again throbbed painfully and I wanted to see Dr. Hawkins to be able to ask for ─minimal-headache medication.
“Aiden?”
A woman stood up and broke away from the crowd of people I didn't know. All of his clothes were black, including the earrings and bracelets he wore. I almost thought he'd go to a ghotic boy's party, if his eyes weren't caught by my retinas.
“Hai, Shofia,” my cow. My tongue was too faint to say anything else like asking the news, what had happened, and why this all seemed so unrealistic.
Shofia walked towards me in a stagger, then hugged me tightly. “Thank you, God. You grant my prayer.”
A few seconds later, the woman was crying. Everyone in the middle room looked at me. It made me feel like I had no choice but to try to calm her down. Slowly, I patted his back. That's when I realized one of the irregularities. Shofia was thinner and more fragile than I remembered.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked for it shortly after his crying subsided. “Dr. Hawkins's coming in an hour. His affairs in the hospital cannot be left out. Are you going to be okay with that?”
I nodded while releasing his embrace. “Ya.”
Shofia wiped a trace of her tears and tried to smile just like David did. “Victoria is in her room. You want to meet her, don't you?”
“Ya, I'll be there.”
I left the woman with the copper hair to head to Victoria's room next to the living room, opposite my old room. The door to his room was wide open. I could see Dominic sitting at the end of Victoria's bed, adjusting his breathing. His backpack and my briefcase were placed at the foot of the bed, right on his left side.
“I can go if you need privacy with him,” Dominic said slowly.
“No need.”
My feet had already stepped in and stopped after my blue iris caught the figure of Victoria Black sleeping on her bed. She was wearing a shabby black velvet blouse that I always used to wear because the model was out of date. Then a white knee-length bone dress with lace surrounds the tip. I also used to mock the clothes.
I clucked before walking closer to him. “Do you want to hear my taunts, huh?”
Victoria maintained a peaceful face in her sleep. There was no gray spot staring back. There is no one paragraph of self-defense for his mistakes. No ridiculing smile is so annoying. There's nothing left. All of that had been sealed in one look of relief on his face.
“Good, if that's what you want. Don't let me see your tears after I do.”
After a few seconds, my voice sounded again. But I don't feel completely in control. The devil slipped from his shackles.
“Are you crazy?! How dare you do this kind of cunning to bring me back to this place! And congratulations! You did it, V! But that doesn't mean you can decide everything in your hands! Do you want to humiliate your brother before God by wearing your old clothes?! Where's your brain, Victoria Black?!”
