Charissa

2006

Correctional Centre 2 (CC2), Cambodia

Authorities arrested twenty-four-year-old Phuong Soun for stealing. Like so many women before her, they placed her into pre-trial detention and sent her to the women’s prison, dubbed CC2, to await trial. She didn’t know how long she’d be there, nor how she’d take care of her one month old child, Charissa. In Cambodia, children less than three years old could stay with their mothers in confinement while they were in detention. It was not an ideal situation. 

Phuong was Khmer, an ethnic group native to Cambodia. She spoke the Khmer language. Fortunately, so did most around her. Times were hard, money was short, and she did whatever she could in order to feed her baby. As she pleaded with family to help raise money for her release, local corruption made it near impossible, as each time they raised the money, the amount required would suddenly change. Things for Phoung seemed hopeless.

Conditions in the prison were atrocious. Overcrowding, lack of sanitary necessities, lack of basic nutrition, made life there horrible. Food was scarce and often led to fights among the prisoners. Things were even worse for breastfeeding mothers and caused conflicts among overcrowded cell mates. Fellow prisoners viewed breastfeeding mothers as ones needing more food than others. Every day was a struggle, and every day brought worry about the wellbeing of little Charissa.

At her trial, Phoung was given a six-month prison sentence. After her release, she went home to Krong Kampot, but things got even worse. Her husband, Samnang Keo, had left with their three other children while she was still in detention. They were never officially married, so she figured he had abandoned her and Charissa. She had nowhere to go, no family that cared enough to help, and no means to feed herself or Charissa. They lived on the streets for a while and Phoung did whatever was necessary to survive. She went to work in the salt fields for a while, but caring for Charissa became near impossible. She went into deep despair and eventually turned to the one thing she had hoped she’d never have to: prostitution. But there was light at the end of the tunnel and better days would soon come her way.

Phirun Chey was an American business executive working for a medical device company with offices in Chicago. He was home on a much needed vacation when he saw her sitting on a street corner with a small child. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He walked right up to her and introduced himself. He would be Phoung’s first customer and, as she looked up at him through teary eyes, she listed prices for the various services she offered. Her reaction stunned Phirun, as his intent was simply to meet her.

After a few awkward and embarrassing moments, he figured out what she was talking about and blushed like a young schoolboy. He offered to buy her lunch. She gladly accepted, and a week or so later, they were married. Phuong Soun was the happiest woman in the world. Phirun went back to Chicago, had one of his lawyers work some magic with the state department, and Phoung and Charissa joined him shortly thereafter. 

Phirun died of a heart attack in 2022. Phuong was heartbroken and missed him very much. He left her a fortune, which eased her pain tremendously, but life in Chicago without Phirun was emotionally draining. Someone told her once that Omaha, Nebraska, was nice, so she and Charissa moved there. Phuong died of natural causes a couple of years later. Charissa was an eighteen-year-old millionaire, in the world completely alone, and had not one clue how to move forward.

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Charissa

Charissa had gotten very comfortable living alone and taking care of herself. At twenty-two years old, she had a good life. Phirun Chey was the only dad she’d ever known, and he taught her life lessons that she relied on to make adjustments after her mom died. She knew there was a biological father out there somewhere, but he never attempted to contact her, so she figured he either didn’t know she existed or wanted nothing to do with her.

She was at the produce section in a grocery store when she noticed some creep glancing at her. He kept his distance, but his stares annoyed her. She continued shopping while acting as if she didn’t notice him. On another occasion, she noticed the same guy stealing glances. She walked up to him and asked him point-blank if he had a problem with her. He blushed and backed away in shock at her question. His name was Tim Nelson, and he had been in love with her since the first time they locked eyes.

Charissa had never been in love, and she had never been with a man. She’d never even had a boyfriend. So his lovesick puppy routine had no effect on her. He sensed he was losing her, and desperation set in.

“Ah, my name is Tim,” he began. “Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner?”

Charissa was as fluent in English as she was in Khmer, but his fancy talk was weird. She was a serious gal and wanted him to talk to her like a serious person.

“Do you always talk like that?” she asked in perfect English.

He came clean, hoping she hadn’t dinged him for points. She had, and she added them to the ones he had already accumulated for practically stalking her.

“Tim, my name is Charissa. Why do you keep following me?”

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “Oh, this is embarrassing. I did not intend to make you feel uneasy. I just wanted to get to know you,” he said.

“Why?” she asked.

Her perplexed look set him back on his heels a bit. 

“Because I think you’re beautiful and I want to get to know you.”

Suddenly, she felt all tingly inside. It was a feeling she’d never experienced, and she rather liked it. She wanted more and accepted his invitation to dinner with a caveat.

“Tim, I don’t like the way you talk. It sounds phony. Can you fix it?”

He assured her he’d drop the fake talk, and they agreed on a venue for dinner. Charissa was about to discover a side of herself she never knew existed. It would change everything.

Their date went well, and they ended up at his apartment. It was a modest studio type of deal with a really open floor plan. Charissa wasn’t naïve and even though having never been with a man, she was sort of looking forward to her first time. 

He offered her a glass of wine, another first for her. She accepted, liked how it made her relax. They chatted for a while, had another glass of wine, and she surprised herself as she beckoned him in for a kiss. They made passionate love that evening and Charissa was happy that she had finally got to experience what it meant to be a woman. But there was something that didn’t seem quite right. She had a feeling, along with a vision that kept repeating. It wasn’t a focused vision. It was like something they did had set off an alarm within her.

Tim reached for her to cuddle on the couch but she refused, pulled away abruptly, saying she had to leave. She hastily gathered her things, dressing as she went, and quickly left without saying another word. Tim was confused and apparently paralyzed because all could do was sit there with his mouth agape and watch as she abruptly left. She said nothing as she walked out and slammed the door shut. Charissa was not much of a people person. Her social skills never developed.

When she got home, she couldn’t sleep. She kept getting scattered visions, images she couldn’t recognize. She lies in bed, desperately trying to piece the images together. Suddenly, everything became clear. Flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling, a blank, soulless stare had taken over her being. As her world began fading to black, she knew without question what she had to do, what her purpose was. She looked at the ceiling with a blank, soulless stare as she put a finger to a corner of her mouth and began giggling like a young girl.

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Charissa’s father, Phirun Chey, called her to his deathbed. He beckoned her to lean in close to him. He told her a story. It was a story he’d told no one else, a story that touched her deeply. He died shortly after and she sat by his side and cried softly, uncontrollably. She could not make herself stop. Her mother sat across the room and witnessed the exchange. She knew what he had told her, that which she could never muster the courage to do herself. She went to her daughter and hugged her tightly as they both sat crying softly together. Charissa’s reason for being changed that day. 

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She looked at the ceiling with a blank, soulless stare as she put a finger to a corner of her mouth and began giggling like a young girl. Charissa had finally gone through the rebirth her father had warned her about. The soulless stare, the giggling, foretold her father’s, her mother’s greatest fears she would not be strong enough to ward off the demons. They were wrong. She was plenty strong enough. She just had no desire to ward them off, opting instead to welcome them as she prepared to fulfill her destiny.

It was no accident all those years ago someone accused Charissa’s mother of stealing. Her biological father fabricated a story he told the police in order to get her arrested, get her out of his life. He took the time she was in pre-trial detention to erase himself from their lives and take all of their possessions with him. His goal was to be free again and their three other children were not part of that arrangement. One-by-one, he convinced family members to babysit, and he promptly disappeared.

During Phuong Soun’s and Charissa’s incarceration, she tried several times to contact her husband. He never returned her calls. None of her relatives knew her situation and thought she and Samnang Keo had abandoned their children. Unable to care for them long-term, they eventually had no choice but to surrender the kids for adoption. Phuong Soun never saw them or Samnang Keo again.

Samnang Keo never liked Charissa. He witnessed her birth, and fear engulfed him the moment she was born. He was convinced she came into the world riding on the back of the demon, Chao Aphi, and vowed never to have anything to do with her.

Phuong Soun saw the terror in Samnang Keo’s eyes after Charissa was born. He had always been into mythical creatures and believed they were real. It was no surprise that after her release from prison; he was nowhere to be found. But she was heartbroken over not knowing where her other kids were. She vowed revenge on Samnang Keo for ruining her’s and Charissa’s lives.

She looked at the ceiling with a blank, soulless stare as she put a finger to a corner of her mouth and began giggling like a young girl. Charissa had finally gone through the rebirth her father had warned her about. Just then, Samnang Keo, felt a chill. A finger of evil had just touched him, and his fear alerted Charissa. She continued her demonic giggle, as he was now a part of her. 

The room was dark, eerie, and cold. He had turned out all the lights for fear it could see him. He had turned off the heat for fear it could sense him. He sat naked, shivering in a corner of the room, horrified by what lie ahead, as he awaited its arrival. Just then, his body went limp and slid to a position flat out on the floor, face up. He could feel its presence and knew the end was near.

He was terrified as something forced his mouth wide open and used it as a portal to enter his body. He could sense it taking control. Paralyzed, he had no way of fighting back. His body began convulsing, as if becoming one with its new host. His eyes, wide open with fear, told a tale of desperation and helplessness. 

Suddenly, he stood and walked out of the house and into the street. He tried in vain to resist, but the demon was too strong. Forced to continue walking, he found himself at the Poipet railway station, standing near the tracks. He heard a train in the distance. As it approached, he realized something was forcing him onto the tracks. A couple of bystanders noticed as well and yelled at him to get back.

The train was barreling towards him when suddenly, something forcefully jerked his body onto the tracks. Just before impact, he could feel his demon leave his body and looked in horror as a ghost-like, floating vision of Charissa’s face stared right at him as the train’s impact dragged his body along the tracks, ripping it to shreds.

Of course, it was likely none of that happened. Samnang Keo was so taken over by guilt and grief for abandoning his family he began seeing visions of different versions of his horrible death. It was the only way he could cope with and justify his cowardice. But this incident did not, could not have happened for real, right?

Charissa looked at the ceiling with a blank, soulless stare. With a finger to a corner of her mouth, she continued giggling like a young girl.

K.R. Eaton - Charissa

Short Stories by K.R Eaton