One String Guitar by Mona de Vessel

Author:Mona de Vessel [de Vessel, Mona]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harvard Square Editions
Published: 2016-11-17T00:00:00+00:00

Part III

Chapter 15 – Francine

Syracuse, New York, 1998

Francine spent so much time thinking about the way God decided who would live and who would die. She thought about the countless people in her own life who had been chosen to die. Only God decided. Francine tried not to think about the others, the ones that had transitioned unjustly. Was there such a thing as justice? Francine did not know. She closed her eyes and tried forget their faces. And even so, even if she could push their cries away, sometimes the spirits called her in the form of dreams. These reveries were more than just the imaginings of Francine’s brains during sleep; these were visitations, incrimations of the dead—what she called spirit calls—begging Francine for answers that she did not possess. Francine disliked these visits, which would leave her feeling a vast emptiness.

The phone rang. Francine picked up the receiver.

A man’s voice sounded on the other end. Her heart was racing. Why did she answer the phone if she could not speak the language? It was an old habit. The voice was male with little affect. The caller spoke in rapid-fire English.

“Mrs. Mwanzimba? May I speak to Mrs. Mwanzimba please?”

“Yes,” Francine responded matter-of-factly. Answering like this in English was a mistake since it only invited the doctor to speak even faster.

Francine interrupted the stream of words that poured into the phone. “No English, no English.” She hung up and called Elbe.

“The hospital called with Innocent’s results but I couldn’t talk to them.”

“No worries. I’ll call you back as soon as they tell me what they have to say.”

Francine was beginning to like Elbe, how efficient she was. How distant.

Francine closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wanted to understand what God wanted from her. What did he want her to do with Boy? Why was he sick? She wanted to understand why God had sent Innocent to her in the first place. Why the pregnancy, under those unspeakable circumstances…why take away her other children while bringing her new ones? She became frightened. Maybe this was the devil’s work. What if God had left her for good? Francine knew she had a strange relationship with the Lord. She wished she could let go of Him but somehow she held on to a faint thread of hope that kept her imploring.

She got down on her knees and began to pray. Notre père qui êtes aux cieux. Que Votre nom soit sanctifié. She prayed for God to return to her heart. She prayed for protection for them all, even for Innocent who was still in the hospital. She prayed for her ability to forgive herself for not having been able to save her children. When the doorbell rang, she was still praying.

Francine peered through the peephole to see who it was. She saw Elbe’s face impassive and comforting, somehow. She opened the door.

“I called you back but you didn’t pick up so I thought I’d just come over directly. We have to go pick up Innocent at the hospital.

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