bury her without a
part of her brain. Would we like that?" Jane said.
The thought of Rebecca’s body still so
much a part of the world instead of being laid to rest felt like
Rebecca was still very much alive and present.
With a part of the brain…the
monstrous concrete body part which controlled the body of a
cold-hearted individual…still very much present and
corporeal…Silly…she is dead. Jonah chided
herself silently.
"Can the brain live apart from the dead
body?" Jonah blurted out. She just couldn’t help herself. "I mean…
do we have some kind of tradition or belief about it?"
Jane smiled sweetly. It was the first
time Jonah had seen her smiled an authentic smile for the longest
time. Jane gathered Jonah in her arms and said, "Silly girl, are
you scared of your own mother? What can she do to you now? She is
dead."
Chills ran through Jonah’s spine. Her
gut feeling told her Rebecca was more powerful than she was alive
because she was dead. And Jonah dared not encounter Rebecca at her
spiritual state when no corporeal entity can hinder her.
"I can still feel her, Jane!" Jonah
told her older sister.
Jane watched the manager as he went
through a few papers in his hands and lowered her voice. She told
Jonah, "Worse, her eyes won't close no matter what. They had to do
a few stitching to get it done nicely. Aunt Judith said, it could
only mean one thing—"
"What?" Jonah asked, sweeping the place
with her eyes.
"Unfinished business!" Jane replied
matter-of-factly.
Chapter 8
The Broken Habak
Hugh was standing near the window, his
curiosity still piqued after Jonah suddenly ended their phone
conversation. Hugh looked towards Xavier who was also standing a
few feet away from him. He had wanted to talk to Jonah on the phone
privately, but Gilda insisted he called her right there and then.
He had never felt so uncomfortable with Xavier within earshot,
listening to every word he said. For Hugh, it was one thing to put
him on the spot. It was another thing to have others witnessed such
a compromising moment.
Hugh playfully threw the phone towards
Xavier who looked like he was enjoying himself catching Hugh at
such an awkward state with Jonah.
"You should have talked to her. I
didn't know what to tell her," Hugh told him. His mood suddenly
changed and became somber. "I think hearing from you would make a
huge difference. After all, she just lost a mother."
"You did well on my behalf," Xavier
said, staring longingly at the phone. "It would have been what I
would say, no more, no less. You did even better." Xavier passed
the phone back to Hugh and took a seat across Gilda.
Gilda was silently examining
in her hand what was once a whole ancient belly chain they
called habak at one
point. It was almost half a meter long with little dime-like
trinkets with bizarre markings on them hanging on its
chain.
Gilda had felt so triumphant
when she discovered that Rebecca was holding the piece of jewelry
in her deathbed. Gilda had to pry it away from Rebecca who had been
clutching the habak when she died. Unfortunately though, Rebecca's hand had
gripped around the habak so hard, that only a few minutes after her death,
her fist had toughened like a ball of steel around it.
Gilda had found it too
difficult to remove the habak and broke it when one of Rebecca's daughters
suddenly entered the room.
The half's good enough for
now… Gilda was thinking. The other piece will find its way back when the new greatest
healer surfaces.
She ran her thumb through
each trinket like a blind person would go through Braille,
occasionally mumbling to herself. It has been said that the mystery
of creation and destruction of all the material and immaterial
component in the universe was written in the little trinkets which
the greatest healer can only discover. Fingering her own habak around her waist
which sent out ticklish sounds of bells ringing to her ears, Gilda
had yearned at one point in her life to claim the greatest
healer's habak
part of her brain. Would we like that?" Jane said.
The thought of Rebecca’s body still so
much a part of the world instead of being laid to rest felt like
Rebecca was still very much alive and present.
With a part of the brain…the
monstrous concrete body part which controlled the body of a
cold-hearted individual…still very much present and
corporeal…Silly…she is dead. Jonah chided
herself silently.
"Can the brain live apart from the dead
body?" Jonah blurted out. She just couldn’t help herself. "I mean…
do we have some kind of tradition or belief about it?"
Jane smiled sweetly. It was the first
time Jonah had seen her smiled an authentic smile for the longest
time. Jane gathered Jonah in her arms and said, "Silly girl, are
you scared of your own mother? What can she do to you now? She is
dead."
Chills ran through Jonah’s spine. Her
gut feeling told her Rebecca was more powerful than she was alive
because she was dead. And Jonah dared not encounter Rebecca at her
spiritual state when no corporeal entity can hinder her.
"I can still feel her, Jane!" Jonah
told her older sister.
Jane watched the manager as he went
through a few papers in his hands and lowered her voice. She told
Jonah, "Worse, her eyes won't close no matter what. They had to do
a few stitching to get it done nicely. Aunt Judith said, it could
only mean one thing—"
"What?" Jonah asked, sweeping the place
with her eyes.
"Unfinished business!" Jane replied
matter-of-factly.
Chapter 8
The Broken Habak
Hugh was standing near the window, his
curiosity still piqued after Jonah suddenly ended their phone
conversation. Hugh looked towards Xavier who was also standing a
few feet away from him. He had wanted to talk to Jonah on the phone
privately, but Gilda insisted he called her right there and then.
He had never felt so uncomfortable with Xavier within earshot,
listening to every word he said. For Hugh, it was one thing to put
him on the spot. It was another thing to have others witnessed such
a compromising moment.
Hugh playfully threw the phone towards
Xavier who looked like he was enjoying himself catching Hugh at
such an awkward state with Jonah.
"You should have talked to her. I
didn't know what to tell her," Hugh told him. His mood suddenly
changed and became somber. "I think hearing from you would make a
huge difference. After all, she just lost a mother."
"You did well on my behalf," Xavier
said, staring longingly at the phone. "It would have been what I
would say, no more, no less. You did even better." Xavier passed
the phone back to Hugh and took a seat across Gilda.
Gilda was silently examining
in her hand what was once a whole ancient belly chain they
called habak at one
point. It was almost half a meter long with little dime-like
trinkets with bizarre markings on them hanging on its
chain.
Gilda had felt so triumphant
when she discovered that Rebecca was holding the piece of jewelry
in her deathbed. Gilda had to pry it away from Rebecca who had been
clutching the habak when she died. Unfortunately though, Rebecca's hand had
gripped around the habak so hard, that only a few minutes after her death,
her fist had toughened like a ball of steel around it.
Gilda had found it too
difficult to remove the habak and broke it when one of Rebecca's daughters
suddenly entered the room.
The half's good enough for
now… Gilda was thinking. The other piece will find its way back when the new greatest
healer surfaces.
She ran her thumb through
each trinket like a blind person would go through Braille,
occasionally mumbling to herself. It has been said that the mystery
of creation and destruction of all the material and immaterial
component in the universe was written in the little trinkets which
the greatest healer can only discover. Fingering her own habak around her waist
which sent out ticklish sounds of bells ringing to her ears, Gilda
had yearned at one point in her life to claim the greatest
healer's habak
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