Talik and Hanita had a great time in the park. Hanita had forced Talik to climb onto the merry-go-round with her and even when the operators told them that they don't turn it on during the weekdays, Talik had paid extra for them to make an exception. And that had evidently made Hanita's evening.
Now, they walked side by side to the place where meals were served. It was a large space that was walled with glass and highly airconditioned inside. In one corner of the place, they roasted barbecue and in another corner, they sold pastries and ice cream. It was like a one-stop-shop-all kind of arrangement and it made the place smell heavenly. Hanita was a lover of food and she was not ashamed to show it.
"Let's seat there," Hanita said, finding a spot that was not taken as the eatery was surprisingly filled with people.
"So people come here mainly to eat than to use the park, huh?"
"I think the park runs during the weekend..." Talik said. "That is when children have the time to play and such... except on holidays..."
"You were so scared, Talik," Hanita recalled as she burst into laughter again, immediately covering her mouth with her right hand.
"Stop..." Talik pleaded, feeling a little bit shy. He silently vowed not to bring her to any park with such things anymore. His heart still raced in his chest and he'd not gotten over the dizzy feeling he had in his head. If he hadn't been careful, his meal that evening would have come out of his mouth while he rode on that thing.
"They should ban that stuff," Talik added. "It's not safe."
"Not safe for who? You?" Hanita joked.
Talik shook his head at her and pulled out a chair for her to sit down.
"Thank you," Hanita said as she signaled to one of the waiters present.
After they'd both placed their order, Hanita sat back and relaxed on her chair. "I wouldn't have imagined that I'd end up having a great tie today..."
"You did?"
"Yeah..."
"I'm glad..." he replied.
"Your face doesn't look it though," Hanita said with a light chuckle.
"Do you wanna talk about earlier?" Talik asked with a serious but concerned look on his face.
Hanita's jovial facial expression changed as she was reminded of what she'd heard from her mother. She felt the sting afresh and the anger that accompanied it.
"My mother is sick..."
Talik blinked his eyes slowly. "Sorry to hear that, Hanita. What can be done about it?"
"Surgery..." she replied flatly.
However, Talik noticed that she didn't seem excited or relieved about the solution and he wondered why. "Is that not good news?"
"It's a 50-50 chance..." Hanita said.
It seemed like she didn't want to really talk about it as she was speaking in straight and short sentences. Talik didn't want to push but at the same time, he knew if she spoke about it, it could cause some solace to an extent.
"And?"
"It's a very delicate surgery and anything could go wrong..." she stated with her voice wavering at the end of her statement. At once, all that her mother had told her came running through her mind as anger stirred up within her. The person that was responsible for putting her mother in the situation that she was in was still out there -- and Hanita was sure that he was living life to the fullest while her mother was in pain and was about to go in for a risky surgery. She gritted her teeth and balled her fist. Hanita was not one to experience intense anger as that was a trait of her half-sister, Carnise, but right now, that was all that she felt.
"It wouldn't," Talik assured. "Be hopeful, Hanita..."
The waiter returned with their meals and they both thanked the young man.
"I haven't eaten since I returned from work today..."
"Not cool," Talik said taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Have you?"
"Hmm, hmm," Talik replied with a mouth full of the delicious sandwich.
"And just look at how you dived into the food..."
Talik shrugged and they both chuckled a little.
* * *
A while later, Talik parked in the same place where he stopped to pick up Hanita and got down to get her door for her. Now, it was dark in the sky and street lights were on and shining. Birds chirped a little followed by the sounds of crickets that rested in the palm trees that were in front of Hanita's lawn. It was a beautiful place.
"Your house seems cozy...It looks nice," Talik complimented.
Hanita got down and thanked him as she spread out her arms.
Talik watched her and smiled. He bent down and stepped into her arms, closing his eyes while at it.
"Thank you," he said. "Also, everything is going to turn out fine... don't worry so much, okay?"
Hanita nodded and waved at him. When she faced her house, she could see someone in one of the windows in the house, looking down at them. She shook her head and smiled knowing it was her father.
Hanita took off her coat and hung it on the coat hanger that was in the little closet near the entrance door while she waited for her father to come to her. She could hear his footsteps coming down the stairs and braced herself for the questions that would come.
"I didn't know that you were going out..."Deveron said.
"I needed to, Dad," Hanita replied as she walked towards him and walked into his arms that were spread open for her.
"Why did I need to find out by myself that you're dating?"
"Dating? Who? Talik?" Hanita asked with a funny expression on her face. We're not dating... he's just a colleague from work."
"A colleague? Talik? That's his name...Hmm," Deveron hummed. "That seemed like a drop off from a date night to me though," Deveron stated.
"Dad..." Hanita muttered then trailed off. "How's mum faring this evening?"
"She's alright," Deveron replied with a downcast expression on his face. "She's deeply asleep right now... the meds... pretty strong stuff."
"I can imagine," Hanita responded in a low tone. Suddenly, her expression changed and became serious. "Dad..."
"Huh?"
"Did you know this Therman Blake of a monster?"