“Oh, there goes Al again!” his older brother, Freddie, called from the top of the basement stairs. “In the basement, talking to himself.”
“Shut up, Freddie!” Al shouted. “Go away and mind your own business! I’m busy!”
“Yeah, busy talking to yourself,” Freddie said. “Freak!”
“I’m not talking to myself. I’m praying to the ancestors. You know that, you faithless scum!”
“I know you still believe in that stupid old religion, which never did the family any good, and which we all left behind in Asia, ’cause we aren’t backward-thinking, the way you are!”
“My praying to the ancestors is the only thing keeping the family’s bad luck from getting any worse.”
“You’re the only one giving the family any bad luck,” Freddie said. “You’re a stupid, spastic loser!”
“Go to hell!” Al shouted. “Leave me alone!”
“Leave me alone!” Freddie said in a mocking, whiny voice.
“Will both of you be quiet?” their father shouted from the living room. “Freddie, get out of the basement and help me move this desk. Leave Al to his silly praying, if he must do it. Cut out the noise, and give the rest of us some peace!”
“Freak!” Freddie shouted at Al, then slammed the basement door.
“Asshole,” Al whispered, then he sighed and looked back at the altar. He closed his eyes and started to concentrate on the spirits.
He breathed in and out, slowly and deeply.
He listened in the silence of the dark room, waiting for a sign of the spirits’ presence.
Finally, after about half a minute, he heard a hoarse, feminine voice, speaking in Chinese.
What do you want, boy?
“Po?” Al said, his voice wavering.
Well, what is it?
“I have a girlfriend,” he stammered in Chinese.
How sweet, the old woman’s voice rasped with sarcasm.
“She w-wants to m-meet the family,” he went on. “Please d-don’t cause any trouble w-while we have dinner together here. I love her v-very much.”
How touching. Why should we care about your personal problems, boy? Your family abandoned us years ago. We became demons because of your neglect. Your weak attempts to placate us are far from enough to compensate. Why should we do anything kind for a worm like you?
“What can I do t-to ease your wrath? What do you want me to do t-to ensure that she and my family can have a pleasant dinner here together, with no bad luck, no disasters of any kind?”
There was a long silence.
“Please, Po. What do you want from me?”
Po paused thoughtfully in silence a little longer.
He opened his eyes, then said, “Po?”
A glow of light appeared weakly at first, then it grew larger and brighter. Finally, he saw an apparition of an old woman in traditional Chinese clothing, a red Qing Dynasty dress with an ornate, light-blue headdress. She looked like a bride at an old wedding.
As pretty as her clothes were, though, the look on her face was anything but pleasant. It wore a scowl and piercing, malignant black eyes that looked at him as though she wanted to kill him, slowly and painfully.
He was afraid to ask again, but he knew he had to.
“What do you want me to do for you, Po?”
Have the girl’s whole family come here for dinner.
“Her whole family?”
Yes. Her mother, father, brothers, and sisters, if any.
“Why h-have all of them come, Po?”
Why not? If you want to marry this girl one day, don’t you think it’s right if all of both families meet and get to know each other?
“W-well, yes, but…”
But what? What could be the problem? Now, Po was grinning. What could possibly be wrong with that? Families should be close, shouldn’t they? Her words implied his family’s neglect.
“O-of course, but…what do you want to do with her family?”
What we spirits will do with her family is none of your concern, boy. Just make sure they’re all here, and don’t interfere with us while they’re here. If you want to live a long and happy life with this girl, with us never troubling you again, then you’ll do exactly as we wish without question. Give us her family, and you’ll be free of us forever. I give you my word.
“But, Po,” he said as he saw her image slowly fading away, “at least give me some idea of what you plan…”
Give us her family… Her voice dissolved in a reverberating echo, as did her apparition.
He just stood there alone in the darkness, shuddering.
Infinite Ocean 