Chapter 10
When Brenda returned home that evening she was surprised to see so many cars parked in her driveway. She jumped out of her car and rushed towards the house, worried that something bad had happened to her mother. Brenda wasn't prepared for what greeted her when she opened the front door: Fritz, Will, Gabriel, and two priests were gathered around her kitchen table, which had been brought into the living room. The table was covered with candles, incense and other potions. The smell of burning incense assaulted her nostrils.
Her mother lit a candle and smiled at Brenda. "Come on in dear. We've been waiting for you."
Brenda was completely speechless when Nadia Orwell came out of her bathroom. Brenda took her mother aside. "Mama, what in the world is going on here?"
"An exorcism," her mother answered. She then leaned forward and whispered to Brenda: "All these people are invited for what they mean to you. Sergeant Gabriel, because of all the others, I can tell he cares about you. As far as Mr. Pope is concerned, I know you think I don't know what went on between you two in Washington, but Mother knows all. I want him to understand there are bigger powers out there than him, should he decide not to do right by you. Fritz because as your current flame, he should give this his blessing. I learned about Ms. Orwell from that folder. She told me she feels guilty because she lured Ms. Petrovna to America. You know she's now married and has a child. She wants Ms. Petrovna's forgiveness." She took Brenda by the hand and led her to the table. "This is Father Thomas and Father Michael. My friend back home recommended them."
"We're going to rid the house of the spirit that invades it," Father Michael said.
Horrific scenes from an old movie passed through Brenda's mind. "My house does not have any spirits," she protested.
"Oh, but to the contrary," Father Thomas said. "Most buildings have spirits. This one here is not evil, just restless. We want to help it to rest."
Although they remained quiet, Brenda could tell that Fritz, Sergeant Gabriel and Will were skeptical and she couldn't blame them.
"You doubt?" Father Michael asked no one in particular.
"You know something bad happened here because my mother told you."
Father Michael grimmaced. "Yes, she did tell us. Do you think the woman's spirit is at peace?"
Brenda didn't say anything. She looked from Fritz, to Gabriel to Will. Then to Nadia. "I don't know," she finally said.
"Please," Nadia begged.
Brenda sighed and sat down. What else could she do? If the others could go along with this then so could she. What did she have to lose?
The priests sprinkled holy water about and said a whole lot of stuff, probably in Latin, Brenda thought. The exorcism was over in less than fifteen minutes. Afterwards, her mother served coffee and homemade cake.
"I feel she is at rest now," Nadia said.
Brenda smiled, although she didn't feel like smiling. Nadia needed to believe Zoya was at peace so she could forget her, forget what they had both done so she could go on with her nice, suburban lifestyle. Her mother wanted to believe so she could not only regale the ladies back home, but leave her stubborn daughter behind in a house where a young woman had been murdered.
Gabriel was there because, yes, he did care about her and he had been raised well.
Fritz didn't care about spirits or a dead prostitute, but he did care about Brenda. Hadn't he shown that in so many ways?
But Will. She couldn't figure out why he agreed to come. Certainly not because he was afraid of these other powers her mother had talked about. Was it just plain nosiness? No, her mother's unrelenting nature had gotten the best of him.
That night after her mother had fallen asleep on the sofa bed in the living room, Brenda went to her bedroom, got undressed and crawled into bed. "Good night, Zoya. Rest in peace." Brenda soon drifted off to sleep. She slept more soundly than she had since moving to Los Angeles.