5. Father Thomas “Here you go Joe!” the spunky petít old lady said with an old Vietnamese accent. He had known her nearly his whole life. They both moved into Las Cruces the same month back in 1965, and entered 3rd grade together. No one talked to this "weird" foreigner at first, except him, and they built a lifetime friendship together. Father Joseph Thomas didn’t bother to look at the bill; it was always the same. He grabbed his fortune cookie, and cracked it open. He took a bite, but what he really wanted was the fortune. “How? HOW?” The cookies always knew. It had to be an oracle of God, only he knew about. And of course his old friend Suki. He read the small slip of paper: "You will find the truth in the palms of a beggar" He flipped the paper over: "Your lucky numbers today: 7 7 7 7 7 7 7" “Wow, what a combo of lucky numbers! Looks like I hit the jackpot!” he said, looking at Suki, smiling. She frowned. “I don’t remember that one!? I must be getting old!” She made them all by hand from scratch. Her father gave her a large book, 6 INCHES thick with small print, when she was young, and told her it was for divination. "Just make cookies", he said! It had so many little catchy phrases in it, each that could mean so many things to so many different people. She had been going through it for 50 years now, using one catchy phrase after another, cooking a small batch of cookies every day, for the restaurant her long-passed father opened, the Fortune Dragon. She was finally reaching the end of the book. “And the other side reminds me of the Biblical Passage telling of the return of Jesus. He will come as a beggar in the night.” the Father said. “Oh, yes, flying on a Unicorn!” Suki smiled wide and poked him in the ribs. Their friendship was solid. Nothing was going to break it. But she could never understand the need for "fairytales". Still, she did truly respect her best friend’s devotion, and found it interesting enough to question her own lack of "faith" at moments. But not usually. “Better than riding a mule through the hot sun and cold rain, like the Buddha!” he teased back. They both laughed out loud. He laid a $10 on the table. “Thanks and see ya tomorrow” he said as he got up and left the diner. “Bye!” she waved, smiling. “See ya tomorrow!” Father Thomas walked down the road in the evening breeze. Something about it felt … different. Something he couldn’t put a finger on… He walked into the church, and put a hand on the alterboy’s shoulder. The boy left, and Father Thomas was alone. He grabbed the candle snuffer and began to put out the flames of the candles on the alter, when the front door opened suddenly, and wide. Jasmine and Tammy walked in, and closed the door behind themselves. “Father Thomas?” Jasmine inquired. “Yes?” Father Thomas continued snuffing a candle, as Jasmine ran to him. He was snuffing another as she fell to her knees in front of him, raising her open hands to him, bowing her head. She was not Catholic, but for some reason, she felt that was a "holy" way to ask for help. “Please help us Father” Jasmine asked quietly, holding up her hands, palms facing him. At that moment, a slight breeze could be felt inside the Church. The building was old, but solid and mostly air-tight. All the candles throughout the room flickered. Most impressive, though, was the way candles he just snuffed lit themselves back to flame. He looked at them and adjusted his round-frame glasses, pushing them back up his nose closer to his eyes. “The palms of a beggar…” Father Thomas muttered, half under his breath, half amazed at the Glory and Power of God to work through even non-believers. Suki must have a sacred heart, he thought to himself. He crossed himself three times and prayed silently to the Power and Glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen. “What do you need my child?” he asked her gently and firmly. Jasmine never even noticed the candles flicker and relight, since she was looking the the floor. She stood up and pulled the business card out of her waistband that special agent Maxine Leffleur had given her, and handed it to Father Thomas. He looked at it with a confused look on his face as she said “The F.B.I. told me to give this to you. I need help getting into Mexico, ah, quietly?” “Who?” asked Father Thomas. And how did they know he had "connections" he wondered? “She drew something on the back. Look.” Jasmine replied, pointing to the card. He flipped it over. The symbol was a small circle with 7 equidistant lines radiating from the center, like a "sun" with 7 rays. “Anything you need my child. The church and I are at your service.” The strength Jasmine had mustered throughout the drive from N.Y. suddenly broke again, as she began to hug Father Thomas, and she started sobbing just a little, and said “Thank You” between falling tears. Tammy sat in the back pew, quietly watching. She felt safe, as long as her mom was around. Never-the-less, she was taken aback seeing her mother cry. The only other time she remembered seeing her mother cry was at her aunt’s funeral. Tammy was still young enough now, that a several thousand mile drive felt a LONG way away from trouble; no one could find them. And this old Church had a special warmth to it. She didn’t realize she was sitting in the the front yard of "enemies" anywhere she went in the U.S. Father Thomas escorted them into the back of the Church, and closed the door to the small room they entered. “You need to get into Mexico? Normally people ask me to help them get OUT of Mexico INTO the U.S. If the F.B.I. sent you, you must be in some big trouble? I didn’t realize the F.B.I. knew I helped people cross the border.” Jasmine and Tammy sat quietly for several seconds. Jasmine spoke next. “Bad people are trying to kill us. They are in the F.B.I. also, so they can’t help us. Special agent Maxine Leffleur said she hopes she can stop them soon, but, we’re in danger, and have to leave now.” Father Thomas had a grim look on his face. “The coyote will be here tomorrow. I’ll ask him to bring you back to Mexico with him. Now, you need sleep, I can see it in your eyes, both of you. You can sleep in that bed tonight” he said pointing to the twin mattress in the corner. And they slept side by side, holding hands, mother and daughter, better than they had in days… ========== next day ========== Juan walked into the Church, into the back, and knocked on the small door. Father Thomas opened it. “Good morning Father” Juan said. “Good morning Juan. Safe trip I hope?” “Yes. Uneventful. I managed to bring 15 more. They are bathing now.” “Congratulations. We’ll feed them this afternoon. Juan, I have a special favor to ask.” “Anything, Father. You know that!” “A couple of young ladies showed up here last night. They need help getting INTO Mexico. Can you help them?” “I can, and will, Father. I am at your service.” “Juan,” Father Thomas hesitated a moment, and placed his hand on Juan’s shoulder. “I don’t know who these ladies are, but I swear to you on the Bible, they are sent here by divinity on a mission for God.” He looked Juan deep in the eyes. Juan stood there for several seconds trying to understand the significance Father Thomas was trying to convey. “I will guard them with my life through the desert” Juan swore to Father Thomas, looking him back deep in the eyes. ========== Father Thomas took Jasmine aside. “Take this ring” he said to her. “Wear it on your right hand pinky finger. When you get to Mexico, show this to Father Hernandez.” He placed it on her finger; it fit perfect. It looked to Jasmine like it was cast of brass. Then he swung open a little door that covered the surface. Behind the little door, cast into the ring-body, was the same symbol that special agent Maxine Leffleur had drawn. ========== The journey took 4 days of walking. They rode a horse for a while after crossing into Mexico, rode in an old car for a while, then they came to a small village about 200 miles south of the border, with an old Catholic Church in the center, its bell towering above the small houses. They entered the Church. A dozen people sat inside, on various pews, some with large bundles of "stuff", some with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Father Hernandez was out for a while they were told, so Jasmine and Tammy found an empty pew near the back of the church and sat down. Another woman was in the pew in front of them, alone, with no baggage, sitting with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs, quietly rocking back and forth, looking like she could burst out loud crying at any moment. Jasmine spoke out to her, feeling sympathy. “Hi, I’m Jasmine, and this is my daughter Tammy.” The lone woman looked at them, mustered a little smile, and said “Hi, I’m Jazmin.” Her English was heavily accented. But then suddenly she burst into tears. “I don’t know where my daughters or my son are.” She hid her hands in her face and sobbed and cried hard, as Jasmine and Tammy rubbed her back, trying to soothe her. Jazmin cried for several minutes, then got herself back together. “I came to the U.S. and did what they asked, but they threw me in prison and took my children. Then they sent me back here, alone…” her voice turned to crying and sobbing again. Jasmine and Tammy rubbed her back some more, as she sat hunched over, head almost in her own lap. Jasmine and Tammy looked at each other. They knew this woman, Jazmin, was caught up in the plot that special agent Maxine Leffleur had told them about. “I think, maybe?, we can help you” Jasmine said quietly. Jazmin looked at Jasmine in the eye. “¿Que?” ========== Food was served and Jazmin went off the the restroom. Jasmine and Tammy looked at each other. “You know what we need to do, right?” Jasmine asked Tammy. “Help Jazmin, of course mom!” “I need to take Jazmin back to New York to meet special agent Leffleur. You need to stay here with Father Hernandez, if he will let you stay.” Tammy’s smile vanished. Jasmine continued “If Father Hernandez is as good of a man as Father Thomas.” Ten minutes later Father Hernandez returned with a basket of vegetables. He walked in the front door of the Church. Jasmine didn’t waste any time. “Father Hernandez?” she asked as she walked up to him. “¿Si?” He set the heavy basket on the floor. She held out her right hand and showed him the ring. “Father Thomas in Las Cruces said to show this to you. Should I give it back to you now?” she asked, as she opened the little door to show him the symbol. Father Hernandez quickly put both of his hands around her right hand. “No my dear. You need to keep that with you at all times” he said quietly. “It will protect you, but don’t show it off to anyone else. I am at your complete service. What do you need?” “Father, my daughter and I are hiding from very bad, very big men” Jasmine said; Father Hernandez nodded solemnly. “We came here looking for help. But now I think I’ve gotta help someone else, because I can.” Father Hernandez looked confused. Jasmine continued “can you watch my daughter here and keep her safe? We have money for ourselves and the Church. I need to go back to the U.S. to help this other woman who’s here in the Church now. I think I can! I gotta go back with her.” “Who?…?…?” Father Hernandez asked. “Jazmin? That’s what she said her name was.” Father Hernandez’s expression became even more solemn and grim, as he fully exhaled, and took in another deep breath. “If anyone here needs help in the U.S., it’s Jazmin” he said. “I'll talk to Juan. One more person this trip may be O.K. Usually he is full. Follow me.” Jasmine signaled to Tammy to stay put, and she walked to the back of the Church with Father Hernandez. There they met Juan. “Anything this ladie needs” Juan said without hesitation. “She needs 20 more people to cross back with her, we do that. Father Thomas said she is on a mission for God.” Jasmine was shocked to hear it put that way. “Um, thanks! Thank you!” She smiled a bit, but the shock hid it somewhat. Father Hernandez turned to Jasmine. “Your daughter will be fine here. It is very safe here in this town. No banditos.” ========== The journey back was just as uneventful and grueling as the journey into Mexico. Jasmine and Jazmin arrived back at Father Thomas’s Church. “Jasmine!? You’re back my dear?” Father Thomas exclaimed. “And who is with you?” he asked quizzically? “This is Jazmin.” “Two flowers side by side” Father Thomas smiled. “So, what is going on?” he asked. Jasmine looked at Jazmin. Jazmin told Father Thomas her story. Father Thomas looked at Jasmine and said “Father Hernandez has been my friend for over 40 years. Your daughter is safe and in good hands.” Jasmine smiled. Father Thomas then looked at Jazmin. “Jasmine here is a real hero. You are lucky to have her as a friend. She will watch over you. You will find your children.” He crossed himself three times, then crossed Jazmin and Jasmine, praying to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. “I'm hungry. Anyone for Chinese food?” Father Thomas inquired. They went to Suki’s Fortune Dragon restaurant, and Jasmine just pigged out. She couldn’t remember being so hungry or eating so much. Jazmin ate her fill also. Suki brought them their fortune cookies. Father Thomas opened his cookie first. "Your destiny is in the stars" it said. “Wow, destiny. I don’t ever remember getting a "destiny" fortune.” Jasmine opened hers next. "True strength comes from the heart." Jasmine smiled. Jazmin opened hers last. "Your Children are like Diamonds on the face of the Moon." Jazmin couldn’t help it. She started to cry again. Jasmine put her hand on Jazmin’s back again and rubbed gently. Suki joined her saying “It’s O.K. dear.” Out of nowhere the front door flew open and a wind blew in the room, scattering the paper "Chinese horoscope" place-mats on several tables in the room. “Close that door” Suki exclaimed with a demanding but calm tone, looking at the unexpected guest. “Wait, the door was locked. How did you get in?” she demanded to know. She had closed early at 8:00PM to accommodate Father Thomas’s special guests. A man in an old Mexican style poncho and sombrero stood there, and closed the door behind himself. He was a bit hunched over, and he walked, no, hobbled over to their table, legs horribly crippled, one foot turned nearly 90° inward. One hand was horribly disfigured, but a shopping bag hung from his arm. He walked with a cane in the other hand. His face looked like he was beaten with an ugly stick. He was such a sight, no one said anything for the 10 full seconds it took him to cross the small room. “We are closed.” Suki said finally. He grabbed a chair and sat down next to their windowside booth table, next to Suki standing there, and breathed in heavily, looking like he needed a rest for a moment. But quickly he said with a thick, not-quite Mexican-Spanish accent “I do not need food now”. He settled in his chair as the people at the table sat mesmerized. “Maybe some water, if you could.” He removed his sombrero, but left the hood from his poncho covering his head, hanging out over his face. Suki scowled, and looked at Father Thomas, who nodded his head. Somehow he ALWAYS knew who was trouble, who was IN trouble, and who was O.K. to deal with. He had looked out for her since the schooldays when they met. She went to get a pitcher of water. The newcomer didn’t waste any time. He grabbed Jazmin’s hand. “You are looking for your daughter.” The stranger said in Spanish. It was not a question. “¡Si!” Jazmin replied, her eyes widening. “All my children!” she continued speaking in Spanish. “We all have been waiting for your daughter” he said to her in Spanish. Jasmine was the only one who did not speak Spanish and could not understand. Everyone else became completely mesmerized. Suki came back with the water, and pored him a glass. He drank it all down quickly, like he walked through the desert sun all day without water, and Suki refilled his glass for him from her pitcher. The stranger suddenly stood up with a quickness, agility and strength that his body had not hinted at being capable of, and started chanting in a language [Nahuatl] no one there understood. He pulled out a dried cactus button and started chewing it up. Father Thomas recognized it as Peyote. As the stranger chewed, he pulled out a Macaw feather "fan" with a clear quartz-crystal handle, and sage, and started smudging the space, fanning out the evil spirits, chanting in his native language. No one at the table felt any need to stop or question him. He did this for a full 20 minutes, clearing the whole room. “Now I can speak.” the stranger said in English. “Now I can see your daughter through her connection with you.” He closed his eyes and sat silently for a moment. “You will find her on the Moon.” No one at the table said a word. The stranger continued. “Your daughter is very special in this world” he said looking at Jazmin. “Now I will tell you the story.” Even Suki became mesmerized by this odd character. She pulled up a chair and sat next to the stranger as he began the story. “Long ago, all people lived in Peace with all the animals, plants, the rain, the wind, the sun, the moon, and the whole world. Then, came the next worlds. The people lost their connection with the animals and plants and the rest, and started to kill them. Before, the animals and plants happily gave their life to the humans, and the humans honored these animals and plants; but then the humans started to take more than they needed. Still, all the people in the world were mostly at Peace with each other, but squabbling and fighting became more and more common. “Then, in Egypt, as humans became more powerful, came the Red Dragon!” His voice suddenly changed from that of a quiet, weak old man, to a that of a loud fierce warrior, as he said "Red Dragon" with a growl. Jazmin jumped back in her seat. “See, your spirit KNOWS of the Red Dragon!” Again his voice changed to fierceness and growling as he emphasized "Red Dragon". Goosebumps crawled all over Jazmin’s arms and back. The story began to make Jasmine a bit uncomfortable, also. The stranger continued: “In early Egypt, we had Peace. We, the Seers, made sure of that. There were many of us, and we shared this responsibility equally. Then the Red Dragon began to grow.” Again, he shocked his audience with the power in his voice, when he said "Red Dragon". “She took over Egypt just before the time of King Tut Ankh Amen Ra. She has been taking over the world since then.” Jasmine started to get slightly annoyed. What kind of b.s. story is this guy telling, she asked herself? Wait, yea, “What kind of b.s. story is this?” she said out loud. The disfigured stranger smiled at her. The lights in the room flickered. Then all the lights outside on the street — they could see through the plate-glass diner windows — all flickered and went dark, and the windows turned to mirrors, as the inside lights remained on. Suki looked around — she did not have backup power, and even the diner across the street was dark inside. How?… she asked herself as the stranger in the poncho spoke again. “Now the Red Dragon” the old man said, again with considerable power in his voice upon the words "Red Dragon", “is in the final stages of controlling the world. She wants to eat us all.” Jazmin squirmed in her seat. Father Thomas crossed himself and blessed the trinity; even he was getting nervous. Jasmine cut in. “Whattaya mean ‘eat us’? Red Dragon? Her daughter is on the Moon? Bull! Shit!” Jasmine became a little more annoyed, something she wasn’t accustomed to feeling. She was usually the calm one in chaos at home. She was running from weapons manufacturers, and didn’t have time, or patients any more, for silly ghost stories. And she was determined to help Jazmin find her kids. “No! No Bull Shit!” the old man in the poncho said very firmly, almost yelling. Power was growing in his voice from weak to strong. He clutched his wooden cane and waved it at the window. The mirrored glass became opaque, then transparent. “Now, here is YOUR daughter!” Through the glass everyone could see the inside of the Church back in Mexico where Jasmine left her daughter Tammy with Father Hernandez. They were sitting in separate pews talking to each other. Jasmine looked around the table at everyone staring at the image in the window. Father Thomas looked her in the eye saying nothing, he just nodded and crossed himself. Then the disfigured old man looked back at Jazmin. “Now here is YOUR daughter!” the sorcerer said, the power in his voice growing even more. It almost appeared as if fire was burning in his eyes. Father Thomas knew at that moment who was in the room. He crossed himself again, held his cross on his necklace above his head and kissed it. The sorcerer waved his cane at the window and the image of Tammy with Father Hernandez in it faded and another faded in to replace it. The face of a young girl appeared in the window. The last time Jazmin had seen her daughter was 6 or 7 years before, when her daughter was only 2. But she could tell, it was her daughter! The face was surrounded in … … a metal helmet? … …, but the image faded at the edges enough that you couldn’t see the whole helmet. “Lilia?… … Lilia!” Jazmin almost screamed. “She is alive and waiting for you!” the shaman blared loudly with deep power, then closed his eyes, and opened them back up. “And your other daughter and son are with her. You must go to them to free them, so they can save us all.” His voice lost its power in the last few words, as the image in the window faded to black. No one said a word. Jasmine looked around at everyone. Maybe Suki slipped drugs into their food? Her and the "good Father" were playing games with her? No. Either she was nuts, or reality was not what she thought. Apparently everyone else saw what she saw. And the lights on the street were out, but not in here? This was all too weird to think about! Jazmin spoke first, in Spanish: [translation:] “Can you help me find my children?” she quietly asked the sorcerer. He replied in English for all to hear: “I can not go with you. The dragon will see me, even with my cloak. She knows me. She’s tried to kill me before. But I have these for you both” he said as he opened his shopping bag and pulled out two large woolen ponchos. “These are Alpaca wool. They will hide you from the dragon.” As he spoke this time, his voice remained normal, soft and of a weak old man, without the powerful emphasis when he said dragon. He handed the ponchos to Jasmine and Jazmin. They put them on. The night air was getting chilly, but these ponchos felt warmer than warm, cozier than cozy. “They will hide you until you are close to the dragon. Then you must use the hoods. Even then, once she knows of you, she may see you.” Suddenly the old man looked up, and looked around, and closed his eyes. “I must go” he said, opening his eyes again. He stood up, and looked Jasmine in the eye and smiled a sly smile. “I remember you!” winking at her at the same time. He purr-growled like Jackie Gleason in "The Honeymooners" did when talking about a sexy woman. Jasmine sat there dumbfounded, mouth open. It should have creeped her out a bit, but it didn’t. Then he quickly hobbled to the door, and closed it behind himself. “He didn’t even say goodbye” Jasmine said. “Wait, he left his cane!” She stood up, grabbed it, and rushed to the door to give it to him. She tripped and stumbled on a chair leg somehow, twisting her ankle. Only a few seconds had passed. She opened the door, and suddenly all the lights outside on the street, and in the shop across the street, came back on. People were walking around like the lights never did go out. She looked out, but the old man in the poncho and sombrero were gone, no where to be seen, no where to hide, no where to run to, no time to run anywhere! “My God, he’s a ghost!” she exclaimed. Father Thomas crossed himself again. Suki, for the first time in her life, remained utterly speechless, mouth wide open. Jazmin stood up. “I’ve got to find my children!” she exclaimed.