The Mystery

Antigone made phone calls.

“Fifth Avenue Middle School. Can I help you?”

Antigone barked. “What have you been selling my daughter?

“Uhm... Your daughter’s name?”

“Don’t play that game with me. You know who I mean.”

“I’m sorry. And who is this?”

“Antigone. Antigone Merrill. My daughter is Calliope. Same last name. She’s in seventh grade…”

“Can you hold for a minute?”

The line disconnected.

Of course.

Antigone paced from room to room. She pulled the drapes open and squinted into the light pouring into the living room. “Damned sunlight…”

She sneezed from the dust she’d stirred up.

She called her friend, Lavinia.

“Hello?”

“Lavinia! Help! Calliope is off the rails. I don’t know what to do…”

“Calm down. What happened?”

“She’s talking crazy. Weird stuff. And I don’t know who did it.”

“Are you sure?”

“You should hear what she says. Nothing I ever told her. I’m sure it’s that school. Someone has gotten to her. They hung up on me after I scolded them… I’m going to sue…”

“Well…”

“I knew we should have enrolled her in a special school.”

“You always wanted to home school…”

“But who’s got the time…? Something’s got to give. This is too much. She’s too smart for this… this…”

“Heresy?”

“Yes! That’s it. This goes against everything we’ve ever told her. I need… she needs…”

“An intervention?”

“Great idea. Can you come over tonight?”

“Six-thirty?”

“Perfect.”

Calliope knew something was up the moment she walked in after school. Six chairs in the living room were arranged in a half-circle facing a single stool. It stood in place of the coffee table, now pushed to the side.

Calliope thought, what, no spotlight?

She saw her mother watching from the kitchen door. “Having a party?”

Antigone said, “Just some friends. You know, from my group.”

“Oh… Okay. I have homework, so…”

“I want you there.”

“But…”

“Calli… You need to join us. I want you to share too.”

Calliope thought, my mother, Antigone. I always told my teddy bear she was my Aunty Gone.

It was predictable. The room filled with her mother’s friends. They took the perimeter seats and left the stool of honor for Calliope.

She sat. No one told her what this was about. But she knew.

Lavinia asked her, “Tell us about how you like your school, Calli.”

Taking a few moments to decide how to frame things, Calliope began. “Kids always gave me a hard time about my name, Calliope. They said I sang like an off-key merry-go-round. You know how kids are. I always told people my name was Callie and left it at that.”

The attendees nodded with understanding.

“Then Fatima became my friend. She was cool. We laughed together. Once Fatima accepted me, the other kids treated me better.”

Their faces became serious at the mention of Fatima. One woman made a note in her phone.

Calliope continued. “One girl, Saffron, was always going on about some boy she liked. And how clueless he was about how she felt. I didn’t get it. One day I said, ‘Just put a spell on him. Why stress about it?’ You know, like the song.”

Everyone listened intently.

Calliope said, “The girls were curious. I told them I have all the spells for different seasons, different horoscopes… types. You know, a little of this, a little that… None of that silly Harry Potter schtick. Making things float…”

Pointing at her head, she circled her ears and imitated a deranged theremin. The women nudged each other and laughed.

“But keeping it simple. Focusing energy. And, if I ran into some problem I’d never heard… I had the book you gave me.”

Antigone beamed. Calliope was still the girl she’d always hoped for.

“So, the obvious answer was an attraction spell. Create desire... Take a whisp of his hair, soaked in olive oil infused with all the right stuff… you know… and voila! I gave her a sure-fire incantation to seal the deal.” She whispered, “But no guarantees… And also put in a little extra spice to draw him especially to her…”

All eyes were on Calliope. Their excitement was palpable.

“Later that week, Saffron told me it worked. The guy was all hers. Followed her everywhere. Did her homework for her… Suddenly, everyone was asking my advice about all sorts of things. I’d turned from being an outcast to a star. Heady stuff…”

Calliope paused.

Antigone leaned forward. “So, what happened?”

Calliope sighed. “A few days later, Saffron took me aside. She complained, saying he did everything she wanted but the spark was gone.”

Everyone shifted uncomfortably. The creak of chairs filled the room.

Calliope continued. “I wondered, ‘spark’? What did I do wrong? Then it hit me…”

Several people spoke at once. “What hit you?”

Calliope hesitated. “What started as a momentary glitch, grew into something I couldn’t get out of my head.”

Someone asked, “What are you talking about…?”

“Music, art, design… all creation… how is any of that predicted by evolution?”

Lavinia chuckled. “Opposable thumbs don’t hurt.”

“But other animals have them… And what about love?”

“My cat loves me…”

“That’s great. But in the bigger picture… You know, a box of crystals may be pretty, but they don’t explain anything. Not really. There’s a mystery beyond what we… anyone does. Don’t you see it?”

No one responded. The women sat still as a painting.

Calliope continued. “Reducing everything to a formula can’t explain why are we who we are. How does any of this matter? What’s our purpose? What does it… anything mean?”

It became so quiet that Calliope heard a falling leaf land on their porch.

Griselda looked at her watch. “Oh, look at the time.”

Lavinia reached for her purse. “I’d better get going…”

It felt like an evacuation. In a few moments, everyone had gone. Calliope sat looking at her mother. They were alone in the house.

Antigone stared at her daughter. “Who taught you such questions?”

Stunned, Calliope didn’t know what to say.

“Now you’re silent. But you embarrass me at the meeting?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it.” Calliope sighed. This was a familiar conversation.

“It was Fatima.” Calliope’s silence confirmed it for her. “I know it was. You can’t see her anymore.”

“Mom… We’re friends. You can’t stop me.”

“I’m taking you out of that school and their corrupting influences. Ruining my kid…”

“She didn’t do anything, Mom. They aren’t corrupting me. You put me through this grilling when I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Antigone measured her words. “It’s so unsettling. Out of the blue. No one expects such things… least of all from you. My little Calliope…”

“But what was wrong with it, Mom? I’m a kid. Aren’t I supposed to ask stuff…?”

“No. Not about our fundamental beliefs… It’s just not done. You, of all people, should know better.”

“It’s a legitimate question. All the stuff we do is fine. But what’s the point?”

Trying to think, Antigone stared at the floor. After what felt an eternity, she looked at Calliope.

“Calli, that’s a good question. Deserves an answer. Let’s google it.”

Calliope clapped her hands. They went to the computer and typed in their question: What’s the point?

It directed them to a needle point supply store in Oregon.

Antigone and Calliope looked at each other.

Antigone said, “Maybe Siri can answer it…”