As Lauren looked at Odilia, she could hear the blood rushing behind her ears; the echo of her heartbeats getting louder and faster. She closed her eyes for a moment, shook her head and then stared straight at Odilia. “No. I’m sorry, but no matter what ‘powers’ you think you have, or what you think my grandmother had, you can believe whatever you want. But as for me, you’re completely off-base, there’s no way I …”
“I know this is hard for you, and believe me, your grandmother would have preferred having this discussion with you, not me. However, she had promised your mother not to interfere. But I’m here now, and Alma and your mother wanted me to help you, but only if you want it.”
“My mother? If she felt I had any of these ‘gifts’, I’m sure she would have told me. Listen, you’re a real nice lady and I know you mean well, but ….”
“Haven’t you’ve wondered why your mother left and basically cut off all direct contact with her own mother and the life she had here. Why you’ve never even been introduced to your grandmother?”
Lauren furrowed her brow, “Of course I’ve wondered, but there must have been some type of blow-up …” she was now floundering and her whole body was tense and edgy.
“From her letters, you know she loved her mother very much, but the truth was, she just couldn’t be near her anymore. Your grandmother was strong and her ‘gifts’ were amazingly powerful. But your mother’s were even stronger.” Seeing Lauren start to shake her head, Odilia held up her hand. “Please let me finish, these are things you have to know. I promised them I would talk to you.”
Lauren tried to rise out of the chair, but Abby’s sharp claws forced her back down. “Listen, you know nothing about me and nothing about my mother. How can you sit there and tell me we have these ‘gifts’ as though you have intimate knowledge about us. You’ve never met my mother or me before and believe me, if we had any of these things, she would have been the first to tell me.”
“…she may be stronger than the two of us … “ Lauren tried to push her mother’s words out of her mind as a wave of dread flowed through her. “I don’t think I want to hear any more of this.”
Again she tried to get out of the chair. “Abby, get down!” The cat looked up at her with slit eyes and a low growl emanated from her throat. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Panic had started to engulf Lauren and she was afraid she’d either start crying or screaming at any moment. Why does Abby have to start acting up now? This damn cat …
“You seem to forget that your mother was born and raised here, so I knew your mother very well as she was growing up.” Odilia’s voice was quiet, yet firm. “Do you want to hear about your mother or not?”
The direct way Odilia was looking at her calmed Lauren somewhat. Of course, she had always wanted to know why her mother had left, but she wasn’t so sure anymore. But she inhaled deeply and nodded her head.
“Your mother grew up knowing her powers and accepted your grandmother’s teachings and guidance. There were some people that didn’t understand your family ‘gifts’ and that was what drove Adelaide away, even though she hadn’t inherited any of them. But your mother recognized the importance of her own abilities and readily trained to continue what her ancestors had started.”
Mom trained? No, this is ridiculous. But Lauren was silent and continued to listen.
“As your mother grew from a young girl to teenager, she was sought after by the people in the bayou. She was an extension of her mother and the generations of ‘Almas’ before her. Not only did they reach out to her for her abilities with herbs and remedies, but also her ‘gift’ of knowing things that would occur. To be able to help people with this knowledge was pretty heady stuff, but it was also a curse. Because there came a time when your mother understood that even with these powers, there was a limit to what she could do with them. Realizing there was so much she couldn’t change, even with her knowledge, weighed heavily on her.”
YOU ARE READING
An Inheritance
General FictionLauren heads to Louisiana to attend to her grandmother's 'estate' ... she had never met her and in fact, none of her relatives had even known she had still been alive all of those years ... as Lauren unravels her grandmother's past, she begins to un...
