As You Wish (6 page)

The two friends stepped into the lobby, and Christy looked around, not seeing her aunt among the four people sitting in the lounge.

Then a short woman with long, flowing, dark hair and wearing a wrinkled gauze skirt, a silk tank top, and strings of tiny colored beads rose and came to Christy. The woman kissed Christy on each cheek with sublime elegance.

“Aunt Marti?” Christy choked on the words. She couldn't stop staring at her transformed aunt. This woman, who had always dressed in the most expensive, chic, and traditional outfits, this woman who always wore her hair short and perfectly styled, this woman who never even went downstairs in her own house without wearing makeup, now stood before Christy and Katie looking as if she had dressed as Mother Earth for a costume party.

“Aunt Marti?” Katie finally said, echoing Christy's surprise in face and voice.

“What do you think, girls?” Marti turned around. “It's the new me.” She held out the ends of her long hair. “Extensions. Aren't they glorious?”

“Glorious,” Christy repeated mechanically. It came out sounding more like a question than an affirmation.

“I surprised you both, didn't I?” Marti said. “This is the new me. Fresh. Renewed on all levels. I finally have come into harmony with my artistic aura.”

Christy and Katie exchanged quick glances. If Christy hadn't known Marti to be a strict, controlling, no-nonsense person, Christy would have thought this some elaborate joke. The voice was Marti's. So were the bony fingers that grasped Christy's elbow and pushed for them to be on their way.

“I . . . um . . . I invited Katie to go with us.” Christy wiggled her elbow free from Marti's grasp.

“How generous of you,” Marti said sweetly. She turned to Katie and said, “Sorry, Katie dear. Not this time. This is just for Christy and me.”

“No problem.” Katie looked just a little too eager to pull back.

Christy gave Katie a desperate “thanks a lot” look and in complete bewilderment followed her aunt out into the afternoon heat to Marti's silver Lexus parked in front of the dormitory. Christy numbly opened the passenger door and slid onto the leather seat. She couldn't help but feel as if she were being kidnapped. Abducted by an alien. She turned to stare once more at her transformed aunt. Something inside Christy made her want to shake this woman and scream out, “I don't know who you are or what you've done with my aunt, but give her back this instant!”

Then Christy remembered what her aunt was like before she found her “artistic aura,” and for half a minute Christy didn't know which version of Marti was worse.

This is absolutely bizarre! What am I doing? What is my aunt doing? I should have made an excuse and told her I couldn't go or at least insisted we eat on campus so I'd have witnesses if she tried
to make me join her in a rain dance or something!

“Marti, where are we going?” Christy asked as they sped down the hill into town.

“I was going to take you to the Colony in Palm Desert, but it's not pottery day, and I'd much rather you come on pottery day. So today is simply our time to be together. I want to hear all about Switzerland, and I'm sure you want to hear all about the changes in my life.”

Christy suggested Taco Bell. It was close, and lots of students stopped there. She felt safe going to Taco Bell.

Apparently Marti's aura wasn't in the mood for Mexican food, so they ended up at a quiet Japanese restaurant. They had to take off their shoes and sit on the floor at low tables. Marti ordered for both of them and then turned to Christy and said, “Now tell me all about Switzerland.”

“It was a good year,” Christy began.

Just then a fly buzzed past them, and Marti swatted at it with a fierceness that surprised Christy.

“Vile creature,” Marti spat. “And in a restaurant, no less. You would think the proprietors would take appropriate measures against such filth.”

For the first time, the old Marti sounded as if she was back in the room with Christy. But then Aunt Marti shifted her attention back to Christy and said, “You were saying?”

“Switzerland was wonderful,” Christy said. “Thanks for all you did to work it out so I could go there.”

“Of course. No need to thank me.”

“It was a difficult year in some ways, but definitely worth it.”

“Good,” Marti stated firmly, sounding like a hammer driving a nail into a board. “Now, you're probably wondering about the changes in me.”

That was a quick summary of my last year!

“Christina, I never would have imagined this, but it turns out I'm somewhat of an artist. It all began when I met Cheyenne at an art show in Laguna Beach. He invited me to one of his pottery classes, and no one was more surprised than I was to discover that I have substantial talent in that area. Cheyenne sponsored me into the Colony.”

“Aunt Marti, it sounds like you've been pulled into a cult of some sort.”

“A cult? Why, there's nothing religious at all about the Colony. We're a group of artists. Mutual spirits who find expression in the creation of beauty. Believe me, I don't want anything to do with religion. Ever since your uncle had his born-again experience last summer, the man has been impossible to live with. He has a mistress, you know. He left me for her.”

Christy couldn't hide her shock. She knew Uncle Bob's conversion to Christianity had been a radical change since he had been such an outspoken agnostic before coming to Christ. But he wouldn't turn against the Lord so quickly and have an affair, would he? How could he?

“Don't look so stunned, dear. I'm referring to the church. Bob's mistress is the church. He goes to her every chance he gets and talks about her all the time. He and I have less and less in common. These past few months he's tried to get me to give up the Colony, and I've tried to get him to give up the church. It seems we've reached an impasse.”

The petite waitress in a silk kimono arrived and knelt at their table. With a bow of her head, she served them soup in white ceramic bowls. They were instructed to drink it by holding the sides of the bowl with both hands instead of using a spoon.

Christy paused and prayed, wishing she were brave enough to pray aloud in front of her aunt like she used to do. Today her words felt as if they caught in her throat. The warm broth washed the words back down into someplace deep within Christy. If this wasn't all so disturbing, she would think her aunt's dramatic performance was humorous.

“When you come on pottery day to the Colony,” Marti said, “I want you to bring Todd. You can bring Katie, if you wish. And bring your friend with the curly blond hair. What's her name? Sienna?”

“Sierra.”

“Ah yes, Sierra. Bring her, too. I'll show all of you the pottery I've made. It has freed my inner self, Christina. Wait until you see my creations on display. You will be so proud of me.”

“Marti, I . . .” Christy tried to find the words to say she didn't need to see pottery to feel proud of her aunt. And she didn't want her aunt to dictate when she would kidnap Christy again, especially since this second kidnapping involved her friends.

“You don't need to . . . I mean, I think . . .” Christy couldn't form her thoughts.

The waitress appeared with a tray to clear the soup and present each of them with a plate of sushi, raw fish, complete with tiny bowls of sauce. Christy lost her appetite altogether. It was all she could do not to lose her soup.

Marti continued to talk as if Christy hadn't even begun to say anything. “Now, before I tell you what I'm going to tell you next, I need you to promise me you won't tell anyone. Not a soul. Not Todd, not your mother. No one.”

Christy felt they had played games long enough, but she
was so uncomfortable she guessed the only way to speed up this lunch would be to go along with whatever Marti said. With a slow nod, Christy acknowledged her aunt's wish.

“I need to hear you say it,” Marti said. “Say you promise you won't tell anyone.”

Christy hesitated. She took promises very seriously. That's why she had stayed on at the orphanage even when she knew it would be a huge strain on her. She had made a commitment to stay for a certain time, and so she had stayed. To her, a promise was a vow. And the Bible made it clear that God paid attention whenever a person made a vow. He held that person to complete whatever had been promised, whether it was a vow to God or a vow to another human.

Christy felt the soup sloshing around in her stomach. Just the smell of the sushi was enough to torture her into a quick release from this luncheon meeting. Pushing the sushi away, Christy nodded slowly. “I promise I won't tell anyone, Aunt Marti.”

Satisfied with Christy's sincere response, Marti drew herself up, took a long breath through her nose, and said, You promise, then, that you will tell no one. Especially not your uncle Bob, because he doesn't know yet.”

Marti paused. It seemed to Christy that Marti was waiting for her to say, “Doesn't know what?” But Christy wouldn't give her aunt the satisfaction of seeing Christy beg that way.

“You are the first and only person I've told this to.” Marti seemed to enjoy the moment as much as Christy hated it. “And that's why you must keep it a secret. You see, I've made a very important decision. Cheyenne is opening a
second Colony in Santa Fe. The property becomes available in January.”

Christy couldn't see why that was such big news.

Marti leaned closer. “I'm going with Cheyenne. I'm moving to Santa Fe.”

4
Let me get this straight,” Todd said later that night. He, Christy, and Katie were sitting at a small pizza parlor in town. Todd had arrived on campus about an hour after Marti had returned Christy to her dorm, and Katie and Christy had helped him to move his stuff into his room. Then he announced he wanted to treat them to pizza, so off they went in his VW van, Gus the Bus.

Todd leaned back in the booth and swished the ice around in his plastic cup. “You're telling me Marti showed up in a wig?”

“Hair extensions,” Katie corrected him. “Long. Dark. Very strange looking on her.”

“And she took you to lunch at a Japanese restaurant.”

Christy nodded. “I wanted Katie to come but—”

“But my aura wasn't in harmony with the moon,” Katie said. “Or something like that.”

“What did you and Marti talk about?” Todd asked.

“Her life. How she's finding herself through creating art. Pottery. She makes pottery.”

“I've seen some of her pottery at their house,” Todd said. “It's very good.”

“Is it really?” Christy asked.

Todd nodded. “Did she say anything about Bob?”

“Not exactly,” Christy said. She wished with all her heart she hadn't promised to keep the big move to Santa Fe a secret. When Christy had asked Marti if that meant she was leaving Uncle Bob, all Marti said was “That remains to be seen.”

“I wonder what your uncle thinks of her transformation,” Katie said.

Christy wished she could spill the secret about Santa Fe so the three of them could discuss everything. Yet she knew that a promise was a promise. The only acceptable reason she knew for not keeping a secret or a promise would be if the person was going to be hurt and disclosing the secret would keep that from happening. Certainly Bob was going to be hurt if Marti ended up leaving him. But if Christy broke Marti's confidence, how would that prevent any hurt from happening? It might only prompt Marti to leave sooner.

Christy felt awful. Her conscience wouldn't allow her to share the information as a prayer request. All she could do was pray on her own, and she had been doing that for hours.

“What do you think is really going on with your aunt?” Katie prodded.

Christy didn't answer.

“I've never seen anyone flip out like that. I mean, she went from one end of the pendulum to the other, didn't she?” Katie shook her head and looked at Todd. “You should have seen her. With that fake hair and no makeup, you would have never known it was Marti.”

“Did she say anything about Bob's being more active at church?” Todd asked.

Christy nodded. “She doesn't like the way he's so involved with church now that he's a Christian. She called church his ‘mistress' since he prefers to be at church instead of with her.”

“Oh, that is low.” Katie picked at the pepperoni on the final piece of pizza. “How unfair. I mean, I know the church is referred to as the ‘Bride of Christ' in the Bible, but how twisted to call it a mistress. How could Marti be so blind? Christianity is the best thing that ever happened to your uncle.”

“I know,” Christy agreed. “Uncle Bob has become a totally new person since he came to Christ.”

Katie said, “Yeah, and it sounds like your aunt is trying to become her own new person. The only problem is that's impossible without the Lord.”