Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

I hung up as I sneezed again and wiped the sweat from my brow. Never in my life had I dealt with allergies. Now, for the first time ever, I’d learned of something called ragweed and that the season would last until the first real frost, which so far hadn’t appeared. Apparently, it was a big thing around here, and many people suffered from it with stuffy heads and watering eyes. This morning was the worst, and I felt like crap, but if I didn’t work, I didn’t get paid. I stopped at the drugstore on the way to the salon and armed myself with some generic allergy medications, hoping I would last through the day.

My head hurt as I walked from my car to the salon.

“Uff-da,” I muttered as I took stock of my station and what I needed to replenish. I didn’t have any color jobs for a change and only two appointments this afternoon, but walk-ins were plentiful, so I was sure my chair would be full today.

I was tired. Pearl had been fussy last night and again this morning when I’d dropped her off at Lori’s place. Cutting molars now? I didn’t know this time, but this was her usual pattern for growth spurts, teething, or both.

Somehow, we’d get through the day. Though dinner might be a drive-through tonight, as I didn’t have the energy for much more than work and home.

I didn’t make any plans for Kimmie. She seldom stayed home long enough for any conversation or dinner. Where she spent her evenings was a mystery, but when she came home, the smell of booze and pot came with her. She’d been late to work several times, and I’d watched our serene, gentle boss go from concerned to annoyed.

“What people do on their own time is their business, but when it starts affecting my business, we have a problem,” Tambre said the last time it happened.

I was worried about my friend and tried to talk to her about it, but Kimmie brushed it off as me being overprotective.

“Stop being such a mother. You forgot how to party since we moved here.”

I loaded my styling gels and checked my stacks of towels as another sneeze tickled my nose. I snatched up a tissue just in time for me to let loose into it.

Tambre approached me as I was wiping up and sniffing. “You okay?”

I dumped the tissue in the trash can. “You bet. Just getting used to the concept of allergies. I’ve never had them before.”

She nodded and made a humming sound in her throat. “’Tis the season for it. You should see the pollen in the spring. It gets so thick sometimes, the cars turn dusty yellow. I wish we would get a good rain to wash some of it away instead of these little sprinkles once in a while. We really need a good dousing.”

The bell rang.

“Hey, y’all,” Molly called out. “I brought some coffee and donuts from Pam’s place. Good golly, you should see the lines! I saw Blue talkin’ to some lady with four kids and a dog. Well, he was talkin’ and she was flirtin’. Guess she don’t know about Psalm or decided to ignore that big-ass ring on his finger.” She set down a paper bag and a cardboard carrier with four tall cups. “Cream and sugar are in the bag. Where’s Kimmie?”

I kept my mouth shut as I accepted a coffee. It was hot despite the protective sleeve, and I almost dropped it.

Tambre’s eyes narrowed with irritation. “She was scheduled to open.”

I sniffed and confessed, “I don’t know where she is.”

Tambre shook her head. “It’s not your problem or responsibility, and I’m not asking you to get in the middle. Kimmie is a grown woman, and she’ll have to handle her own choices, good and bad. I don’t want her to be in trouble, but she’s turning out to be unreliable, and I can’t have that here. I’ll be glad to help her if she asks for it, but unless she straightens up, I may have to let her go.”

I hated that. Kimmie and I had been through a lot together, and I thought we’d both come out the other side, but the demons of our past were slipping back into her life. They would come for me, too, if I didn’t stay wary.

A half hour later, Kimmie still hadn’t shown up, and Molly left in a huff. Not good to stand up a Dragon Runners woman, especially one of Molly’s status.

It was late morning, while I sat in my chair cradling my aching head, when Kimmie finally made an appearance.

“Omigod! I was so sick this morning, I could hardly move.”

Hangovers will do that to you. “You missed Molly’s appointment. Should have called.”

The pink-haired woman chuffed as she moved to her station and plopped her big shoulder bag down. “My phone is dead, and I didn’t have my charger.”

I bit my lip. I’d been through this scenario many times with her since we moved here. Always an excuse. Always a reason. Always someone or something else’s fault. I usually had an abundance of patience because I’d been that person at one time in my life, but I just didn’t feel up to dealing with my friend today. “Well, you’d better make it right with Tambre. She’s not happy about it.”

Kimmie rolled her eyes in irritation. “Tambre’s never happy. She crawled up my ass last week over being late. It was only a few minutes, and she acted like the world collapsed.”

I found that hard to believe. Tambre didn’t throw fits or get in people’s faces. I’d seen her handle clients like Burna Jones with ease and distraction. That didn’t make her a pushover, though. She had the talent of making people listen without shouting or putting on a big show. It was kind of impressive watching her defuse a nasty situation.

My tendency was to let things with Kimmie go, as I had enough to handle in my own life, but my patience drained away like my sinuses.

“You still need to get here on time, Kimmie. It’s part of the job.”

She rolled her eyes at me and flounced to the break room to grab a Mountain Dew. Tambre was also in the back, and I expected she and Kimmie would have a few words. I stayed out front and planned the deaths of the little men with jackhammers at my temples. I’d never had this kind of headache in my life.

“You look like shit, girlfriend,” Deandra commented as she walked by my station. “We don’t gotta lot goin’ on here. Who you got comin’?”

“Joanna Porter and someone new. Marsha?”

Deandra flipped a hand of artistic nails at me. “I know Joanna pretty good. I think that Marsha person is a tourist, so anyone can take her. I’ll work them in so you can go on home and keep your germs to yourself.”

“Everyone says it’s allergies.”

“Mm-hmm. You ain’t had no allergies before, and there’s a nasty flu bug goin’ ’round the schools. Take the day. Maybe tomorrow too.”

I decided not to argue. A phone call and quick drive later, I was picking up a very irritated Pearl. My normally cheerful girl was not happy and letting the world know it. She threw a fit when I put her in her car seat, then another one when I took her out. I sat her in her high chair, where she wailed until I lifted her on my lap. Not even her favorite McDonald’s fries made her want to eat.

My girl was sick. Had to be. Kids got ear infections, right? She wasn’t pulling at her ears, though, and they didn’t look red. Her gums were fine, so she wasn’t teething. Growing pains? It was a thing. Maybe she had a fever. It was hard to tell, as I was flushed myself.

I dosed her with baby Tylenol and sat in the rocker, hoping the familiar rhythmic movement would get her to sleep for a nap. The pediatrician was still open, and I needed to call and see if they had time to see her this afternoon. I prayed I would make it until then. My head was about to explode, and I wanted to cry with absolute frustration. I understood why some parents had to walk away from screaming, crying children. It was the biggest experience of helplessness, yet you still had to take care of your kid regardless of their behavior. No one ever warns parents that there will be times of such exasperation, you wonder if you’re cut out to be one. My patience was growing thinner and thinner as my head pounded away.

No, that was the door. Someone was knocking at my door.

My heart jumped. Surprise visitors were usually not the good kind. I hadn’t had good experiences with the police, and I couldn’t think of anyone else who would show up at my apartment.

Is it about Kimmie?

The knocking persisted, and I hauled myself up from the chair with a crying Pearl to answer the door.

The person was wearing a uniform, though not the one I was expecting. A brown shirt with a shiny badge showed in front of my peephole. Weatherman.

I sat Pearl on my hip and moved to open the door. That single bit of effort had me sweating and ready to drop. I saw a familiar box in his hand.

He smiled sheepishly. “I hope you don’t mind the girls at the salon telling me where you live. You forgot the wig up at the Lair, and Betsey asked me to bring it to you so you could do whatever before Sunday. I tried the salon first, but they told me you went home sick. Looks like they were right.”

I groaned and stepped back. I wasn’t happy with him being here, but at the moment, I wasn’t up to arguing over it. “Just leave the wig on the counter. I’ll see to it as soon as I can.”

Pearl let out a squeal and twisted like a pretzel in my arms. I yelped as I almost dropped her.

Weatherman caught her from me, and she immediately stopped crying. She sniffled a few times before curling into his shoulder and popping a thumb in her mouth.

The room spun a bit as I looked up at him. “I’m okay. I’ve just never had allergies before. Pearl is the one who’s sick. She’s been fussy all day.”

He placed the back of his hand on her forehead with a frown. “No fever. You sure she’s sick?”

My head felt like it was ready to blow, along with my patience. “Yes, she’s sick. I’ve given her Tylenol, but it’s not working. Uff-da, can’t you tell?”

He glanced down at the quiet baby resting on his chest. “Got a thermometer somewhere?”

I had one of the zapper types that you placed on the forehead for a reading but hadn’t used it yet. Mostly because the effort of going to the bathroom to get it was more than I could manage. “Top shelf in the bathroom cabinet.”

He sauntered into the tiny tiled room to get the thermometer while I staggered to the sofa. A moment later, he placed the white instrument against my head and pressed the button.

“Fuck. You’re topping at 103.1. Allergies my ass. You have the flu, babe. Pearl isn’t sick. You are.”

“But I gave her Tylenol.” I didn’t even try to stop the whining sound of my voice.

“Do you have the adult version?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Luckily, the convenience store down the street does.” He put a now-content Pearl down in her playpen and handed her alligator to her. She grabbed her gay-toh and hugged it close. “I’ll be back in a few.”

I lay on the sofa and groaned as the world tilted the wrong way. I’d never been sick before, at least not like this. Whatever this was had hit me like a ton of bricks. The little energy I had drained away as I got up to get a glass of water. My mouth was dry, and my muscles ached; the short walk to the kitchen was almost more than I could handle. Pearl was occupied and appeared a lot calmer than she was earlier. Perhaps she’d been feeding off my bad mood all day, and I’d just assumed she was sick.

The icemaker didn’t spit out the cubes from the door anymore, so I had to open the freezer to get them. I plunked several in a plastic cup and filled it with water. I gulped down one full glass, then went for another. The next moment, I found myself on the floor with no idea how I got there, watching the water from my spilled glass spread across the cheap linoleum.

River. I left one in Minnesota. I found one here. Flowing water. Where does it go now?

I didn’t know where those thoughts came from. My head pounded so hard that I figured it had shaken something loose inside.

Pearl let out a “Wa-da-wa-da-wa-da” and pointed at the door. I turned my unfocused gaze to a figure approaching me. A man. It took a moment for me to recognize him, and when I did, my heart burned with sudden emotion and my eyes filled, tears spilling out uncontrolled over my lashes.

“Camo,” I sobbed. “You’re here.”

His beautiful hazel eyes shimmered as he smiled at me, and I saw his overlapped tooth in front.

“Hang on, sweetness. I got you.”

How many times had he said that to me? “I’m trying so hard, and I miss you so much.”

“Here, babe. Take these.” Weatherman handed me two white pills.

“No, I don’t take drugs anymore. I left that life behind when I got pregnant with Pearl. I won’t go back to that.”

“It will help, babe. Trust me.”

“It’s only Tylenol. It’s safe.”

Weatherman brought a fresh glass of water to my lips and encouraged me to swallow. The pills went down easily. He made me finish the cool liquid, tilting the plastic cup until I’d drained it all. Then he pulled out his cell phone.

“That’s good, sweetness.”

“Bad fever. One of the highest I’ve seen.”

“You have a good place here.”

“Cold compresses where? Are you sure that’ll work?”

“You got this.”

“If it doesn’t break in a couple hours, I’ll call for an ambulance. Thanks, Emma. And thanks for staying the night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Weatherman appeared before me again. “Let’s get you up.” He lifted and carried me, not to the sofa but to my bedroom, setting me down gently on top of the comforter.

“You need to take better care of yourself, sweetness.”

“I’m so sorry, Camo. It’s all my fault.” The tears kept coming, and I couldn’t stop them.

“Don’t be sorry, Opal. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Raise up. I’m gonna put some ice bags under your arms and neck. Mom’s nurse said it’s the fastest way to reduce a fever. Just bear with it a minute.”

I hissed as Weatherman pushed cloth-covered ice under my shirt and in my armpits. Another cloth was draped across my neck. “That’s cold.”

“That’s what ice does.”

A shiver ran through my body. “I need to take care of my girl.”

“I got her.”

“I got her.”

The two voices blended together, and for whatever reason, those sound waves assured me that Pearl was okay. Her babbled words and happy giggle drifted to my ears. “Maybe I’ll just rest my eyes for a moment.”

“You do that. I’ll be here.”

“You do that. I’ll be here.”

I woke up to a dark room with my skin covered in a sour sweat. My head ached, and my body was weak, but I was alert. Panic set in when I noticed Pearl was not in her crib. She was ready to move from that to a toddler bed soon, but I hadn’t gotten one for her yet.

Shit, where is my daughter?

Visions of her wandering around the apartment and getting outside by herself sent me into a frenzy. I jumped out of my bed and almost fell to the floor from the dizzy black spots that appeared in my vision.

Focus, Opal. Slow down and focus.

A low male voice came to me from the living area. I peeked out and spotted Weatherman on the sofa with Pearl next to him. Her gay-toh sat smushed between them while she jabbered and pointed to the pictures in the book he was reading to her.

“Yes, that’s the blue fish. Can you show me the red one?”

She blew bubbles and slapped at the page. “Bisssssssh!”

I held back a laugh, but it came out anyway.

“A-ma!” My little girl grinned at me but kept her position next to Weatherman. He raised his eyes to me, and for a moment, I got lost in their hazel hue.

“I reheated the fries and nuggets a little while ago. She ate well, and I cleaned up her face and hands but that was it. If she needs changing or bathing, I can do that, but I thought it would be a little too personal right now.” Weatherman rose from the rocking chair and carried Pearl to me. He must have moved it when I was out of my head. His hand reached out to check my forehead. “I talked to Emma, Mom’s caregiver. She said the bug going around is a bad one. It hits hard and fast but leaves just as quickly. I think Pearl avoided it this round, and you shouldn’t be contagious anymore.”

A frisson of alarm hit me. “Uff-da, I hope you didn’t catch it!”

He shook his head. “I got a flu shot so I could be around my mom. In her state, she can’t afford to catch anything. Just to be safe, I’ll spend a couple days in my place at the Lair so I’m sure not to take anything home to her.” He looked at me with contemplation. “You should probably stay home tomorrow too. I imagine you feel pretty weak right now. Your roommate around?”

I glanced at the wall clock. If she wasn’t home by now, she probably wouldn’t be. “I haven’t seen her since work.”

He pressed his lips together. “I’ll stick around until you eat something.”

“You don’t have to do that. I can handle it.”

His eyes got very soft. “Opal, there’s nothing in this world you can’t handle, but you are allowed to have some help from time to time. Think you’re up for a shower?”

That sounded heavenly. “If you’re okay with watching Pearl?”

His eyes cut to me with an are-you-serious-right-now look in them.

I sighed. “Okay. Let me change her first, and then I’ll go.”

It took more energy than it should have to take the old Pampers off my daughter and put a new one on. She wasn’t a squirmer, but that simple task still took a lot out of me. I went into the bathroom, carefully removed my clothes so I didn’t fall over, then stepped under the hot spray. The shower was great but exhausting. I’d never been like this, and I hoped I never would again. It sapped what little energy I had, and all I wanted to do after drying off was crawl into bed and not move the rest of the night. As a single mother, that wasn’t an option, but having Weatherman here was a big help. I came out of the bathroom in my warmest pj’s and slippers to a sight that sent a thousand mixed emotions racing through me.

Weatherman sat in my rocker with Pearl on his lap. The chair’s soft creaking from his movements was the only sound in the room. She was asleep, curled into his firm body.

Safe.

Secure.

Trusting.

My throat clogged, and I had to swallow several times as my eyes filled with water.

“Love has no limits, sweetness. You’re allowed to do it more than once.”

“Is that true?” I asked the universe.

Of course, it was silent.

Weatherman looked up from his seated position, and his eyes met mine.

No. No, I was not ready for this.

Not ready at all.