I slowly stood up and made my way to the stairs. I was going to go to my room, butsaw that Maria’s bedroom door was left open. Maria’s room was strictly off limits. Shewas always home when I was home so I never got a chance to go in. Now was the perfecttime. I wasn’t surprised by how clean the room was. However, I was a bit pissed offwhen I saw the flat screen television. Maria was holding out on me.
The room was sparsely furnished with a bare wood floor. It smelled of lilac andmothballs. I walked further into the room and examined pictures on her armoire. Oh mygoodness, these are her sons. There were eight by twelve framed photos of my uncles atvarious ages. Some were taken many years ago when they were young. They posed forthe camera while ripping wrapping off of gifts, showing their gabbing, toothless smiles.Then, there were others when they were older and more mature. They posed in thetraditional prisonlike positions.
There was one photograph in a white frame with the words my wedding etchedacross it. I looked closer and saw a very thin and beautiful Maria in a white tea lengthdress, with a boat neck top and empire waist. She wore silky white gloves that coveredhalf her arms. She was smiling widely, almost like the camera had caught her laughing.She was holding up a giant bouquet. I grimaced when I saw Nico standing next to herwith his arm wrapped around her. I squinted as I forced myself to look at him. Man, hewas ugly. But in the picture he stood with the arrogance of a tyrant; his shoulders werebroad and he had a full head of hair. His eyes were sparkling, and he had a very peculiargrin on his face. He looked like a man who had a considerable amount of power.
There was a jewelry box. I pulled open the little compartments; they were all emptyexcept for one. I yanked on it hard and spotted a gold plated ring that was encrusted withdiamonds. I slipped it on my finger; it was almost a perfect fit. I went to put it back in thedrawer when I decided to stuff it in my pocket. I paused when I realized that there was asmall compartment that I had overlooked. I wedged it open with my finger and gaspedwhen I spotted the rolls of hundred dollar bills. Yes. I counted each one slowly. Mygoodness, she had almost eight thousand dollars here. I stuffed the bills in my backpocket and made my way down the stairs.
I didn’t feel guilty about taking the ring or the money. Like Chobo said, it was in thepast and it was best to not worry about it. Besides, Maria was willing to kill herself andleave me behind. The best thing that she could do was let me have her ring and money. Ipaused at the top of the landing. Chobo was still there, hunched over and talking toMaria.
“I’m scared that she’s going to find out what I did. I just can’t live with the guiltanymore. I want to try and make things right, but I just don’t know how,” Maria said.
“You’ve got to understand that your fear isn’t real; you’re imagining the worstpossible outcomes and it makes you afraid to feel, to let go. Maria, you don’t do brujeriaanymore,” he said.
“I know, but I wish that I could do something to help the girl,” she said wiping hertears with her hand. . “What did I tell you to do?” Chobo asked.
“You told me to work with Oshún,” she said shaking her head. “Yes, she is theOrisha that heals the heart. You have a lot of blocks Maria, that all come from your pastwith Nico, blocks that cause you to judge yourself harshly. You can’t love because thetimes that you did love, you ended up feeling vulnerable and violated. These are the badspirits that I am talking about.”
“But you don’t understand what I’m living with.” Maria interceded.
“Wait a minute, Maria. You need to stop mourning your past. Things come into playto teach us lessons and help us understand who we are so we can create balance with allthe Orishas,” Chobo said.
“I know.”
“No. You don’t know, Maria. You think that you know and that’s the problem. Thisis not brujeria, where you can just get angry and solve all of your problems. No, this isdifferent, it involves hard work, and that means forgiving others including yourself,”Chobo said silencing Maria.
She just put her head down like a schoolgirl being reprimanded. “Oshún works withwomen and their broken families. You need to reach out to her to gain a deeperconnection to the spirit world,” Chobo said.
“How do I do that?’” Maria mumbled.
“Love, you do it through unconditional love. Once you’ve learned how to do thatthen you’ll have the healing power to help your grandchildren,” he said, adjusting hiscane and leaning back in his chair.
“One is already gone, a lost cause. He’s going to end up in jail like his uncles.”Maria snuffed.
“No, I wouldn’t say that. I’ve been keeping an eye on him,” Chobo said.
“The police are looking for him. If they find him they’re going to haul his ass in.”Maria said.
“No, I’m going to try and get to him first; he’s hanging out at that squatters place onThird Street and Broad,” Chobo said.
“How’s he doing?”
“Still working for Nico,” Chobo said.
“I can’t believe that I used to be married to that man,” Maria balked.
“Don’t worry about that now; the only thing that you can do is keep an eye on thegirl and be strong.” Chobo said, lifting his head up and looking my way. I cowed awayand huddled into the corner, hoping that he hadn’t seen me ease dropping.
“Nelandez, you can come down now,” Chobo said reaching deep into his pocket andpulling out a business card. He flattened
