The Proposition (A Geek, An Angel) Read online

  Janeshia turned her head and stared at her best friend in amazement. “Larissa, you were right. I needed this week off. This was the best spa experience I have ever had. It was just what I needed,” she said yarning lazily.

  Larissa sat up on her elbow as she watched their masseuse leave the room. “Thank God. I thought that woman was never going to leave.”

  “Larissa, you the only person I know that will spend money on a massage and then not take advantage and relax.”

  Larissa rubbed her temple. “This is not just a relaxing girlfriend trip Janeshia. For me it’s business too. In fact it really puts me in a spot. With our friendship, I mean.”

  Janeshia propped her head on her elbows. “What do you mean? Larissa do you still see yourself as some kind of private eye?”

  She raised a brow. “Yes, I do. But first I am always an attorney. You know I’ve done services for you and the foundation. But just so you know, like I said before I can’t talk about a lot of stuff right now.” Larissa looked back at her friend. “Look Janeshia, remember when we were kids and no matter what happened between us we were always friends. Well, now I need you to have that same confidence in me like you did when we were kids. It’s real important right now because I need your help.”

  Janeshia sighed and propped up on her elbow. “You know I always will, no matter what.”

  “Good, because I know you are probably not going to understand why and I can’t honestly tell you why right now, but I think you need to suspend Adam. In fact as an attorney, who at times in the past has represented you and done business for the foundation, I must insist that you suspend Adam,” she said sternly.

  “Larissa what are you talking about?”

  “Mrs. Perrault insisted I make a few inquiries on Adam. I still have to check a few facts out. But Adam is a liability to the foundation and he maybe a threat to you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Let’s just say you will be placing Adam on paid administrative leave until further notice. I’ve already had a courier service sent out to serve Adam with the notice.”

  Janeshia raised her hand and looked dumbfounded. “Looks like you’ve taken care of everything. I guess there’s nothing that I can say or do,” she sighed.

  Larissa’s expression relaxed. She smiled. “Now that we have the business part of this trip concluded. We can get back to having some fun.”

  “We’ve done everything fun that there was to do; shopping, girlfriend’s spa day. Larissa I’m bored, what else is there to do now?”

  “There is something else fun we can do. You and I can go and get dressed and go and see Miss Mary Mackeey.”

  Janeshia smiled. She wondered if Miss Mary Mackeey could clear her thoughts. At least help her determine who the best man for her was. Her thoughts raced. Maybe Larissa had something there.

  Chapter 32

  Miss Mary Mackeey sees all and then some

  In the glaring afternoon sun the little cottage painted in a deep purple color with a red front door looked mysterious.

  A petite older woman peered at them. Her hair was braided into a crown around her round head. The braided crown was usual and so was the deep purple colored her hair had been dyed.

  Janeshia stared at the woman’s hair. She’d never seen such a deep shade of purple that vivid before.

  “Hi, I’m Janeshia James and this is my best friend Larissa London.”

  The old lady grinned and her amethyst eyes sparkled. “I know who you are. I’m Mother Kahina, mother of Noita, whom you know as Miss Mary Mackeey. Ladies please follow me into the parlor,” Miss Mary Mackeey is waiting for you.”

  Janeshia and Larissa followed Mother Kahina into a hallway tiled in black marble.

  Larissa leaned over and whispered. “Janeshia this room looks strange. I don’t remember this place looking like this.”

  Janeshia pointed and whispered. “Me neither.”

  “It’s the wallpaper. It’s a moving optical illusion,” Mother Kahina said.

  The three of them walked on.

  Janeshia stopped and stared in amazement. “Hey look at that.”

  “It’s some kind of design,” Larissa murmured. “Interesting, it looks like a mask.” She quickly studied the mask. “The thing has a whole where the tongue should be. And it’s earless.”

  “You missed that arrow with a star going through it,” Janeshia added. “Do you think it means something?”

  “Don’t know. It could,” Larissa said with a puzzled expression.

  Mother Kahina cleared her throat. “Ladies we are almost there.” She waved them to follow her.

  They turned a corner. Somber shadows on a wall stood in front of them. Several wall clocks hung on the walls. The clocks ticks loudly as they walked pass. They walked a short distance and stood in front of a door and a hallway. The hallway was painted jet black and seemed to go nowhere.

  “Ladies please come in through the doorway. I’m afraid the black hallway is just an illusion,” a rasped female voice called out to them.

  Janeshia and Larissa looked at each other as they walked through the doorway.

  The room they entered was round shaped with a vaulted ceiling. The room resembled a séance room of old, with heavy velvet curtains. A round table stood in the middle.

  Seated at the table was a woman with beautiful gold earrings dangling from her earlobes, and from where they stood she wore all black. Around her neck was a beautiful solid gold necklace that resembled a Cleopatra collar.

  Janeshia’s green eyes glittered from the brilliance of the gold. She whistled softly. “Wow! I love that necklace you’re wearing. I don’t know which is more beautiful, your necklace or your eyes. They are an unusual shade of violent amethyst.”

  “Thank you. You are correct on the color,” Miss Mackeey said. “I have some jewelry for you as well. Please put on this lavender and swamp moss bracelet. Wear it at all times while you’re here. I’m Miss Mary Mackeey, by the way.”

  “Hi Miss Mackeey its Larissa London and my best friend Janeshia James. You remember us, right?”

  Recognition dawned. “Oh yes you two came to see me years ago wanting a love potion. But you were both too young for a love potion. Now I can see I don’t have to worry about your being old enough,” she laughed sounding as regal as a queen.

  Janeshia flushed embarrassed remembering that time long ago.

  Larissa gazed fascinated on her host. “Miss Mackeey if you don’t mind my asking. How come it seems you never age?”

  Miss Mary Mackeey hummed softly to herself. Her eyes narrowed as she cleared her throat and said. “Some people would be surprised to learn that immortals live among us. But I do sell my fountain of youth crème and I can see you need some Larissa,” she said without blinking an eye. “But of course you really should stop burning the candle at both ends and get a good night’s sleep.”

  Furious Larissa’s mouth dropped open but no words came out.

  Again Miss Mary Mackeey hummed softly to herself. “I do sell if you’re interested. It only costs three hundred dollars a jar.”

  Janeshia turned slow and looked into Larissa’s shocked face. But still no words came out of her mouth.

  Miss Mackeey laughed and turned her gaze. “Miss Janeshia James you are here because you need some answers, right? So let’s not waste out time. I believe this reading is for you?”

  Janeshia grimaced. “Well I….”

  Miss Mackeey interrupted her. “Larissa told me it was. So let me explain what I do. I use 24 carved symbols. Each symbol represents an extension of reality. You will hold the bag carrying them but just for a moment. I will then roll them out on the table before you and they will then help me see the truth by tapping into my psychic consciousness and then we will see what we can see,” she said handing her a bag. “But first reach inside the bag and see what you can find.”

  Janeshia put her hand into the bag. Her fingers touched something. It felt like a thimble. She pulled it out and looked up
at Miss Mackeey.

  “Oh good, please put that on.” Miss Mackeey commanded. “Now hand me back the bag.”

  Larissa interrupted. “So Miss Mackeey what’s your source of power. I’m curious how you get your answers.”

  Again Miss Mary Mackeey hummed softly to herself as she threw the contents of the bag on the table. “Let’s just say, not unlike how attorneys get their answers. Only our sources are more reliable,” she laughed and fixed a fathomless gaze on Larissa. “Don’t you know that everything in life has a spiritual dimension?”

  For a second time that afternoon Larissa was speechless.

  The atmosphere in the room grew suddenly still.

  Sweet smelling scents over-took the room as the lights grew dimmer.

  Janeshia closed her eyes. “I smell honeysuckle. My goodness, I haven’t smelled that scent since I as a child.”

  The haunting music of a lone violin played a strange tune.

  Janeshia tossed her head and threw back her hair as she gazed around the room. She couldn’t figure out where the music was coming from. “Larissa do you hear that music?”

  Larissa didn’t answer.

  “Larissa?”

  She turned to look at her best friend.

  Larissa’s face looked like it had turned to stone. Janeshia stared in amazement. She glanced between Miss Mackeey and Larissa. Suddenly she realized Larissa was staring at Miss Mackeey, spellbound.

  She felt an eerie sensation. As if she was alone in the room with just Miss Mackeey.

  Miss Mackeey smiled as her amethyst eyes sparkled brilliantly. “Did you know Janeshia that in an instant, your life can change?”

  “You put Larissa under. I mean in a spell or trance or something.”

  “Yes, the legal side of your best friend’s brain can get in the way sometimes I think? Anyway, what may be said here today you may not want you best friend to know about just yet. I told her I only wanted to see you,” she laughed softly. “My spell is harmless. This way she won’t remember a thing.”

  “How did you do that?”

  Miss Mackeey answered softly. “I have my ways.”

  “You are the real thing? Ain’t you Miss Mackeey?”

  Miss Mackeey nodded. “I am a pure psychic hand who recognizes both the male and female deity. I practice the oracle of old magical, so I can conjure or just tap into a person’s psychic consciousness. You come to me and I see, what I see. I know what I know. I tell you what I see what I know.”

  Janeshia shrugged. “Then why am I here?”

  Her gaze was keen as she stared back at Janeshia. “You see the runes symbols are chosen by your conscious mind. You are here to learn which one is good and which one is evil.” She paused. “You see this stone here. It is the stone of protection.”

  Janeshia’s heart raced with conflict. “I don’t understand.”

  Miss Mackeey shook the bag out on the table. She spread the stones out and concentrated on them.

  Time clicked by.

  “The stones are clear. You are to be reminded you are safe in your own home, always.” She paused. .” The stones tell me you know why you are here. Sometimes you have to lose yourself to find yourself. Always, it’s about a man. Just like life and death are two forces in the universe; so is good and evil. One we say is magnificent while the other we call sinister. People can be that way too. And of course men are famous for being one or the other.”

  Janeshia felt strange. A surreal feeling embraced her.

  Miss Mackeey spoke again. “The stones say a great queen has given you her protection. But you were frightened of her and did not understand her proposition. She seeks only to protect you and the child you carry.”

  Janeshia stared back at her. “Child? What child?”

  Miss Mackeey looked back at her as if she was in a trance. “You had sex with your boss; this stone here represents the king. Your child belongs to him.”

  “What? How…..I mean are you sure? That can’t be right. Shake that bag up again.”

  “Oh very well,” Miss Mackeey said doing as she asked. She threw a bone out on the table.

  Janeshia looked at the spot on the table where the figure rested. It was the same. “Do it over,” she commanded.

  “This is the last time young lady,” Miss Mackeey sternly said. “You can’t make the stones not tell the truth,” she admonished.

  Again Miss Mackeey shook the bag and threw the stones on the table. Out of the back the king stone flew across the table and landed face up directly in front of Janeshia.

  “Yikes!” Janeshia breathed out slowly. She thought someone was standing behind her. She closed her eyes but only for a minute. The room felt powerfully charged. It felt strange and unusual like a physical dimension not of the earth’s plane. When she opened her eyes her grandmother Lena Mae Allen sat at the table across from her. A nervous smile crossed her face. She knew her grandmother had to be an apparition. She’d been dead for several years.

  “Grandma Lena Mae, what are you doing here?”

  “Janeshia baby, I had to come. I need to tell you something. The past, the present and the future are one.”

  “What Grandma?”

  “The future belongs to you. Use your instincts. You must. If you do not you will lose something you love very much. It will make you weep. If you let it you will weep for many years. Don’t lose your way.”

  “Grandmother, I don’t understand?”

  “Remember you have the love of a man who truly loves you? Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”

  “But!” Janeshia blurted.

  “The answers are there. All humans have limits on their wickedness. Look into your heart and seek out forgiveness, redemption and most importantly love. Think about what you will regret in life if you don’t follow your heart. Seek out your true kinsman, your Boaz, for he is the only one that is pure in heart. He will redeem you.”

  Thunder sounded throughout the room. The apparition that was her grandmother seemed to grow faint.

  “Janeshia hear me and remember. He who was once wicked is wicked no more. Seek them out for they have the answers you seek. Your baby will need its rightful father,” she paused as a roar of thunder roared. “I must go. Miss Mackeey will tell you more. I can see the storm. It is fast approaching.”

  All at once thunder cracked and roared deeply and her grandmother vanished into thin air.

  Janeshia wiped tears from her eyes as she stared back at Miss Mackeey. “My baby?”

  “Now you see why I didn’t want you friend to hear, yes Janeshia you are with child,” she said. “She suspects but she knows nothing.”

  Wiping the tear from her cheek she realized Miss Mary was more than she seemed.

  “I will awaken your best friend now. The two of you should be going back home to San Jose California tonight.

  Suddenly a bright light in the room snapped on.

  Chapter 33

  The wing song, a voice as old as time

  In the early morning Walker stood beside his horse and looked out over the vast green landscape in front of him. The back way in to the Kisatchie forest was beautiful and mysterious.

  “Dawn will break soon. We best get started,” February said just before mounting his horse.

  An hour later, Walker could have sworn he felt every bump as he made his way on horseback.

  Wild grass grew lush and green around him. He noticed several strange bloom shrubs and flowers. He was glad they had left out early. He hoped to be soaking in a tub of hot water by the time the dark shadow of night made its way across the sky. The scenery was beautiful, containing some of the most beautiful natural beauty ever be held. From bald cypress groves and old growth pine to vast wild flat topped mesas and sandstone bluffs the Kisatchie National Forest offered some of the steepest and most rugged terrain you could ever see in Louisiana.

  The old groves of bald cypress groves and old pine trees seemed to go on forever as they continued to ride up steep rugged terrains.

>   The horses just stopped as if someone commanded them to and there she stood; Mama Moue Redbones, she wasn’t as old as he thought she would be. But sometimes looks can be deceiving.

  The wind sang like a voice as crystal clear sunshine rays streamed through an electric acoustic guitar. Her voice pierced the wind as she spoke in hush whispers; Walker looked at her and wondered if he ever saw her mouth move. But he heard her as clear as the day. The voice was old, and clung to his ears, ringing…..singing…..yes like singing….

  She shook her head. A smile crept onto her lips as if a long lost son had found his way home…..“Well, well, well…..just look at you Walker all grownup… Looking straight at Walker she asked, “Have you come here to wake the dead?”

  And then he heard her laughter “Deeeee…..heeeeee….heeee…..”, she laughed at him. “I’m only playing with you boy. Come on in why don’t you?” she giggled. “It’s good to see you again.”

  Chapter 34

  You underestimated me

  A day later, Janeshia returned home and barely noticed her surroundings as she parked her car. She walked to the elevator, letting her mind roar on autopilot. She mulled over the past few days events.

  There was so much to think about. She couldn’t believe she really was really pregnant. But it would explain a lot of the fluttering her body had been having lately. But was it Walker’s baby? She thought it over. He was the only person she’d had sexual intercourse with, and unprotected sex at that. What was she going to do? If Walker made her pregnant he needed to know.

  She reached her condo door and fumbled with her purse, digging, fumbling for her keys. She was so frustrated with herself, she cried out loud admonishing herself. “Damn Janeshia, no wonder you’re pregnant. How could you be so stupid having unprotected sex with your boss?” She found her key and opened the door struggling with her bag.

  Suddenly she heard something behind her and looked over her shoulder. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest as she jerked around. “What!” she blurted out. “Adam are you crazy? You nearly scared me to death!”