The Turning Tides

CHAPTER Five

ROSA



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The next morning I tiptoed into the kitchen, expecting my father to still be sleeping. I heard the low sound of voices and rounded the corner to see Doctor Permala ministering to his arm. She was cutting the gauze away with surgical scissors, and as she peeled back the dressing I could see fresh blood. I winced, bringing my hand to my mouth.

I could tell it was painful from across the room, but her voice was calm and steady as she described the extent of the damage to him. She seemed incredibly cold blooded and clinical to me, but he listened to her with a scientist’s curiosity, and I could see that her approach was drawing him out of his reflexive melancholy.

He needed something to focus on. He was always restless until he engrossed himself in something challenging; burying himself in the world of measurable facts to avoid engaging in the world of people. Without a work project to hide behind my father was cut adrift, and completely out of his element. I figured his recovery would be a worthy project for him to turn his attention to.

“Good morning,” I called out, walking past them to the kitchen.

They both looked up, but only my father smiled, “Good morning.”

“I’m making some coffee… anyone want some?”

My father groaned, “Heck yeah! I can’t remember the last time I had a decent cup of coffee!”

Doctor Permala stood up. “Mr. Vanderpool, I must insist that you give up coffee.”

My father and I both looked at her in shock.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” I laughed.

She thrust her jaw out stubbornly, staring at me while folding her arms across her chest protectively. “I most certainly am not,” she said, black eyes blazing.

I mimicked her stance and stared back at her with angry eyes. She had no idea how much my father loved his coffee.

Dad looked back and forth between us, alarmed. “It’s okay Marina… I can live without it…” Seeing us lock horns was making him uncomfortable.

Seeing her step in and try to micro-manage every detail of my father’s life was irritating me. I ignored her, addressing my father, “Can I make you some toast or something?” I asked.

“Your father has already had his breakfast,” she answered for him.

I wheeled around to comment, but Dad jumped in before I could say anything, “I’m fine, honey… The doctor is taking care of everything.”

Doctor Permala finished redressing the wound in silence. She looked flustered as she excused herself and retreated to her room.

I watched her go. “She’s kinda bossy, isn’t she?”

He shrugged, “Evie says she’s the best.”

“Only the best for Evie,” I said wryly.

I poured two cups of coffee, putting one down on the table set up alongside his hospital bed. “What she doesn’t know, won’t hurt her.”

He took it, looking at me with an appraising eye, “Since when did you get so sneaky?”

I smirked at him, but I had to admit, he was right. I’d always kept things to myself, but now lying and secrecy had become my second nature. Slipping my father a forbidden cup of coffee was a trivial move in light of all of the surreal and unbelievable truths I had bottled up inside of me.

“So what do you have planned for today?” he asked, checking over his shoulder for the doctor as he sipped his coffee.

“I thought I’d hang out here and read.”

He frowned, “I hate for you to miss so much school.”

“I’ll get caught up.” I wandered over to peruse the bookshelf, finally choosing an old favorite and settling in on the couch with it. We sat together quietly for the rest of the morning, and when the doctor passed through I could see her eyes dart over to the cup by my father’s bedside. Her face fell, but she said nothing.

“Psst… Could you please take this away?” Dad nodded to the empty cup when she left. “I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

When I rose to take it there was a knock on the door, and I opened it to see Evie sweep inside in all of her splendor. She was dressed completely in white and dripping with pearls. We embraced before she rushed to my father’s side.

“Martin dear,” she cooed, bending to kiss both of his cheeks. “How are you feeling? Are you comfortable? Is Doctor Permala taking good care of you?”

“Easy,” he forced a smile, holding up his good hand. He struggled to sit up, “I’m fine, now that I’m home.”

His false cheeriness wasn’t fooling Evie. She fingered the pearls at her neck as she studied him shrewdly. I knew she could see the tight set of his jaw and the pain in his eyes.

“Do you need more medication?”

“Evie, I’m alright… I’m only a little tired, that’s all.”

She turned to face me, “Shall we let your father get some rest? There’s somewhere I’d like to take you.”

“Please do,” Dad said with relief. “She shouldn’t be cooped up in here all day.”

Evie ushered me out, scolding me along the way about my casual outfit, “Honestly dear! Those sneakers are truly hideous… Luckily, I found a fabulous new shop that makes custom riding boots to die for. They have a new man in from Hong Kong, and he should have my order ready by now… Bespoke shoes are all the rage in New York…”

I waved goodbye to my father, who watched us file out with amusement, finally slumping back down and closing his eyes.

We got to the garage, and Evie insisted I drive the Phantom convertible. We drove along the city streets, and she turned to me at a stoplight, “He seems depressed, doesn’t he?”

I nodded my agreement, “I suppose it’s understandable after everything he’s been through.”

I could feel Evie’s frustration. She wasn’t accustomed to her muse powers failing her, and had always been able to solve every problem she put her mind to. She was still looking for the silver lining of this latest cloud to be revealed to her; I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I had no faith in its existence.

I’d learned that fate was capricious. I planned to make my own luck.

Evie directed me where to drive, and when she had me pull up in front of a familiar pink stucco house I turned to her with a baleful glare.

“What fresh hell is this?” I asked.

She looked at me reproachfully, “Just for a minute… Fatima’s been pestering me to bring you to see her all week. She doesn’t want to do a reading. She told me she only needs to give you a message.”

“Why not tell you?”

“She said she must deliver it personally.”

“I’m not sure I want to hear any more of her messages,” I said, eyeing the house uneasily.

“She said she only needed a minute– She asked me to send you in alone.”

I sighed with resignation. If I refused to go in I’d never hear the end of it from Evie. Maybe Fatima had some worthwhile information about her last prediction… Maybe she wanted to take it back.

I stepped out into the breezy autumn afternoon, brushing the hair from my eyes. I felt like I was marching into a lion’s den as I headed into Fatima’s lair, opening the shrieking iron gates that led into her secluded courtyard. I could feel the eyes of the strange little garden gnomes that populated the lush ferns watching me. I wondered if they could smell fear, and I laughed out loud for letting my imagination run away with me.

I stared back defiantly at the eyeball amulet that stood guard over the black door, steeling myself to knock. A small woman wrapped in a terrycloth bathrobe opened up.

“Uhm, I’m here to see Madame Fatima,” I told her.

“This way,” she motioned for me to enter. She shuffled along in a large pair of fuzzy pink slippers. I followed her past the dimly lit reception area, but instead of going down the hall to the mirrored room she led me through a door into a brightly lit kitchen.

“Can I get you a cup of coffee?” she asked.

“No thanks,” I replied, looking around the room. A cookie jar shaped like a pig smiled up at me from the counter, next to canisters marked “flour”, “sugar” and “tea”. The refrigerator was covered with children’s drawings, held up with magnets topped with plastic fruits and vegetables.

“Have a seat,” the little woman said, turning to stir a pot of tomato sauce bubbling on the stove. When she joined me at the table I got a good look at her.

I gasped, “Fatima?”

“You can call me Rosa,” she said. She didn’t roll her r’s at all.

It was her large black eyes that gave her away, for they were exactly the same, but her hair was down and loose, and without the elaborate costume and dim lighting she could pass as your average suburban housewife. In the bright light of day, without the incense and candles, she didn’t seem forbidding at all.

“So it’s all an act?”

“No.” She regarded me solemnly with her large familiar eyes, “I was born with a veil over my face. I have the gift.”

“What?”

“I come from a long line of Sicilian women, women born with the second sight. My mother had it, and my grandmother before her.”

“So why all the smoke and mirrors then?”

“Some people need the razzle dazzle,” she explained, twirling her wrist in the air. “But I think you know better than to judge a book by its cover. Things are not always what they appear to be.”

I nodded, “That’s for sure.”

“I didn’t call you here for a reading,” she explained, “It’s– it’s just too hard. The forces surrounding you are powerful… and dangerous. I was reading for Evie last week and I kept seeing you instead. I called you here to warn you”

“Warn me about what?”

“The evil eye is upon you.”

I raised my eyebrows, “Evil eye?”

“Il malo occhio– envy and greed. Someone wants something that you possess.” She drew a deep breath, “Two enemies are closing in on you. One man and one woman… They will both prey on the weakness of the ones you love. One is in your very own house… the other, even more dangerous, is under Evelyn’s protection.”

“Why didn’t you warn her?” I asked in alarm.

She frowned, “She is blinded by the faith she has in another. So you see… I couldn’t very well have her deliver this message.”

“What should I do?” I asked her.

“That,” she sighed, “I cannot tell you.” She rose, signaling she had said all she had to say.

I stood, holding out my hand, “Thanks for the warning.”

She took it with a squeeze, “You be careful. Your aunt Evie worries about you more than you can imagine.”

“I know,” I forced a smile, “Thank you... Rosa.”

She nodded, escorting me back out the front door. I took a deep breath and stepped outside.

“Marina–”

I turned back, “Yes?”

“You must learn to have faith in what you cannot see.”

“Uh… okay,” I replied, not sure what she meant by that.

When I slipped behind the wheel I found Evie powdering her nose with a jeweled compact, “Did she tell you anything new?”

“Oh, it was very enlightening,” I kept my face expressionless.

To Evie’s credit, she refrained from asking me. “Good,” she smiled, “Now let’s go get you some boots.”

The rest of the day sped by in a blur, and I found myself preoccupied with the fortune teller’s words. Yuri was under Evie’s protection, and Doctor Permala was under my own roof… But what were they after? I shuddered when I thought of Yuri’s dark eyes.

After trailing around behind Evie for the day I was tired, and when I finally got home Dad was asleep, his face more peaceful than I’d seen it in a long time. Doctor Permala was mixing up some kind of concoction at the kitchen counter, grinding something into a paste with a stone pestle. She looked up and gestured for me to be quiet, pointing to my father.

I approached her, peering across the counter. The air smelled of ginger and licorice, and I recognized some fresh spears of Aloe Vera on a plate. “What are you making?” I whispered.

She looked to my father nervously, “I’m making some healing tonics and salves.”

I frowned, “Did you learn that in medical school?”

“No.” She spoke softly, “I learnt it from my Grandmother.”

“Oh,” I raised my eyebrows at her, looking over her ingredients. Abby would certainly love this, I thought. I retreated to my room and reached for the phone.

“Ethan?”

“How’s your dad doing?” he asked.

I told him how Evie’s doctor had taken over the house, and how she had officiously denied him coffee. “Can you believe that?” I asked indignantly.

“What kind of monster is she?” he teased me. “I think you need to come home right away. I’ll make you all the coffee you can drink.”

“Tempting,” I smiled. “I miss you.”

“Then come home now,” his voice was husky, pleading.

“Can you come up tomorrow?”

“I can come up right this minute,” he said.

“To meet my dad,” I added.

He paused, “Do you think he’s up to it?”

“I think so.”

“What if he doesn’t like me?” he asked.

“You have nothing to worry about,” I said firmly. I meant it.

“I hope so,” his voice was faint.

“So we’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Absolutely. Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”

“No horses here… But isn’t that, drag me away?”

“What?”

“Nevermind.”





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