Chapter Eight

Try, Try Again

Dani

We returned to Nafia Celik’s house on Halloween night. The sidewalks were filled with kids dressed as monsters, ghosts, and witches, parading house to house to demand their contraband. As for me, I was on my way to talk to the dead. How ironic.

The same ritual took place: Nafia’s trance, drapes moving, and frigid air. I kept my eyes closed and my palms flat on the table even when the table shook. I was determined to be as calm as possible, which wasn’t easy with my heart racing like a cat chasing a mouse and my body shaking like a baby’s rattle.

Nafia began chanting, “Oh, spirit of Daniel Reynolds, we beseech you to come forth. Tell us what you need to be at peace with your passing. Present your spirit to resolve whatever issues you have with the living. We want you to be at rest.”

I sensed when the spirit was in the room. I couldn’t see or hear it. The feeling was certainly the most bizarre I’ve ever had.

Nafia became very quiet, eyes closed and arms raised upward. She began talking in tongues, pausing now and then as if she was listening to some response. This strange conversation went on for several minutes with the atmosphere staying caustic. When Nafia came out of her trance, she gradually lowered her arms and opened her eyes. “Your grandfather is very sad and needs your help.”

And I am thinking to myself, how can I help a dead man?

“He says he’s innocent of the crimes for which he’s been accused. He wants you to vindicate him.”

“What! Excuse my language, but how the hell can I vindicate him?”

“Danielle, this is very difficult for you to understand, but sometimes the dead need our help to move on and find peace in their afterlife. He didn’t convey why he’s chosen you, but he feels you can help him find the peace he desperately needs.”

I was still shaken from this revelation. “What does he want me to do? I don’t know anything about what happened, only what Dad has told me.”

“He says he’s known you for a lifetime, even though you don’t know him. He has watched over you throughout your life and was by your side many times when you needed him. He wanted me to remind you of the time when you were eight years old and almost run over by a truck. He was the one who pulled you to safety.”

I covered my mouth with my hands. How would she know anything about that incident? My mind shot back to my experience, recalling how I barely escaped getting run over by a huge delivery truck. I remembered leaving the grocery store and starting to cross the street when the truck came barreling down on me. The next thing I knew I was on the sidewalk next to the store, unaware of how I got there. I thought I must’ve unknowingly jumped backwards. My legs and elbows were scraped and bleeding, and the people in the grocery store came to help me. They called Mom and Dad, who took me to the hospital to make sure I had no broken bones. No way would Nafia Celik know anything about that episode. I could tell from Dad’s expression he too was completely baffled. From what the people at the grocery store had said, I was by myself and jumped out of the way of the truck on my own.

Nafia continued to summarize her conversation with my grandfather. “He is pleading with you to clear his name. He can’t rest until he knows his loved ones, both alive and deceased, know he is innocent of the horrid accusations. He apologizes for frightening you and putting you through this ordeal, but he knows you have the mind and capabilities to come through for him.”

Dr. DeMarco sensed this experience was way beyond my comprehension. “Danielle, I’d like to help you through this. Why don’t we meet tomorrow to decide a plan of action?”

Dad quickly answered, “How about if Dr. DeMarco comes to dinner at our house tomorrow night? We can talk about it then.”