“You asked her to marry you.”
Leon’s hands flailed about. “I’m sure I’m ain’t the only five-year-old in the history of the planet to do that! It wasn’t like she was gonna hold me to it, ya dumb stick!”
Krause went on. “Next you liked that mixed girl when we were twelve.”
The image of a girl with peanut butter skin and strange green brown eyes rolled the aggravation away from Krause’s comments. “Yeah. She was a nice kid. Her name was Desirea.”
“She gave you your first kiss, too.”
Leon smiled at the memory. His first kiss with her in one of the school hallways had him floating for a week. She’d never cared he lived in a trailer park and she didn’t tease him about it either. “She was nice to me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Krause dismissed in a blasé, disinterested tone. “Then you went off to college and met a basketball woman with them long braids.”
His heart did a flip at the memory of Tisha Gates. “I remember.”
Proud, tall, athletically built Tisha. Her coal black skin, those long dreadlocks, full lips and haughty carriage had driven more than one hyperactive college boy insane. Coming from the trailer park environment to the multicultural world of college life had been a horrible adjustment.
Leon had been ostracized because of his background. His conversation and mannerisms had been the stuff folks had laughed at. Tisha had come to his defense in that first year. Studying with him, playing ball, and being his one confidante. She’d made his year bearable because she stuck by his side.
He’d made the fatal error of mistaking Tisha’s compassion for interest. Like a stray dog given an ounce of affection, he’d latched onto her with an almost scary obsession.
Thankfully, with her words of admonition, and the fact she’d had him in a headlock when his one attempt to kiss her had failed, he’d come to his senses. But what she gave him in return he could never repay her for.
“Now you into this Indian woman,” Krause’s booming voice interrupted his thoughts once more. “Long as I can remember, you always fallin’ for brown women even though you should stick to ya own.”
Leon’s fingers curled into a fist. “Shut up, Krause.”
“Now, now. Don’t get a fly up yer butt.” Krause held his hands up in a sign of defense, although a stubborn twinkle of amusement remained in his eyes. “I ain’t no racist like our parents. I’m jes’ sayin’.”
Leon leaned in. “What exactly are you saying?” he asked in a low, watch-what-you-say tone.
Never one to back down, Krause leaned forward as well. “If ya stick to ya own, you don’t to worry about falling for some brown woman voodoo.”
“Brown woman voodoo? What the Sam Hill are you talkin’ about?”
“Look, I know this woman is pretty an’ all but mebbe you forgot her curry munchin’ brother done stole your mama’s life savings. Ain’t no brown woman voodoo so powerful to make you forget that.”
A muscle leapt within his jaw. “I ain’t forgot what her brother did. Ain’t got nothin’ to do with her.”
Krause’s eyebrow arched high into his forehead. “Oh?”
How could his friend make the one syllable sound like a curse word?
The twinkle in Krause’s eyes hardened into a steely glint. Leon could deal with Krause’s prejudices. Ignorance bred ignorance until somebody got a clue one day to think outside of the box of their own existence. What he didn’t like was the insinuation.
“I’m not tryin’ to choose between mama and Gargi’s brother.”
“You know good an’ well your mama would have a heart attack an’ keel over if you tell her you trying to date a brown woman. Much more, if ya tell her you datin’ the sister of the man who stole her money.”
Leon jumped up and slammed the flat of his hands on the table. “Look, Krause. I’m ain’t dating her. I’m just going to see her off and on to try and get to know her.”
Krause leaned back in the chair and folded his arms across his protruding belly. “Who you tryin’ to fool with that load of garbage? You and I been friends since we learned how to write our name in the snow with our—”
“I get it, Krause. I get it.”
“We may be trailer trash but when it comes to women, we go all in or not. You about to go all in and I’m warnin’ ya.”
“Warnin’ me of what?” He spat the words but a cold dread came over him as he knew what Krause was about to say.
“That it’s gonna break your mama’s heart if you decide to get something going with this woman knowing what her brother did.”
With a swallowed curse, Leon turned away. “Maybe her brother didn’t do it.”
His back tensed in readiness but he didn’t have to wait long. Krause coughed hard for a few seconds. “Boy,” his friend wheezed, “I ain’t cleaned out my ears so I may have heard you wrong. What did you just say?”
Leon shut his eyes. “Maybe her brother didn’t do it.” Was he really saying this? Had he honestly come to that conclusion?
Silence hovered in the air. Leon opened his eyes again to see Krause push back his chair and stand. “I know I ain’t get my college degree like you did. I know I ain’t as smart as you. But one thing I do know is when you actin’ like a fool.”
“Shut it, Krause.”
“How do you go from wantin’ to break that fool’s leg to thinkin’ he’s innocent? Why you think he didn’t do it? Is it because what she told you?”
“Yes. I mean, no. You got me confused.”
“Naw, that brown woman got you all knotted up.” Krause tugged on the edges of his beard. “I’m going to tell it like it is. Even if you think your treatment may have made that man sicker, and we don’t know, don’t let that guilt take away the fact he ruined your mama’s life. Family’s more important.”
Leon whirled around to say something, anything but Krause had moved away, crushed the fallen Cheetos deliberately under his feet, and then stomped out the kitchen.
Leon flopped back down on the seat. The crumbled and smashed Cheetos trailed a red dusty trail from his friend’s big feet.
“A perfectly good bag wasted,” he muttered in the silence, though he wasn’t thinking about that at all.
Krause’s words rang in his ears. Was he letting his attraction Gargi interfere with what he knew was right? Tonight, when he’d almost kissed her, he could believe her brother had nothing to do with the crime.
Groaning, he looked at the floor to see one whole Cheeto left undisturbed. Without conscious thought, he used his booted foot to crush it along with the others. He gazed at the mess he’d made. When had things become so complicated?
Her father greeted her when she came into the hospital room the next day. His eyes still carried a reproachful hardness to them about the awkward position he’d found her in with Leon. Though Leon hadn’t kissed her nor had she allowed any liberties, her father still saw her conduct negatively.
“Your brother is sick. This is what you are doing, beti?” His words of censure had cut deep. At first, she’d been defiant of her father.
“Papa, you are the one trying marry me off to anyone who’d be willing to have me.”
Instead of hoping to have one up on her sire, he chastised her with a few simple words. “Beti, your brother is sick. I do not know if God will heal him or not.” His voice broke for a split second. He took in a deep breath and continued on. “God’s will in everything, in life and in death. You and your brother are the only tangible things I have of your mother. I want her to live and continue to live through you both and the children you will have.”
Later as she lay in bed, staring at the white non-descript ceiling, she thought her father. It was the first time in many, many years he’d spoken directly of her mother. For the first few years, on the anniversary of her death, he’d spend quiet time at her grave. Afterward, he let Dev and herself come and sit with him in silence.
That was typically all there was to the memorial of her mother’s death.
&nbs
p; For her father to bring it up now—what did it mean? The answer eluded her like many other things and she turned her thoughts from it only to contemplate what had transpired between herself and Leon.
In the cold light of day, as she and her father waited outside of Dev’s room while a nurse paged Dr. Manchester, she wondered what in the world had gotten into her head. She’d almost kissed the man who believed her brother had stolen his mother’s money. Yet, she couldn’t deny the release she felt as she gave into the comfort he offered. In Leon’s arms, she found herself at peace.
He’d made his intentions clear to see her. She said he could, but was that the right thing to do? Was she betraying her family by seeing the man who once wished her brother would rot away from this illness wracking his body?
“Silly girl,” she mumbled under her breath.
“What is it, beti?” Her father’s dark inquisitive eyes asked the question but she shook her head. His eyes roved over her face as if trying to peer into her brain. She held his gaze, grateful he couldn’t read her thoughts. He’d be shocked to find her thinking of another man than of her brother.
She let loose a small sigh of relief as he reached out a large hand and squeezed her shoulder.
Entering the bright cheery room with its beige overtones and beeping machinery, melancholy weighed her shoulders. The peace she’d experienced last night dissipated like dying embers. Her brother’s dull chestnut-brown eyes, waxen skin, and moisture beaded forehead sent a nameless terror through her system. He was off the ventilator, a miracle in and of itself, but it was a small victory.
If they could not find out what was wrong with her brother…
“Good morning Mr. Kapoor, Miss Kapoor,” Dr. Manchester’s cool voice greeted them. Gargi folded her arms and sent all other thoughts to the back of her mind. The only person who mattered right now was Dev.
“Good morning, Dr. Manchester. Is Dr. Chalker here yet?”
The woman’s mouth thinned but her voice was neutral as she replied. “Yes. She arrived first thing this morning.”
“I take it you’re Gargi.”
At the sound of her name, Gargi whirled around to see a woman standing in the doorway. The sun caught the auburn strands of her hair and a small, almost secretive smile graced the woman’s face. She had a delicate bone structure with a daintiness that nonetheless seemed to enclose a will of iron.
“I am. Dr. Chalker?”
“Yes.” She came further into the room and gave Gargi’s extended hand a firm shake. “I’m glad to meet you.” Dr. Chalker nodded toward her father, a gesture which he returned.
The woman’s friendliness set Gargi’s mind at ease. From the frank and open stare from her green eyes, Gargi knew this was someone who could help her brother. She had prayed last night and asked simply for God to send some help for her brother.
It seemed He did answer her prayer after all.
Dr. Chalker’s voice became brisk. “Dr. Manchester has updated me on your brother’s progress. I’ve also reviewed the files and the current drugs administered for treatment. They have no known side effects for paralysis. It’s my opinion your brother may be suffering from tick paralysis.”
Gargi blinked. “Tick paralysis? I thought—”
Dr. Chalker went over to the whiteboard on the far wall and made a crude drawing of what Gargi supposed were ticks. The illustration showed a tick with a spiral-shaped bacterium in its stomach. Dr. Chalker circled it. “Ticks carry the bacteria which causes the disease. This was confirmed with Dr. Manchester’s initial diagnosis.”
With quick strokes, the doctor drew another picture, this time showing a tick attached to a disembodied human arm. Pointing to this image, she turned back around to Gargi. “Tick paralysis is a separate issue from Lyme disease. In this case, the paralysis is from an embedded tick still attached to the host.”
She set the marker down. “The paralysis is caused by a pregnant female tick producing a neurotoxin through the salivary glands. It’s injected into the blood while feeding.”
Her father grabbed her arm although he didn’t say anything. Gargi patted it absently. “So it means—”
“It’s my opinion there’s still an engorged tick on your brother.”
Gargi’s legs weakened.
“There was no sign of any parasitic host on the body at the site of infection.” Dr. Manchester interjected.
Dr. Chalker slanted her green eyes at the other woman. “You’ve had more than one mosquito bite in a day, haven’t you, doctor?”
Gargi wondered if Dr. Manchester’s face could possibly get any redder. “What do we do?”
“I’m going to perform a thorough physical examination of your brother. If I do see a tick, I’ll remove it. The paralysis continues as long as the tick is embedded. Once it’s removed, your brother should see some immediate results.”
“Results?” Dev’s croaked voice had them all turning his way. He’d been so quiet Gargi thought he’d fallen asleep. His eyes had widened. “What do you mean?”
Dr. Chalker stuffed her hand into her coat pockets. “You should regain feeling.”
“Are you sure?” Desperation and wretched hope made his eyes shine like marbles.
“Doctor, are you certain?” Gargi echoed her brother. If, if!
“Nothing is certain,” the woman said slowly, “but I’m almost positive this is the cause. With your permission, we’ll find out.”
Gargi and her father declined to stay for the examination, although Dr. Chalker invited them to. A nurse and Dr. Manchester stayed in the room. Sitting in the waiting area, her father’s arm around her, she prayed. Sometimes the words were clear and other times, it was simply images and thoughts she couldn’t articulate.
How much time passed, she didn’t know, but finally she heard, “Gargi? Mr. Kapoor?”
She jumped up and rushed forward to stand in front of the doctor. “Dr. Chalker?”
The woman smiled. “We found a tick embedded in your brother’s pubic hair. We’ve removed it. About ten minutes ago, your brother stated, ‘I’m tingling.’”
A sound of exultation fell from her father’s lips. Gargi felt a huge weight off her shoulders. After all this time…
“Can we see him?”
“Sure, come on in.”
They entered the room again but it was different man lying there. Still pallid, but a bit of vitality had returned to her brother’s face.
A trail of tears flowed down her father’s cheeks as he hugged his son. Gargi’s throat constricted. For the first time in a very long time, a spark of hope flamed inside. When she grasped Dev’s hand, he returned it with a very light squeeze. It was a weak touch, but it was the first one he was capable of since this whole nightmare had started.
“We’re not out of the woods yet.” Dr. Chalker cautioned. “This is just the first step. Your brother’s immune system, endocrine system, and lymphatic systems are compromised. He still has Lyme disease and we have to work to have your brother’s body in top performance in order to combat the disease.”
Gargi nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Of course, doctor.”
It didn’t matter what she’d have to do or how much it would cost. Dev would get better. He’ll be able to walk again. Soon, she’d find the evidence she could use to appeal his conviction and set him free.
Then…then…
An image of Leon, one she’d suppressed, floated up in her mind. When his eyes had darkened as the magic and the wonder of their almost kiss swirled around them. Maybe after her brother healed and was free – she’ll have a chance to find out if the magic of that moment was real.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The call came through as Leon expected on Monday.
“Seems as if this therapy thing was more hindrance than help. It’s not official yet but for right now, the therapy sessions are under review so we’ll have to wait until we hear back in order to know if they want sessions to be terminated.”
“When we will know for s
ure?”
“It’ll be a couple of days. Probably sometime later on this week.” The director sounded irritated than anything else. “Fortunately, this has no bearing on our contract with the state.”
Which is all that matters, right? Leon pressed his lips to keep from saying the words out loud
“So, what should I do in the meantime, Mr. Cresswell?”
“Sit tight for now until we contact you. Hear there’s some good fishing up so why not take it easy for a couple of days?”
Gargi’s face floated in his mind. “Thank you, Mr. Cresswell.”
The call ended and Leon went over to the window in the living room and stared outside. A gray blanket of clouds overcast the sky. Brisk winds sent the trees bending under their onslaught. Perhaps it would rain today. Despite the potential arrival of inclement weather, the thought couldn’t suppress the expectation in his chest.
Since he’d admitted his attraction, a certain sense of freedom accompanied the knowledge he was most definitely interested in Kapoor’s sister. With everything out in the open, he craved the opportunity to spend time in her presence. Uninhibited and without restriction.
Leon rubbed the pads of his fingers together as he recalled the softness of her skin. It felt like velvet. The shimmering need glowing in her eyes sent an exciting rush through him. He’d yearned to see if he could bring such an expression to her face again.
But first things first: determining if Kapoor was guilty.
Krause’s words from Saturday night echoed in his brain. “You know good an’ well your mama would have a heart attack an’ keel over if you tell her you trying to date a brown woman. Much less, if ya tell her you datin’ the sister of the man who stole her money.”
There was truth to what his friend warned him about. His mother, sweet woman though she was, had made it clear: no mixed blood tainting her family tree.
Not that he was thinking along those lines in regards to Gargi. He didn’t know her well. But a sudden quick glimpse of a future where he came home to Gargi every day made his heart thump faster.
Time to Say Goodbye (Michigan Sweet Romance) Page 14