Abundant Rain Page 8

  Stretched out on a cot, reading the newspaper, he looked as though he were taking first place in a relax-a-thon. His ‘Go Rams’ T-shirt and Docker shorts were goodwill new. Legs crossed, no socks, his feet were clean. He had those same dope-fiend marks on his arm as the guy that had just asked for money. Kenneth hoped he was reading the HELP! I’m a bum, in need of a job section.

  “Hey, James.” Faith leaned down and kissed her dad on the forehead.

  She addressed him by his given name. Kenneth understood. If you want respect, you’ve got to earn it.

  “There’s my buttercup.” James reached up and kissed his daughter.

  A man on the cot next to James leaned over and threw up.

  “That’s Pete. He’s coming down off a serious high.”

  The smell of Pete’s vomit mixed with the urine was a real treat. Kenneth gagged, then clamped his mouth shut. Throw-up man turned back over, wiped his mouth, and stretched out on his cot.

  “Shouldn’t he get something to get that mess up?” Kenneth asked James.

  James waved his hand in the air. “One of the workers will clean it up in a little while.”

  “Oh,” Kenneth replied calmly, but inwardly he was turmoil over the disturbing images before him.

  “Who’s he?” James asked.

  Faith beamed. “This is Kenneth. I wanted you to meet the man who introduced me to Jesus.”

  “Jesus, huh?” James looked at Kenneth. A smirk appeared on his over-traveled face. “You think this Jesus could make the government give back my SSI check? Can He stop those congressional dogs from cheating me?”

  “Sir?”

  “Yeah, you want to talk about organized crime, well I could tell you a thing or two about organized government. Them fat cats, in their two thousand dollar suits, paid for by the gullible US of A citizens, conspired to have me evicted from my home.” He looked at Kenneth’s cane. “They told me I’d have to maim myself if I wanted to keep receiving SSI benefits. Told me I wasn’t disabled.” He stretched his arms out so Kenneth could get a good look-see at the holes and scars in his arms. “Don’t I look disabled to you? I’m a freakin’ drug addict. How can you be more disabled than that?”

  “Sir, I don’t think your condition qualifies, because you can stop taking drugs if you wanted to.”

  James grabbed Kenneth’s cane, shaking it. “Oh, and I guess you think your condition qualifies, huh? The government should give you the money just ‘cause you walk around with a cane?”

  “James,” Faith said. “Leave him alone. I just wanted Kenneth to talk to you about the Lord. You need help. Why won’t you let us help you?”

  James turned back to face his daughter. “All right,” he said. “Let me put my shoes on so we can get out of this place, and y’all can talk to me about Buddha if you want. Just get me out of here.”

  As they walked toward fresh air, Kenneth looked at all the beds around the spacious room. He saw all the faces that could have been him. That would have been him if crazy Debra hadn’t taken him in. Even though she helped him for the wrong reasons, he was grateful that God hadn’t allowed him to live in a place like this. Instead of being greeted by fresh air, when Kenneth exited the building, he smelled smog, pee, and poop. God bless America.

  “We parked over there,” Faith told her father as she pointed down the street.

  They were about to walk down the stairs toward Faith’s car, when a bearded man, sitting on the stoop, looked up at Kenneth. “Stop eye balling me, boy.”

  Kenneth looked behind him.

  “I’m talking to you,” Beard Man, well, not just Beard Man – Stanky Beard Man told him.

  Kenneth covered his nostrils with his finger for the third time since arriving at this temporary home for the great unwashed.

  “I’m on to you,” Stanky told him. “You’re not going to crack me. Keep sending your goons to beat on me if you want. I’ll never give up my secrets.”

  Kenneth looked around and then back at Stanky. “What?”

  James put his finger up to his head and made a circling motion. He rolled his eyes upward. “He thinks you’re the FBI.”

  “Oh.” Kenneth turned back to the man on the stoop. “Look, I’m not the FBI. Nobody’s going to harm you here. Okay?”

  Stanky stared Kenneth down. The silence ate up several moments. “I’ve stopped watching the TV news, so you can tell your FBI cronies to stop making the newscasters tell me to cut off my arms and legs. I’m not doing it,” he spat. He stood and got in Kenneth’s personal space. “I’ve stopped going to the bathroom too. I do all my business right here.” He pointed toward his pants.

  Kenneth wanted to do the circle motion next to his head and suggest a dose of Prozac. Instead, he told Stanky, “All right, I’ll tell them to leave you alone.” Kenneth walked away with renewed gratitude to the Lord. He might have lost his memory and his family, but he wasn’t running from the FBI, pooping in his pants, and calling it normal.

  14

  Elizabeth paced up and down the floor of her hospital room. Dressed in a chartreuse and navy blue St. Johns pants suit, she stood with her left hand on hip and her right hand holding the telephone. “I don’t believe him. That is one triflin’ man.” She switched the phone from one ear to the other, listened some more, then hung up. Outraged, she turned to her brother. “Tommy was in a strip club last night. That’s probably where he called me from, right before he left with some prostitute.”

  “Who was that on the phone?” Michael asked.

  “That was the chauffeur we use from time to time. I asked him to keep an eye on Bad Luck Schleprock. Good thing. As soon as this nurse gets in here with my release papers, we’re going to find him.”

  “I know you hate when I butt into your business, but I don’t think you should go after him.”

  “Why not?”

  Michael shifted in his seat. “Look, Elizabeth, I don’t know how strong your feelings are for this man, but he’s no good for you. He asked you to marry him while he was carrying on with a man, for God’s sakes!”

  “I understand that,” Elizabeth said, her voiced lifted in agitation.

  “And now he’s having sex with a prostitute.”

  “Hey, at least it was a woman this time. Do you have any idea how that felt, walking in his house catching him with a man?” She shivered. “I still can’t think about it without wanting to vomit.”

  “That’s exactly why I don’t think you should go after him. For all you know he could have ---”

  Elizabeth raised her hand. “Tommy and I are not getting married. Any notion of that ended when I met Nigel. But that doesn’t change what Tommy has been to me. When no one else knew how to help me, he gave me a lifeline. I won’t turn my back on him now. I can’t.”

  ***

  Kenneth didn’t know what hurt more; seeing the outer beauty of his wife, all the while knowing that she was evil inside, or hearing this woman, his wife, pledge her loyalty to another man. He stepped away from the door of her hospital room, contemplating leaving the hospital, and the treachery of his wife behind. Why this knowledge hurt so much, Kenneth did not understand. He knew before he left New York that this woman’s heart belonged to another, and that she had only caused him misery while they were together. But seeing that deep chocolate skin of hers; the face that needed no Fashion Fair, no Mac. The beauty of her natural face took his breath away. And though he wouldn’t admit it – even if a gun were cocked at his head – he wanted her, all of her.

  “Get a hold of yourself, man. Beauty’s only skin deep, but her ugliness goes straight to the bone. Remember that,” Kenneth told himself.

  His children passed before his eyes. He was their only hope, and he would have to contend with the swamp thing to get them. Kenneth wondered about the powerful-looking man who sat in the leather chair next to the hospital bed as Elizabeth ranted and raved. He sat ramrod straight. Kenneth wanted to put his right hand to his forehead and scream, “Attention!”

  He looked at the
tabloid he’d brought with him. His wife looked angelic as she laughed at something the man seated next to her said. The man was Tommy Brooks. Deep dark chocolate, with a baldhead and athletic build. The kind of man every unattached woman in America screamed for since How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Had Elizabeth grooved with Tommy? Was that why she had been all smiles and giggles for the camera?

  He touched his scarred face. He didn’t measure up. No way he could compete with this man’s looks. He tore the tabloid and threw it in the trashcan. He would have his children. His wife could go to the devil for all he cared.

  “Kenneth!” Michael exclaimed, standing up and pointing in the direction of the door.

  “Kenneth, who?” Elizabeth asked, as she turned toward the door also.

  His cane did the tap, tap, tap as he walked closer to her. She noticed the cane, noticed the limp. She pointed at him as she turned back toward Michael. “It’s Kenneth,” she said just before her body fell unconscious to the floor.

  When Elizabeth’s body crumpled to the floor, Kenneth’s protective instincts kicked in. He hobbled to Elizabeth, handed Michael his cane, then knelt down on the floor next to her. He lifted her head onto his lap. “Wake up, Liz. Wake up.” He tapped her face a couple times. “Liz, can you hear me?”

  When her eyes fluttered open, she stared at her husband. Her eyes focused on the left side of his face. She reached up to touch the scars. He pulled away and put his hand over the scars on his face.

  “Oh, God, could this be? Has my husband come home at last?” Tears welled up and spilled over. She grabbed her husband and hugged him tight. She whispered sweet promises in his ear. Told him she would never let him go again.

  If only he could trust her. He stood, lifting Elizabeth with him. The gentleman in Elizabeth’s room gripped his arm as they rose. Kenneth was sure the man thought that he was going to drop Elizabeth. The idea of this man thinking he needed his help infuriated him. Kenneth reclaimed his cane.

  Elizabeth turned to her brother. “Michael, can you believe it? My husband has come home!”

  Michael put his hand on her shoulder. “Yes, Elizabeth, Kenneth is home.”

  More tears escaped her eyes. “I thought God had ignored my pleas.” She brushed Kenneth’s cheek with the back of her hand. Looking into his gray-green eyes she said, “Sometimes prayers are answered slowly. But God hears our prayers, Kenneth. He really does!”

  He was momentarily caught off guard by the tenderness of her touch, the gentleness of her words. Her chestnut eyes sparkled with love. Could he trust her?

  Michael put a possessive arm around Elizabeth and confirmed Kenneth’s suspicions. Elizabeth didn’t love him. But he would be strung up and whupped like Toby before he’d let this woman disrespect him.

  “Get your hands off my wife!” Kenneth bellowed as his hand tightened around his cane.

  Michael’s smile disappeared. His eyes darted. Kenneth lifted his cane and swung at Michael. “Step away from her.”

  Michael took his arm off Elizabeth and rubbed his shoulder. “Hey, whoa. I don’t know what your problem is, but I suggest you put that cane down.”

  “Kenneth, what’s wrong with you?” Elizabeth screamed.

  “Put your hands on my wife again, and I’m going to crack your skull with this cane.”

  Michael positioned himself in a defensive stance. “The first one was free. The next one will earn you these size twelves all up in your behind.”

  “Michael! Don’t talk to him like that,” Elizabeth said to her brother.

  Michael turned to his sister. “Look, Elizabeth, you don’t want no drama, and I don’t want no drama. But if your husband hits me with that cane again, I’m going to wipe up the floor with him.”

  “Kenneth, put the cane down! Stop acting like a fool. You know Michael has had military training. Why in the world would you instigate a fight with him?”

  “Shut up. I’ll deal with you later,” Kenneth told her and turned toward Michael.

  “Aw, it’s on. I know you didn’t just tell her to shut up,” Michael said with nostrils flaring.

  They advanced like wolves, fangs extended, ready for the kill.

  Elizabeth jumped in the middle and held her hands out, holding them back. “Stop it!”

  “No, you stop it. How you gon’ let somebody hug all up on you in my face?” Kenneth pushed her hands off his chest.

  Elizabeth’s mouth hung open. She held her hands in the air. “Am I missing something?” She looked from her brother to Kenneth and back again.

  Kenneth continued his tirade. “Stay here with him for all I care. Just tell me where I can find my kids.”

  Michael eased out of his fighting position and studied Kenneth. “You don’t know me, do you, man?”

  “Where are my children?” he asked Elizabeth again, not wanting to admit that he didn’t really know either one of them.

  She grabbed Kenneth’s arm. “We can talk about the kids in a minute. Where have you been, Kenneth? Why has it taken you so long to come home?”

  “We’ll talk later.” He returned his gaze to Michael. “Who are you? Another one of my wife’s prospects?”

  Elizabeth gasped. “Kenneth!”

  Kenneth had a sinking feeling that he had blundered big time. He let the anger and jealousy he’d felt after reading that tabloid get the better of him. He reacted without thinking and now the jig was up. He might as well throw up his hands, holler uncle, and ask them to tell him about his uncle, his mama, and his daddy too for that matter. Pride kept his mouth shut.

  “Why have you been gone for so long?” Michael asked, putting his hands in the surrender position while sitting down. He rubbed his shoulder and kept an eye on Kenneth’s cane.

  Kenneth turned to Elizabeth. “Who is he, Liz?”

  Elizabeth stepped back, clutching her hand to her chest. Kenneth’s eyes were full of anger and contempt. She didn’t understand him. She grabbed Michael’s arm for comfort. “This is my brother, Kenneth. You’ve known Michael for years.”

  Kenneth sat down in the cloth chair opposite Michael. He put his hands to both sides of his head and rubbed his temples. “I want to see my children.”

  Michael tried again. “Where have you been, Kenneth?”

  Michael was not a boyfriend but a family member – boy did he blow that one. “I was in the hospital for a long while, then I had a lot of physical therapy to get through.” He squinted and looked at Michael.

  Elizabeth moved in front of her husband. He could see the steam rising from her ears. “How long does physical therapy take, Kenneth? What, they don’t have telephones in hospitals now? And why don’t you know who Michael is?”

  Evil E was boring down on him, ready to pounce if he didn’t answer her questions. He would show her. He wasn’t bowing and scraping to her whim. But she was going to answer his questions, or he would make her pay. “Where are my children?”

  “They’re at home. Kenneth, what’s wrong?”

  The jig was up, might as well fess-up. “I might as well tell you now. I didn’t come home because I couldn’t. I have amnesia.”

  “Do I look like Boo-Boo the Fool?” Elizabeth lifted her arms to the heavens. “Lord, please don’t tell me that Kenneth has been shacked up with some woman all this time.”

  “Hah, you’ve got nerve.”

  She turned back to him, fire burning in her eyes. “Okay, Kenneth, how did you get amnesia?”

  “The doctors don’t know if my memory loss is due to something falling on my head and knocking me senseless, or if the experience was so traumatic that my mind has simply blocked everything out.”

  “Okay, Mister Amnesia Patient,” she said, hands on hips. “How did you know to call me Liz if you’ve lost your memory?”

  He shrugged. “Your name is Elizabeth. It wasn’t a far reach.”

  “But everybody calls me Elizabeth. You’re the only one that addresses me as Liz.”

  “What do you want me to say? I don’t know why I called you
Liz. It just felt right.”

  “Amnesia my eye. You’ve been off somewhere living your life, while I’m back here popping pills trying to die!”

  Michael stared at his brother-in-law. He started to say something, changed his mind, then spoke up anyway. “You really don’t remember anything do you?”

  “Not much, no,” Kenneth answered.

  Elizabeth started crying again. “Why me, Lord? Why can’t anything ever be easy?” She went to Kenneth and sat down on the floor at his feet. “You really have amnesia?”

  He nodded.

  She put her hand on his leg. “You don’t remember anything?”

  “That’s not completely true. I’ve had several visions of you these last few months.”

  “And you haven’t been somewhere shacked up with some woman?”

  Kenneth thought of crazy Debra. There had been no love connection. She just wanted a lucky charm, and was prepared to feed and clothe him to get what she wanted. “Not like you mean.”

  She laid her head on his leg and cried, “Oh, Kenneth. I’m so sorry. I’ll help you. We’ll get through this.”

  She looked into Kenneth’s eyes and saw no love for her there. Please, God, return Kenneth’s memory. Lord, show him how things were between us – bring back to his remembrance the love we shared. Sweet love, that belongs only to me. The frown that creased his brow as he looked at her indicated that this might be another one of those slowly answered prayers. Elizabeth decided to buck up, put her trust in God, and ride this storm. “I think we should have a doctor check you out before we leave.”

  “No. I just want to see my kids.”

  Elizabeth started to protest, but thought better of it. “All right, let’s go.”

  The ride home was turbulent. Elizabeth wondered if she had made a colossal mistake by not having Kenneth thoroughly checked out by a physician before leaving the hospital. This was not her Kenneth. Her husband was kind and loving. This new Kenneth needed an attitude adjustment.