by Ali Vali
"If there is one thing I have come to realize in this life, Mr. Simoneaux, is that nothing is ever impossible if you want it bad enough. What do you want bad enough to take a chance?"
"I asked you to call me Byron, so please do, and before we go any further, what’s your name?"
"My name isn’t necessary to answer my question, Bryon. Either answer it, or I will be on my way." The voice Mitzy used held a hint of authority that made Byron pause before he answered.
"I want to see my wife more than anything. There are some things we left unsaid and I think a long talk is way over due. Is that a good enough answer for you?" Mitzy smiled at the way he had bent to her wishes. If Byron continued with this attitude, everything she had thought about was possible.
"Yes, it is. I think there is a way that we can help each other so everyone is happy. You said yourself you and Desi were happy before Harry came along and ruined it for you. If you love her as much as you say, then I’m sure that she is just waiting for you to come back." The more she talked the more Byron smiled. His plan was to lay back and see what this woman had in mind. It didn’t really matter to him whatever her motives were as long as she got him out.
"I’m sure of it, but my problem is that I’m stuck in here." Byron used his one good arm as much as he could to point out his surroundings. The one thing he made sure not to do was to make any of his movements be viewed as aggressive.
"I think if you and I put our heads together, we can come up with a solution to that problem." Mitzy smiled at him and continued on with her newfound assertiveness. "Guard, I need you to release this patient for a moment."
"I’m sorry, ma’am, but that’s not possible." The guard had been watching his ward and the nurse talking for quite some time. He was about to question what they were consulting about for so long when he saw Mitzy look in Byron’s chart. That, combined with the fact that the other nurse had left to go on break, made him decide that she was legitimate and left them alone.
"I’m not taking him anywhere, sir, I just need to check the progress of his injuries so that we can make a determination on whether he is ready to be sent back to Angola." The way she explained it sounded so reasonable, the guard came over and unlocked the cuff around Byron’s wrist.
When he was free of his leash, Byron sat up slowly. When he was sitting upright, a tremendous wave of dizziness almost sent him back on his back. He was sure if he threw up, his stitches would be in danger of tearing loose. The guard looked on as Mitzy came up to Byron’s side and helped him off the bed to his feet, watching Byron’s face for any sign that the prisoner was getting ready to try something.
The pain was the first thing he was aware of. His gut felt like someone was sticking a hot poker into it, but thinking of Harry made him swallow any complaint that was threatening to come out of his mouth. Byron wanted Mitzy to believe he was ready for anything she had in mind. Taking a few tentative steps on his own, Byron walked to the end of the bed and back showing his benefactor what he was capable of even with the injuries. His smile with the missing teeth almost made her shiver at the sight.
"Is that what you were looking for, ma’am?" The guard was happy to see that Byron was getting better. Sitting in the drab room all day was not the best duty he could have pulled, but he was stuck until Byron was ready to go.
"Yes, thank you for helping out. Please lie down for me, Mr. Simoneaux, that’s all the exertion you are ready for today. We’ll have to consult with the doctor, but I’m thinking another week and a half and you will be ready to travel." For the guard’s benefit, Mitzy looked in the chart again as he walked back to his chair.
"Now that you can see I’m mobile, what is it you had in mind?"
"Just get some rest and leave the thinking to me." Byron’s face turned dark for a split second at her answer, but he covered it before Mitzy looked up from the papers in her hand. "I’ll be back soon."
"I’ll be waiting."
"It’s not like you have any choice."
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"Is that a threat?"
"Yes, lover, it is, either feed me now or there will be hell to pay." Desi leaned against Harry in the kitchen ready to leave for lunch. She had just finished feeding Jack and was anxious to spend some time out with just Harry. Tony was going to stay and work with the painters while they were gone, and now Harry was playing hard to get.
"Are you sure we don’t have to go back to the house and get some more money," said Harry pulling some folded bills out of her pocket. They had been discussing changes to the house until after one in the afternoon. "Come on, shortie, I’m taking you some place new."
"Mom, would you and Mami take Jack back up to the house for us?" The question made the two women spring into action and start layering clothes back on Jack.
Desi smiled when she stepped outside and saw her car parked behind Stephen’s truck. Harry threw her the keys and folded her body into the passenger seat ready to give directions to where they were going. "You don’t want to drive?"
"No, precious, you handle this car better than I do. Make a u-turn when you get the chance and head downtown." She sat back after that and enjoyed the ride until it was time to tell Desi where to go next. Beside her, Desi put the car into gear and looked back at the house before turning onto St. Charles. At the door she could see Tony waving to her before retreating into the warmth of the kitchen.
It was too cold to put the top down but the day was perfect in every other way. The sky was a brilliant blue, minus the clouds that had plagued them for over a month. The turnaround in the weather had brought out a multitude of people to the park as Desi could see as they drove by it. Thinking about pushing Jack around the track in a couple of months brought a smile to her face since it was one of the things she had looked forward to the most since getting pregnant. Desi could remember the days that Harry had pushed her around the track at a jog when she was still confined to a wheelchair after Byron had broken her leg. On those days she would look up at Harry as they made their way around the customary three times and see the look on her chauffeur’s face when someone with a baby went by. It had been that look of longing that had given Desi the courage to ask Harry for what she too truly wanted.
"What are you smiling at?" Harry asked her when she noticed the happiness reflected in Desi’s face as she maneuvered the car down the avenue. She put her hand on the smaller woman’s thigh, feeling the muscles flex when Desi shifted the car.
"I was thinking of us strolling around here with Jack when the weather cooperates, and I even got my wish." Desi patted the hand on her thigh lovingly when the eyebrow went up with her statement.
"What was that?" The two of them were so involved in their conversation that neither of them noticed the car following behind them. It wasn’t unusual for someone to stay with you for blocks on the avenue since it didn’t become four lanes until you were closer to the downtown area.
"I got a little you that will leave no doubt in anyone’s mind as to who his parents are. Now I have to get you one of those jogging strollers."
"Where exactly will you be, when I’m running around with our runt?" Harry pointed down one of the side streets when they stopped at a red light.
"I thought I would get one big enough that I could sit and hold him, that way you could push us both around." Desi took the turn and wondered if Harry had forgotten where the restaurant they were going to was. The old grand buildings of St. Charles gave way to abandoned ones that had burnt out cars resting like relics of war in front of them. Not that she was attached to material possessions, but leaving her car in this neighborhood was going to be a gamble at the most. "Are you sure we’re going the right way?"
"Yes, don’t change the subject. I’m pushing you and the bruiser during my runs? Take a left up here and pull into that parking lot." Harry pointed to the building on the corner. It was the only one that looked like it had some life left in it, and when Desi pulled into the lo
t, she noticed they probably were driving the cheapest car there.
"You need the exercise, honey, so don’t complain. At least you will have us to talk to while you run around like a hamster on one of those wheels. Why haven’t you brought me here before?" When they stepped in, a big enthusiastic man came from behind the high counter and hugged Harry hello. After greeting her he gave her a lecture about her long absence and the fact she hadn’t introduced Desi.
"Give me a minute, Anthony, we just walked in when you accosted me. Desi meet Anthony, the owner of this fine establishment, Anthony my wife Desi." Harry stepped out of the way as he took Desi’s hands into his own looking at her from head to toe.
"I can see how this little slip of a girl bagged and tagged you, doc. You are beautiful," said Anthony pulling her into a hug. "Stand here and let someone get you a beer while I clean a table for you. We are going to celebrate the death of one of the longest bachelorhoods in the city."
Desi stepped next to Harry as the man behind the counter shucking oysters stopped for a moment, wiped his hands and handed them both a Dixie beer. She was amused that he didn’t open them and just smiled at Harry when she rested the top of one of the bottles at the edge of the counter and slammed her hand down on it popping the top off. When it came off cleanly, he winked at Harry and went back to his oysters without ever saying a word.
Harry put her arm around Desi, as the blonde took in the sparse interior of the restaurant anxious to see how her face would change when she took her first bite of anything on Uglesich’s limited menu. "The restaurant was first opened by Anthony’s parents when the neighborhood was in a little better shape. He kept it open after they retired and the local thugs just knew to leave him alone. They only open for lunch now, and made an exception only during carnival and Jazzfest when the locals that have moved away come in and have some seafood."
Harry pointed to the board on the wall that had the menu written on it knowing there were none on the tables. Every original dish was named for one of Anthony’s children or his wife, and the three or four new ones were in honor of his grandchildren. Desi smiled at the place they were standing in sure that if it hadn’t been for Harry, the only way she would have found the place was to stop and ask directions because she was lost. There were only twelve tables in the place, and along the walls Anthony had wooden cases of beer and Barq’s root beer instead of the usual clever decorations other eateries had.
It was nice to get away for a couple of hours, and by the time they were finished they were the only ones left in the place. Desi had been entertained by stories of a younger Harry and Kenneth who had found the place when they were in medical school. The fear that Byron and his family had created since their escape was gone, and Desi’s laughter was unforced for the first time in weeks. She had the life she had wanted for so long and it was nice to go about the business of living it.
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After all she deserved it. She had worked hard and Harry had promised it to her from their first date. The one thing that had put a crimp in those plans had been that intruder that should have been ancient history. Once that obstacle was back where it belonged, then she and Harry could be happy.
Mitzy had watched them from the car the day before. That under classed hick driving that expensive car and hanging all over Harry as they came out of the restaurant almost made her smash her car into the small woman. Everything bad that had happened to her, had happened after the arrival of Desi, and it was pasted time she went back to the moron she had married.
Once that happened, Mitzy figured her life would go back to normal. She would get her job back, she could start dating Harry again and with any luck, it would be her redoing the big house on the avenue. "All I have to do now is plan this so that Byron gets his wish, and he and his little woman go back to whatever trailer park they crawled out of." Mitzy went over the plan again as she neared the hospital parking lot.
On the ward, Celia was sitting in her usual spot reading over any new orders that had been left for their patients. Mitzy said a quick hello before sitting and doing the same. Most of her patients were let go on the Monday she had been off, so Mitzy had to see who had taken their places. Before she had come up, she had stopped off in Catherine’s office and volunteered for any blood collection that had to be done in the outer wards, telling her how much she had enjoyed the last time she had done it. When Mitzy got up to start her rounds she kept feeling the front pocket of her skirt for the one purchase she had made after leaving her vigil of Harry and Desi the prior day.
At four in the morning Catherine made her call, thrilled that Mitzy was working out so well and was so willing to take on extra tasks. Her assignment was to draw blood from the next in line at the same Building 100 that she had gone to previously, and this time Mitzy didn’t have to stop and ask for directions, she went straight to the spot she was becoming familiar with.
"Perfect." Mitzy watched as the nurse assigned to the unit stepped out and met another man waiting for him by the door. They each had a paper bag in their hands and the man waiting held up a lighter for the cigarette hanging from the nurse’s lips.
Mitzy opened the door as quietly as she could and was feeling invincible when she saw the same guard from the night before sleeping in the chair at the back of the room. Whoever the other patient was, he was kept well sedated since she hadn’t seen him awake on the other occasions she had come into the prisoner’s ward.
"Don’t make any noise," she whispered to Byron. He had opened his eyes to find Mitzy looking down on him and trying to fit a key into the cuff at his wrist. When she twisted the key the cuff slid open making him feel as liberated as he did the night he stepped into that swamp.
He sat up and fought the feeling of dizziness that seemed to accompany the action before stepping to the ground. With an arm around Mitzy’s shoulder, they walked out of the room and headed to the street behind the hospital where Mitzy had left her car.
"Get into the trunk and I’ll drive you over to the house. Just hide out like you did last time, only this time I suggest you concentrate on only grabbing Desi. Leave Harry and her baby to me to deal with, am I making myself clear?" Mitzy helped him down the walkway praying that they didn’t run into anyone.
"I appreciate all that you are doing for me," Byron reached down to the chest and pulled the I.D. tags closer to his face so he could read them in the dark. "Mitzy Stein. So I hope you don’t take this the wrong way," he moved his arm back to her throat and tightened his grip. "I don’t know why you have taken me for some sort of trained monkey, but you are going to listen to me or we are going to part company. Of course you will be dead, but that doesn’t matter to me. Where’s your car?"
"Let me go."
The quick action of Byron letting her go came as such a surprise that it made Mitzy lose her balance for a split second, but she smiled at the way he had listened to her. It’s what made the slap come as such a surprise to her. The slap that was so hard, it did make her lose her footing dropping her to Byron’s feet.
"You don’t seem to be very bright, so let me explain this to you." Byron picked her up off the ground by her hair ignoring the pain it was causing in his broken arm and in his gut. "I’m giving the orders here, not you, so I ask again. Where is you car?"
"It’s over there," said Mitzy pointing to her vehicle. He smiled when he heard the quiver in her voice that told him she was crying. The pieces were starting to fit into place and it made him happy to be back in control.
"Good, Mitzy, you are doing good. I don’t want to hurt you so you might want to listen to what I’m saying and I won’t have to hit you again. You ready to listen now?"
"Yes."
"Again, good. The first thing we have to do is go to your place and get me something besides this rag to wear." They stopped at the passenger side of the car and Byron took the keys away from her to unlock the door. Before he got in he looked into the medical tray that
Mitzy was carrying and pulled out a few items before tossing the whole thing into a trashcan by the car. "Get in and slide over to the driver’s side. Before you think of doing anything stupid let me tell you about a movie I once saw. This guy takes a syringe," Byron used his good arm and his teeth to tear open the package he had fished out of Mitzy’s tray. "Then he pulled back just like this, and injected air into the big vein in this other guy’s neck. I’m no doctor, but let me tell you, it fucked that guy up so bad he died."
Mitzy stopped moving when Byron pulled back the plunger and put the needle end to her neck. She had released a madman who had no intention of honoring their agreement. "Please don’t hurt me."
"I don’t want to, so don’t make me. That was Desi’s problem all along, driving me to do things I didn’t want but had to do, just to keep her in line. How about a nice drive honey? Let’s go to your place and hang out for a while."
"I can’t do that, I have to get back to work." The hit this time wasn’t a slap but a closed fisted punch that rattled her teeth.
"The words ‘can’t’ and ‘don’t’ have disappeared from your vocabulary, understood?" Mitzy nodded as she wiped the blood off her chin. Now it made perfect sense why he had been cuffed to the bed.
The two drove through mostly deserted streets, each with a very different goal in mind now. No one in Mitzy’s apartment building saw them coming in, the fact starting her tears again because in her mind it was the last chance she had coming out of this alive. When the door closed Byron threw her on the sofa and sat in the chair opposite her.
"Here is our problem, Mitzy, I need some clothes but I don’t trust you to go out alone. Call me crazy but I’m thinking you won’t be so willing to come back, so here’s what we are going to do." Byron gave her directions and sizes on what he needed and how they were going to get them. After they had left the hospital she noticed that he seemed to grow stronger by the hour, going without painkillers or sleep.
"Thank you, Julie, my brother is staying with me and they lost his luggage. He got sick and I didn’t want to leave him alone." Mitzy’s friend stood at the door with a couple of bags believing the story she was being told since Mitzy looked so ragged.