Fort Lupton (12 page)

“
I always knew that
Strauss was an asshole,” Mitch said.

Charlie tried to speak, but he wasn’t able
to.

“
I’m going to seriously
haunt that asshole,” Mitch said. “Totally going poltergeist on his
ass.”

Charlie laughed.

Wham!

Charlie was back in the ICU. He felt someone
holding his hand. He looked up and saw Aden standing next to the
bed. Aden smiled at him. He leaned down and kissed Charlie’s
face.

“
Welcome back,” Aden
whispered.

Charlie heard Samantha Hargreaves yelling at
the detectives. He felt someone touch him and saw the familiar face
of Dr. John Drayson. Charlie’s eyes flicked to Samantha.

“
She can be very mean,”
John said in his clipped London accent. “Especially to the slow of
mind. They’ll be lucky to leave with their bits intact.”

John nodded to Charlie while his gloved
hands were working fast on something near Charlie’s chest. John
looked up at the nurse and said something Charlie missed.

“
Looks like you’ve sprung
a leak, my lad,” John said. “Lucky for you, one mean Hargreaves
leads to one very nice Kelly.”

A woman with a familiar voice said
something, and John laughed.

“
We’re all here for the
big arrival.” John wiggled his eyebrows to indicate Samantha’s
baby. “She was set up in a posh birthing facility — foot massage,
facial, back rubs, the works. But when Sami heard you needed
her . . .”

John turned his head to where Samantha
Hargreaves was still yelling at the detectives. Charlie knew that
John was talking to keep him awake, but he listened anyway. Charlie
liked John’s accent and the intimate, let-me-tell-you-a-secret way
he was talking.

“
She came straight away,”
John said. “Imagine our surprise to find her gone! The rest of us
had to follow her bread crumbs. When we got here, Alex and I
wandered around looking for something to
do
. So you see, you’ve done me and
the wife a huge favor by giving me
something
to do!”

The woman with the familiar voice said
something that sounded funny. Charlie tried to look. John laughed
and dug around in Charlie’s bandages for a few minutes. Charlie
noticed a simple ball chain hanging on John’s neck. Charlie reached
out to touch it.

“
It’s Alex’s
identification tag,” John said.

If Charlie hadn’t been so ill, he’d have
felt embarrassed for invading John’s privacy. But at this moment,
the idea that this man wore his beloved wife’s tag around his neck
made Charlie feel somewhat safer.

Love did exist in the world, even if Charlie
didn’t feel it right now. John gave him a kind smile.

“
We’re going to put you to
sleep for a while,” John said. “When you wake up, with any luck,
you’ll be leak free and stronger. We may even have a baby by
then.”

John leaned in very close to Charlie.

“
Just rest for now,” John
said. He looked up to someone and nodded. “You must know one fact
more than anything. . .”

Charlie’s eyes focused in on John’s eyes.
Charlie had never seen such incredibly blue eyes. The blue of
John’s eyes went on and on. For a moment, their eyes locked.

“
You are loved,” John
said.

“
Loved,” Charlie
repeated.

He was asleep.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday afternoon — 3:45 p.m.

Sissy sat in a chair in the hallway and
cried. When the moment had come for her to decide which ballet
company to go to, the only thing she could think about was
Charlie.

“
Don’t ruin your future
over something that’s happening today,” one woman from the ballet
company in Chicago said.

Sissy had nodded at the
woman, but her words hadn’t changed Sissy’s mind. Charlie
had
died
in the
ICU today. He was brought back by some magic and was in
surgery
right now
. What future mattered more than today’s awful
reality?

The lady hadn’t liked it when she’d asked
that.

“
You’ll regret this day
for a very long time,” a man from California said. “We may not have
an opening next year.”

Sissy had nodded at his words. She might not
have a brother next year, so she understood that sense of
questioning the future. She’d said that and the man gave her a mean
look. She glanced at Ivan.

Ivan was furious. He’d taken her arm and
marched her out to the hallway. She’d waited to start crying until
he went back inside. Her flood of tears came the moment the door
closed behind him.

Her future was over.

Her brother was almost dead.

For the first time in her life, she felt
like her very existence was a waste. If she could, she would wish
every bit of her life in to her brother. Why did it matter where
she went to dance? The only thing that mattered was Charlie. He was
her big brother, her friend, and . . . he was
Charlie!

Sissy fell forward and cried into her hands.
A few minutes later, she felt a small, strong hand on her back. She
glanced up. It was the elderly woman from this morning’s
interviews. The woman had deep wrinkles in her translucent white
skin. Her hair was white, but her body was muscular and strong.
Sissy thought she was incredibly beautiful.

The woman had said that she’d come to the
interviews to see Seth. She had flirted mercilessly with Seth,
which Seth handled with great ease. Seth had left them to have
lunch with the woman.

When Sissy looked up, the woman put her arm
around Sissy as if to shield her from a cold wind.

“
I’m not going to tell you
not to be sad, child,” the woman said. “I have no comfort to
offer.”

Nodding, Sissy tried to wipe away the flood
running down her face. The woman smiled at her effort.

“
This is life, Sissy,” the
woman said. “Sad and beautiful. Hard and breathtaking. You’re
living life right now, and, while I’m sure you don’t want to hear
it, you will be a better dancer for it.”

“
Why?” Sissy was
embarrassed by her own sorrow-filled voice.

“
Because the dance is
about sorrow and joy,” the woman said. “These dances were intended
to tell stories, to convey emotions. If you’ve never felt sorrow,
how will you convey the desperate sorrow of the dance?”

Sissy nodded.

“
You will bring all of
this — sorrow, joy, happiness, laughter, fear — to your dance,” the
woman said. “And we will all be the better for it. That’s why you
feel it so strongly. You are feeling it for all of us.”

Sissy didn’t know what to say. She looked at
the woman’s beautiful face. Noticing Sissy’s look, the woman gave
her a kind smile.

“
My brother is dying,”
Sissy said.

“
He may die,” the woman
said in a matter-of-fact way. “Today or ten years from now. It’s
also possible that you will die before he does. We don’t know.
That’s what life is.”

“
I have to live today, not
tomorrow.” Sissy nodded.

“
Yes, you do.” The woman
smiled. “All the while, you’re preparing for tomorrow. What
tomorrow are you preparing for right now, Sissy?”

“
Oh, I don’t know,” Sissy
said.

The woman gave Sissy another kind smile.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Sissy’s overwhelming
feelings faded while she thought about the question.

“
Do you?” Sissy
asked.

“
I think you’re preparing
for dealing with creative directors of ballet companies,” the woman
chuckled.

“
How so?” Sissy asked the
question that Aden always asked when he wanted more
information.

“
Because you’re saying,
‘I’m real. I exist. I have feelings and thoughts. I’m not a paper
doll you can exploit.’” The woman nodded. “I’d bet they didn’t like
that much.”

“
No.” Sissy shook her
head. “Ivan got really angry.”

“
I’m sure he did,” the
woman said. “Ivan is no fool. He will not allow his prize student
to be treated like a puppet.”

Sissy didn’t know what to say. She glanced
at the woman again and went back to staring at the carpet. After a
few minutes, she glanced at the woman.

“
You’re saying it’s a good
thing that I got upset?” Sissy asked.

“
I’m saying that you are
amazing to be able to hold your own in the face of the kings and
queens of the ballet,” the woman said. “Most girls would just do
whatever they were told to do. You didn’t do that.”

“
They were kind of mean,”
Sissy said.

“
Did that stop you from
turning them down?” the woman asked. “I assume you turned them
down.”

“
Just until I knew about
Charlie,” Sissy said. “Just until this evening when Charlie’s out
of surgery and . . .”

The woman smiled.

“
They don’t like to wait,”
the woman said.

Sissy nodded.

“
I’d rather never dance
again than have Charlie die,” Sissy said. “It would kill my sisters
and . . .”

“
Of course.” The woman
gave Sissy a broad smile.

Under the woman’s knowing smile, Sissy felt
her sorrow and hopelessness lift. This woman seemed to really
understand her. They sat together for a few more minutes before
Ivan came out of the room. Seeing Sissy with the woman, Ivan
gaped.

“
Would you be troubled if
she came to dance with us?” the woman asked Ivan.

“
It would be a great
honor, but . . .” Ivan started.

“
There’s the matter of the
brother,” the woman said.

“
Sissy
won’t . . .”

“
Yes, yes,” the woman
said. “We’re in no hurry. Get back to me by the end of the week or
next month. We’ll set it up. I assume she’ll stay at Seth’s
place?”

“
Yes ma’am,” Ivan
said.

The woman leaned over and kissed Sissy’s
cheek.

“
We’ll talk soon,” the
woman said.

The woman smiled at Ivan. Before he could
say anything else, the woman got up and went into the room. Ivan
sat down in the chair she’d vacated.

“
What just happened?”
Sissy asked.

“
You were hired by your
first ballet company,” Ivan said.

“
Where?”

Ivan said the name and Sissy blinked with
surprise. “New York.”

“
Seth’s place?” Sissy
asked.

“
Seth has an apartment in
Greenwich Village. He just bought it back from Jeraine,” Ivan said.
“She was asking if you could afford to live in New York on their
pittance of an apprentice salary. Of course, you can. You will live
at Seth’s home. He will continue as your patron.”

“
Is that bad?” Sissy
asked. She leaned in so no one would hear her. “Did Horse Teeth get
more money?”

“
Much more money,” Ivan
said. “Not so great company. What do you care about money? You have
Seth. Plus, you’ll catch up soon.”

Ivan nodded.

“
Are you coming with me?”
Sissy asked.

“
They will hire me,” Ivan
said.

“
How do you know?” Sissy
asked.

“
They will.” Ivan
shrugged. Sissy imitated his shrug. He smiled and stood
up.

“
Come,” Ivan said. “Let’s
go see Charlie.”

“
He’s in surgery,” Sissy
said.

“
He got out,” Ivan said.
“They call when I was in there.”

“
And?” Sissy stood up.
“How is he?”

“
Good,” Ivan said. “Your
sister says he has color in his face for first time since
beating.”

Ivan nodded.

“
This is good,” Ivan
said.

Sissy stared at the floor for a moment.

“
Come along, little
ballerina,” Ivan said.

Sissy looked up at him and smiled.

“
What?” Ivan
asked.

“
It all worked out,” Sissy
said.

Ivan smiled. They left for the hospital.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday evening — 5:35 p.m.

Jabari woke up the moment Jeraine’s car
stopped in front of Rodney and Yvonne’s house. Groggy from the
plane ride and his illness, Jabari fumbled with his car seat and
finally waited for his dad. While Jeraine unhooked the straps on
the car seat, Yvonne went ahead into the house with Dionne and
Bumpy. Jeraine lifted the boy and the elephant Toto out of the
car.

“
Are you excited?” Jeraine
asked.

Jabari nodded his head. Jeraine kissed his
son’s forehead.

“
When do I get to move
home?” Jabari asked.

“
Well, there’s a big mess,
of course,” Jeraine said. “Our lawyers were able to get the court
to agree to let you come back here. We’ll work the rest out over
the next few days.”

“
Okay,” Jabari said. “I
like it here with Ms. Yvonne.”

“
I know you do,” Jeraine
said. “I think we’re pretty lucky to have them to help
us.”

“
They’re family,” Jabari
said. “My mommy’s mommy and daddy.”

Jeraine smiled. He got to the door and
hesitated for just a second. He looked down at Jabari and pushed
the door open.

“
SURPRISE!!”