Ying And Yang: Opposites Yet Equals

• Georgia-cait Ricketts
• Short Story
• 2010

Ying and Yang: Opposites yet equals

I heard the countdown, the sound loud in my head and in slow motion. The only chance we had of winning was if I could make the next shot.

The rubber of the ball felt rough under my hands, patterns pressing into my palms as I held it tightly. Rolling it once before springing and letting it glide through the air, it was only an orange blur as it flew. It soared and to my surprise, fell through the net.

I couldn’t believe it. We’d-
“We’ve won! We’ve won!” Mary screamed from beside me, making me flinch slightly, my lips contradicting the involuntary gesture by smiling widely.

She jumped up and down, dancing a happy dance while I questioned her sanity. With Mary, it was a frequent occurrence. I was happy that we’d won, ecstatic even, but the amount of excitement she was displaying was beyond the normal range of the human brain. It was Mary we were talking about though. While she was chirpy and excited, I was calm and usually quite reserved.

I sighed and disentangled myself from my now assembled and squealing team mates to call my family. Mum was recently admitted to hospital again, so they couldn’t come, obviously.
They’d asked me to call and tell them how the game went. Even if our family was about to be ripped apart, they still cared about my one passion and distraction in life.

I walked quickly to the locker rooms and sprinted through the door to my locker, ignoring the calls of congratulations in the hall.

Inside, I pulled out my mobile phone, the adrenaline still pumping in my veins.
It rang three times before I heard a voice on the other end. “Hello, Jim Corran speaking.” It was my Father, as I expected and he sounded completely worn out. It made my heart ache.

Mum would eventually die from the cancer. I accepted that. My Dad didn’t though; he was still in denial after all this time. You could see that one thought flash in his eyes as he looked at my Mother’s pale, sunken face surrounded by her knotted blonde curls- this can’t be happening.

“Hey Dad, it’s Jilliana. Put me on speaker phone. I have news!” I could hear the smile in his voice as he answered his voice now more distant from the speaker. “So? How did you go?”He asked, his voice rough. I laughed lightly. “We won and I scored the winning goal!” My voice came out high-pitched and squeaky. I sounded like Mary. It was neither an insult nor a compliment for me.

“Congratulations sugar!”
My smile faltered as I heard my Mother’s voice so small and frail. It scared me immensely. How much longer did she have left? “Thanks Mum and Dad. It means so much to hear you say that...” I tried to make gratitude coat my every word. I wanted them to know how much it meant for them to be proud of me through everything.

I heard a quiet sob and tensed. Was Mum okay? Has something gone wrong? “We are so proud of you Jilliana. I could never do what you do. The talent in your every move is amazing. Don’t ever stop honey.” My heart burst in happiness and my voice came out in a whisper. “Thank you. I love you both.”
My father spoke as if he were getting uncomfortable with all the sappiness. I suppose he was.

“We love you too, but so does Mary. I think she would be disappointed if you didn’t show up for her after party. We’ll let you go.” I smiled as at that moment, Mary Clarie Darama walked in looking a hell of a lot less happy than she had been a couple of minutes ago. Her mood swing probably had to do with the fact that I had left abruptly. She would be angry.

“Okay, bye. Get well soon Mum.” I heard the beep of the disconnecting call.
Mary grabbed my hand, looking furious but I started to sob a bit and her face softened her eyes wide in understanding. All I could think about was how I could hear how dead my mother sounded already. She was withering away.

Mary’s wide eyes looked into my own and she noticed how much I was really in pain. She didn’t have to ask why I was crying. She knew. Her thick arms pulled me into a hug and

I collapsed into her tall frame as she too, started crying over what we had endured and what we knew we could lose. My mother was not only my mother to me, but Mary too. For since I could remember, Mum had taken care of my best friend when things at her house had gotten out of hand.

“We’ll be alright Jilly.” She whispered in my ear in. The sound of her voice comforted me like a silk embrace. She was the only one who understood.
“Of course we will Mary. We have each other. Best friends for eternity!” I pulled back and saw her smiling at me, her brunette hair framing her face in a shadow. I smiled back. I was the only one who understood her also.

Like Ying and Yang, we stood there. Mary’s deep chocolate curls collided with my straight blonde locks. Her bronzed skin shone against my pale flesh. Her broad hands held my frail fingers in hers. Her brown eyes looked into my icy blue irises and I knew what it must look like.

Two complete opposites comforting the other through hard times while we played the game we both loved. It had always been like that and I had a feeling it always would.

My soul sister took my hand and we strode out of the now empty gym, holding our heads high and not caring that we were sweaty and still in our uniforms or that mascara had run tracks down our faces. We got into my car and drove to the hospital on Mary’s insistence. She wanted to check on Mum, considering the state she seemed to be in.

I’m glad I had her with me when it happened, as we both knew it would. On the phone, I had been right to think Mother sounded frail. She had been.

She turned to Dad on her bland white hospital bed, in the bland hospital room, a weak smile tweaking her full lips at the sides as she fought to keep her eyelids open while my father looked on in horror. He may have been frightened, but his eyes still burned with love as he looked on at his dying beauty. My heart shattered. I could feel death coming.

“Jim, I love you. I always will. Look after my two baby girls. Make them superstars,” She turned to Mary and I, our hands were intertwined, as if to keep the other from falling apart.

“Girls, Keep each other safe. Stay together and go after your dreams. Take care of your daddy and all of you...” She closed her eyes and forced them open again.

She gazed up at us, her eyes looking glazed as finally, a doctor rushed in now, while her heart monitor slowed down, before an alarm sounded shrilly.. “Don’t ever forget me... I love you...” The heart monitor line went flat.

My eyes widened. I felt more alone now than ever. My mother was gone forever and I wasn’t sure I could deal with that.
The doctor’s face softened as he took in the scene before he just lowered his head and walked out. Wasn’t he supposed to do something more than just walk out?! How could he just let her die?!

Mary and I were so attuned to each other now; we started crying our hearts out in unison. My father just sobbed over her body. I couldn’t look at her now though. To see her body would make it real.

Any moment now I would wake up from this dreadful nightmare.

I looked down at Mary and saw how her eyes had lost something. Her hope was gone. Who would protect her now, certainly not her own Mother and definitely not her abusive Father. No, he’d prefer to make her bruise and bleed.
I would take care of her because I had to. We would see each other through this. What else could we do?

I let out a sob and Mary and I stumbled over to my Father and even though to see it made it real, I looked down at my mother’s peaceful face and vowed I would keep her dying wishes.

The memory of that night still haunts me. I’m sure I will never forget.
Mary stayed with us, with me, while my father sorted things out in court. He adopted her. We are real sisters now, two halves of a whole.

We both tried out and made it in to our preferred team and now we play on the shiny court, side by side, shielding the other from potential dangers.

Our dad is our manager of sorts, keeping the house in check, as well as our lives. He isn’t happy like he used to be, but I like to think he’s gradually healing.

I still feel her sometimes. It’s good to know she’s watching over us. I kept my promise and I never forgot her, how could I?

So as I reminisce on my life I find myself lucky. Scoff if you will but I have shelter, food, family and friendship. My knowledge in life doubled the night everything went pear-shaped, but I learnt to be grateful for everything I owned. It’s done me well.

I looked at my reflection and wished she was here, but I felt my sister’s warm hand on my own and prayed to God, to say thank you.

I felt the white gown rustle at my feet and my veil trail along my spine with my hair flowing underneath my tiara.

My sister walked first, followed by my father. I saw my prince and smiled. I felt a cool presence next to me as I looked into his eyes and knew my mother was there, watching, like I knew she would be.

Smiling, I realised how far I’d come. All the pieces of my game of chess were coming together. My King, Queen, Prince and Knight were around me. I already owned a castle with all of them, with plenty of friendly pawns too.

Yeah, I was definitely lucky.