The Island of Missing Trees(54)

BRANCHES





Proverbs


London, late 2010s


‘So what exactly are you working on nowadays?’ Meryem asked Kostas as she watched him walking around the house clutching his notes.

‘Oh, he’s going to present a paper,’ Ada barged in. ‘Dad’s been invited to Brazil – the Earth Summit. He wants me to travel with him.’

‘I’ll be sharing our research for the first time,’ said Kostas. ‘I don’t know what makes me more nervous – the judgement of the scientific community or what my daughter thinks!’

Ada smiled. ‘Last year he was in Australia, studying eucalyptus trees. They’re looking into how different trees respond to heatwaves and wildfires. They’re trying to understand why some species survive better than others.’

She said nothing about how her father had cut his trip short, returning to London on the first flight when he received the news that her mother was in a coma.

‘Oh, how exciting that you’ll travel together,’ said Meryem. ‘Go, go, write then, finish your work, Kostas. Don’t worry about us.’

Smiling, he wished them goodnight.

They listened to his footsteps tapping down the corridor and, as soon as they heard him close his door, Ada turned to her aunt. ‘I’m also going to my room.’

‘Wait, I’ve something important to tell you. I think I know why you screamed the other day.’

‘You do?’

‘Yes, I’ve been thinking about this. You said there’s something wrong with you – and your mother was the same. Mental health issues, as you put it. It made me sad to hear this because I know it’s not true. There’s nothing wrong with you. You are a bright young girl.’

‘Then how do you account for what happened?’

Meryem glanced towards the corridor and dropped her voice to a confidential whisper. ‘It’s the djinn.’

‘The what?’

‘Listen, back in Cyprus, my mum would always say, “If you see a dust storm coming, take shelter, because that’s when the djinn get married!”’

‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.’

‘Patience, I’ll explain. Now, the djinn are shamelessly promiscuous. Both males and females. A female djinni can have up to forty husbands. You know what that means?’

‘Um, a juicy sex life?’

‘It means too many weddings! But when will they celebrate, that’s the key question, isn’t it? They have to wait for a storm to arrive. A dust storm – or a winter storm. Hordes of djinn must be out on the streets of London right now.’

‘Okay, now you’re scaring me.’

‘Don’t be silly, nothing to fear. All I’m saying is the djinn have been waiting for this moment. They are out – dancing, drinking, having a ball. The last thing they want is to have humans underfoot. Though, technically, they are under our feet. Anyway, if you step on a djinni by mistake, they can make you do funny things. People have fits, speak gibberish or scream for no reason.’

‘Are you trying to tell me that I could be possessed? Because when I said that, it was totally metaphorical. Don’t be so literal. It wasn’t serious.’

‘Well, I always take the djinn seriously,’ said Meryem, speaking slowly as if weighing each word. ‘They are mentioned in the Qur’an. In our culture, we believe invisible creatures exist.’

‘Right, I need to remind you that my father is a scientist and my mother was a scholar and an artist. We don’t believe in such things in this house. We are not religious, in case you haven’t noticed.’

‘Oh, I know that,’ said Meryem, sounding irritated. ‘But this is ancient wisdom I’m talking about. It’s part of our culture. Your culture. It’s in your DNA.’

‘Great,’ Ada murmured.

‘Don’t you worry. God made lower branches for birds that cannot fly so well.’

‘Meaning?’

‘Meaning there is a cure. I’ve asked around a bit. I made some phone calls and I’ve found a really great healer. There’s no harm in paying him a quick visit.’

‘An exorcist?’ said Ada. ‘Wow! There are exorcists in London? You must be joking, right?’

‘It’s not a joke. We’ll go and check, now that the weather is improving, it’ll be perfect timing. I’m just waiting for an appointment confirmation. And if we don’t like it, we’ll walk out. We’re not going to search for a calf under an ox.’

Ada drew in a breath, then released it slowly.

‘Look, it can happen to anyone. Don’t take it personally,’ Meryem continued. ‘I had to visit a healer myself when I was young.’

‘Like when?’

‘Like when I got married.’

‘That’s because your husband was not a nice man. An arsehole, I’m beginning to suspect.’

‘Arsehole,’ repeated Meryem, tasting the word with the tip of her tongue. ‘I never swear.’

‘Well, you should. It feels good.’

‘He was not a nice man, you are right. But it didn’t hurt seeing an exorcist. It might have helped me, actually. Listen, cigerimin k?sesi …’ Meryem’s eyes raked the room as if searching for something she had only just remembered losing. ‘What’s the thing … when you start feeling better because you believe a treatment is working?’