DAVID PEARLSTEIN - MARIA CORTEZ
1
They were living with Corina Valdez at the vineyard. Maria was a problem from the time she was an infant, and Juanita had her hands full. Even the simplest things were a problem. Little Maria hated to take baths. She screamed and fought the entire time. What should have been a ten-minute affair wound up taking an hour. Maria would twist and contort her little body so violently, her mother was afraid she'd drown in the bassinette.
Then there was the screaming. It would start without provocation and continue until Maria fell asleep from exhaustion. And sometimes she would awaken shortly after and start the whole cycle all over again. Some nights the cycle repeated itself three or four times.
Juanita first noticed the vacant stare when Maria was only about eight months old. She would suddenly be aware that the baby wasn't making a sound, and when she'd investigate, Maria would seem to be staring out into space. And Juanita's presence alone wasn't enough to jar her out of it, either. Sometimes, Juanita had to shake Maria or yell at her when it happened, but most of the time she could snap her out of it by calling her name a dozen times or so.
By the time Maria was a year old, it became apparent that she wasn't learning the simplest things that other babies learned. Sometimes she didn't even seem to respond to her name. They suspected that there might have been a hearing problem, but the pediatrician couldn't find anything wrong with Maria's hearing. He had commented to Juanita that all babies develop at different rates, and each one was an individual. They each had their particular quirks and aptitudes and shortcomings. He told Juanita not to worry, and to just give Maria time. He cited a case of one baby he knew walking at a year old, and another that didn't start until it was three years old. There weren't any physical differences that he could find to explain it, so it was just another example of how God made everyone different.
The pediatrician was very sympathetic to Juanita's concerns, however, and he told her very matter-of-factly to just bring Maria around whenever she wanted, and he'd check out her progress.
Corina was a true friend with the patience of a saint and incredible generosity. She would drive Juanita and the baby anywhere they had to go, and she even took care of the baby whenever Juanita was not around. She saw to it that Juanita and the baby had everything they needed and wanted. She paid all the doctor and medicine bills, bought all the clothes and food, and made certain that there were always plenty of toys around.
The one thing that had the most profound affect on Maria's behavior was Corina's dog, Pepper. Corina usually left the dog outside, deliberately trying to keep it away from the baby. She was always worried about germs and dirt and fleas. One day Pepper got into Maria's room and Corina found them together. Maria was only one at the time, and Corina was just about to call Pepper away from the baby, when she realized what was happening. Pepper was lying on her back, and Maria was rubbing the dog's belly.
Corina ran to get Juanita so she could see this delightful sight. When they got back to the room, Pepper was off in a corner and the baby was just playing by herself on the floor. Corina thought it was just a crazy, one-time thing, and that the baby hadn't really known what she was doing. But Corina caught the baby doing it again the next day, and this time she was successful in showing Juanita.
It was almost as if the baby were an adult for those few moments that she rubbed the dog's belly. It was unnatural looking. But Pepper really loved it, and started coming over to Maria every chance she got. The dog would just walk up, flop down on the floor, and roll over. Then Maria would lean over and rub the dog's belly for a minute or two.
Corina started to keep the dog inside. It meant bathing her, dipping her for fleas and ticks, trimming her nails, and even keeping a flea collar on her. But, it was so incredible the way Maria and Pepper bonded, that Corina didn't object to all the extra work at all. In fact, she began to rather enjoy brushing and taking care of Pepper. They developed a special friendship that they hadn't had before.
Pepper started to sleep next to Maria, and it appeared for a while that Pepper might help Maria along with her seemingly slow development.
.....
It was a strange and tormenting world to David. He had no idea he had lived a prior life. He was stuck in a body he had no control over. At first he couldn't even think properly or remember anything. He couldn't see clearly or make sense out of what he saw. He felt like a bystander sometimes when Maria started crying. Initially the separation between the two of them was almost total. But that started to change ever so slowly. He began merging somehow with Maria, and he started to feel the frustration and the embarrassment of not being able to control his bodily functions.
The feeling was almost indescribable. It was as though there were two whole people trapped inside of one body. Most of the time, he just went along for the ride, paying no attention to the people and voices around them. Sometimes the sounds he heard were alien. They spoke in a language he didn't always understand, and they got so impatient and upset with him whenever he would forget to respond to that new name, Maria.
And it was so very hard to think. It was totally frustrating trying to make this new mind operate properly. He began to feel stupid and inept. He withdrew back into himself whenever these feelings came over him. But his internal partner, Maria, seemed singularly determined to take control all the time. There were many excruciatingly emotional fights between them when they both tried to take control at the same time.
Fear was almost always with him. He couldn't escape it. It was especially prevalent when they'd put him in the water and grope all over his body. He felt like they were trying to drown him. The horror was overwhelming, and he fought for his life every time. And he couldn't escape those moments when another woman, a different mother, flashed into his mind. Whenever it happened, death was all he could think of. Death! He didn't even really understand the concept. It was just interwoven with that feeling of fear.
But there were moments when Maria just left him alone in total control. He liked the warm feel of the one they called Pepper. It was irresistible to him. He had to touch it and feel it. And Maria never fought him when he needed to touch Pepper. She steered clear. Pepper was love. It exuded love without so much as a sound. When he felt Pepper, it was like communication in a secret language. And when he needed to feel that way, Pepper was always there for him.
Something inside of him knew he had to find a way to communicate in this strange language they used. Maria seemed to understand some of it, but he couldn't. How could it come so easily for her and so hard for him? He hated Maria, and he sometimes lashed out at her. But it was always he that felt the pain, and never Maria.
The food they forced him to eat was horrible. It burned or it tasted bad or it choked him. He threw it up sometimes with no control. The humiliation was overpowering. And no matter how hard he tried, he could not make a sound come out of his mouth that he himself could recognize.
The world was Corina, Juanita, Maria and Pepper. Deep inside other images were there, but he couldn't sort them out. He just couldn't figure out how to work this new body and this new mind. He was like a captive in his own body, and he felt powerless and stupid.
Then he was subjected to the big man with the white coat who tortured him. The man pulled on his ears and stuck things in them. He clapped his hands right in David's face and yelled at him. He blinded him with an intense light that was somehow strangely familiar to him. First one eye and then the other. The man undressed him and probed and pulled and twisted at his body. David seized control that time, and Maria didn't fight it. He screamed and bellowed his discontent, and it worked. He couldn't have been more frightened in his whole life than he was that day.
There was a constant struggle to understand the words he heard. He tried to access memory, but he couldn't. He thought he knew how to do it, but it just didn't work. It was devastating to him. He finally began to stop trying, and he just let Maria take charge. She seemed to understand and learn. He felt angry and jealous. He sometimes just cut off contact with the world around him and only paid attention to what Maria was doing. There was a stretch of time when he did this almost every day. Something started happening in that period. It felt as if Maria's mind was taking over his. Her mind seemed to be able to access his, and she started to know about David. And it was absolutely frightening.
The feeling was like having every drop of dignity and privacy stripped clean away. He was a naked, stupid, useless entity. Maria was consuming him a piece at a time. She digested his memories and his fears and his thoughts. He would create a vision of something from his own private life, and she would wrench it away from him and take it as her own.
Then one day it was suddenly different. He started to have problems differentiating between himself and Maria. Their minds were intermingled. He didn't know his thoughts from hers. He didn't know real from imaginary. And he actually began to understand words from that strange new language they spoke.
2
Juanita and Corina were so concerned over the slowness of Maria, that they bought books on child development to help them understand. They began to suspect that Maria had a learning disability, and they started to do tests on her that the books described. But they got nowhere.
Maria's second year was a living hell for Juanita. The baby acted possessed. Sometimes Juanita would get so frightened that her reflex reaction was to cross herself and pray. She began to seriously consider that Maria might indeed be possessed. Corina didn't believe in such things, and they had many heated discussions about it. Sometimes, Juanita lay awake at night trying to figure out what to do. She conjured up pictures of demons and ghosts and raging hellfire. She would fall asleep in a cold sweat.
Maria started to exhibit three distinct types of behavior. Corina and Juanita both noticed it around the same time. Sometimes Maria was just scared to death of everything, and cried at the drop of a hat. Other times she was a bold, alert and curious child just like any other child. And sometimes she was totally passive and distant.
Juanita and Corina started referring to the behaviors as if there were three different people within Maria. And they started to notice that each of the personalities was easily identified just by looking at Maria's face. The personalities would sometimes switch as often as two or three times a minute, or one might remain for as long as an hour or two. But it was practically a certainty that the switches would take place a few dozen times a day.
The scared personality not only cried often, but actually sat shaking and cowering. The slightest sound would cause her to visibly jump. When she was approached, she tried to evade. And she positively would not let anyone pick her up without screaming and wrestling to get free. When that happened, Juanita or Corina became afraid they might drop Maria, and they'd immediately put her back down. The strength Maria demonstrated during these fits was unbelievable.
The bold personality was the fun one. Bold Maria was the one that learned things, tried things, and exhibited love. She was the one that began to say words, despite the fact that she didn't seem proficient at learning new ones. She crawled around chasing Pepper, and she giggled at a game of peek-a-boo. She was the only personality that Juanita and Corina could interact with.
The passive personality was almost as bad as the scared one. Maria would just stare into space with a vacant look in her eyes. She didn't object to being held or bathed or changed while she was passive. But she gave absolutely nothing back in the form of interaction. Her expression never changed and she didn't respond to anything; not even her own name.
There were several trips to the pediatrician over this issue, but he didn't subscribe to the notion of multiple personalities in a small child. He felt that there was probably a physical problem or two, like a digestive disorder, that triggered Maria's moods. As to her slowness of learning, he was not convinced at all that there was evidence to support it, nor did he believe that any further testing was necessary. Again, he recommended that they just give things time.
In the long run, the learning problem appeared to straighten itself out as Maria reached her second birthday, but the personality problems were getting worse, or at least becoming quite different.
.....
David was frightened as Maria's consciousness gradually invaded and took over his own. He tried everything he could to keep himself independent and in control, but nothing worked. He repeatedly tried to seize back his memories and to try to keep her from taking any more of them. He would wait until Maria was distracted by Corina or Juanita, and then he would suddenly overpower her and hold her down. Then he would turn all his energies inward to access her mind and memories. He found it increasingly difficult to distinguish between his mind and hers. The memories became collective ones, and he had to exert more and more energy to channel himself through the pathways and regions of her mind.
Always, when he was focused completely within, she would suddenly overpower him, deny him access to her mind and regain control of the body. He was frightened each time she regained control. She was getting more and more powerful and he was so afraid he would be crushed into nothingness. He'd fight her each time it happened, and he'd fight with his entire being. And all the while they were fighting, he felt himself shaking in fear. He'd muster up a surge of energy to thrust her out of the way, but she always seemed to win. The wrestling for power between them was a constant cycle, and David felt himself getting weaker and weaker each time around.
She was a smart one. She learned the strange language they spoke. And somehow he began to learn it too. He watched jealously as Juanita and Corina lavished affection on Maria, and how they responded whenever she spoke a new one of their words. And he felt disgusted with himself just knowing that he too was picking up the new words.
Sometimes Corina and Juanita would scream back and forth at each other, and David got so scared he'd freeze. He knew it was him they were screaming about, and he always tried to find somewhere inside of himself to hide. And he hated it that he was so scared, because Maria would have the opportunity to take control without any resistance from him at all.
Juanita was Maria's mother, and not his. But sometimes she would pick him up and embrace or kiss him. Most of the time, he pulled away, but more and more he found he enjoyed the attention, and he was angry with himself that he felt this way.
After a while the battles began to seem futile, and he fought less and less with Maria. Then, whenever she had control, he began to feel that he was positioned just inside her; as if in another body that was a tiny bit smaller, fitting just below the surface of hers. He could see through her eyes and he could hear through her ears, and he could feel through her skin. He followed her thoughts around her mind, and he even shared her memories.
Then he began to learn as she learned. He found himself thinking along with her. He could no longer distinguish himself from her at all, except for that private set of memories that he somehow kept her from discovering.
And one day, just like that, he was her! He felt love for Juanita and Corina. And he finally felt some contentment. It wasn't the end of conflict, but at least it was the end of conflict between himself and Maria. They would both share the internal conflicts that would now begin, and they would deal with them together.
Learning became fun. Exploring became an adventure. Pepper was always there to keep them company. The time spent with Corina and Juanita was wonderful. And gradually they accepted Juanita as their mother, and Corina as a trusted and loved friend.
One day David woke up and Maria was gone. He was David in a body called Maria Cortez. It was a shocking revelation for a two-year-old. It was both exciting and frightening at the same time. He was in control, and he was just starting to learn how to access those strange memories deep inside his brain; the ones that had eluded him for so long. They were the memories of some make-believe world that he didn't know much about. He knew he was somehow really David, but he knew for certain that he must think of himself as Maria. The entire world saw only Maria.
3
Juanita loved Maria dearly. Doctor Weiss, the pediatrician, had been right about giving things time. Maria was a healthy baby girl, and she was just as smart as all the other babies her age. The multiple personalities gradually disappeared, and all was quite normal except for one thing. There were moments when Juanita didn't know Maria at all, and those moments were occurring more and more often.
It first started when Maria was learning to talk. Initially Juanita thought Maria was just having trouble pronouncing certain words, but that turned out to be wrong. Maria made up words of her own, and each time she did, Juanita felt a cold chill down to her bones. It was a feeling that Juanita could not describe to anyone else, but she knew for certain that when Maria used those words, she was not Juanita's child.
Juanita learned very quickly to keep these thoughts to herself. She mentioned the strange words to Corina once or twice, and Corina laughed it off. When she started telling Corina that something came over the child when she spoke these strange words, Corina told her it was just a bunch of nonsense. But, when Juanita started insisting she was right, Corina turned on Juanita. She started saying that Juanita was talking crazy, and suggested she should maybe talk to a shrink.
Juanita wasn't stupid. She didn't have to be told twice. She stopped talking about the problem. She really thought it might get her thrown in the loony bin. But, even though she was silent on the matter, the problem continued to haunt her.
Maria not only caught up to her normal level of development, but she started to accelerate beyond the norm. Juanita was quite proud of her. She was learning to recognize the letters of the alphabet and the numbers from one to ten. As Maria approached three, she began to grasp sentence structure better than Juanita could believe. Even Corina saw how smart Maria was turning out to be, and she was just as proud as Juanita.
As Maria developed, Juanita experienced those unfamiliar feelings more and more. She was deeply concerned, yet knew she dare not speak of it. Then, just when Maria was turning three, there was a sudden change in the child.
.....
David enjoyed his new life. He no longer had to share his mother's love, and there were no more conflicts with Maria. He was hungry to learn and to please. He gradually learned how to make this new mind function and he learned language. Some was a bit familiar to him, and some was totally new. He began to find ways of unlocking his private memory, but it was very difficult. He wasn't yet aware that he had lived a prior life, because his brain was just too immature to grasp the meaning of the memories.
Sometimes he would have a flash right out of the blue, and words came to him all on his own. He had no way to know that they were Yiddish words, but they had clear meanings to him. He would start to confuse his words with his mother's words, and mix the two together in a sentence, without really being aware of it. Juanita would seem so surprised whenever he did it, that he would immediately realize that he had made the error. He tried not to confuse his words with hers, but they started to come to him more and more, and he made the mistakes more and more. It was so hard to separate all these words. He couldn't yet grasp the fact that he was mixing English and Spanish and Yiddish.
Then came the alphabet. As Juanita began to teach him the letters, it was wonderful. They seemed to pop into his head even before she said them, and he mastered the alphabet in weeks. And numbers were the same way. He was so proud of himself as Juanita rewarded him with praise.
Then he started to feel a change come over his mind. He was able to connect thoughts together. It was no longer just simple commands that entered his mind, but actual negotiation and argument. He used conditionals, and connectives and modifiers. He found himself routinely thinking in terms of if...then and either...or. He didn't know exactly where it was all coming from, but his brain seemed to be growing and growing. He was starved for knowledge, and the more he sought, the faster it came to him. And it was coming from within. He was learning faster than he was being taught.
In the midst of all the learning and exploration, came the sudden realization about his sexuality. He was touching himself. He had done it before, just like all children do, but he suddenly understood something for the first time. He was different down there than he should be. He knew at once what it meant. He was a boy, but he was a girl, too. Somehow this shocked and shamed him at the same time. He secretly explored his genitals in detail. He wasn't sure how he knew it, but he was certain his body was a girl's body, and just as certain that he mustn't get caught touching himself there anymore.
The discovery of the gender problem caused him to undergo a whole new exploration of his own mind. He began to practice turning his mind inward on itself.
Then one day an explosion of images formed in his mind. He had no idea where they came from or what they meant. They were just there. And he was fascinated by these images. He studied them in his mind, trying to puzzle out their content and their meaning. There were places and things and people he had never seen before. It was simply overwhelming to his three-year-old mind. And he was delighted by the wonder of these images. He couldn't wait to tell his mother about them.
4
Juanita listened to Maria's tales from her world of make-believe. They were so strange to listen to, and Juanita was so impressed with her daughter's imagination. She told tales about the big house with all the dishes on the table, and the pretty green grass in the yard with all the trees. And she talked about the old man and the old lady that lived in the house.
It was so imaginative, Juanita wondered where it all came from. She couldn't remember being that creative when she was a child. She presumed it must all come from those educational television shows. She played right along with Maria and asked her all about the old people that lived in the house and about the green grass. It was the kind of quality time that she loved to spend with her daughter.
It was late, and Juanita knew she had to put Maria to bed. She told her they could continue tomorrow, and she leaned over to give her a kiss. Maria objected and pleaded with her mother to just let her tell one more story. As usual, Juanita yielded. But she was so tired that she hardly paid attention as Maria rambled on about the two sons... and the grandchildren... and the pretty green car... and the Synagogue... and the house at 255 Lincoln Road in Cherry Hill, New Jersey... and...
Juanita hardly heard a word. When Maria was finished she kissed her on the forehead and tucked her in for the night. Then she tiptoed out of the room and closed the door. As she started down the hall, she couldn't help but wonder where her daughter had ever come up with all those things. She thought to herself, Synagogue.... Cherry Hill, New Jersey...? It had to be television!
The next morning, Juanita talked with Corina over breakfast. She talked about what a wonderful imagination Maria had, and the way she had told all those stories the night before. She joked with Corina about how she shouldn't let Maria watch all those television shows while Juanita was working in the vineyards. Corina looked at Juanita with a puzzled expression and told her she didn't allow Maria to watch television at all.
That's when the feeling first swept over Juanita. She fetched Maria at once and the three of them had a conversation right there in the kitchen. Juanita asked the leading questions and wrote down notes as Maria answered. She went into all the details from the night before and more. Then Corina asked her where she had learned all those new words and all those new names. Maria had no idea.
.....
David was so delighted to tell his mother all about the new world he had discovered in his mind. He had so much more to tell her, but it was bedtime and it would have to wait.
When she came and got him in the morning and asked him to tell her and Corina all about the new things, he was so pleased. And he told them all about Rabbi David Pearlstein and his wife Rose and the two children, Michael and Eric. Corina and his mother were so interested in what he had to say. He felt like the best little child in the world.
David still had absolutely no idea that he was describing himself. It didn't even strike him that the Rabbi was also a David. After all, he tried not to think of himself as David anymore. He was Maria, and that's what everybody called him.
The attention they paid him, because of the special new images he had found, triggered a whole new initiative to find more. He knew somehow that there were many more images within him. All he had to do was to search around and find them. Exploring was fun, and he knew he was good at it. What made it even so much better was that Corina and his mother seemed to really take an interest in his new images.
He applied himself diligently to the new explorations. But searching within himself didn't turn out the way he expected.
5
Juanita had written down everything that Maria had told them about this Pearlstein family. Maria gave so many details that it seemed almost impossible for it to be a fantasy. But if she didn't make it up, how did Maria know all these details. Could it have possibly been from television? Corina had to admit that it was really weird, and she wondered if there really could be such a family. Then they decided that there was only one way to find out.
They had a name and address. They called information, but there was no listing for a Pearlstein at the address. They asked about other listings for Rose, Michael or Eric Pearlstein in the Cherry Hill area, and there were none. But that didn't discourage Corina. She was strongly convinced that the information that Maria provided them may have basis in fact. She decided to talk to a friend of hers in the Los Angeles Police Department that might be able to help.
In the meantime, they decided to try and elicit any more information they could from Maria, but they didn't want to appear too anxious for fear that they might frighten the child.
.....
Over the next several weeks, David continued to play the searching game with Corina and his mother. Then, one day, vivid memories exploded from within his mind, and he told his mother that he once lived in the house at 255 Lincoln Road. He still had not connected any of this with a prior life. To his immature mind, there was not a way for him to grasp such a concept. It was just something in the past. His mother reacted strangely. She crossed herself, as he had seen her do before, but she went running off screaming something at Corina. This frightened David, and he ran to his room and hid under his blanket.
For the next few weeks, David was reluctant to reveal much more to his mother or Corina, despite the fact that images were coming to him at an overwhelming rate.
6
Corina's detective friend hit pay dirt. He located a Synagogue adjacent to the address she had given him, and he verified that there in fact had been a Rabbi Pearlstein there who died about three or four years earlier. So he gave Corina the name and number of the new Rabbi that lived at the address she had given him.
Corina made contact with the new Rabbi, and he agreed he would try to find out what happened to the Pearlstein family, and then call her back. The call came two days later, and he gave Corina the name, address and telephone number of Rabbi Pearlstein's son Michael. He apologized for the delay, but told her that he decided to get in touch with Michael himself to get permission to give out the information.
Corina and Juanita had a long telephone conversation with Michael. They told him the eerie story of Maria's knowledge of the family, and it shook Michael up pretty badly. He told them he needed a little time to think things through and discuss it with his wife, and then he'd call them back.
It seemed like weeks to them, but Michael called back in three days. He decided he wanted to come out there to meet and speak with Maria. His plan was to be there in a week. That was the quickest he could get some time off. He would be coming alone.
Corina and Juanita couldn't wait. They were convinced that there was some sort of channeling from the spiritual world happening through Maria. This was the most thrilling thing either of them had ever experienced. But they were worried about Maria's reaction to all this, so they both agreed not to mention anything about Michael's visit in advance to her. They would just play things by ear.
.....
When Michael arrived, David didn't see him at first. Juanita asked him to go to his room and play while they talked with some man about some important grown-up stuff. He played for a while, and then his mother asked if he would come out and meet someone.
David walked into the living room, and without so much as a second thought, said hello to Michael by name! He saw the horrified reaction of all three adults, and he got frightened. Juanita embraced him and reassured him that everything was all right. Then Michael asked if he could talk with Maria alone. Corina and Juanita seemed surprised by this request, and the three of them discussed it for a while. Finally they agreed to let them talk in Maria's room, but David could see that the two were not really too happy about allowing it.
.....
"Hi, Maria. You already seem to know me," Michael began. "I know all of this must be confusing to you, but I just wanted a little time to talk to you about my family."
The sight and sound of Michael evoked an explosion of emotion in David. In the course of moments, he went through a transformation that caught him totally off guard. He started to cry just as Michael began speaking to him. Michael seemed sympathetic, and embraced him. "That's okay, Maria. It's all right. I won't hurt you, sweetheart."
"I know you won't," David said through his tears. Then he calmed down a bit and added, "My real name is David."
Now Michael was scared. He tried not to show Maria any sign of his fear, but his voice wavered a bit as he spoke. "And do you know how old you are, David?"
David was both shocked and pleased that Michael didn't call him Maria. He opened up a bit more and answered, "I'm sixty-six." Then he began to cry harder than before, and Michael listened carefully to make out his words, "But I'm Maria too, and I'm only three years old. I can't be both, can I?"
Michael held Maria close, his own eyes filling with tears, and he could hardly speak at all. But he managed to say to Maria, "I don't know how you can be both people, David. Do you want me to call you David or Maria?"
"Call me David. That's who I really am. But don't tell my mother or Corina."
"I promise I won't, David. This must be especially confusing for you, because I know it's confusing to me, too. I know you're only three, but you have some really special memories inside of you that I'd love to know all about. I promise it will be our secret if that's how you want it."
David nodded without saying a word.
Michael continued, "I'll help you to understand it all if I can. I don't think there's any real reason to be scared. I believe you're really David. And I believe you're really Maria, too. I don't really understand how it could be that way, but I do believe you."
That reassured David. He was beginning to feel a bond with Michael. He didn't have any idea that it was a father-son bond he was feeling, but he knew that it felt good. He told Michael, "My mom calls it my imagination world. That means I sort of make these things up. But I'm not making them up, Michael. I just know them, that's all. It's not like make believe or fairy stories."
To Michael, the words were childlike, but they were profound in substance. He tried to understand how tormented this child's mind must be. But he had to find out just how this little girl knew so much about his family. He really wanted in his heart to believe that his father had found a way to communicate with him from Heaven. He asked, "Can you tell me all about the house in Cherry Hill, David?"
"Sure! But you lived there. You know all about it too."
Michael knew this was going to be an emotional experience, but he had gone over it many times in his mind. He had to ask Maria the questions exactly as he had practiced them. That was the only way for him to know for certain....
.....
The conversation lasted for over an hour. When Michael and Maria finally came out to the living room, Juanita and Corina were relieved and curious. Michael and Maria had both been crying; it was quite obvious from their faces.
Maria sat down quietly and Michael spoke first, just as they had secretly agreed. "Well, Maria sure seems to know some wonderful things about me and my family. I don't know how she knows them, but she does. It's like a miracle or something. And we really like each other, too. So, if it's okay with you, maybe Maria and I can talk to each other some more on the phone in the future."
Corina and Juanita were stunned. What was going on?
Maria said softly, "Michael and me are friends. I like to talk to him."
"Well, I guess it would be okay," Juanita said uncomfortably. "Maria, would you mind if Michael and me and Corina talked alone for a minute? Maybe you could just go out and play with Pepper for a little while."
"Okay, mommy," she obediently answered. She saw the wink that Michael secretly flashed her as she got up to leave, and she was a happy child, indeed.
"Well, Mr. Pearlstein, what do you think?" asked Juanita.
"To tell you the truth, Mrs. Cortez, your daughter is a pretty remarkable young lady. I don't know how she knows all these things, but she's not making them up. They're all true. There's probably some reasonable explanation, but I'll just have to think about it a little more."
"Is she channeling?" Corina asked. "Is she able to hear your father?"
"I just don't know. I think we just have to give things a little time. Maybe Maria will figure out where these thoughts all came from. Maybe she heard them from somebody. Anything's possible, I guess."
"Then how do you explain the fact that Maria knew your name the moment she laid eyes on you for the first time?" asked Juanita.
"Oh, she told me she heard you say my name before you called her into the room," he lied.
Corina rubbed her chin suspiciously and commented, "Well, I just don't know if that's really..... Well, I suppose she could have. If that's what she said, well I guess that's the explanation. Still, it seemed like she really recognized you."
"Yeah, that's what I thought, too," he lied once more, "but she told me she didn't know what I looked like. She told me she just heard you say my name."
"So what happens now?" Juanita wanted to know. "Do you really want to talk with her again?"
"Sure, if you don't mind. But I think it might be best if you don't make a big fuss about all this to Maria. I got the feeling it makes her nervous when you react strongly to her memories. She's a wonderful kid, and she's really confused by all this stuff. I think that low key is the way to play this." He was hoping that they couldn't see right through him. "I'm going to go back home and do some more thinking about all this. I have a friend that's dealt with some things like this before. I think she must have been exposed to this information in some way, and just doesn't remember."
Juanita stood and said, "Well, I certainly want to thank you for coming all this way. I hope we can talk again shortly."
"Oh, the pleasure was all mine. And, yes, I'll be calling you real soon."
They said their goodbyes and then Juanita called Maria in from outside to say goodbye to Michael.
Michael knelt down and hugged her. "Our secret, I promise," he whispered so nobody else could hear. Then, for everyone's sake he added loudly, "It's been wonderful meeting you, Maria. I hope we talk again soon."
As Juanita and Corina showed Michael to the door, David smiled. He thought that he was starting to understand. Michael explained to him that it could take a while. He felt like a grownup when Michael talked to him, and it was wonderful. And it was especially wonderful to be called David.
7
For several days after Michael's visit, Corina and Juanita were beside themselves. Finally, they couldn't keep this to themselves any longer, and they called the news desk of the local television station. Two days later an investigative reporter with a camera crew arrived at the house. Juanita and Corina gave him the background information and showed him all their notes. The reporter, Ted Fox, took pages of notes before he asked to talk with Maria.
David was reluctant to say too much to this stranger, but he saw that his mother was permitting it, so he went along to a degree. He wasn't going to say too much. He remembered his and Michael's special secret.
Ted Fox decided to tape some footage that he could use if his editor liked the story. He did a monologue introduction segment while Corina, Juanita and Maria sat in the background. Then he repositioned so that he could do his interviews on camera.
Juanita told the story of how her daughter had become some kind of a medium between a man who had died recently and his surviving family. Ted conducted the interview in a manner that would later permit him to edit out any references to the Pearlstein family. He was afraid that he might not get the necessary releases from them to use their name. That happened quite a lot in stories like this. It was especially annoying to David, because this man seemed to ask the same questions over and over again. David didn't understand about releases and rights of privacy. He just understood annoying repetition.
When the team left, David went to his room and started to cry. He was very upset that they made him talk about all this to strangers. But he was careful not to let his mother or Corina know he was upset.
The call came from Michael the next day. He told Juanita and Corina he had gotten a call from Ted Fox, and that he denied everything. He was upset that they had contacted the television station without his permission. But he tried to soften the damage by pleading with them to keep things quiet because he was afraid it might upset his mother too much. He told them she was not in good health and that this sort of thing might kill her. That was something they both seemed to immediately understand and appreciate. They apologized and promised not to use the Pearlstein name anymore.
He asked if he could talk to Maria for a moment, and they agreed. David was so thrilled to hear from Michael, but it made him a bit uncomfortable talking in front of Corina and his mother. Most of the conversation was just reassurances from Michael that everything would be all right. Then Michael asked that David try not to mention the Pearlstein name if he talked to anyone else about the memories. David agreed, and after a few minutes of joking and sentimental stuff, they hung up.
.....
Michael placed the phone down and then pounded his fist on the table. "Those stupid damned bitches!" He was worried, but he couldn't dare talk to anyone about his concerns.
.....
David changed dramatically after Michael's call. He suddenly knew he must not tell any more stories about David Pearlstein. He still didn't understand that he had lived a prior life, but, for right now, that was actually a blessing.
Juanita and Corina noticed the change in Maria immediately. She was lethargic and seemed depressed. They weren't sure what to do about it. They hoped that it would simply pass.
