******
"Is it SUPPOSED to look like that, Doug?? Honey? It looks lopsided.." Carol said worriedly as Doug nailed the newly refurbished sign in place.
"It's fine.. It's.." Doug climbed down the ladder and stood beside his wife before finishing his sentence weakly. "Supposed.. to look..." He sighed heavily. "Like that.."
Carol smiled and cocked her head to the side. "It's okay.. We just inform ALL the neighbours to look like *this* when they read the sign.. Then it's perfect."
Doug grumbled and climbed the ladder again. "Smart-ass.."
*******
"What do you mean you don't know where he is!?" Benton grumbled angrily.
Dave shrugged. "While the cat's away, the mice will play... If he doesn't show up tonight, who wants to sneak into the field and go cow-tipping?"
"Malucci... You are such an idiot.. Go find Weaver before I decide to get medieval on your ass.." Mark grumbled.
Dave laughed. "You and what army!?" His grin faded as his co-workers surrounded him. "Uhh.. Yeah.. I'll be right back. Don't worry."
****
"Who is that girl, Mlungisi??? Runako grumbled, taking long glances at the truck which was parted a few feet away.
"Her name is Kerry.." His son said quietly.
"The girl who was trespassing on my land?"
"Yes, Father.. That is the girl."
"What is she doing here!!??" Runako said angrily, starting towards the truck.
"I brought her here.. She has nowhere to go.. It is the least we can do." Mlungisi pleaded.
"No.. The least we can do is dump her back where she came from, come on. We're taking her back to the hospital." Runako stormed towards the truck and turned sharply on his heel about ten feet away and looked over his shoulder. "Mlungisi.. She cannot stay here."
"She is father. She is staying with me." Mlungisi said evenly, standing tall and firm, his shoulders square and his chin held high.
*******
"Well I don't know about you.. But I think standing around here waiting for him to come back is stupid." Carter muttered as he stomped back into the house.
**
Kerry? Dr.Weaver?" Dave said nervously as he tripped into the undergrowth. The orchard was unkempt, the grass long and full of weeds; rotted fruit tangled in the greenery.
He grimaced as his sneaker squished an overly ripe pear and skidded wet along the grass. "Gross..." The fermented juice seeped into his sneaker, soaking his socks and sticking his toes together. Dave groaned loudly.
As he ducked under the overgrown vines hanging from a plum tree, he slipped in a pile of rotted fruit, and slipped, landing face-first in a pile of spoiled apples. "FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!!!!!!" He yelled dripping with rotted apple sauce and browned skins. Dave angrily wiped the pureed fruit from his face and smeared it on his jeans, already soaked with pulp and grass-stains.
Kerry sat sleeping under the shade of an old wizened apple tree as Dave neared, smelling like he'd been dipped in home-made fruit wine.
She stirred in her slumber, rolling on her side and mumbling softly.
****
"You promised me. You said that I could live as I please. You said I was a man now." Mlungisi retorted, crossing his arms.
"I can't stop you, no.. You are a grown man. But remember, that girl was trespassing on *my* land. On a piece of land that was clearly marked with signs and warnings, which she chose to ignore." Runako said angrily.
Maybe she doesn't speak Afrikaan." Mlungisi said weakly. His father was winning this argument, and he knew it.
"So.. If you went to France.. That would give you the right to tromp all over somebody's land because you don't speak their language. Trespassing is trespassing in any language. Besides, she speaks it. I called out to her that day in Swahili.. She responded quite well. That Ms.Weaver is very smart, too smart to be wandering around in minefields like that. I have a feeling her boy-friend had a hand in it."
"She said that they were looking for unexplored caverns."
"Stupid American teenagers." He grumbled. "If you insist, she move in with you, I cannot stop you. Provided that when she is well, she returns to America-"
"I have a problem though. She has no money to get home. I told her that she could recuperate at my home and work on your farm and you could pay her. That way she would be able to save up and go home." Mlungisi admitted, embarrassed.
"Pay her!? What can she do!? She is crippled!!" Runako spat angrily and glared at his son.
"So are you father, that does not stop you." Mlungisi replied quietly, as he watched some ants crawl home in the dirt.
Runako sighed, his withered hand clenched around the ornate cane. "I have a cane, yes. But I have adapted to my disability, I have movement in my limbs, I am able to climb up into the lofts and feed my cattle. I am able to work in the fields. That girl does not have that ability right now. That girl is a ball of emotion, confusion and pain and is of no use to me in that condition. Pay her way back to America if you must, but I will have no part in it."
*****
"Chief?? Dr.Weaver?" Dave crouched onto his knees and shook her gently, causing Kerry to wake abruptly and burst into tears. Her hands struggled for something to hold onto before she grabbed Dave in a hug and sobbed into his shirt. "Dr.Weaver!??!!!" He stammered in disbelief.
Dave carried the sobbing mess in his arms as Kerry wept softly into his shirtsleeve. He walked her up the back lanes to the house where he snuck up the back steps to her bedroom.
As he get her nestled under the covers and turned to leave, she called out to Dave, her voice wavering with spent tears. "Malucci... Stay.."
******
"Is it straight yet?" Doug muttered frustrated, holding the new sign, as the women below stood at the foot of the ladder, barking orders.
"More to the left." Elizabeth replied cocking her head to the side so her ear touched her shoulder.
"Yeah.. and up a little on the right-hand side." Abby giggled.
"Yeah.. and stand on one foot, on your tip toes. You'll get more height that way. Inch it up a little.. That's it, honey!" Carol smiled.
Doug sighed. "So it's good now?" He smiled, relieved.
"No.. A little more to the right.." She murmured thoughtfully.
"ARGH!!!!!" Doug poked at it as he balanced uneasily on the ladder.. His leg shaking and nervous sweat trickling down his calf before Doug's foot slipped and the whole ladder and paediatrician fell into the ditch.
******
"You smell like you were attacked at a Vaudeville show.." She murmured softly, wrinkling her nose.
"The orchard wasn't exactly the best place to take a nap, Chief." Dave grumbled.
"I'm not the one who looks like he was rolling in pig slop." Kerry smiled tiredly. "I managed to get there without falling in fruit. You do seem to fall down a lot.. Could it be an inner-ear thing?" She said thoughtfully.
"Chief.. Why.. Why were you crying like that?? You scared the shit out of me.. Did you have a nightmare or something?"
Kerry's face clouded and she sighed. "None of your business, Malucci."
"I'm gonna go take a shower.. Is that okay?? I can come back afterwards, if you want to talk." Dave asked worriedly.
"That'd be nice.. Go get yourself cleaned up Malucci, and thank you." She smiled slightly, snuggling down into the bed as Dave left, stripping off his t-shirt.
****
Dave walked down the hall, hopping on one foot as he pulled off his pant-leg, shedding them in the hallway like a snake shedding it's molt. As he pulled off his underpants Carter stormed up the stairs from behind.
"Shit! Carter!" Dave gasped in surprise as the resident brushed past and into the bedroom and slammed the door.
Around the time that Dave had started to recover from the fact that Carter had seen him naked, Carter burst from the bedroom looking confused. "Dave.. Did you know you are standing in the middle of the hall with no clothes on?"
Slowly, Dave glanced down at himself with an expression of feigned horror before running into the bathroom. "Oh my god! You're right! I *AM* naked!!"
Carter sighed before going back into the bedroom that both Dave and him had become accustomed to sharing.
Life had gotten pretty fucked up lately and there was nothing he could do but watch it and hope it didn't get any worse.
He lay back on the bed, his eyes closed as he listened to the noises around him, the muffled pounding of Doug finally nailing the sign in place, the wet hush of the shower going as Dave washed himself clean of the manure, dirt and apple sauce, of the sound of Carter's own breathing as he drifted off and fell asleep.
*****
"Hey... Chase.. What's that?" His cousin said laughing as he dragged the trunk from under the bed and opened it.
"Leave it alone you pecker-wood!" John's cousin growled half-heartedly. John was just a stupid kid.. He didn't know any better.
"What are you doing with, Auntie Evie's pills? She's crazy.. She needs those pills. Are you sick? You're not going to get sick like Bobby are you?" John blubbered, his brown eyes filling with tears.
"What?! No... But they do make me feel better. Go play with your sister and leave me alone will you?" Chase grumbled.
"But.. Gamma should know that you're sick! We should tell her!!" John pleaded.
"If you tell.." Chase thought for a minute. "If you tell, I'll tell your Mom that I caught you in the basement smoking her cigarettes."
"But.." Tears rolled down John's face and he turned away from Chase, staring sullenly out the window. "That's a lie.. I never did that!"
Chase sighed and stared out the window with his cousin watching Barbara roll on the grass with the new puppy. "Some day Johnny.. Some day you'll be in as much pain as I'm in. Then you'll understand. You'll understand why I need them. You'll understand why I have Evie's pills hidden under my bed. Don't tell anyone. I'd rather you forgot you ever found them, Johnny. Just forget about it. I'm fine really. You don't have to worry about me. You'll understand some day, Johnny." He watched John's expression carefully as he dumped a handful of the diazepam into his palm and swallowed them. "They make me feel better. You'll understand some day.."
*****
"Luka.. Come on.. We're home." Nikola whispered tiredly, pulling the man from the truck.
"This isn't my home. Or my uncle's... Where are we?" Luka said looking alarmed at the small bungalow.
"It's my home. Where Dashenka and I lived for many happy years. Her heart was weak. She died of an attack last spring. So this is where I live. Alone. Enough answers for all your questions, boy?" Nikola said gruffly as he banged into the house.
He collapsed into a chair and stared at Luka. "Your limp. You were shot??" Nikola asked bluntly.
"Yes.. After.. After my apartment building was bombed, I joined the forces as a doctor. My infantry was captured.. I escaped and was shot in the fields as I was running." Luka replied sadly.
Nikola nodded gravely. "Are you sure? I mean.. I heard that you stepped on a mine." There was a twinkle in his eye and Luka knew he was busted.
"I have had first hand experience with mines.. I have escaped with my life and limbs intact, I was also shot in the war.. But.. That's not why I have a limp.." Luka sighed as he started to recall the memories.
*********