The Keepers

“I told her not to do it!!” “Do what Cicely?” “I TOLD JAMIE NOT TO DO IT!!” Aunt Julie looked at mom and me wondering what was going on. “Calm down sweetheart, what did you tell Jamie not to do?” “I TOLD JAMIE NOT TO OPEN THE BOOK!!” Aunt Julie covered her mouth with tears in her eyes. Mom look at me and her face turned pale. That was the first time I ever saw a black woman's face turn pale. I never knew we could do that. “Where is she?” Mom said in a panic. “She locked herself in the shed outside!!” Mom, Aunt Julie, and I ran outside, but it was too late. Jamie came out of the shed with the little black book and a blank look on her face. “Jamie….JAMIE!” MOM said shaking her to see if Jamie would respond. With the blank look, Jamie turned to mom and just stared. “Where is the other book Julie?” Mom was afraid of what was happening to Jamie, and she knew the only way to reverse it was to read from the other book. “I…don’t…know…” Aunt Jamie said. With tears in her eyes , she looked away, far off into the distance as if she was staring at someone passing by. “I think Debra took it…” Mom’s face turned even paler. “Why would she do that to us…why would she even do such a thing. She knows that you cannot separate the two.” Aunt Julie took the book from Jamie and a piece of paper fell out from between the pages. We all stopped and watched it fall to the ground like a leaf would fall from the trees in autumn.

It was a warm and beautiful summer's day. Not to hot, not to cold. Just right. You could hear children playing in the background as if there was nothing going on. Cars driving by, people walking around as if it was just any ordinary day. But, if they only knew what just happened, they would be in fear for their lives. My family was apart of a world that others did not understand, a world that was in between worlds. We were the keepers, if you would ask. We had knowledge of things that “ordinary” people would not understand, nor dare to. In fact, if we told anyone who we really were, they would lock us up for sure. From the time I could talk, our elders would sit us all down and tell us stories of things that we all thought were made-up. I remember one time, as grandma and grandfather was telling us a story about a man who could use a mirror to travel to other worlds. I was about five and whispered to my cousin, “Why are they still telling us these made up stories..” “Excuse me?” Aunt Julie said looking at both of us. “Are you two really talking and being disrespectful to your elders?” “Aunt Julie…Why are they still telling us these made up stories?” “I may be only five, but I know they are not true" I have always been “smart” for my age, at least that is what everyone told me. So, in my mind, I knew I was right. Grandma and Grandpa looked at each other lovingly, and smiled. “It is ok Julie,” Grandpa said. “We will show them, one day.” They continued with their story and Aunt Julie made me sit by her. She whispered in my ear, “I have something to show you once we are done" Puzzled, I looked at her but she looked at me and put her finger over her mouth to be quite, so I did and smiled. Aunt Julie and I had our own special relationship.

After everyone left, Aunt Julie took my hand and walked with me into the living room. My mom and dad were in there, talking about something when they turned and looked at her. “What are you doing now Julie?” my dad asked. He always could tell whenever anyone was up to something. You could not get anything passed him. He was good at that. One time, my brothers and I were playing outside when my eldest brother Donavan wanted to sneak off to the park before our father made it home. “If I am not back before dad gets home, just tell him I went for a walk around the block" Before we knew it, my father was pulling up in the driveway with Donavan in the back seat crying. Father must have scolded him the whole car ride back. You could hear dad telling Donavan that we were to never leave the house without permission. As a child, I never understood stood why.

On day, we were all playing in the back yard when mom called us all in the house. “Hurry in children…now!!” After we came into the house, mom told us to hurry and put all of the books and toys in the safe zone. The safe zone was the place where we kept our books and things whenever we had company. I asked mom why we do this, she replied “It is simple.” She said. “The safe zone is where the books and toys can be viewed by the others without fear” “Fear from what" I asked? Apart from being smart, I was always extremely curious about things. “Fear from finding out who we really are" That has always been our families biggest fear, the ordinaries finding out who we really are. It is not that they would be afraid of us, but, afraid of the unknown. Afraid of the things in the book that they would not understand nor comprehend. “They would lock us up, separate us, and take all of our things. Just like they did to the Swanson family. Thank God that we were able to retrieve their things before the others could get them.” That was a scary day. I remember my mom and dad rushing us inside and telling us to go to our rooms and lock the door. “Do not come out of this room until your mother or myself comes to get you!” dad told us. Normally, I would have asked a bunch of questions, but by the look in his eyes, he was worried and afraid. So, I said nothing. I followed my brothers to the room and locked the door behind us. We all sat on the bed and could her doors opening and closing, more adults coming in and talking. I walked up to the door to try and hear what was going on when I heard a loud thump on the door. Startled, I jumped back. Open the door my father said. Once the door was open our cousins were rushed into the room. “Lock this door and do not come out" Uncle Stephen said. Once the adults walked back down stairs, I asked my eldest cousin what was going on. She turned and said “The others found out about the Swanson family and has them…” This was the first time I decided to ask about the others. I have always been afraid to ask before. “Who are the others?” I asked in a shy voice. “Huh, you really don’t know about the others?” my middle brother asked? “No Jasper, no one has ever told me about them because I never asked.” “Well, the others are the total opposite of us” said Rayland. Rayland is the eldest cousin and was sixteen at the time. “The others work with the ordinaries. You know, regular people. They want the knowledge that we have so, they try to always find us.” “Why" I asked. “It is simple….they want..” before she could finish there was a knock at the door. It is ok, everyone is safe now. You can come out.

As we walked down the stairs, you could hear the adults talking about the Swanson family. “I hope they are ok" my mom said. “And what about the children?” “I am not sure” uncle Lewis said. “And their keep?” Aunt Shanda asked. “We were able to get them once the others left” Dad was still by the doors watching as well as Uncle Karl, Aunt Julie, and Uncle Stephen. They were some of the strongest in the family. Grandma and Grampa told all of us to come and sit down. They wanted to let us know that everyone is ok. Grandma looked at all of us and said" If anything were to happens to us, I just don’t know….” She stopped. You could see the fear in her eyes as tears started falling down her cheek. “It is ok love” Grampa took her hand and started to gently caress it. “You will not have that experience again. I will make sure of it" I have heard stories that when grandma was a little girl, her family was taken by the others. She never talks about what happened. Every time someone would ask her, she would just look away and tears would start to fall. She never spoke about it. She never talked about it. She would just turn her head and start to cry.

“Jamie, answer me!!” Mom said. You could see the look in her eyes. Aunt Julie picked up the paper, and started to read it out loud. “It is time “ the paper said. Mom turned and looked at Aunt Julie. “What does this mean?” "Call mom and dad right now and tell them what happened." Aunt Julie came back to us slowly with a worried look on her face. “Mom and dad are coming over and told us to get into the house right now.” Mom could tell it was extremely serious. She and Aunt Julie picked up Jamie and went into the living room. Jamie still unable to speak. Before we knew it, dad was home. Grandma must have called him. He came rushing in and stopped once he saw Jamie. He knew how serious it was. Where is the book and the letter he asked. And how did you get…” He was interrupted by everyone coming in. Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Stephen, Uncle Lewis, Aunt Shanda, Uncle Karl and everyone else. Before you knew it, the whole places was crammed with all of our relatives. Grandma and Grandpa sat right in the middle of all of us. “Who has the other book” Grandma asked. “Debra" said Aunt Julie. “Why would she separate the books" Aunt Shanda asked. “Revenge" Uncle Stephen said. “Doesn't she understand” “Who would she give the book to? The ordinaries would not be able to understand” said Uncle Lewis. “No, but the others do" Dad said. Grandma looked off into the distance and started crying. Grandpa took her hand and started to caress it. “Don’t worry love,” Grandpa said. “We are going to be ok" Grandpa looked at all of us. “Everyone calm down and sit down” he said sternly, which caught everyone’s attention. He rarely speaks that way unless it was extremely important. “What I am about to tell you, will change everything” he said. “What do you mean" said Mom. “Well,” Grandpa said “Sit down and I will tell you the truth about who we really are and what is in the book….”