Beres Behesh (The Baby Maker)
I wanted a baby.
Sometimes, life will bring people to you that you might have never met or listened to. Fortunately, when I had lowered my guard and opened my mind, I met an old man who changed my life. After the tears, sadness, sense of failure, and overwhelming disappointment, I had reached a point where I would do just about anything to conceive a child.
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My name is Francine (Fran), and this story recounts events that took place over several weeks, almost three years ago. My husband Frank Parsons and I had been married for nearly four years, the last two trying to get pregnant. Frank was quite a bit older than me, and though a wonderful man, husband, and provider, I was still childless and growing more and more depressed as I approached my thirtieth birthday, and that proverbial biological clock continued to tick louder and louder. As much as we loved each other, the pressure and disappointment of trying and not being able to get pregnant were taking a toll on our relationship, and our lives had gradually become an almost constant state of angry words and recriminations.
We did all the tests, went to the doctors and specialists, spent a fortune, but nothing happened. Everything pointed to us both being physically capable of having a child, and yet, after almost two years of trying, I still didn't have a baby.
I was slipping into a growing depression, and I think my best friend Peggy sensed what was happening. I had known Peggy forever; we had been close from the time we first met in kindergarten, through high school and college, and into our adult lives. Peggy was familiar with my desire for a child and knew the difficulties and problems Frank and I were having and their effect on our marriage.
One day, while at lunch, Peggy told me that she had gone to have her palm read. I had no idea what she was talking about, and she explained that she had passed this little house with a small sign out front that said 'Tarot Cards Read' for months, and one day, she and her sister decided to go in and see what it was all about. Even though the house was a little creepy, they went inside anyway and met an old fortune teller named Sister Kasimma.
"I don't know if I believe in that kind of stuff, Peggy said, but it definitely gives you something to think about."
"You know Fran, what the old woman said was kind of interesting; why don't you go to her and see what she says about your situation?"
I looked at her and rolled my eyes.
"No, I'm serious, don't roll your eyes! Who knows, Sister Kasimma might be able to tell you something that will make you feel better, you know, more hopeful."
With a sigh of resignation, I finally agreed to go and see her fortune teller. I don't think I had any expectations and was just doing this to appease Peggy.
*****
The fortune teller's house was small and packed to overflowing with all types of little figurines and statuettes, candles, strange dolls, and what I assumed were pictures of saints. While my friend Peggy waited in an outer room, I was led into a darkened room that smelled of incense and fragranced oil. I was told to take a seat at a small, heavy, wooden table.
After about ten minutes of sitting alone in the room, an old woman came in and sat down opposite me. She was dressed in what looked like a large, brightly colored caftan with a shawl or scarf that covered her head and partially concealed her face. She said nothing for several seconds and then held out her hand and simply said, "Your palm."
I gave her my upturned palm that she held in her hands and examined closely and thoroughly for several minutes in total silence. Finally, letting my palm rest against the table, she covered it with her hand and, looking across at me, said, "You will have the child you desire."
My head snapped up, and my eyes were filled with questions.
"I cannot tell you more, but a seed will be planted that will grow and fulfill your future. There will be a period of mistrust and perceived betrayal between you and the one you love, but stay firm in your resolve and love, and these things will pass. If events are to play out as fate has ordained, you must open your mind and your heart, but you must let your heart lead you and not your mind."
"Do not be afraid. Trust the old one, and if you allow him to guide you, he will help you achieve what you most desire."
And with that, the old woman, Sister Kasimma, rose and left the room, ending the meeting.
I must have sat there for a minute or so trying to figure out what had just happened. When I finally got up and went into the adjoining room, Peggy hurried over to me.
"Well, what did she say? What did she say?" Peggy asked excitedly.
I looked at her and dumbly shook my head.
"Nothing, she didn't say anything that made any sense. Just some mumble jumble able following my heart."
Peggy stared at me and quietly asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, yes I'm fine . . . just a bit confused and a little tired, I guess. Peggy, would you mind dropping me off at home?"
"Sure Fran, no problem, no problem at all."
*****
That night, the dreams began. Always the same dream.
In the dream, it was always early afternoon. I'm driving down a street that I'm unfamiliar with, yet when I drive past a small nondescript shop, I feel compelled to stop and go in. After parking, I approach the shop and wonder about the sign above the door, which reads 'Beres Bebesh.' I wonder what it means.
I open the door and step into the suffocating warmth of the dark, musky shop.
The shop at first appears empty. "Hello . . . hello . . . is anyone here?" I call out as I wander around exploring, touching, and smelling the curious objects out on display.
"Hellooooo," I call out again, louder, and as I am about to leave, a man's voice from behind me responds.
"Sorry, Miss, I didn't hear you come in. What can I help you with today?"
I turn at the sound of the voice and stand motionless as I take in the appearance of a tall but wizen old man, dressed in a dark aubergine colored robe. He has piercing grey eyes, and his dark complexion contrasts with a thick shock of white hair that hangs to his shoulders. He had to be in his seventies, yet an aura of masculine sexuality surrounds him and draws me to him on some primal level. Although I know it is impossible, he looks familiar, and I feel unnaturally comfortable in his presence as if I have met him before. Still, I know that can't be, because I've never been to this part of town, to say nothing of this shop before.
The old man puffs away on a thin, dark, strong-smelling cigarette as he intently watches me. I am speechless. Despite his almost unsettling appearance and manner, I can't pull my eyes away from him or understand the growing feeling of helplessness, submissiveness that has begun to envelop me.
His eyes hold mine as he crosses the room towards me. As if hypnotized, I stand there and do not flinch or pull away when he reaches out his hands, unbuttons my blouse, and begin to fondle my now exposed breast. There, in the dimness of the little shop with the shop door unlocked, the windows open, and the coverings fluttering in the afternoon breeze, the old man brazenly begins to suck and tease the nipples of my breasts until they are hard and erect.
In the dream, it never goes any further, but I can feel myself becoming aroused, and as I move hesitantly closer to him, I awaken . . . I awake at the same point in the dream each night.
*****
I must have had this dream for two or three nights in a row. Usually, after a fitful night of restless, interrupted sleep, I would be exhausted on rising in the morning and pretty much had to struggle to stay focused so that I could get through a typical day's activities and responsibilities.
Since visiting the old woman, Sister Kasimma, and with the onset of the dreams, I had felt no sexual desire for Frank's amorous attentions, which only added to the level of tension between us. The dreams, the restless sleep, the lack of sexual intimacy between Frank and I had gone on for almost a week. Then one day, while driving about town running errands, I somehow became lost, and in my effort to find my way back to a part of town that I was familiar with, I glanced up and saw the shop with the sign 'Beres Bebesh' that had been in my dream each night.