Once Upon A Karma (Karmic Krystal Book 1) (8 page)

The policemen ask if my sisters and I were home when the incident occurred.  Dad tells them that he will go and ask Leena and Tania to come out and speak to them.  He takes me by the hand and we go to Leena’s room.  As soon as we get in there, Dad leans down to my ear and whispers two words:  “Say
nothing
.”

The three of us emerge from Leena’s room with our father.  After inviting both of the police officers into the house, we all sit at the kitchen table and the police question my sisters and me about the accident.  Leena and Tania both look at the police officers blankly.  They literally have no idea what the police are talking about and tell the officers that they had heard and seen nothing as they were inside the house doing homework since getting home from school.  The policemen then wait for my answer.  I look at my dad, who has a stern look on his face.  I receive his silent message loud and clear, so offer an alternative.

“Nope, I was doing my homework too!” I say.  “Do you want to see?”

Half smiling at my response, the police officers are satisfied that none of us know anything about the bloodied steel pancake at the end of our street.  They stand and put their hands out to shake my father’s hand.  “Thank you very much.  If you hear anything or remember anything unusual about today, please give us a call.”  Handing my dad a card, the officers then put on their hats, readying themselves to question our neighbours.  Dad takes the card, smiles and nods before closing the door behind them.

“So
that
was weird,” Leena says.  Tania nods her head in agreement.  After my sisters both return to their bedrooms, Dad asks if he can have a quick word with me.  I climb up on his lap and ask if he is okay.

“I think something strange is going on with you,” he says.  “I don’t know what it is, but I know that it is not evil.  I will do everything I can to protect you.  Do you understand?”

“Not really, but thank you,” I respond.  “I will do everything to protect you too, Daddy.”

“Krystal, bizarre things have been happening since you were little.  I want you to promise me that you will never talk to anybody else about those things except for me, okay?” Dad looks at me seriously.  “
Promise
me.  You can tell me about anything, but
only
me.  Nobody else.  Do you promise?”

“I promise.”  Hugging my father tight, I kiss his cheek. “I love you, Daddy, and I will always be your little girl.”

That night on the news, the reporter advises that there were no witnesses at all to the unusual events that had occurred that day and beckoned for people to call in to the station or to ring police if they had any information.  A vague description of the men – or rather, what was left of them – was given, followed by, “As soon as the bodies are able to be removed from the wreckage, we will have more information to give.”  When they show footage of the car, I recognise the two police officers who had come to our home earlier that day.  One of them was leaning over the back of the car, puking up his lunch for the world to see.

* * *

Yule arrives and my sisters and I feel ourselves fast becoming bibliotaphs as we stare at the new books in our book case.  I am unable to find any cookbooks among all of the children’s books and frown as I try to figure out how to make Egg Nog.  While getting the table ready for dinner, Leena tells Tania and me that she’d decided to continue living with us after overhearing what had happened with the flattened car.  “I am so seriously glad that none of us were around when it happened.  One of us could have been hurt!”  Keeping my promise to my father, I hadn’t told anybody else, including my sisters, what had really happened that afternoon.  Leena agrees that Mum can look after herself for a while with her new boyfriend. 

With the wedding only a week away, my sisters’ excitement seem to notch up a gear as they start going all abuzz about the big event.  I, however, am not at all interested in their nuptials.  My father and I get into several arguments because I don’t want to go to the wedding, but Dad insists that I must go because it would hurt my mum very much if I didn’t attend her big day.  I argue that I don’t like the man she is marrying.  Eddie’s a pig and a jerk and he is NOT my father.  Dad argues that I would not be going there to support
him
; I would be going to the wedding to support my mother.  Reluctantly, I finally concede and agree to go.  While it is true that I am angry at her, I would never hurt my mum.  Regardless of her upcoming marriage to a potty-mouthed poo-head, I still love her very much.  “Thank you for being so grown up about this, honey,” he says.  I roll my eyes and decide to focus instead on the big night ahead in the Hunter residence.

Leena, Tania and I help our father with the cooking in the kitchen.  Although this year is a vastly different for us all in our mother’s absence, Dad decides to make a big, fancy meal for Yule anyway.  It is exciting to be a part of the dinner-making process for the very first time.  The peas are my job.  With my fingertips, I split each of the long green pods down their side crease and watch in amazement as the tiny fresh peas fall into the bowl underneath. 
They smell so good!
  I am almost tempted to stick one in my mouth, but decide against it, just in case it tastes gross. 

With the Yule Log burning, we eat our ham, roast lamb, roasted potatoes, pumpkin, carrot and peas.  For dessert, Leena surprises the family by making each of us each a Banana Split.  I hadn’t tasted that before and watch to see how she makes it.  First she slices a banana down the middle.  Then she puts a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle of the sliced banana before spraying some whipped cream on top, sprinkling some drinking chocolate over that and finally putting some crushed nuts on the top. As I take a bowl from the bench and put it in front of Dad, Leena starts to make another one.  She then tells me that each of us will get a Banana Split for dessert.  I almost drool, knowing that one plate will not be split up between us all.

“I don’t think my tummy can hold all of that!” I exclaim, wondering how
anybody
can eat so much food. Leena smiles as she hands me another Banana Split to take to the table.  Once all four of us have a neatly stacked dessert in front of us, we glance quickly at each other and smile before we almost gourmandise ourselves into a food coma.  In all of my four years, I had never tasted anything so delicious.  I squeal with delight at the flavours, causing Leena to blush and smile.  Her self-confidence shines through, as does her excitement at having successfully made her very first dessert all by herself.

When dinner is over, we sit around the Yule Log and open our gifts.  I am surprised to see that we each have a gift from our mother which is separate from our gift from our dad.  Part of me is excited.  Another part of me is sad.  Hopefully I will someday get used to her not being here with us.

Chapter
Eight

The day of Mum and Eddie’s wedding has arrived.  I lie in my bed next to Ralph and we stare at the ceiling, cringing of what the day will bring.  Outside my bedroom door, I hear my sisters buzzing around like flies, excited about the big day. 
Did I really agree to be a part of this? 
Remembering the promise that I had made to my father, I roll my eyes before slowly crawling out of bed. 
The sooner this day is over with, the better.

When I open my bedroom door, I see my sisters already dressed in their finest yellow dresses and white shoes.  Not being a dress person, myself, I opt for some nice black long pants and a pink blouse with a black ribbon at the neck.  While today might not be something I am looking forward to, I want my mother to smile when she remembers it in the future.  I secretly hope Eddie makes sure the wedding doesn’t take place in a mosque or a church.  Mum is a proud Wiccan woman, so marrying in some place close to nature would be appropriate.  After brushing Ralph’s whiskers and ears, I feel ready to face the day.

“Krystal, you can put Ralph back in the bedroom.  He won’t be going with you,” my father says impatiently.  I frown but don’t argue and lay him back on the bed.

The drive is silent, with all of us looking out the window, wondering where we are going… except for Dad, who already knows.  We park near a football field.  Part of me is excited that the wedding will be outdoors while the other part is a little confused, since the football field is completely empty.  As soon as Dad gets out of the car, we start walking.  A few blocks later, my sisters and I almost fall over backwards, trying to see how tall the building is which we had just stopped in front of.

“What is this place?” Leena asks.  With my lips pursed tightly together, I am already quite certain that there will be no Wiccan theme at today’s wedding.  We get into the elevator and ride to the fourth floor – the Magistrate’s office.

“Jo!” our dad calls out through the doorway of the tiny room.  Mum looks absolutely stunning in her blue dress.  Even with her giant baby bump, she really does look divine. 
Like a Goddess
.  I can’t help but smile at her.  Eddie looks around and affords us a brief glance before turning back to his intoxicated friend.  Unsurprisingly, both are holding beers in their hands. 
What stupid dicks! 
I sneer at the disgusting behaviour of the groom and best man, before Dad’s voice brings me back to the events at the doorway.  “You will look after them from here, yes?” he asks Mum.

“Of course I will, Frank.  I assume you will be close by somewhere to take them after the ceremony ends?” Mum enquires, making sure he doesn’t just leave us there.

“You will find me in the foyer.  Ground floor.  Have a nice wedding,” Dad says, before quickly making his way to the elevator.  He doesn’t look back and I feel his hurt and anger as he leaves.  Running after him, I hold his hand until the elevator arrives.

“It will be okay, Daddy,” I whisper as he steps into the elevator.  Our hands separate and I look at him sadly as the doors close.

Back in the chapel, my sisters and I sit on the chairs lining the wall of the tiny room.  Eddie’s friend stands beside him.  I am tempted to say something not-so-nice about what he is wearing.  Mum had gone to extremes to make sure she looks like a beautiful bride on her wedding day, while Eddie and his friend stand at the altar wearing black shorts, dirty work boots on their feet and white t-shirts with a bow-tie painted on the front. 
You filthy turds could have at least tried to make this day special for her!
  Mum turns to look at her daughters… and she smiles at us, encouraged by the fact that we are all in attendance. 

“Does anybody here have an objection to these two joining in a holy union?” the Magistrate asks, reading aloud from the book in front of him.  A loud fart shamelessly escapes the butt of Eddie’s friend and they both giggle.  Immediately after the rude response, I notice Mum look away from Eddie as a tear runs down her cheek.   I listen as her voice plays inside my head… ‘
Not in front of the girls!
 
You promised me that he would behave, dammit
.’  Glaring at the stranger, I send an electric shock directly into the bullseye between his butt cheeks, making him jump and drop his beer.

“Fucking fuck!” the stranger cusses loudly, not caring where he is or who is in listening range.  He interrupts the ceremony even further by complaining that he didn’t bring another beer with him.  Reluctantly, Eddie hands him the bottle he is holding and tells him to shut his mouth for a while.

Finally, Mum and Eddie are pronounced husband and wife.  Eddie leans over and sticks his tongue inside my mother’s mouth, once again not giving a damn that her young daughters are in the room.  Mid-kiss, Eddie apologises to our mother before turning away to let out a loud burp.  The beer stench fills the room, causing my sisters and me to leave and wait near the elevators.  Mum follows us, her eyes were filled with tears, but she does her best to hide the fact that she is horrified by the sham of a wedding ceremony which had just taken place.

“Thank you, my darling girls.  I am so glad you all came today,” she says, before hugging us one by one.  She presses the button on the elevator and escorts the three of us to the ground floor foyer.  When she sees Dad’s face, another tear rolls down her cheek.  “Thank you for bringing them, Frank.  Drive safe, okay?” she says quietly before pressing the elevator button once more.  Nodding once, Dad stands up from his chair.  We wait until the elevator arrives and the doors close before making our way back to the car in silence.  I pray that Eddie treats her as good as our dad did when they were married, but after what I had just witnessed inside the Magistrate’s chapel, I have no doubts that he will mistreat her at every given opportunity.

* * *

It’s been almost two weeks since the wedding and today is my birthday.  I am five years old and already, I feel so grown up!  This year, I will be going to a new school.  Although I am a little bit nervous, I am also excited because I will be attending the same school as Leena and Tania.  We won’t be riding our bikes to school any more.  Due to the incident at the end of last year when those evil men tried to grab me off my bike on the way home from kindergarten, my sisters and I will be travelling to school together on the school bus service which has just started.  Having never been on a bus before, I am worried that I might be asked to sit on the floor on the way to school because I am the youngest.  I equally hope that somebody will help me climb up the step onto the bus because my legs are not as big as my dad’s legs are.  They are also not as hairy.

Still in his pyjamas, half asleep and yawning loudly, Dad does a pandiculating type of zombie-yoga on his way into my bedroom.  He leans over to wake me up, not realising that I had witnessed his whole stretching gig as he walked in.  Dad says he wanted to be the very first to give me a birthday present today.  He reaches down to the floor at the end of the bed and plonks it onto the bed in front of me.  It is big and wrapped in purple paper.  I love purple!  It goes with everything and makes every other colour prettier.  I sit up and rub the sleep out of my eyes, already smiling.  My dad sits on the end of my bed and waits for me to tear the paper off and see what is inside.

“Go ahead, Krystal.  Open it!” he says, ever so excited.  I look from the wrapped present to my Dad’s face.  He is wearing the biggest smile I have ever seen.  The look on his face gives away the fact that he is just as excited as I am about the gift being opened.  Grinning, I rip the paper open as fast as I can, giggling like a four year old. 
Whoops!  I am FIVE now.  Time to act it!
Unable to stop smiling, my jaw drops when I see what is inside.  It is a brand new purple backpack for school.  Inside the backpack is a small purple crystal attached to a silver chain.  I have never seen anything so beautiful.

“Happy birthday, sweetheart,” my dad says happily. He can see how much I love both the backpack and necklace since I am still smiling, my eyes open wide.  “I know you love purple, and I thought that buying an Amethyst crystal for my Krystal would be perfect for my baby girl.  You are growing up so fast!” he continues.  I am so happy that I can almost feel my heart bursting inside me over and over, just like the fireworks I had seen two weeks earlier.  Happy tears slide down my cheeks.

“Daddy, this is the best birthday ever!” I squeal.  Leaning over the purple backpack and wrapping paper, I hug him tight before asking him to put the Amethyst chain around my neck so I can show both Leena and Tania my beautiful purple necklace.  He stands up, sits behind me and does up the clasp.  I climb out of bed in my pink polka dot pyjamas and we both look at the necklace in the mirror. “Thank you, Daddy!” I say, turning around to hug him again.  “I love you so much!”

“I love you too, Krystal.  Don’t ever forget it,” he assures me. 

I race out into the kitchen to look for my sisters.  They are still in bed. 
What sleepy heads!
  I go into Leena’s room and wake her up.  She is a little bit grumpy at being woken so early, but she smiles when she sees the Amethyst necklace around my neck.  Leena quickly sits up and tells me she also has a present for me, but it needs to wait until later.  After I hug her, she goes back to sleep.  I then run to Tania’s bedroom and open the door.  When I enter the room, she is not there.

“Daddy!” I cry out.  “Tania’s gone!  Where is she?”

My dad comes running into Tania’s room, panic-stricken when he sees that his daughter is not in her bed.  It is then that he realises he had not seen Tania all morning, but then again, with Tania’s bedroom door having been closed, Dad most likely would not have seen her even if she had been in bed.  He starts pacing and running his hands through his hair and over his face. 

“TANIA!” he yells out at the top of his lungs. 

Leena jumps out of bed and comes running to see what the emergency is.  We all start looking through the house for Tania. 
How can she be gone?
  I kneel down and look under her bed.  When I do not find her there, my mind is again taken back to the exploding bee.  In the brief silence between yells, we hear a knocking on the front door. Thinking the absolute worst, my father races to the door, almost in tears, expecting a policeman to be on the other side.  When he opens it, he is relieved to see Tania standing on the top step. She is crying.  Dad leans down and scoops her up into his arms before closing the door behind them. 

“Where were you?  What were you doing outside?  Are you okay?”  He fires off the questions so quickly that Tania doesn’t have a chance to answer.  “Why were you outside?” he asks again before pulling her into another hug.

“I accidentally … pulled the door … shut … behind me … when I came … out to sit … on the … stairs,” she sobs, drawing in a breath between words.  As she starts to calm down, Tania is finally able to explain her absence a little better so we can understand.  “It was so early and I didn’t want to wake any of you, so I just sat here on the top step until you started to call me.  I just needed to get a bit of air so I could think for a while.”

I run to my bedroom and grab a blanket from my bed.  Wrapping it around my sister, I can feel her shivering, both from the cold and from being alone outside for so long.  We all sit around her, grateful that she is okay.

“What were you thinking about out there?” I ask.

“Rusty,” she says, surprising us all.  “Daddy, can we get a puppy?  I miss Rusty a lot.”  Silence follows her request as our dad considers how to respond.  He looks from me to Leena and then back to Tania.

“I don’t know.  What do you think about this?” he asks, now looking at me and Leena.  My brow creases as I think hard about the prospect of having a pet in the family again.  It doesn’t seem like a bad idea at all.

As if reading my thoughts, Dad says, “I think it might just be a good idea!  And since it is Krystal’s birthday today, how about we let her name him?” my dad suggests. 

“YES!” my sisters scream out at once, a huge smile on each of their faces.

Without having to be asked twice, we all quickly get dressed and make our way down the stairs to the car.  Our excitement is in overdrive as Dad takes us to the RSPCA to find a new furry family member to adopt.  Although we’d loved Rusty dearly, our elation at getting the new puppy is through the roof and we can’t stop giggling and talking about possible names.

As soon as we pull into the RSPCA carpark, my sisters and I squeal with delight as we watch dogs being led to cars with their new owners.  Cats are also making their way to their new homes in their kitty carriers.  We all unbuckle our belts and climb out of the car, being careful to walk close to Dad.  He stops walking and tells Tania and me to watch where we are walking, as our eyes are still focussed on all the happy animals in the car park.  The last thing our father wants today is for one of his daughters to become speed bumps underneath the wheels of any cars.  Leena holds on to our father’s hand tight the whole way into the building.  She is so excited that she starts to pull Dad’s arm to get him inside the adoption centre faster.

As I follow my sisters and my dad, I notice a van pull up near the next building.  Three staff members come running out of the building to help the people in the van.  They lift out a dog which is sleeping.  There is a lot of blood seeping through the blanket they are carrying him on and I see an axe sticking up in the air.  It takes a moment for me to realise that the axe is sticking out of the dog’s head.  The dog is not dead and the RSPCA hospital’s medical team rush the dog into the building as quickly as possible, hoping to save the dog’s life.
What sort of asshole would do that to an innocent animal?
Sneaking away from my family, I follow the hospital staff into the building to see if the dog will be okay.