Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (49 page)

“
I need you to tell him a
few things,” MJ said. “I have to go. Can you…?”

“
I got it,” Tanesha held a
piece of paper and a pen. “Go ahead.”

“
Sandy’s still very sick,”
MJ said. “She should be in the hospital. I gave her a mixture of a
narcotic and an antibiotic. We use this mix a lot in the
field.

“
Is it safe for the baby?”
Heather asked.

“
Honey’s taking it,” MJ
said.

“
Honey’s pregnant?”
Anjelika asked. MJ gave a curt nod. “How lovely!”

“
That’s why I had it,” MJ
gave the prescriptions to Heather. “Get these filled. And I don’t
care what Sandy says, she cannot be in pain or have any fever. Tell
Steve that. Tell him about the drains too. He’s going to have to
watch them. She heals fast which is good, but not so good if you
have poison inside you. I’ll call her doctor to see if we can get a
course of IV meds for her.”

He focused his attention on Heather and
Tanesha.

“
If you love Sandy, you
will not let her wake up,” MJ said. “She has to rest. That’s her
only chance.”

Intimidated, Heather nodded.

“
Her only chance?” Tanesha
whispered.

“
Of surviving. Of the baby
surviving,” MJ said. “Lots of pregnant women die from this
condition. You saw how much infection is still inside
her.”

Tanesha and Heather shared a look and nodded
at MJ.

“
How long will she be out
now?” Anjelika asked.

“
Couple hours,” MJ said.
“I’ll check her when I get back. If the doc writes another script,
I’ll pick it up on my way. If he won’t write something, I’ll see if
I can get it from docs who write for me. I’m going to recommend
against moving her. I don’t think she’ll tolerate another trip to
the hospital. She’s too weak. At this point, we have to manage her
here.”

MJ became very intense.

“
Sandy is a master faker,”
MJ said. “She clearly faked her way out of the hospital. Think of
all the years and ways she’s faked being normal. She’s a master. Do
not believe her when she says she’s fine. You must love her enough
to be super tough. If you let her wake up or get upset in any way,
it will kill her.”

Like bobble head dolls, the women’s heads
moved up and down. MJ gave them one last stern look and left the
room.

“
I’ll make some tea,”
Anjelika left the room.

“
You have to get to work,”
Heather said to Tanesha.

“
You have Mack,” Tanesha
said.

“
He’s at work with Blane,”
Heather said. “They spoil him rotten when he’s there. He loves
going to work with Daddy. I can stay. Anyway, the DNA tester is
going to be here this afternoon to test the family for…”

“
Blane’s liver. I wish I
was a match,” Tanesha said. “This is a big day for all of
us.”

“
Go to work. And don’t
forget to ask. Today is your day.”

“
This is a big day for all
of us,” Tanesha repeated.

Nodding, Heather sat down next to Sandy on
the bed.

“
You’ll call me when you
hear from Jill?” Tanesha asked.

Heather nodded.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday morning — 12:45 P.M.

“
Dear Goddess,” Delphie
said almost as a sigh.

Wearing Tyvek suits, booties and hats, they
were standing in the middle of the barn on the Brighton
property.

“
I came here right after
Jacob called,” Seth said. “Took me an hour and a half to get out
here even with the lights on. There was no one in the house so I
wandered around the property for another hour or so. I found him
hanging there around dawn.”

He pointed to a wide open space in the barn.
Delphie’s kind attention compelled him to tell her the horror of
what he found.

“
I got him down. He was
breathing,” Seth said. “Just barely but breathing. The Medivac got
him to Denver Heath but he didn’t last an hour.”

Delphie touched his arm. Seth got out his
phone.

“
He was hanging from his
shoulders. The noose was around his neck just enough to cut off
breathing a little bit. Slow suffocation.” Seth showed Delphie the
photos he’d taken on his phone. “The coroner said he’d been there
for at least a day.”

“
He was at our house
Tuesday night,” Delphie said. “He worked with Aden most of
Wednesday. I don’t know what happened to him after
that.”

“
I guess it was only a few
hours then. Maybe he was drugged,” Seth said. “It’s dumb but
somehow, thinking he was drugged makes me feel better.”

They stared at the space above them in shock
and horror.

“
No blood, not fouled in
any way that we can determine,” Seth said. “Just hanging there. And
get this. The coroner said this wasn’t the first time. That child
had undergone this torment at least once before. I…”

“
Poor Jeffy,” Delphie
said.

“
Poor Jeffy.”

~~~~~~~~

Thursday morning — 2:45 P.M.

Jill was the last person called to present
her project. When she’d posted the first slide, the class had
gasped. She thought that was a good thing but she wasn’t sure.
After touring the class through her design, she was questioned by
her teacher, Mr. Rosa, for over five minutes. He wanted to know why
she’d changed her design. He wanted to know why she picked every
detail of the room.

“
Thank you, Ms. Roper. You
may sit down.”

Jill swallowed hard and made it to her
desk.

“
It’s time to vote,” Mr.
Rosa passed voting forms down each of the aisles. “Quickly. We only
have a few minutes.”

The class scribbled fiercely.

“
Pass them forward,” the
teacher said. “I need two minutes. Then I will announce the top
three.”

While the teacher worked, the class chatted
with each other. Too nervous to chat, Jill texted Heather to see
how Sandy was doing. Sandy was still asleep. Steve was due back in
an hour. The kids would be home in a few minutes. No word on
Tanesha. She looked up when the teacher called them to order.

“
Top three: Mr.
Anulnamon”

Jill smiled as the man who’d designed a
jungle paradise stepped to the front of the class.

“
Ms. Cornielle.”

The awful woman knocked Jill’s shoulder as
she passed. She’d created a room that looked like a post
apocalyptic garden with robot attendants. Cool, if you were punk
rockers, but two middle aged lawyers?

“
Ms. Roper.”

Jill flushed. She tried not to skip to the
front of the room.

“
I will decide who wins our
little competition by their answer to this simple question: What is
the most important aspect of interior design?”

“
Mr. Anulnamon?”

“
The most important aspect
of Interior Design is form and color. The color must hold in the
form. A room must capture the eye and imagination…”

Jill was so nervous that she didn’t hear the
end of his answer. She had no idea what the most important aspect
of interior design was. Every aspect seemed important.

“
Thank you, Mr. Anulnamon.
Ms. Cornielle?”

“
The most important aspect
of Interior Design to me is being able to take beauty and make it
functional…”

Holy crap. Jill bit the inside of her mouth.
What did that mean? She never felt so stupid or unprepared in her
life. She didn’t know anything about art or beauty or form or
function.

“
Thank you, Ms. Cornielle.
Ms. Roper?”

“
Sir,” Jill said. “I’m a
little confused by the question.”

“
What’s the most important
aspect of Interior Design?” Mr. Rosa squinted at her. “Why is that
confusing?”

A snicker came from the back of the
class.

“
I’m not sure what you’re
looking for,” Jill said. “I didn’t see that in our
reading.”

“
It’s not in the reading,
Ms. Roper,” he said. “I’m asking your opinion.”

“
My opinion. Uh. Okay. To
me.” Licking her lips, Jill touched her chest with her right hand.
“The most important thing is what the customer wants. I can help
them figure out what they want but it’s their room. They have to
live and love in their home. It’s their home.”

Jill swallowed hard and closed her mouth.
One thing Jacob had taught her was to say what she needed to say
and stop talking. He always said, ‘If you say too much, you sound
desperate.’ She wasn’t desperate. She just wanted to win. The
silence dragged on.

“
Ms. Roper is absolutely
correct,” Mr. Rosa said. “The most important aspect of design is
your customer’s wishes, desires, dreams, and more importantly, who
they are. Ms. Roper was the only person who asked questions about
the owners of this home. Then again, she’s the only one with
experience with real customers.”

“
Congratulations Ms.
Roper,” he said. “Next week, I expect every single one of you to
know everything there is to know about the people who are going to
live in your next room. In the meantime, see you tomorrow on
Broadway at noon. We’ll carpool out to the Biatchi’s to view the
room.”

Jill dropped into her seat to catch her
breath. She couldn’t believe it. She, Jillian Roper Marlowe, had
won! She smiled. The awful Ms. Cornielle bumped into her. Turning
as she walked by, the woman glared at Jill and stormed out of the
room. Jill smiled.

Game on, Ms. Cornielle. Game on.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and
TWENTY

Not fooling
around

Thursday afternoon — 3:05 P.M.

“
Whatever it is, I didn’t
do it,” Charlie said.

Seth glared at him. Charlie stopped
walking.

“
Seriously, I’ve been in
this place every day this week. You can ask them.”

When a worried nurse called him out of group
therapy, she’d said the police wanted to talk to him. He’d spent
the walk to the lobby trying to figure out what he might have
gotten caught for. He let out a breath when he saw Seth.

When Seth looked up at him, Charlie was
terrified by his intensity. Charlie stopped in his tracks.

“
It’s not you,” Seth
said.

“
Sandy? Oh my God, is Sandy
okay?” Charlie rushed to Seth.

“
She’s asleep,” Seth said.
“Jill’s Mom is with her. She’s very sick but the nurse, Jill’s
brother Steve, thinks she’s turning a corner.”

“
And the baby?” Charlie
asked.

“
Baby seems to be fine,”
Seth said. “It’s not any of that.”

“
Then what?” Charlie
asked.

“
I need you to come with
me,” Seth said.

“
I can’t come with you,”
Charlie said. “I promised Aden I would do this rehab thing. This
isn’t fun and games, Uncle Seth. If I blow it, I’m on the streets
again.”

“
Aden suggested I come to
get you,” Seth said.

“
I need to talk to Aden
myself,” Charlie said. “I’m not saying you’re lying. I just can’t
afford to be a fuck up anymore. I’m getting sober and have a real
family and I’m learning to read and Sissy might come home this
weekend and…”

Seth took out his cell phone and called
Aden. He held up the ringing cell phone to Charlie.

“
Aden? It’s Charlie. You
know, Sandy’s little brother,” Charlie said.

“
I know who you are,” Aden
laughed.

“
Oh right. Okay,” Charlie
said. “Seth wants to take me somewhere and I’m supposed to be at
rehab. MJ’s coming at six and…”

“
I’ll call MJ,” Aden said.
“You need to go with Seth.”

“
Oh, okay,” Charlie said.
“What about these guys? I don’t want to get crap for…”

“
I already called,” Aden
said. “That’s how you got out of treatment. Sandy and I are your
legal guardians, remember?”

“
All right then. Bye,”
Charlie said.

Seth and Charlie walked out of the facility.
They were at Seth’s police car before Charlie asked, “Where are we
going?”

Seth opened his door and they got in the
car.

“
Downtown,” Seth said.
“Listen, I suck as a father. You can ask my daughters.”

“
That’s okay,” Charlie
said. “I suck as a son.”

“
You’re almost a man, so
I’m going to treat you like a man,” Seth said. “Aden told me to be
nice and gentle, but I don’t know how to do that.”

Charlie shrugged.

“
What do you know about
your friend, Jeffy?” Seth asked.

“
Nothing,” Charlie said.
“He’s not my friend.”

“
God damn it, Charlie,”
Seth said. “This isn’t a game. I need to know everything you
know.”

“
Okay,” Charlie
said.

They took Union Boulevard to Sixth Avenue
toward downtown. They were almost to the downtown Police Station
when Seth pulled into the DazBog coffee shop.

“
You like coffee?” Seth
asked.

“
You buying?” Charlie
asked.

Seth smiled.

“
There is no question in my
mind that you are your father’s son,” Seth smiled. “Yes, I’m
buying. You can get something to eat too. I bet you’re
starving.”