“You see them in your dreams. They are the shadows,” he said leaning back in hischair slowly. My mouth was ajar as I sat and stared at him. He stunned me into silence.His voice, once warm and jovial had become strident and penetrating. I felt like a snakehad bitten me and loaded me up with venom.
“Your soul cannot develop or progress without its lost parts, making it moresusceptible to external influences because it does not have the strength of the whole toward off evil.” He continued while gripping his cane and gently pounding it on theground. He was looking into the fireplace now. There were flames lit, beguiling flames.
“The lost pieces of your soul come back and haunt you; they want to pull what’s leftof you back into the world of the dead where you will ultimately be destroyed.” He liftedup his cane and placed it into his lap and just stared at me.
“So I suggest that you take this seriously because this is a life and death situation.”
I hovered back like a turtle retreating into the comforts of its shell. I saw himdifferently now. Suddenly, I felt like a meandering toddler, who he had placed over hisknee and beaten with a birch rod. I made a few mental notes to never speak to him again,to never open up again, to never trust him again. I didn’t like him, and I was never goingto like him, because I hated the way that he made me feel.
“They’re the shadows. They are going to tell you that I am bad. That I want to hurtyou, but I am just here to help you,” he said in a lighter warmer voice.
“They want you to cower back and hover into a shell, so you can never deal withyour issues. So the shadows will never see the light because then they would bedestroyed,” he continued.
I looked up at Chobo and suddenly, his voice, his tone, even his mannerismsreminded me of the elderly woman who visited me.
“You don’t have to have nightmares anymore, Nelly. All that can end, but you got towork with me,” Chobo said.
I closed my eyes and opened them again. Suddenly, I could hear the elderly woman’svoice. I could see her again leading me down into the basement where I saw them. I sawall of the Orishas. They healed the sick and the poor. They healed Indians, whites, andslaves. Suddenly, I could feel Changó’s rage. I balled my hands into fist and looked overat Chobo. I needed to take control of my life. Chobo looked at me and smiled.
“Yes, that’s it. Remember your dreams. They were all there,” he said.
I heard the springs of the sofa squeal as Maria sunk deep into its fibers. She loweredher head and placed her palms over her face. Was she crying? She was sitting like a man,with her legs wide open; her dress barely covered her knees, exposing black briskly hairs,cankles, and hairy hammertoes.
“The shadows have a long history in your family,” Chobo said while looking atMaria and then back at me.
“The only way to heal ourselves is to unite the tattered pieces of our soul bybalancing the Orishas, the forces of energy that’s inside of us,” he said. He rockedhimself forward and struggled to get into a standing position. He walked over to theveranda to pick up another statue.
“Once the soul is united, it becomes powerful beyond belief and can withstandeverything, even the spirits of the dead,” he explained.
He turned around and pointed to the statue that was now seated next to me.
“And that’s what Changó represents, the fight between the bad spirits and the good.He works with flames to burn away impurities. He is the father, who provides a strongfoundation, so all the other Orishas can stand on top of him.”
He walked back over to me and handed me a statue of a mermaid wearing a brightblue headdress with clamshells covering her breast.
“Yemayá is mother earth and is located in the womb. She is the nurturer. The Orishathat will give you the love needed to heal.”
“We’ll talk about all the Orishas later,” he said kneeling over to pick up the twostatues that he had placed in front of me.
“First, you need to start with these two. Work with them, master them and then wecan go on to the rest.” Chobo paused; he seemed to be in deep thought before he turnedaround to face me again.
“You’re a bright girl. You have good ashé and a lot of potential. Who knows how faryou can go.”
“What?” I said.
Chobo looked at Maria. She sat up in her chair and wobbled as she struggled to getup to her feet.
“Well, we took up a whole bunch of your time. Are we still on for next week?”Maria said as she made her way to the door.
“Yes, and bring the boy too. He really needs to be here,” Chobo said nodding hishead.
Maria shoved me toward the door.
“And Maria, make sure Luisa is here, this needs to be a family thing,” Chobo saidwhile wiping some invisible dust off one of his statues.
“Yes Chobo.”
“Maria?’ “Yes”
“Don’t be late again.” “I won’t. I promise.”
Maria was silent for the rest of the ride home. But for some reason, right before wereached the door, she stopped me.
“Nina, you did good today.” She bowed her head and covered her mouth andgrimaced. She coughed and banged against her chest a couple of times. It was like sayinga few kinds words to me was actually making her sick.
“Thanks,” I said dryly.
When we walked in. I felt a draft. A cold draft, as if something or someone had spedpast me. Maria turned on the light and the shadows lined the walls. They were behindchairs, tables, and the sofa. A chill ran down my spine. I had experienced this way toomany times before. It was happening again.
