Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 (38 page)

Tanesha didn’t say anything.

“
It’s a long road, Miss T,
but it’s our road,” he said. “When I was putting together the last
greatest hits album, I listened to all the songs I’ve written for
you and about you. I don’t think I was ready for us when we were
kids.”

“
And now?”

“
What did you
hear?”

Tanesha looked away from him.

“
What did you hear?” he
repeated. He moved her chin with his hand so she was looking at
him.

“
You get what happened,”
she said. “What you did to me, to us, and you… want to make it
better.”

Regaining herself, she leaned back.

“
But are you going to do
the work?”

“
Yes ma’am,” he said. “Are
you?”

Tanesha nodded. He pulled her into his
arms.

“
I love you, Miss T,” he
said in her ear. “I always have.”

Tanesha began to cry.

“
None of that,” he said.
“We have to go see some junker of a house.”

Tanesha socked him in the ribs and he
laughed.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday morning – 10:15 A.M.

“
I don’t need to hear
anymore,” Valerie said.

Sitting in a quiet booth in the back of
Annie’s Café, Valerie leaned back so the waitress could set down
her apple pie. The waitress gave Honey her gingerbread and set down
two slices of berry pies down for Jill and Heather.

“
Do you?” Valerie asked
Honey.

“
No,” Honey said. “There’s
no way I’m going to let them experiment on our baby or your
daughter or your boys, Jill. No way.”

“
So we agree,” Jill
said.

“
Are you sure?” Heather
asked. “I mean, it would mean the world to us, but I…”

“
Blane is my friend,”
Honey said. “And a really decent guy. If our baby’s cord blood can
save him? I’m in.”

“
I’m in,” Valerie said.
“Absolutely.”

“
Here’s what’s going to
happen,” Jill said. “Blane will be prepped for surgery when you’re
in labor Valerie. When Jackie is born…”

“
Jackie?” Valerie
asked.

“
Isn’t that the name you
picked out?” Jill asked.

“
Jacquotte,” Valerie said.
“Like the pirate. How did you know?”

“
Like I said when Jackie
is born,” Jill winked at Valerie. “Mike and I will do our stuff
with the cord and send it to Blane’s operating room with Heather.
Same with you Honey.”

“
MJ’s working but I get to
Skype him tonight,” Honey said.

“
Good,” Jill
said.

“
What are you going to
do?” Valerie asked Jill.

“
Have the babies at the
Castle so no one can take them away for experiments,” Jill said.
“My brother Steve is looking into preserving the cord
blood.”

“
By that time, we’ll know
if Blane’s getting better,” Heather said.

“
The boys’ cord blood
should do the trick,” Jill said. “Or that’s what Blane’s doctor
believes.”

Valerie beamed at Jill.

“
What?” Heather
asked.

“
It’s like giving birth to
twins,” Valerie flushed with passion.

“
Giving life to two
people?” Honey asked. “I thought that too.”

“
Very cool,” Jill
said.

“
Now I have to convince
Blane,” Heather said.

“
Convince me of what?”
Blane asked. He set their son, Mack, in the waiting booster seat.
He kissed Heather’s cheek and scooted in next to her. “What are we
talking about?”

“
I went to see the doctors
yesterday,” Jill said.

“
But…” Blane
said.

“
Give her a chance to
finish,” Valerie said. Sitting across from him, she put her hand
over his. “Give her a chance.”

Jill had heard Valerie had a “gift”, but
she’d never seen it. Watching her manage Blane, there was no
mistaking that Valerie was Celia’s powerful daughter. Blane nodded
as if he agreed completely. Surprised, Heather raised an eyebrow.
She looked at Blane and Valerie and then back at Blane.

“
I have a rare blood
type,” Jill said. “They’re pretty excited to get a chance to
explore my genome.”

“
Sounds awful,” Blane
said.

“
I thought so too,” Jill
said. “I was about to leave when your doctor took me aside and told
me about some cord blood studies.”

“
Cord blood is the blood
in the umbilical cord,” Heather said. “It contains stem cells and
other fabulous things.”

“
I remember we donated
Mack’s,” Blane said.

“
This is your gift
returned to you,” Jill said. “There are a number of studies, I
don’t know how many, which found that putting cord blood into the
artery that feeds the liver helps the liver recover.”

“
Really?” Blane
asked.

“
Your doctor thinks you’re
a good candidate because you don’t drink and you lead a healthy
lifestyle,” Jill said.

“
The studies show that
people heal from liver disease with help from the cord blood,”
Heather said.

“
And the risks?” Blane
asked. “I’ve been in this game long enough to know there’s always
some horrible risk.”

“
For you? The risk of the
surgery,” Jill said. “There’s no risk to us or our
babies.”

“
What if your babies need
their cord blood?” Blane asked.

“
We have to trust that
some other couple will be willing to donate their baby’s cord
blood,” Jill said. “We’re willing to take that risk.”

“
We don’t store our own
blood; we trust people to donate,” Valerie said. “We’ll do the same
for Jackie.”

“
I need to confirm with
MJ, but I’m sure we are too,” Honey said.

“
Valerie is due first,”
Jill said. “Then Honey. MJ’s traveling so she doesn’t want to
commit before talking to him. But she’s going to talk to him
tonight. We’ll know then. The boys and I are last.”

“
I’d get all four?” Blane
asked.

“
We’d have to see how you
do,” Heather said. “I looked up the studies after Jill got back
from the doctors. Some people got better after one treatment. So
we’ll see.”

“
If you don’t need it, you
won’t get it,” Jill blushed. “But your doctor is likely to want you
to have ours.”

“
Why?”

“
Because I have a mutation
against AIDS,” Jill said.

“
Jake told me this
morning. They want to experiment on you,” Blane said.

“
And the babies,” Jill
said.

“
Of course, we’re not
going to let them,” Valerie said.

“
I’ll do everything in my
power, that’s for sure,” Blane said. “Do you know what the long
term prognosis is?”

“
No one knows,” Heather
said. “They’re tracking the patients but it hasn’t been that
long.”

“
We’re willing to do what
we can,” Valerie’s voice was smooth and cool. “But you have to
agree to get the treatment.”

“
Doesn’t sound like I have
anything to lose,” Blane said. “What do I have to do?”

“
I’ll set it up with the
doctors,” Heather said.

“
There’s an app so we know
when each other is in labor,” Jill said. “You’ll get prepped for
surgery when Val’s close.”

Blane nodded.

“
Then we’ll do it for me,”
Honey said. “And Jill’s last.”

Blane’s eyes became moist. He looked away
from them to keep his emotions in check. Valerie touched his hand
and he turned to look at her.

“
Thank you,” he said. “For
the first time in a long time, I feel like I have hope; like I
might even see Mack graduate high school.”

The mothers’ eyes welled with tears.

“
Can I bring you
anything?” the waitress asked.

“
Let’s celebrate,” Blane
said. “I’m buying. What do you think ladies? Milkshakes to go with
you pie?”

Valerie and Honey cheered. Not willing to be
left out, Mack joined the cheer.

“
Milkshakes all around for
my mothers,” Blane said. “And my baby Mack.”

Heather hugged him.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday afternoon – 2:15 P.M.

“
Ok, I just have to
change,” Sissy said to Sandy. “Then you’ll take me,
right?”

“
You have to hurry,” Sandy
said. “Ivan’s already waiting for you. He wanted us there ten
minutes ago.”

“
I know! I know!” Sissy
said. “I was late getting off work and…”

She ran past Noelle, Teddy, and Nash.
Everyone in her family was there to see her dance. Except Rachel,
of course. Rachel was at daycare. But everyone else would be there
to see her shine. Today was her big day.

“
Just go,” Sandy
said.

Sissy hopped in the shower. Today was
Sissy’s big break. Mike’s grandfather had come all this way from
Russia and wanted to see her dance. While she knew he hadn’t come
just for her, his visit was all Ivan had talked about for the last
month. They had practiced and practiced and practiced. Every little
thing had to be perfect because, as Ivan said, one good word in the
right ear from this man and her future as a prima ballerina was
set. Seth had told Sandy to wait until he was home, but Mike’s
grandfather wanted to see her today.

She toweled off quickly. Standing in the
mirror, she smiled at herself.

Today was her day!

She was going to shine!

And her future would be…

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw
something on her chest. Sissy screeched at the top of her
lungs.

What were those?!?

Overnight, two blobs had grown on her chest.
They weren’t there last night. But today, her big day, these
bulbous growths had appeared.

Her eyes cast around the bathroom until they
landed on her Dad’s old straight razor. Sandy was teaching Charlie
to shave. The razor would work perfectly to get rid of these globs.
With swift motions, she slashed at the dream wreckers.

“
Sissy no!” Sandy yelled.
Small but strong, Sandy grabbed for Sissy’s forearms. Sissy fought
with her.

“
Nothing’s going to stop
me on my big day,” Sissy waved the razor around trying to cut off
her breasts. She caught the edge of Sandy’s forearm before Sandy
caught hold of Sissy’s flailing hand.

“
Help! Someone help!”
Sandy screamed.

“
Oh my God,” Noelle said
from the doorway. “Daddy! Nash! Charlie! Help!”

Charlie reached Sissy first. He wrenched the
razor from her tight grasp and threw it into a corner. While Sandy
struggled to keep hold of Sissy’s wrists, he grabbed her from
behind. The force of his movements combined with his weight and
they hit the floor. They slid across the tile until his back hit
the wall next to the toilet. He wrapped his legs over hers and held
her arms back in a physical restraint. Sissy howled like a caged
animal. Sandy pressed her hands over Sissy’s largest wound.

“
Oh my God,” Aden stood in
the doorway. “Noelle call 911. Nash get the first aid kit gauze and
bandages. Teddy help Sandy with the bleeding.”

Teddy gave him a look of sheer panic.

“
I know she’s naked,” Aden
said. “Just don’t look.”

Aden shoved a towel into Teddy’s hand and
nudged him toward Sissy. Teddy put the towel over one of Sissy’s
wounds and his hand over the other.

“
But it’s my big day!”
Sissy screamed. “I can’t miss my big day!”

“
Shh, Sissy, shh,“ Sandy
smoothed her long wet hair. “We never get just one big day.
Everything is going to be all right.”

“
Come on Sis,” Charlie
said. “Breathe with me. Like we learned in treatment.”

Nash ran in with bandages. Seeing there was
no way to intervene, he stood in the doorway with Noelle. As she
was cold, Noelle moved closer to him. He put his arm around
her.

“
I don’t want to breathe!
I want to get these things off me so I can be a ballerina!” Sissy
said. “I want to be a ballerina. I can’t be a ballerina like this.
All I ever wanted to be in my whole life was to dance. Now, I
can’t.”

“
I’ve got you. I’ve got
you,” Charlie said. “You can be a ballerina.”

“
You’re safe, Sissy,”
Sandy said. “Everything is fine. Let’s breathe with
Charlie.”

“
But…”

“
This is your eating
disorder talking, Sissy,” Aden kneeled down in front of her.
“You’re at that crazy place. You have to fight it.”

“
She didn’t eat this
morning,” Sandy said.

“
I haven’t seen her eat in
a couple of days,” Noelle said.

Aden held Sissy’s head between his large
hands. Sissy’s eyes flicked back and forth like a trapped
animal.

“
Look at me, Sissy,” Aden
said. “This is your eating disorder talking. You’re a beautiful
young woman who will be a gorgeous prima ballerina one day. You
know that in your heart. Listen to your heart.”

“
You know that Sissy,”
Charlie said.

“
You already are a
ballerina,” Noelle said from the doorway. “You’re an amazing
dancer.”