My hair laid strewn throughout the kitchen bathroom and bedroom, I looked at the uneven patches that remained on my head and hardly recollected who I was. My eye seemed to be getting worse and I had not had an appetite. I'd looked at the unrotted apples that remained on the island but instead of desiring to eat one I held it up toward the light above where I stood and examined it as if it would have an indication of being exceptional. It looked like any other apple. I replaced it on the island away from the rest and headed toward the bathroom to shower before I left, ensuring all doors were locked. There was something inside I was missing I thought as I picked up Ryella's letter that I had partially read.
Certain parts of the two pages were illegible, the blue ink was smeared between the lines on the backside. I glanced over the words and the word tree stood out. She'd once had a fascination for the trees as a small child and played along the rows. I'd learned some disturbing details about the Orchard and had disapproved of the children, even the twins, playing on the land. I began to read---
"---sleep I dream about the tree at the Orchard, it is always burning. The faces in it are always crying and the snake can walk in my dreams. I can hear the music when I'm sleep but cannot wake up until the man comes with the big knife and he can cut off the snakes head. I am not lying Mama I am telling the truth Twalla will tell u so! We saw it at my party I was scared please don't make me go back I'm not lying please come home I hear Emily crying and she will not stop. The lady in the dirty clothes said don't eat the apples but Daddy won't by food just apples. I miss u and hope---"
WHAT THE FUCK HAD I DONE LEAVING THEM BEHIND!!!!!!?
I decided not to shower and ran back to my phone to call Pam! I wanted to leave them with her but I needed to take the girls to be seen! I noticed I had several missed calls on the phone, one from an unfamiliar number, a few from Nathaniel and one from Martin? Why was he calling me!?
I called Pam and Ryella's number without getting an answer.
There was also a message from Nathaniel:
"U actually saw the tree glowing? Did someone put u up to saying that, the tree hasn't glowed, Emily Ellis said a long time ago it glowed when she was young. No one actually believed her except the old man, and the tree u mentioned hasn't even produced since back in 1984 the apples and leaves came out of nowhere. Besides u couldn't have seen fruit in December. Old man Myers thought it could produce again in 11 years but a sacrifice had to be made, and not just any sacrifice. I've been calling u I need to know, this is a serious matter because the trees can't show signs of life unless the Prophecy has been fulfilled. Please call back at once. I must come down and see! No man has ever seen the tree with life!"
He was tripping! I stood naked unsure of what to do or who the fuck to call! The home was putrid with Pooh's blood and I was sickened instantly while inhaling the aroma, I wretched and heaved but had not eaten anything. Something was really making me sick! Also I was needed comforting sexually, anybody would do, I still had remnants of the ant bites and looked unearthly. As I looked at my full figure in the tall antique mirror that hang on the wall, I would have looked rather beastly if I would have had a tail. I walked my Jurassic ass to the bathroom and picked up the stiff bristled toothbrush that had sat there since June. A wig was definitely needed, I would take one of Trenton's caps until I purchased one. I brushed my teeth and as I had the doorbell rang, Lawrence was really becoming a problem I concluded, who else could it be? I was in no mood to be fucked with! I imagined his bitch standing behind him, hell no! While walking toward the front room I glanced out of the window and saw a car parked on the curb, and then a detective? Not Lawrence.
WHY WAS A DETECTIVE COMING TO THE HOME? THE LICENSE PLATES!
I heard the garage door raise and determined a detective would not be able to control it, who the fuck was this man? I'd never seen him before, it was no one Trenton had known was it? When I heard keys at the door that led inside through the garage I didn't know whether to hide or run out naked. The girls' bedroom was the closest room to where I stood, I darted inside but somehow the closet door was off track and wouldn't open wide enough for me to get inside. My own heart would soon explode through my ears, the pressure was deafening alone! I felt close to stroking out! I felt his presence as he entered the hallway, I looked around for a weapon in the unicorn themed room unsuccessfully, my heightened sense of smell told me he was near. He walked down the hall, I saw his dark hand rub the wall in search of the light switch. What did he want? I was getting pissed! I could see him and he invaded my privacy! This was my home!
Finally, the light spilled into the room, he looked directly at me as I stood naked, "Are u ok?" He asked looking me from head to toe. "I'm sorry---I didn't know, I wondered about the truck! Don't ---please,"
I didn't even try to hide my body at that point, and I saw his erection through his Khaki pants. Without me saying a word he turned and ran back down the hall, I soon heard his car drive away. I knew I had to leave the home immediately and wondered still, who the fuck he was and why he had come. I'd seen him before I determined it after he had gone as I had the lady on the curb, his physique had said police, but I'd lost my ability to profile people. His sexy ass was just as scared as I was.
The shower could wait. Clothes I'd worn were divided across the floor, I gathered them, reclaimed more underwear and clothes to change into before putting the ones I'd taken off back on. I took Trenton's cap and headed toward the storage closet. The thought of the man just entering into the home further frightened me, I'd already been disturbed by the letter and the text.
The briefcase. It still laid in the position it had fallen in, I picked it up and wobbled toward the opened garage door in a hurry while passing by my hair on the floor careful not to slip down. I felt time was running out and needed to figure out The Prophecy, there was something I missed. I was more anxious to meet Nathaniel face to face as I had ever been. Martin had introduced his running mates to a new way of life, some indulged, some hadn't. My own grandfather disinherited my father once he was exposed. I wondered of his demise. Had he saw the trees? Why had no man saw it in season? What did they want from me?
I could not do this alone, I remembered when I was innocent and dumb, I too had created an alternate persona---for Redd, I was who he wanted me to be as most are. The devil had me now.
My nephew's body lied underneath a tree, but I felt not just anyone would do to fertilize the ground. I thought back to 1995, it would have been 11 years since Emily said it was in season. Trena had been killed that year. I was confused about how the old man died, but it had been while digging her grave. He'd buried his own daughter there hadn't he? I had yet to find out what was in the vault something important had been taken from inside.
I could somehow now hear Nikki's voice, my flight would leave New Orleans and I hated I had to travel alone. She could have been absolved I concluded and carried a burden for my sudden actions. Troy had played a role in my decision---and killers don't cry. The lady on the curb surfaced again in my visuals, she despised me and spake as if she knew all about me. I was unknowingly rubbing my nipples as I backed from the steep driveway and into the street, sexually. The throbbing between my legs needed satisfying, if only in my slumber. The drive to New Orleans was silent, my phone had not even rang, I'd cried off and on---my daughter had been afraid! They had consumed the apples and could see the trees as I could!
Nothing more than a natural occurrence, I was hallucinating as I had while driving. The figure couldn't have been real on the highway, I only needed to rest. My uncontrolled sex drive was lethal, I valeted the truck at The Windsor Court, went inside and asked for Mrs. Louisa Poindexter's room. The clerk remembered me and said, "She hasn't been a Poindexter in years. Is she expecting u?" I could barely hear as always when in New Orleans.
I lied, but he rang her room anyway. "Oh, u have been expecting her?"
WHO?
"Mrs. Givens?"
Myers.
"Yes."
I hesitated, he had said she waited but didn't provide the room number. I remembered seeing her on the elegant floor I'd chosen to lodge on and pressed the 4 after entering onto the elevator. I somewhat hoped at that point to not see her but somehow I trusted her. Yet, how could she birth someone like Martin?
I stood beside the elevator, I didn't know which way to go but soon a suite door opened directly across from the room where I had stayed. She stood in a Faux mink in the doorway dressed for tea with the queen, and wore a gold brooch with expensive green eyes on the lapel, it appeared to be a snake. Even through the dark glasses the jewels gleamed.
She opened the door wider without a word, her presence was welcoming. Her feeble hands were disfigured but she wore the pink stone well and pointed toward the Bonifant Balloon chair beside the piano. I sat down, it felt like my worries temporarily had diminished.
"Your journey has been extensive, meek and servile u are but your circumstances have frayed your discernment. I remember your mother and how she so desperately wanted another child. The desire had become a burden."
She trembled as she poured wine from a bottle and offered it, "nourishment, the finest of grapes---the bouquet fills the nostrils every sip. Not like the Champagne u consumed, it is rather dry. Go on, sip-sip. Your hair flowed freely, never allow it to flow. U are not free."
I was afraid to drink, as well as not drink. "Alexander is in his room, slacken your tension it's only us two. I was due the company."
I could hear her, and she spake softly. "What is happening? Why must I die so many times?" I sincerely asked one of the questions to sum up all my burdens.
"U have to ask if life was promised. Like a tree---spontaneous u appeared. It's fruit is tainted and begins to wither as soon as it is picked. What is good ground?"
I didn't know.
"Your sister, seed of my seed, fruit of my fruit---I was told to have him castrated as a child, but he had it done himself as a man, first he'd produced 11 children."
11? I thought there were only 10!
"Where is Martin's father?"
I had asked without rehearsal, I needed to know who produced that demon? Why hadn't she aborted him?
"I never knew who he was, but I conceived and became enlightened. I lived on the street after my own mother put me out at 14, her Johns preferred me. The pregnancy came as a surprise so had Martin's birth, I was young and didn't know the body. My second son, I carried him without a womb."
Go on. The aura in the room was as eerie as it was welcoming but she could tell me what I needed to know, and she had power.
"I knew your grandmother, Hazel. We would roam the land and I'd begun to work for your great grandmother, in exchange for room and board. It had rained once and trees had just begun to grow. The residents of Ethel acted as if they'd never saw rain! I got caught in the storm and gave birth under the tree, lightning struck and he wailed between my legs, the pain---you've never felt pain child! I looked at the cross-eyed child and thought it had all been a dream, one by one they had taken their turn nine months earlier in the alley and left me for dead. I died! Inside I was so numb but I had a child. I would take his pictures and his distorted face would scare me! I left him to die in a vault we'd built to do so, burying him was too good! He needed to rot!"
Was this Kerri's father?
"Someone would always free him, he claimed it was a beautiful man and soon wanted to be in the vault. He has never suffered and has had every wish granted, His father? Still alive somewhere, there's no way he could be dead. My son Clifton was Alexander's child, I loved him dearly and call up on him at times. The ground is yours, as it was your Grandmother's. My son took what was rightfully theirs, and your entitlement is grand. The blood nourishes the earth, and the souls grant the desires. Notice the sun. U too have unfathomable knowledge as she had, she could see the trees."
I was damn near drunk, the scent of expensive fragrances was becoming more intense and the cart filled with grapes sat beside the door as if she really expected me.
"I was amused, the bottle was for Procell. He only socializes at night, I was pleased to see him that evening. He'd also found u rather jocular. Tell me the outcome, please."
Was she referring to the arrest? She knew the outcome! Trenton was dead and I'd told her, she responded, "I'd rather assume he is, and u had too."
I prepared to leave, I would likely check in but hadn't told her. As I left out of her room while she expressed how delighted she was for the visit I had to ask myself if I was any more enlightened than I had been before the visit. I thanked her for the wine, it calmed the child. "Yes, it is suitable for the child of darkness."
I stopped in my tracks to ask where I could find the man, Procell as she had called him but looked up and saw Martin emerging from the elevator. Dapper as always but I sensed anger in his salutation, "I was coming to ensure u your safety, please stay with us we will continue to meet your needs." Dario emerged behind him and a rush of lust heated my body, was it the wine? He stood many feet away, I'd known not to be left alone with him and angrily told Martin I was just fine while leaving his mother's room. "I knew I could find u here eventually," he said.
Dario watched me seductively almost sending me into a frenzy, I couldn't control his spell and woke up the next morning in his bed, my belly had grown noticeably. I picked up my phone in fear to see Troy had called.
The home, I was back inside. I had a flight to catch after visiting my man, but when I saw him he told me to get rid of the child, it didn't matter how---I promised him I would fight for him, he spoke like he had given up and apologized repeatedly saying he was sorry and didn't know what he had done until it was too late.