Читать книгу The Project Zoe - Galina Nelson - Страница 7

“Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy.” – Psalm 33:18

To chat meant not a proper church conversation, but to tease, to chase one another, and to laugh out loud.

Anthony and Tonya, red-haired, freckled twins always full of energy and laughter, could hardly sit quiet during church meetings. Whatever Grace would say, Lucy and the twins were always in and out, running around the church and playing. However, she reminded, “Not in the church, honey, okay? But, after the church we are going to a party. And there you will have a great chance to chat with Tonya and Anthony. Now please, time to dress up!”

“Oh, mommy, a party! Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?”

“I wanted to surprise you,” Grace replied, but Lucy did not listen, for she was already in her bedroom, changing.

In about ten minutes, she was ready, wearing red plaid skirt and soft white sweater. Lucy, it seemed, knew exactly what clothes would fit for school, what to wear for a walk, how colors and fabrics would play better together, up to every little detail as if somebody was whispering it to her ear. She picked up a green barrette and asked Grace to fix her long hair. Then she put the same barrette in the hair of Miss Sunshine. The dolls’ green eyes twinkled in the light of the lamp.

“Sure, you know you are beauty, Miss Sunshine,” Lucy smiled. Miss Sunshine was a present for her sixth birthday. Ray brought it home from one of his business trips and since that time Lucy and the doll were inseparable. Lucy made Miss Sunshine comfortable in a white faux fur purse. The doll’s head stuck out as if she was really going to look around.

“Please, Miss Sunshine, watch carefully and let me know if you notice something unusual,” Lucy patted the bright red head. The doll’s large eyes blinked.

“Mommy, Miss Sunshine promised to help,” Lucy exclaimed, “I know she will.”

“If Miss Sunshine is able to help, then something really special shall happen,” Grace agreed. “I see now both of you are ready for the party. You look picture-perfect!”

Lucy’s resemblance to Ray sometimes startled Grace. Lucy had his gray eyes with merry blue sparkles and his strong dark-blond hair. She was not a thin girl, rather rosy and plump, on the healthy side, and so was little Sonya, her sister. Grace’s heart pounded. Where are you, my love, where are you, my baby?

“Mommy, I wish I was picture-perfect as you when I grow-up,” Lucy exclaimed. Remarkably, Lucy never thought of herself as of a special girl. She thought of herself as of a girl who belong to a special family.

They grabbed winter jackets and hurried to the garage; Grace started the White Bear, the nickname Lucy gave to their Chevrolet Tahoe – bulky, strong and handy here, in the mountains SUV.

“R-r-r-oar-r-r, Mr. Bear!” Lucy greeted when the engine roared. The car emerged into the cold December air. There were no other cars, no other sounds yet. As usual on Sunday mornings, the town was lazy. The driveway was a little frosty and the sleepy dawn slightly lightened up the grey streets. Grace switched on the car lights; the giant pines on the sides of the roadway could hardly be seen yet, just occasionally showing up, spreading some of the evergreen branches toward the slowly rising sun.

“Mom, what is the party about?” Lucy asked.

“Mr. Cosmos’s parents came to visit from Greece, for the holidays,” Grace replied.

“It is going be fun!” Lucy said.

“Yes, I think so too,” Grace agreed. Her memories switched to the Cosmos’s family. They were a very unusual concoction of people and, though very different from one another, managed to keep humorous, loving atmosphere in their home and wherever they would appear.

The first time they met Samuel Cosmos in his office after recommendation of Mrs. Brett, the school counselor. Grace recalled the phone call, from the school office: “Miss Ilander, please come to pick up your daughter.”

“Why? Is she okay? It is only quarter to 11…”

“Hmmm.. She is okay …. Please, come.”

The incident that happened, indeed was not new. As before, that was Lira May, who made Lucy cry. Lira’s family was broken apart and it hurt her a lot, but she never looked for empathy. Instead, she developed warlike looks and, as she thought defensive, in fact it was mean behavior toward others. She used to find satisfaction in it and took every chance to mock her not so hateful classmates. And, of course Lucy was always the first in the line with all her stories about father and sister who lived in the magical kingdom and visited her nearly every night.

“They don’t need you! It is your dream, not theirs! They don’t care about you. I bet, they found another family, that what dads do,” Lira told her, and with satisfaction watched Lucy running away from the playground.

Mrs. Brett, school counselor, met Grace at the door. “Please follow me. We need to talk.”

They went to Mrs. Brett’s office.

“Miss Ilander, I arranged for Lucy counseling with Samuel Cosmos, he is very bright scientist, and children’s neurologist. He recently moved to our community from Nevada and volunteered to help children with special needs… It will not cost you anything.”

“Mrs. Brett, I do not understand… children with special needs? Why do you think Lucy needs counseling of a neurologist?”

Then Mrs. Brett raised her thin tattooed eyebrows as if Grace was the most absent-minded parent she ever knew, “Oh, you did not know!? She believes that she has a father and a little sister… She lives in an imaginary world! I know there is nothing wrong to have imaginary friends at her age, but you shall understand…. Today she was upset again, because other students did not believe her. And it is not going to be better if you do not take an action.”

Grace held her tongue, she would not dare to say to Mrs. Brett what she wanted to say at that time: Of course, Lucy did have father and little sister, and we lived together until April 16, 2008! “So …you think Lucy has delusions?” she managed to ask instead.

“No, but I really think you need to take the opportunity to meet Samuel Cosmos. I already scheduled it for you. If you do not mind.” Mrs. Brett, with an air of an experienced professional who always knows what to do, fished out from her desk a planner and found the record, “Here, you are scheduled for tomorrow … 10 a.m.”

Then Mrs. Bret, very satisfied with herself, spread one of her widest smiles and stared at Grace above her glasses, waiting for applauses probably, Grace thought with irony.

“Thank you, Mrs. Brett,” and she hastily retired to pick up Lucy from the school office.

“Lucy, please, try not to mention your father or sister in school,” Grace suggested to Lucy at home, “if you really love them, please keep the secret, okay, darling? They would not want you to be hurt by the bullies.”

“But why, mom, why the others do not believe me? I meet my father and Sonya nearly every night in my dreams and I know they are for real! Though… I will keep the secret, promise.” she said decidedly.

They followed Mrs. Brett’s advice and took the sessions with Dr. Cosmos. If you met in your life people who made you feel wonderful, confident and gracious about yourself, you are lucky enough and then, you can easily imagine Mr. Cosmos. This kind of people are beaming out strengths and geniality and can easily take away most of your concerns and doubts, just being near with you. Shall be understandable, Samuel was remarkably keen and zealous person for suspicious and somewhat mellow Meadow of Light, the way it became now – Grace thought, as she remembered it was different… just about seven month ago. Perhaps, this is what it takes to be great neurologist, Grace realized, by surprise, that she liked Samuel as a person who she used to know before. His voice and manners stirred her memories, echoes of parties and fun they had together with Ray, Sonya, Lucy, and… his family!

Was it for real? Grace was hoping Dr. Cosmos would give her a clue, but he did not show any signs of recollection. The first day in his office he introduced himself briefly and invited them to feel comfortable in the enormous, deep armchairs with plush ottomans. Nothing special, just professional attention he would give to any client. He started the interview. Same standard questions he could be asking any another client as well.

Hesitating a lot, by the end of the interview Grace nevertheless ventured to say what was on the tip of her tongue from the very beginning.

“I have déjà vu,” she smiled, apologetically, “And maybe it will seem weird to you, but do you think we have met before?”

He surprised her with the answer:

“It is weird, because I was going to ask you the same question… I do feel I have met you before, though I cannot recall the circumstances.” He smiled apologetically, “I am glad that you asked me about it, – sorry I have not much answers at this time.”

He did not explain anything else, though Grace and Lucy both agreed, they both could feel he remembered more than he revealed at that time.

Over the next several visits they became good friends with Dr. Cosmos. Lucy became very talkative with him. Most of all, to Grace’s surprise, she was talking not about her dad and sister but about Miss Sunshine, the stuffed doll. She brought the doll to every session and was describing meticulously how Miss Sunshine was feeling and what she was eating and so on. Samuel was always listening with a lot of attention.

“Mommy, there is no need to hide anything from Mr. Cosmos, because he really trusts me,” Lucy assured her after the second session at Samuels’s office. “No one else would care that Miss Sunshine likes fruits and cereal and that she thinks eggs and sausage are barbaric.”

When Dr. Cosmos invited them to meet his wife Katherine and their twins, Tonya and Anthony, it was decided: everyone in his family shall take for granted that Lucy’s father and her little sister were, unfortunately lost, but hopefully would find the way home. Once it was Samuel’s opinion usually it was also opinion of his family. If there were some disagreements, then not to anyone’s knowledge.

“My family and I don’t listen gossips of the town,” Samuel explained. To encourage Grace and Lucy, he shared with them conversation he had with his son Anthony – restless boy with thoughtful, big brown eyes, —

“Yesterday my son asked me a question. He said, dad, how did it happen that Lucy’s father and sister were lost?”

“What did you answer, doc?”

I told him, I didn’t know the answers yet, but I believed they were not imaginary friends of Lucy, but her real dad and sister and one day they were to be found. We are on your side.”

“Thank you, doc.”

“Please, call me anytime you need my help, and be positive, Ray and Sonya are alive and will be with you again.”

Every year Samuel invited his parents from Greece, for the Christmas holidays. They were very attached to their house and neighborhood in suburb of Athens, but loved to visit USA and spend Christmas in the mountains, among the snow and loving family of their son.

The memories brightened Grace’s face and she smiled, – “I am so excited, Lucy. Do you remember what Samuel said about his mother?”

“… Oh-h, yes, Samuel said she baked the best pastries in the whole universe! I am so eager to taste them.”

“Mmm… spanakopita, bougatsa and baklava, imagine they are also all vegan, because Samuel’s parents are vegan, same as he is. I believe anything Samuel says, don’t you?”

“Miss Sunshine, do you know if Samuel’s mom bakes the best pastries in the whole universe?” Lucy asked to the doll. Miss Sunshine blinked. Lucy could explain the blink by the gentle swing of the car, coming down a slope. Nevertheless, either because Miss Sunshine was so special to her, or because she expected something special to happen at the time, Lucy got excited, —

“She knows, mom, she does! She blinked at me! … Please, Miss Sunshine, tell me everything, do not even pretend you do not understand how to explain it to me. Do you remember, what daddy said? … No? You don’t remember? … He said, that you should let me know if something unusual was going to happen,” Lucy chatted, excited, though Miss Sunshine didn’t react at the time. Lucy closed her eyes, as if she was meditating, and insisted, “I am listening, Miss Sunshine.”