Soul Mate (The Mating Series) (34 page)

“I don’t need a babysitter
,” I said. “Jimmy, I know you’re stressed and I am too.” I ran my fingers through my hair and huffed. “I just want to go home for a while, soak in my bath and maybe see Mom.” Jimmy only had a shower at the condo. He removed the tub for a walk in shower. When I asked why, he told me that he didn’t like to soak in his own filth. “Baths are not sanitary. I feel gross after them.” Jimmy liked to tease me about my penchant for taking long baths.

“
Whatever.” Jimmy conceded too easily. I expected him to put up a fight. It upset me. I wanted some emotion. It hurt.
Jimmy is tired of me already.
“Do you want to take my car?” he asked.

I wouldn’t t
urn down a chance to drive his car again. “Sure.”

Cho brought me the car keys. “Be safe.” He reminded. “And check in.” Cho poked me in the shoulder,
again
. I glared. Cho acted like my brother or parent. It annoyed me.

“
I’ll take a bath and get some more clothes nothing else.”

“There and back
,” Cho said. He was more concerned that Jimmy, it made the hurt worse.

“I may not come back
.” I looked at Jimmy. He flicked the game controller with his thumbs, oblivious again.

“I’m not going to save your ass again, so
you better come back safely.” Cho growled, but he pulled me into a bear hug.

“I will…dad!” I poked
him equally as hard in the chest.

The car hadn’t moved since I parked
it a week ago. As I got in it, memories flashed of the last time in the car. It gave me chills. I almost turned back, but I forced myself to go out. I started the engine and left.

Once out of the parking garage, I was glad.
My frustration abated. It was a great sunny day. I threw on my sunglasses, and headed south to my apartment. I frequently checked the rearview mirror, but I saw nothing out of order. A good song came on the radio. My anxiety eased with each beat of the melody.

I
arrived at my apartment. It was quiet. I smiled, pleased. “Mom!” I called, but got no reply. I hoped to see Mom. I made sure the apartment was in order and no one lurked outside. All was clear. Relieved, I went to my room and flopped on the bed. Jimmy had a nicer place, but the little apartment was mine. The hard little bed was mine. The ratty old duvet was mine. It enjoyed being in my apartment with things that were familiar. The solitude was great too. I stripped down in my bedroom, and walked through the apartment naked. I couldn’t do that at Jimmy’s because Cho was always there appraising me with his coal eyes. He weighed my worthiness to his brother. It made me uneasy. My presence grew on Cho. He treated me like one of his siblings. The status of bratty little sister pleased me better than the previous label of ignorant girlfriend.

I poured an ample
amount of milk and honey scented bubble bath in the tub. I lit a few candles and turned out the lights. I slipped into the tub and placed a cloth over my eyes. Something about a hot bath always helped me think.

I thought about all
that went on. I thought about Jimmy and Cho invading every facet of my life. For the most part, I enjoyed their company, but I needed the break. I wondered if I could stay out long enough to catch a movie before the worried father Cho, panicked. I appreciated his concern, but I wanted to see a movie and forget myself for a few hours.

Jimmy seemed resolved to be stuck in the house, and fixated on his stupid game. I could tell Cho
chomped at the bit to go home, but he worried too much to leave. Cho’s chain smoking doubled when his lady friend called. He talked to her on the phone a lot. He seemed interested in this woman. I would love to meet her; she must be pretty special. Cho acted like a hard ass, and for a woman to make him soften and smile it meant she was not just an ordinary lady. I didn’t know Cho well, but I could tell he felt more for her than he let on. I saw the way he watched us together.  Sometimes, I thought Cho took mental notes on how to behave with a woman.

“What are you doing?” I jumped strait up. It was Mom. Her sudden appearance startled me. Days of being in a ghost free zone made me forget about mom’s abrupt materializations. “Is everything alright Cassie?”

“It’s fine,” I said, sinking back into the hot water. Mom turned the air cold. “I needed some alone time, that’s all.”

“Love isn’t so grand when you live with them
, is it?” Mom asked.

“Jimmy has been playing the same damn game for five days, and Cho smokes like a chimney. I had to get out for a while. Besides, I was hoping to see you.”

“Jimmy’s brother is still with you guys?” Mom asked.  “I bet that’s fun.”

“
He isn’t so bad once you get to know him,” I said. “Actually, I kind of like Cho, but I’m tired of being around people.” As much as Cho scared me, I did like him. I valued his assessments. Cho was an intelligent man and had good insight.

“It’s hard when you’ve lived alone for so long. Imagine how I felt when I ended up in the green room after my accident.” Mom laughed. “You have to put up with two men; I have thousands of people around me.”

“That sucks,” I said.

“That’s why I like hanging out with you.” Mom winked. “Is there anything new going on with the murders or Jimmy?” I told mom all that happened since I saw her last. Mom listened intently
, nodding occasionally. She frowned when I told her about the SUV in the parking garage.

“What do you think?” I
asked when I finished.

“Well, I think Cho’
s right, whether you like it or not this church sees you and Jimmy as a threat…maybe Jimmy more so,” Mom said.

“Why?”

“He is special; he sees things no else can,” Mom said. “He has a gift that many call the devil’s gift. I’d be cautious.”

“Do you know more than we do?” I asked.

“Not all beings in the green room are good,” Mom said. “There are entities that aren’t from this world. They want to cause harm to this world. I don’t get close to them, but I see them. There’s more to your world than you want to believe. Jimmy knows this; we’ve talked about it before.” Jimmy and Mom talked about the afterlife on many occasions. Too busy fantasizing about Jimmy; I never paid attention to their conversations.

I thought about how Park Min viewed Jimmy’s gifts. She was just as superstitious.
“Jimmy’s mom thinks he’s possessed or something. She thinks he is capable of murder and disowned him.”

“That woman is a silly old coot
,” Mom said. “Jimmy has met with some unsavory beings in the scope of his investigations, but he is not possessed. There are a few who know Jimmy by name which is bad. It’s not good to have a dark entity know your name.”

“What?” I asked.

“Jimmy has faced down a few dark entities and one even sought me out to relay a message to him.”

“There’
s so much I don’t know about the man I love,” I said.

“Cassie you’ve always been too infatuated with Jimmy to notice anything. You see what you want to see about him.”

“Is there more I don’t know about him?”

“There’s plenty you don’t know about him
,” Mom said. “Jimmy doesn’t want to worry you with this stuff.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Like the fact that I’m not the only spirit he sees. Cassie they’re around him constantly. He never gets a break from beings intruding into his personal life, visions coming on at the wrong times, and knowing things he shouldn’t know.” Mom pointed at me. “That poor guy has burdens, no one should have to carry, but he seems to carry them with stride. With these murders, and him being on house arrest, he can’t get away from the things that constantly plague him. You’re annoyed with him because he’s been playing a video game to block out the stress but, I’m shocked he hasn’t had a complete mental breakdown.”

I felt terrible. I didn’t have a clue what Jimmy dealt with. I needed to see Mom; once again she put
life in perspective for me. I got mad at Jimmy for acting immature, but I was the child. I threw a tantrum, and left because I didn’t get enough attention. “I’m a terrible girlfriend,” I said.

“You aren’t a terrible girlfriend.
You’re a normal human being. You need to understand that you don’t have a normal boyfriend. He stands with one foot in this world and the other in the beyond.”

“The afterlife?”  I asked.

“Not exactly. Jimmy is connected to the ethereal, the Akasha. It’s another world that’s not just the place you go when you die. The green room is where you go when you die. The Akasha is the place that’s on the other side of the curtain. It’s the end and beginning of time, the answers to all, the spirit world, the divine.” Mom made a flourish of hand movements as she spoke. “I really don’t know all of what is there, because I’ve not been past the green room, but Jimmy knows, he told me.”

“Are you talking about heaven?” I asked. I couldn’t understand Mom’s concept.
Has Jimmy been to heaven?

“Not heaven exactly, its heaven and hell. The Akasha is the entire spirit realm. Heaven is a Christian concept, but this is where people
and all beings go. It doesn’t matter if they are good or bad. All go to the Akasha, but different realms.” I didn’t comprehend. My face was screwed up in confusion. “Think of it this way. When you want to take a trip you go to the Indianapolis Airport, but not all of the people have the same destination. Some people are going to the same destination, but take different flights.”
Mom and her airplane analogies
. “We
all
to go to the same place, but we take different paths to get there, just like flying.” I still couldn’t grasp the whole concept, but I got at least an idea. “The Akasha is like the United States, each realm is like a different state. Its deep philosophical stuff,” Mom said. “I’m in the Akasha and I can’t explain it any better, but Jimmy can.”

“He’s been to this Akasha?” I asked.

“Where do you think his visions are from?” Mom said. “He can leave his body and go to there.”

“Why doesn’t he go there more?” I asked. “Why doesn’t he know everything about everything?”

“It’s not that easy. There’
s a price to pay for going to the Akasha. Not all things there are pleasant.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Things, entities, can attach themselves to you and come back with you…beings that aren’t meant to be in your world.”

“
It sounds like scary stuff,” I said.

“You need to talk to Jimmy about this. Ask him to be honest with you. He’s had entities come through with him before
. Once when he was young and didn’t understand what he was doing. That’s why his mother took him to the monks. He accidentally brought something back with him. He probably doesn’t remember because he was so little.”

“How do you know this?” I asked. She never told me anything about this before. Maybe if she would have, I would be more understanding to Park Min, but instead I’ve always thought she was mean.

“I’ve spoken to Jimmy’s Uncle Yung several times in the green room. He’s told me many things about Jimmy and the Kim family. You know the whole family has a little of this magic in them. It was passed down from Jimmy’s maternal side.”

“Trust me, I’ve spent weeks with Cho and he’s not psychic
,” I said. Cho was open to Jimmy’s abilities, but not metaphysics. He seemed thick-headed and set in his ways.

“They all have something mystical in them. It doesn’t always manifest in psychic abilities, but intuitions, understanding concepts that make no sense to others, or seeing ghosts
,” Mom said. “You must have something a little mystical in you too in order to see and hear me.”

I thought about it. “I don’t see anyone else, but you. I don’t see sp
irits at Jimmy’s condo. If they are always around him then I should see them, right?”

“I said a
little mystical
, I don’t know why you see me, but this is more reason for you to take that church seriously. The union between you and Jimmy is a powerful one. There’s always been something special between you two. There is a light that comes off of both of you when you’re together. They very well may see this energy between you and fear it. Any offspring you may create would be very powerful, not necessarily the antichrist, but that’s all ignorant people like can associate with this kind of power. How many times has religious persecution happened in history? It’s always because one group can’t understand or allow another group to be more powerful than them. Usually, it’s the radical religious groups that propagate the fear and anger. They try anything to keep control of the masses. You and Jimmy are evidence that there is more to their dogma than they’re willing to share.” Mom sighed. “They probably don’t even know what they’re doing. It’s usually one person who drives many.”

“That explains me and Jimmy, but that doesn’t explain Penny, Skye, Mary and the other girl.”

“I think the prostitutes were part of another agenda, and as a result they found you and Jimmy, by mistake.”

“Cho said that we accidentally fell on these people’s radar when we tried to save Skye.”