Blue (28 page)

“Man, I was never this sick with you or Tabitha,” Delah said, wiping her mouth. “It’s like I can’t get a break. I’m always nauseated. It has been non-stop for weeks!”

“Hopefully it should get better soon,” Anytha said, trying to be supportive in an area that she had no experience in.

Anytha walked up the stairs and into her old bedroom—now a guest room—and lay down on her old bed, staring at the ceiling. She felt the weight of the day’s emotion fall upon her eyelids, and she succumbed to them and fell asleep.

She awoke to the sound of her father laughing downstairs. She went down and saw her parents sitting across from each other at the kitchen table, holding hands. Her mother was laughing and smiling, rubbing Chester’s hand with her thumb.

“You seem to be feeling better!” Anytha said to her mother. She opened the freezer for some ice to pour herself a glass of water.

“Much better!” Delah said, laughing a bit.

“That’s great. What’s funny?” Anytha asked.

“I got healed,” Delah said. “Anytha, Inali healed me. I think you really need to give him another chance. I can’t imagine that he meant any harm by advancing at you at your party. He would probably apologize if you actually talked to him about it.”

“When did you see Inali?” Anytha asked, curling her eyebrows downward.

“Anytha, you’re not the only one that can ask your mother to prove to them that she cares about their opinion. I asked your mother to prove to me that she respected my opinion by going to visit Inali for a quick counseling session this afternoon,” Chester said.

“You went to go talk with Inali about this again? I thought that I explained to you that he couldn’t possibly be objective! Mom, what about our deal?” Anytha asked, raising her voice a little as her mother let go of her father’s hand.

“I didn’t break any of your rules, Anytha. But I had to respect your father enough to adhere to his as well. And I’m glad that I did. As soon as I walked in, Inali gave me a hug and said that he could tell that I wasn’t feeling well. He touched my stomach, prayed, and immediately my nausea went away. And it hasn’t come back since,” Delah said. “I think you seriously need to give him another chance. He’s a good man, and he just supports the causes that he does because he wants to support women in every decision that they might have to make. He really gave me clarity on the whole situation.”

“Oh, really? What kind of clarity did he bring to you this time?” Anytha asked, trying not to be snarky.

“Anytha, your mother is going to get the albinism test done. She feels like she can’t make an informed decision without it,” Chester said.

Anytha locked eyes with her mother, who sat unwavering, looking back at her. Anytha could tell that it was true.

“So, what are you saying? If the baby has albinism, you’ll terminate the pregnancy? Or you’ll sell it? What if it’s normal like me? Will you keep it? What are your intentions? I just don’t understand,” Anytha said.

“That’s exactly it, Anytha! I don’t know what my intentions are! I won’t know until after I find out if the fetus has albinism or not. I need to be mentally prepared, and I can’t be informed unless I know all the facts,” Delah said.

“Fetus? How clinical of you,” Anytha said, grabbing her keys from the hook beside the phone as it began to ring. Anytha reached for the phone, but her father ran over and pulled it out from her hand.

“Hello,” Chester said into the receiver. “No. Anytha is not available. Who is this?”

Anytha knew that it must be Ari calling from school to check on her, as he did every night if she didn’t call him first. Anytha reached for the phone, and Chester pulled it away.

“No, I will not allow the boy that has been brainwashing my daughter to speak to her anymore under my roof,” Chester said into the receiver.

“Ari, I’ll call you as soon as possible,” Anytha shouted, hoping that he could hear her.

“I forbid you to call this number anymore,” Chester said into the receiver and slammed it down against the phone.

Anytha, her jaw hanging open, turned and stormed to the door with her keys in her hand.

“Anytha, exactly where do you think you are going?” Chester asked, shouting at Anytha as she walked into the living room, her keys jingling in her hand. “Oh, well if you’re leaving, let me go ahead and get on the phone with the police and report my little, white car stolen, too, then,” Chester said, picking up the receiver again.

“Chester, that’s not necessary,” Delah said, standing up and walking over to Anytha.

“No, Mom. It’s fine. I don’t need the car,” Anytha said, taking her car key off the key ring and handing it to her mother. “The car is just a symbol to me of all your deception anyway.”

Anytha turned and opened the door, grabbing her purse off the couch, and started walking down the driveway.

“Anytha, where are you going?” Delah yelled to her. “It’s getting late.”

“Just away,” Anytha said. “Somewhere in walking distance where I’m allowed to use a phone, I guess. Maybe I will go to Inali’s office. Maybe he can talk some sense into me.”

She turned down the sidewalk and shoved her hands into her pockets. Dusk was approaching, and as the sun lowered, she felt the anger rising up in her about a situation that she had no control over. She walked out of her neighborhood and headed in the direction of their old camp.

As she walked, she took deep breaths, thinking about what she might say if she walked into Inali’s office. If she wanted to have any say in the decision that her mother made, she needed to prove to her that Inali wasn’t who she thought he was. If she wanted to have any say in the decision, she would need to make Inali trust her. A terrible feeling came over her as she remembered the healings that Inali had been doing. How could she refute what this man was saying if he just kept everyone in awe with these miraculous healings? She didn’t know what information she would be prying for, but she knew that if she was going to learn anything about Inali, she couldn’t run into his office accusing him of brainwashing her parents. She had to make him like her again. She had to apologize for their lack of communication over the last year and attempt to make amends.

Anytha walked into the parking lot of the camp and stood in front of the glass door of the building. She reached into her purse for a tube of lipstick and applied some to her lips, tousling her hair until it fell into a flattering shape around her face. She looked in the mirror and wondered if she even had any idea what her ideal end result would be from this conversation. She hadn’t even thought of one. But she knew that she couldn’t allow him to have any part in the fate of her baby brother or sister. If nothing else, if she was nice enough to him, maybe she could convince him to talk with her mother again, taking into consideration the guilt that she was going through from learning about the death of her sister. If anything, maybe she could convince him that if she made the same mistake again, it would crush her.

There were only two vehicles in the parking lot, but Inali’s black SUV was one of them, and she expected that she would find him in his office. The sky was turning dark as Anytha walked through the doors of the camp. She walked through the dimly lit lobby to Inali’s office door; light peeked out from behind its curtains. After standing at the door for a moment, she pulled down on the bottom of her t-shirt, cleared her throat, and then gently knocked.

“It’s open,” Inali said from inside.

Anytha pushed open the door.

Inali looked up from his desk and set down the silver pen that he held in his right hand. “Anytha, what a pleasant surprise. Come in,” he said, standing up and reaching out to shake her hand. “How have you been? It has been way too long.”

Anytha shook his hand and nodded, still finding that her voice was stuck in her throat.

“Feel free to have a seat,” Inali said to her, pointing to a chair that was set up in front of his desk.

“Thank you. Do you have a minute?” Anytha asked, taking a seat in the chair.

“Of course. Is everything okay?” Inali asked, taking his seat in his black leather chair behind his desk.

“Yes, I believe everything is okay. I just wanted to come and, first of all, apologize for the way that I disappeared after my activation party,” Anytha said.

“Oh, Anytha. I understand. I apologize if I was too forward. I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable,” Inali said.

“No, it’s okay. I was just in town and I thought I would come by and talk with you for a minute. My parents have been encouraging me to come back to Blue, and they swore that you would be more than happy to talk with me about it,” Anytha said, shifting in her seat.

“Of course. I’m always more than happy to lend an ear. Your family is a treasure to me. I was so sad to see you leave, and I always blamed myself for that. I let my attraction run away with me, and in the process I lost a potentially great decree,” Inali said, shrugging his shoulders.

“No, it was childish of me to run away without speaking with you. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, and I wish I could go back to that moment. I know that I would handle it all very differently now,” Anytha said. “You never gave me a reason to believe that you would be unreasonable. So I apologize for that.”

“No apology needed,” Inali said. “I have wished very often that I could go back to that moment too.”

“Thank you, for all that you have done for my mom in the last few weeks with her big decision. And for healing her nausea today. She was all smiles when she got home from meeting with you,” Anytha said, sitting forward in her chair.

“Oh, well, I was just happy that I could help her out. No reason to thank me. My Power has been very good to me lately in the healing department,” Inali said, smiling and sitting back in his chair.

“Yeah, actually—I actually just wanted to talk with you briefly about this whole situation with my mom, to hopefully get some clarity on it. Do you mind?” Anytha asked.

“No, not at all. Your mother has such a good heart, and I know that she will make the decision that is best for all of you. I just want to support her,” Inali said. “And I’m so glad that our country will soon afford her the right to make that decision without harming herself.”

“That’s kinda what I wanted to talk with you about. My parents value your advice above everyone else. And I am so thankful that you have poured into their lives so much in the last few months. But I wanted to just let you know what I have seen at home lately, that my mother may not have told you. I guess you are aware that I was not my mother and father’s only child?” Anytha asked.

“I was. Your mother told me that she gave her second child up to the humane harvest compound shortly after its birth. I actually took your mother to the compound where she took them, a couple of weeks ago. It was a very healing experience for her, I believe. All she could say on the way there was how guilty she felt for leaving her pale, helpless baby in the arms of a stranger without even a birthday—with no identity. On the way back home, after seeing the children inside the compound—almost all of them maimed and disfigured by the black market—I believe she felt a sense of guilt fall off her shoulders, knowing that she only did what was truly best for her child,” Inali said.

Anytha felt anger form in the back of her throat, but she swallowed it.

“Commissioner, to be honest with you, I have seen her put on a brave face around you. Being around her the last few weeks has been challenging. She is always crying, as if she is in mourning over the life of my sister. I don’t know if she told you this, but my sibling was a girl. And she most likely died in the flood, and my mom knew that. And it has been killing her. I would seriously hate to see her make a mistake again. And, I just wanted to let you know that she might be more fragile than you think. So, I guess, I just was hoping to ask you if you could encourage her to at least consider keeping the baby. I feel like this baby could be her redemption. The thing that finally brings about her inner-healing,” Anytha said.

“I have never discouraged her from keeping the child. I have only told her that she should not feel guilt in choosing to terminate the pregnancy if it is her desire. I also encouraged her to get the albinism amnio test done, because I just wanted to be sure that she is mentally prepared for any outcome,” Inali said.

“Well, it would mean a lot to me if you could just mention it, even if just to my dad, that keeping the baby could be a great thing for our family. I have a feeling that they could split up over this decision, and I would just hate to see that happen. They really value your advice. This baby could be what saves my mom.”

Inali stood up, walked around his desk and then leaned back on top of it, directly in front of Anytha, laughing a bit and crossing his arms.

“Oh, you two are too similar. You know, someone else came into my office referring to her ten week old fetus as a baby today, too,” Inali said, laughing. “Oh, Tabitha, you’re too much like your mother.”

Tabitha. Anytha felt the name as it came out of his mouth, and she immediately stood up from her chair. The letters that she had written in the dirt flashed before her eyes as she backed away from the desk. Inali stood up, realizing his error, and walked toward her slowly.

“How do you know that name?” Anytha asked, her voice wavering as she backed away from him.

“What name?” Inali asked, his eyes growing wide for a moment, and then quickly reverting back to normal.

“Tabitha. How do you know that name?” Anytha asked, looking for the doorknob with her peripheral vision, and backing up further as Inali took a step toward her.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Anytha. Wasn’t that your sister’s name? Your mom told me her name when we went to Humanity together,” Inali said, stepping again toward her.

“My mom told me today that she has never told anyone that name,” Anytha said, trying to hold back the fear in her voice as she saw Inali take another step toward her, and saw him look at the top of his desk.