Unfinished Business

Get in the closet and don’t come out is what she was telling me, but all I could was focus on was the loud banging at the front door. “Mom?” The door, someone is at the door. “Jayna focus my mom said. Get in the closet and don’t say a word and don’t come out no matter what you hear. Do you understand me?” When my mom says “Do you understand me?”

That means she is dead serious. Ok I say but still confused as to why I'm going in the closet. My mom hugged me and said she loved me. She always says that. On top of Jayna your special and you're a queen remember that.

She makes me repeat it until she is satisfied. Annoying but hey it makes my mom smile so why not. I can’t lie it makes me feel good too. She pushes me in the closet and immediately closes the door. Mom is being super weird so I decide I m going to hide in my favorite hiding place. This hallway closet is long and spacious and in the back is a little door. It doesn’t really lead to anywhere but I can fit in the space and mom never finds me, when we play hide and seek.

You can only see the stuff that's in front of the little door like the mop and vacuum and duster. Ha she will never find me. I smile to myself just knowing how much she will hate it when I scare her again. She hates being surprised.

Maya

I’m scared for my baby. Please stay put Jayna I whisper to myself. I wish I had more time. The knocking stops and I know they're already in the house. I hurry and push the tv stand away from the wall. Open up the compartment in the floor I had built with the house years ago and grab my blades. I haven’t used them in ten years but I know they're still sharp.

The hair on my neck rises and I know my first foe is closing in behind me. Immediately reflexes that have laid dormant for so long kick in. I crouch like a feline and immediately swipe my sword at the dark figure quickly approaching. He was fast but I was faster. I silently step over his head and crouch back down into a feline position. I sense one shadow by my back door in the kitchen, another along the wall in the hallway, and another crawling up the wall from the kitchen doorway. I'm sorry Jayna so so sorry I whisper as I throw my sword up into the gut of the shadow crawling on the ceiling.

I let a tear drop and say a silent prayer of protection for my Jayna while I jump for the shadow along the wall of the hallway. As I sever his head, my heart slows down and I drop to the floor next to where his head lays. My heart breaks for my baby.The sword that went through my chest reflects the light from the kitchen. The shadow pulls the knife out of my chest and pushes me to the ground. My last thoughts Jayna be strong. Everything goes black.

Jayna

Jayna! Jayna darling are you here?! Yelled sheriff Darwin I open my eyes and panic all I see is darkness. Where am I? Then it comes back to me. Im still in my favorite hiding place. That must be mom calling me. She is going to be so mad. I fell asleep and she has been looking for me for hours I bet. Jayna honey it's Sheriff Darwin! Are you here? Darwin?

Huh what is the Darwin doing here? thought Jayna. I crawled out of the closet. Ugh i'm so sore, how long was I in there jeez. OMG it was night time when I went in it's morning now. Mom is going to kill me. I just got my phone back this week from the last punishment I was on. “She's in here”calls a lady standing in our living room. Is that a head she has in her hand?

I scream and run down the hallway right into what feels like a brick wall. Shhhhh its ok Jayna says sheriff Darwin. I pull on his shirt and practically try to jump on his neck. He just holds me and calms me down with his deep timbre voice. “Jayna look at me”. “Jayna look at me” Darwin says sternly. I look into his big green eyes and see sadness and tiredness. I start to calm down but still cling to him like a second skin. He picks me up and carries me out the house. My face is in his shirt because I don’t want to see that head again. When he puts me down I immediately think about my mom

“Hey Darwin where is my mom?”“ And whose head is that i croak.” Then I notice the van they put dead people in parked outside our house. There is a black bag on top of a gurney outside the open doors of the van. I look around to see our neighbors are outside staring at me. More people are coming and going in and out of our house carrying black bags, some big and some small. “Darwin where is mom I say more frantically?

Jayna ..starts Darwin “Mom”?! call. Then louder. “Mom”! But mom never comes and Darwin just looks at me like he..like he wants to cry ..no that's not right. Why would Darwin be crying. Darwin I say where is Mom? I say sternly. Jayna he starts again slowly but can’t seem to finish. Darwin! I scream where is my mom? Baby she is dead. Says Darwin I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry and he reaches for me.

I push his hands away and yell for him to stop lying. I yell it over and over again. He just looks at me while tears run down his face and keeps trying to hold me. After a few minutes of fighting him it sinks in and I fall into his arms. Mom! I yell. Mom! After an hour of calming me down. Darwin drives me down to see my mom at the morgue. He never leaves my side.

I'm glad he doesn’t. I’m weak from crying and can barely stand but I have to see my mom. It feels like someone took all my energy. We walk through a set of swinging black doors. It's so cold and eerie here. A white sheet lays over what I assume is my mom's body.

I grab Darwin's hand so tight I can see the color change in my own hand even though i'm a milky brown and he is a olive white. He doesn’t complain though. We slowly walk up to the table near my mom's head. I can see her long brown hair peaking out of the sheet. Darwin looks at me and I nod. He lifts the sheet from my mom's head. That's all I remember before the room went black.The next week flew by. My mom was cremated because that's what was in her will. I've cried all week and have no more tears. I feel so alone and sad. I just wish I could bring her back.

I’m left numb and confused. Darwin doesn’t know who the men were that killed my mom or where they came from. At least that’s what he tells me. I’m only ten but can still tell if someone is lying to me. We are back at Darwin's house and people from around town have come to talk to me and say things like “It will get better”, “Call me if you need me”, and “She is in a better place now”.

Our next door neighbor is holding my hand and saying something, but i've zoned out. Like i've done so many times since my mom died. I nod right on cue and I get another awkward hug and they walk away. Before someone else can grab my hand I sneak away to the back porch and sit on the steps.

Mom use to love coming over Darwin's house and sitting back here. She said the winds were always calm back here. I think she came more for Darwin then the calm winds but I like Darwin so I didn’t mind. My dad died before I was born. That's what my mom told me. It's just been me and mom, always just me and mom, now just me. My head starts to hurt and my throat feels tight just thinking about being alone.

I hear the back door open and turn around to see Darwin walking onto the porch. He sits beside me and hands me an envelope. “Jayna your mom told me to give this to you if anything was to happen to her.”Says Darwin. He looks away from me and seems to fall in a daze staring at nothing in particular. I notice for the first time how bad Darwin looks.

He usually dresses so neat but now his dark chestnut brown hair seems longer. He has a beard I didn’t notice before and his eyes are bloodshot. His shirt is wrinkled and halfway out of his pants. I start to realize Darwin really did love my mom. I put my hand on his arm closest to me and lightly squeeze.

He pats my hand with a clenched jaw and continues to look away. Its nice to know someone else will miss her as much as I do.

I finally open the envelope and pull out a letter.

Jayna know that I love you so much. I wish I had more time but the time I had I was so grateful for. You were my heart Jayna. First there are some things I need to explain to you, that I didn’t have time to do before. I was hoping to reach your eighteenth birthday first. Since we don’t have that luxury I hope you grow to understand and can handle what I am going to tell you. Jayna I was born in Africa.

My father was leader of his tribe and I was being groomed to become tribe queen when it was time. As it was before me and before my father marriages are arranged. My father arranged for me to marry a leader of a rivalry tribe, hoping it would bring unity to our lands. Their leader's name is Shaitan or “devil” his tribe called him.

The day before the wedding my father was killed in his sleep and his body was supposed to be hidden until the ceremony was over, but one of my father's loyal guards saw the murder and immediately came to find me knowing there was nothing he could do for my father. He tried to help me escape but we were caught and the guard was killed and I was forced to marry Shaitan. There is no one left from my tribe, they were all killed by Shaitan. There were many bad days over our lands and I wasn’t allowed to leave Shaitans side for fear of me running away. I will spare you the details my sweet baby but my life was not good for many years.I tried to make sure I didn’t get pregnant.

I used a herb to make sure I would not have children. I know you Jayna and you're probably crying at this point, but know I never gave up hope. I need you to know you have that same strength inside of you. The next couple of days Shaitan was so busy fighting with poachers he didn’t notice I slipped away into the forest. I ran so fast and hard that I didn’t notice where I was going until it was too late. I slammed right into him.

He was American. I was taught many languages and had no problems communicating with him. He wasted no time getting me out of Africa. He was and will always be my savior. I fell madly in love and he is your father Jayna. Know you were made from love not hate.

Now the next steps I need you to follow will be very hard and your life will not be easy. I know you can do this Jayna, be strong my queen. You will be brought to a man named Krag each summer until you turn eighteen. Krag will come for you when he is ready. You will spend your summers with Krag training. You will live with Darwin. He will make sure you are taken care of. Do as he says Jayna and remember be strong.

I must have read that letter a thousand times that day. Darwin didn’t say if he read the letter or not but I assumed he had. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it and went back into the house. I think I saw tears coming down his face. He must have really loved my mom to take me in like this. I was so drained from the day's events and that letter that I just went into one of the rooms in the house and fell on the bed. I was out like a light as soon as I felt the pillow touch my face. The next morning I woke to a beeping sound of what sounds like a truck backing up.