My Steps Are Ordered

by Michelle Lindo-Rice

  The shopkeeper shouted, “I’m calling the cops!”

  Michael took off running.

  “I’m sorry,” Keith said, his breaths coming hard and fast. He pulled out his wallet and tossed the shopkeeper a business card before taking off after his brother. This was not over.

  “You can’t have her!” Michael screamed. Keith saw that he was running toward the park, where their altercation would not raise any eyebrows. People at this end of town tended to mind their business.

  “You don’t deserve her!” Keith screamed back, closing in on him.

  “She’s my wife!” Michael taunted. He stood by the entrance to the park and crooked his finger. “Let’s finish this.”

  Keith propelled himself to the park entrance and swung his head around. His chest heaved. Michael was nowhere in sight. He took several deep breaths. Leaning over, he rested his hands on his knees. That semi-fetal position was all Michael needed to jump on his back. With surprise on Michael’s side and the force of his jump, Keith landed with a hard thud facedown on the ground.

  “I never imagined that you would be the self-serving jerk who would do this to me,” Michael roared while still on top of his brother. He pushed Keith’s face farther into the ground. “There!” Michael said with deliberate cruelty. “Let me rearrange that pretty face of yours.”

  Keith pushed Michael off his back so hard that his brother hit his head on the ground. Then Keith stood to his feet, intending to put an end to this sorry debacle. Never in his life had he made such a spectacle of himself. Michael, however, was far from over.

  He swung his leg to dropkick Keith to the ground.

  Keith felt his knees buckle, but he did not fall. He turned and limped away from Michael. Michael hoisted himself to his feet and tackled Keith to the ground. Keith could not believe Michael’s tenacity. He deflected a few punches before returning more of his own. His fists were bruised, and they stung, but Keith was no punk. He could see that Michael had injuries too, but he preferred the physical altercation to facing the pain of his betrayal.

  Keith wanted to advise him that the stinging of his fists would never alleviate the pain of his heart, but he held his tongue. Michael was stubborn enough to try.

  Keith managed somehow to push Michael to the ground. He yelled, “Michael! Can we talk?”

  Michael’s cell phone rang from his pants pocket. It was a miracle it’d survived the scuffle. He answered it. Keith sat on the ground with his head in his hands, listening to Michael’s conversation.

  “What happened? I’m on my way!” Michael hurled himself to his feet and started running in the direction of his car.

  Keith became alarmed. It had to be about Trey. He pounded the pavement, trying to catch up to his brother. Michael skidded to a halt at the light where he had abandoned his car. It was being towed. Hailing a cab, he jumped in to head over to the hospital.

  “Michael! Wait up!” Keith knew Michael saw him, as he was only a few yards behind, but his brother ignored him.

  “Find your own way. Better yet, why don’t you find your way back to New York!”

  “You won’t keep me away from my son. I have every right to be there, and if you think you can stop me, I’d like to see you try.”

  Perched on the edge of Trey’s hospital bed, Gina heard rustling outside the door. Curious, she tilted her head to listen with keen intensity and had her eyes peeled on the door as Michael entered.

  Gina rushed over to him and then suddenly stopped in her tracks, mute with surprise. She took in his disheveled and tattered clothes. “What happened to you?” she asked. “Don’t you even think of telling me, ‘Nothing,’ again.”

  He shrugged away her concern. “It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

  Gina burrowed her hands in her hair with frustration. She was going to go crazy if Michael kept being this way with her.

  A moment later Keith ran into the room. He too looked a hot mess.

  Gina’s mouth hung open. “Have you and Michael been fighting?”

  “That is an understatement,” Keith replied as he shoved his shirttails into his pants. Both were ripped beyond repair.

  “Are you two juveniles?” Gina said sternly. “What’s going on? Trey’s sick, for crying out loud.” Keith held up his hand, and she paused. When no information was forthcoming, Gina grabbed his shirt. “Keith, what is it?”

  Keith removed her hands and stepped away. “Not now, Gina. I can’t talk about this right now.”

  Gina wanted to press the issue, but she felt the heat of Michael’s gaze, which was pinned on her hands. Self-conscious, she rubbed them together. At that moment, Dr. Milliner entered Trey’s room.

  She didn’t miss the severe glance the doctor gave both brothers, but his only words were, “I need to talk with you.” He led all three occupants of the room out into the hallway. “It’s imperative that we find Trey a donor. His immune system is weakening by the day. I’ve extended the search, and we have made several calls across the country. The option of his waiting until a sibling is born is a moot point right now. At the rate this disease is progressing . . .” Dr. Milliner trailed off.

  Gina filled in the blanks. Trey’s life was at stake.

  She started crying. Reality hit her like never before. “My son, my son . . .” She clutched her chest. “I really believed that he would be okay. But he’s not. He’s not.” She gulped and wailed, “My son is going to die.” Tears poured from her eyes. She didn’t bother to wipe them. They ran down her chest, soaking her blouse. “I’m going to lose my son. I believed . . .” Gina knew that she had been on an emotional roller coaster, but a huge part of her had clung to the hope that something miraculous would happen.

  Now it appeared that was not the case.

  Terror struck her, and her knees began to quake.

  Overcome with emotion, Keith entered the hospital’s chapel.

  He needed to pray. He wasn’t too sure if God was going to hear him after today, but he still had to try. Keith cried, begging for a miracle, until he was spent.

  After talking to God, Keith decided to go into the waiting room. Dr. Milliner had stipulated only one visitor at a time, so only Gina had stayed in Trey’s room. Michael was the only one in the waiting room when Keith entered.

  Keith locked the door from the inside. Maybe now, with the recent turn of events, he could talk to his brother. “Michael,” he said, entreating him.

  “Don’t say anything to me,” Michael spat out with extreme bitterness.

  “We have to talk. We’re brothers. Don’t make me a scapegoat because you’re feeling hopeless because of Trey,” Keith pleaded.

  “Brothers.” Michael uttered the word like it was a profanity. He marched right up to Keith’s face. “You dare use that word? You are no brother to me.”

  Michael pushed hard against Keith’s chest. He would’ve delivered a punishing blow had Keith not deflected the move. Keith remained poised. He knew Michael needed an outlet for the anguish racking his soul. At that moment, Keith was the ultimate target. Nevertheless, Keith was taken aback by the venomous derision in Michael’s voice. It struck him hard, hearing the deep resentment in Michael’s words. He never imagined Michael would feel such animosity for him.

  Seeing that Michael was about to strike again, Keith grabbed his hand before shoving his brother clear across the room. Michael landed with a heavy thud on the wooden coffee table. The sound of his back whacking against the wood resounded around the room.

  Michael’s anger must have heightened his reflexes, because he was on his feet in an instant and was going back for more. Just then, the locked door rattled, interrupting Michael’s plans. With their chests heaving, both men looked at the door, waiting for the unwanted intruder to move on to another room. But the rattling was persistent.

  Keith moved to open the door.

  A distinguished, well-dressed man of average height entered the waiting room. At first glance, he seemed young, but slightly graying temples and light crinkle
s around his eyes told Keith that the man was older than he had first thought.

  The gentleman had an expectant gaze. “Ah, I was told that Michael Ward was in here. But perhaps I have the wrong room.”

  “No, you are not mistaken. I am Michael Ward.” Michael extended his hand out of courtesy.

  Keith noted the expression of shock on the stranger’s face after he took a close look at Michael. He knew that with their torn shirts, missing buttons, and glass-scratched skin, both he and Michael resembled a pair of bedraggled dogs that had been dragged out of a ditch.

  He stepped forward to introduce himself. “I’m Keith, Michael’s brother.” He tried to inject as much professionalism into his tone as he could muster. He wanted to sound like a gentleman, even though at the moment he looked like anything but one.

  Michael grunted, showing open disdain for Keith’s choice of words, but said nothing.

  “I am Jefferson Alton, or Jeff for short.”

  Michael groaned as if he were in pain.

  Keith ignored his brother. “And you are . . .?” he asked the gentleman, rolling his hands, a gesture intended to elicit further clarification.

  “Gina’s father.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  This wasn’t how she wanted to meet her father!

  Furious was an understatement for how Gina felt. Mortified was the more accurate word to describe the emotions coursing through her body. There were other words swirling in her head that she didn’t have the gall to utter aloud.

  At this precise moment, Gina wished the earth would open up and swallow her whole to spare her the humiliation of Michael’s latest escapade. She couldn’t believe that he had had the audacity to locate her father without even consulting her. Then, of all the times for this man to present himself, it had to be when her husband and his brother were fighting.

  Gina felt like slapping them both upside the head the way she would two recalcitrant boys. She looked over at her husband, who was standing in a corner of the waiting room with a woebegone expression on his face, and rolled her eyes, signifying her acute displeasure. With a slight hiss, she turned her head away.

  Gina recalled how she’d barged into the waiting room, mad as a hornet and ready to confront Keith and Michael. She had been all set to give them a well-deserved tongue-lashing but had been stopped short by the almost comical expressions of horror on their faces.

  With a sharp tone Gina had stated, “Well, I can see that you two were fighting. Somebody had better start talking fast.”

  Keith had reached over and had held on to Gina’s shoulders with both hands. She’d braced herself for bad news. When Michael took a step forward, she’d held her hand up in a manner that was meant to convey that she would brook no argument. “I don’t know what’s going on, but right now it’s about my son. Anything else between you two is insignificant.”

  Keith had then turned her shoulders gently so that she faced the other individual in the room. She’d jumped with fright. In her fit of temper, Gina hadn’t realized that the three of them were not alone in the waiting room. She was a private person and wouldn’t dare behave in an undignified manner in front of an outsider.

  “Gina, this is Jefferson Alton,” Keith had said.

  Jeff had stepped forward. She watched him stare her up and down like she was a cool glass of lemonade on a hot day. No, that was not it. His scrutiny was filled with sentiment, but it wasn’t lecherous. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but Gina knew she’d never seen him before.

  She rubbed the goose bumps popping up on her arms, uneasy about the gentleman’s odd behavior. Why was he crying?

  “Keith, please explain, because I’m freaking out.” Panicked, she stepped away from the man, who was wreaking havoc with her senses. Her heart raced and her palms felt sweaty, but she didn’t know why.

  “I believe Michael should do the honors,” Keith stated, and then he stepped back to give his brother the floor.

  Michael moved forward with a forced grin on his face. She wasn’t going to like this one bit. Taking her hands in his, Michael said, “Jefferson, or Jeff, is your father. I’ve found your father, Gina. And he has agreed to help our son.”

  Her mouth had popped wide open, and for several seconds she forgot to breathe. With incredulous eyes, she took in the stranger who was crying before her. She looked into the face of the man she had only envisioned. A surreal moment, for sure. Definite material for a syndicated episode of The Twilight Zone.

  It was just too much. She pulled her hands out of Michael’s grasp and slapped him hard across the cheek before fleeing through the open door.

  “As usual, Michael,” she heard Keith mutter as she fled. “You act without thinking, and then I have to clean up your mess.”

  Gina didn’t go far. She stood, immobile, outside her son’s door.

  She had no plans to leave the hospital, but she needed a moment to compose herself. As a child, Gina had always dreamed about meeting her father. She had tried without success to picture what he looked like. Gina had imagined meeting him now, as an adult. She had a mental image of a distinguished guy meeting her at a five-star restaurant for a respectable and dignified lunch.

  Not once in her thirty-four years had Gina pictured meeting her father in this manner. Never had she imagined that her father’s first impression of her husband would be the one he had gotten today. Not that it should even matter what he thought, Gina supposed. After all, her father had been nonexistent her whole life, so his opinion shouldn’t matter. But Gina admitted to herself that it did.

  She wanted her father to like her and to be impressed with her husband and son. She wanted him to rue not getting to know her. She wanted her father to be filled with penitence. Now she could only begin to guess what was going through his mind. He might be thinking that leaving her was the best decision he’d ever made.

  Gina gave a heartfelt sigh. Her life had too much tumult. Still, hope sprang within her. Jeff might be the miracle that her son needed. Nothing else mattered.

  Gina saw Keith as he approached. “What do you want?” she snapped.

  “Please don’t aim the dart at my head. I was concerned and wanted to check on you. See if you wanted to talk.” He arched an eyebrow at her.

  Gina moved away from Trey’s door and walked farther into the hall. “Now you decide you want to talk to me?”

  “Gina, please don’t be like that with me,” Keith pleaded. He gave a dramatic sigh. “This is not my day.”

  His payback had arrived with a vengeance.

  Keith was still reeling from his encounter with Michael. He knew he needed to fill Gina in, if she would listen.

  “You knew, didn’t you?” Gina accused. “You knew about Michael looking for my father and you chose not to tell me. How could you let him spring that on me like this?”

  Keith raised his hands to still the darts from her fiery tongue. “I didn’t know. Sweetheart, please believe me. I’m as taken aback as you are.”

  But Gina was way past the point of listening. “I would think you would’ve asked him to use a little more tact. I never once imagined I would meet my father like this!” she exclaimed.

  Keith tried to embrace her, but Gina shrugged out of his arms. “No,” she said. “Keep your hug. That is what you seem to do. You wait for Michael to mess up, and then you pounce . . . You swoop in to comfort and save the day.”

  Confused by her harsh comment, Keith stepped back. “Gina, you’re emotional right now,” he remarked in a low voice. “Please calm down a moment.”

  She lashed out at him and shook her head. “Don’t patronize me, Keith. This explains why Michael has been secretive with me. I bet you he thought he was helping and doing something good.”

  “Isn’t he?” Keith asked. He was glad for the chance to speak, because so far, Gina hadn’t let him get a word in edgewise. He had to let her know Michael knew about them.

  “Yes,” Gina sighed. “He is. But I blame you for this.”

  “I�
�m trying to keep up with you, but I’m not following your train of thought.” He scratched his head before asking, “You’re blaming me?” Keith bent over to look her in the eyes. Without warning, he grabbed her and pulled her down the hall.

  She tried to hold her ground, but she was no match for him given his superior height and weight. He kept dragging her until he had taken her into an empty lounge. He locked the door.

  “I only know of one way to silence you, because you’re not listening,” he murmured.

  Gina opened her mouth probably to berate him for manhandling her, but Keith crushed her in his strong arms and pressed his lips to hers.

  She kept her mouth closed. But her will was like water vapor compared to Keith’s. He was on a mission. Gina fought back, but he felt when she submitted. Her flailing arms rested on his broad shoulders. Her body caved into his, and the kiss deepened with intensity.

  As soon as he felt her respond, Keith slung Gina out of his arms. Looking at her with satisfaction, Keith asked, “Are you still blaming me?”

  Gina’s wrath spiraled back with a vengeance. She gave him a look that said she wanted to slap that knowing smirk off his face. He returned her glare for glare. His look said, “I wish you’d try it.”

  “Yes,” she spat as her chest heaved from her emotional upheaval. “I do blame you. You messed with my life and my marriage. You’re always interfering, even when I don’t ask you to. Yet when I needed you to interfere, you did nothing. So thanks a lot.”

  “You know, you’re one infuriating woman,” Keith raged. “You’re the one who insisted I back off. You’re the one who said we should pretend like nothing happened, and like a fool, I listened to you.” He bent over until he was right in her face. “And as far as me messing with your life, I don’t remember hearing you complain the two times we were together. In fact, I remember you begging me not to stop.”

  Gina’s mouth popped open, and a huge blush stained her cheeks. “I . . . I . . . That’s crass of you to mention that.”