Tell Me I'm Dreamin' (25 page)

The last thing Verda told her was, “Lenora, you are the bringer of light, the message, and so is the one to come. There must be the consumption of the dark by the fiery light before the God and Goddess can reunite to make All That Is. The Dark has been allowed so that the Light could emerge brighter. It will be like the balancing of a scale, the payment of a debt. The one to come will be united with a man—”

Nadine turned the page with trembling fingers, but there was nothing else; the last page was missing.

Nadine did not know what to think or how to feel. She was stunned by the strange tale of Lenora whose eyes were the same color as her own, and by the prophecy. She stared at the uneven edges where a page used to be.

Was this the missing page that drove Madame Deane to ransack the library? If so, why was the story in her possession? And what did she mean when she said time was running out? Nadine scanned back through the legend, her mind in overdrive. Who was the man mentioned in the prophecy? Could it be Ulysses?

Shaken to the core, she put the book back behind the bed. But Nadine knew the vision, Madame Deane, the cliff dwellers, the necklace, and now this story all warned of something that she inexplicably felt was part of her. A part of her had wanted to deny it, but another part, the one who dreamed and longed to know about her roots in the Caribbean, had always known. It was the part that was determined to accept Nadine's unusual destiny.

Nadine's hand went up and touched the cross that she always wore, even beneath the cliff dwellers' tablets.
Everything comes from God.
Grandma Rose's words echoed in her mind as she got into bed. She embraced those words with all of her heart, for at that moment she felt if she did not believe them, she would be doomed to hell with all those who worshipped God/Goddess/All There Is.

It was a long time before Nadine was able to fall asleep. Her mind played tricks on her whenever she managed to drift off into a light slumber. Over and over again the last part of the vision seemed to surface, each time coming closer and closer to revealing the man's face. Then the flames would come, bringing illumination. But that was always followed by a wrenching scream.

Chapter
21

It was late afternoon before Ulysses was able to join Nadine in the hall. Catherine had told her more problems with the workers had erupted, and so it was a preoccupied Ulysses who entered the room, a troubled look dominating his features.

“I hope things are going better in here than what I've been dealing with out there,” he said, not bothering to say hello.

Nadine overlooked his abruptness. She knew it was not meant for her, and that it was a byproduct of the workers' strike that started earlier that morning. “Yes, I heard all about it from Catherine.” Her eyes caressed him from across the room.

She wanted to go up to him and hold him, but from the look on his face a hug was one of the last things on his mind. Instead she began to give him a report of her morning activities. “I've just about completed everything. I used the prices we came up with yesterday. I also did some comparing and calculating. Here are the final results.” Nadine passed Ulysses the notepads. She stood beside him as he checked off each item.

“Master Ulysses.” Catherine's hesitant voice interrupted them. “Basil Sharpe is here to see you,” she announced from the doorway.

“Basil?” Ulysses' thick eyebrows went up. “This is a rare surprise.” He quickly concluded Basil's ill-timed arrival was connected with the workers' strike. Perhaps he had come to gloat over his plight.

Ulysses thought of his empty fields. He would have employed the cliff dwellers but the time of their spiritual ceremonies had come, and he knew they would not be able to work. “Alright, tell him to wait for me in the library,” he replied. “I will be there in a moment.”

Ulysses resumed his rapid evaluation of the prices, but Nadine could feel his thoughts were not totally there. She could not help but feel a little disappointed that Ulysses did not mention their evening together. He made no reference to what they had spoken of before leaving one another the night before. He didn't even ask if she had come to a decision. Nadine did not see a trace of the impetuous Ulysses with whom she had spent the evening on the beach. It was like it had never happened.

“Everything looks to be in order.” Ulysses returned the pads to her. “If you need me I'll be available in the library once Basil has left.”

“Alright,” she said quietly as she thought, He has forgotten about last night. It was not important to him.

He turned to walk away, but before Ulysses passed through the door he turned toward her. “And Nadine?”

“Yes?”

“I have not forgotten.”

Nadine's mouth formed a tremulous smile, and her hazel eyes deepened in hue as she looked at him. “I'm glad,” she replied.

Ulysses' attitude took a turn for the worse as he opened the library door and found Basil casually eyeing the paperwork on his desk. Knowing he had been caught in the act, Basil made no pretense. Instead, he slowly made his way to the opposite side of the desk, and plopped down in a large cushioned chair, crossing his legs with great pomposity.

Ulysses' already dark complexion seemed to dim even further as he crossed the room with brisk steps, refusing to greet Basil as a guest since he did not have the decency to act like one.

“What do you want, Basil?”

“Why, Ulysses,” he feigned offense, “it has been such a long time since we have seen one another and talked. I thought we could at least catch up on what has been happening in our lives, and with Sharpe Hall and Sovereign.” He smiled his most superior smile.

Ebony eyes pinned Basil to his chair as Ulysses gave him an insulting look. “There have been only three occasions that you have set foot in this house that I know of. For my seventh birthday, the day your father died, and today. Three visits in twenty-five years.” Ulysses paused to emphasize his point. “So do not tell me this is a social call. You have never liked me, and I have never liked you. So let us keep the record straight.” He leaned over the desk. “Now, like I said, what do you want, Basil?”

Basil sat quietly, examining the large ring on his finger. His first impulse was to blurt out everything just to knock the stinking, mixed bastard off his pedestal. Ulysses had always been too high and mighty. Then all of a sudden a feeling of satisfaction coursed through his veins as he thought about the situation at hand. This time we are going to play the game my way, he thought. Basil forced his angry feelings to subside. I am going to see Ulysses squirm before I leave here. I am going to roast him over the pit slowly, until I see him sweat and then scream with pain.

“There is no need to be so hostile, Ulysses. I understand the pressure you have been under with your workers striking, but that does not mean you have to act like a savage. Or is it simply in your blood?” His eyes turned beady with hatred.

“From what I hear, Basil,
you
are the biggest savage on Eros. I understand you cannot get it up without seeing blood, or if it is a man, his drawing yours.”

Basil's face turned pasty. He was not proud of what he did with the women in the neighborhood, and he knew some of the workers talked about it among themselves, especially if he had been unusually fervent. But how did Ulysses know about Eric? He had been so careful to keep his rendezvous with him a secret.

Stunned by Ulysses' knowledge of his sadistic bisexual escapades, Basil's anger overflowed. His eyes were much too bright when he looked at Ulysses across the desk. Ulysses greeted him with a cold, disgusted stare.

“You dirty mixed bastard,” he spat. “You think you are so much, don't you? You and Sovereign. The Protector of Eros' Treasures.'” A derisive laugh rose out of him. “Well, I hope you are selling enough of your treasures day after tomorrow, because if you do not, half of Sovereign's sugarcane fields will belong to me. To Sharpe Hall. Do you understand that?” Basil gloated in hearing the words spoken out loud. “While your withered-up aunt was so busy spreading her legs for my father back in the good old days, he managed to draw up some papers showing that Sovereign had to pay Sharpe Hall back all the money he spent to help bring this place back up to par. Your father and his stinking Egyptian wife let the place go down so bad, it was the only way my father could save it. I guess you people are simply irresponsible. The proof being you also allowed the taxes to get behind.” Basil wallowed in the vengeful words. “Yes, I know all about it. That is why you are having this book sale. To pay the taxes on Sovereign. Well, Master Ulysses,” Basil's eyes burned with disdain, “now the time has come for Sovereign to pay its debt to Sharpe Hall as well.”

Ulysses' voice, like a snake preparing to strike, was deceptively calm when he spoke. “You are lying. My father never would have allowed Sovereign's upkeep to fall behind. Henry Sharpe never spent a dime on Sovereign. If anything, he stole from this estate.”

“That is not what the ledger says. It is an account of all the money my father spent on Sovereign, and your aunt signed the paper sealing the debt.” With that Basil tossed a folded piece of paper on Ulysses' desk.

Ulysses made no move to retrieve it.

Beside himself with pleasure, Basil pressed his position even further. “You do not have to read it if you do not want to. But it is all there. So if you have any money left after paying your taxes, just pass it all over to me, because if you do not pay the debt to Sharpe Hall by next Monday, half of Sovereign's sugarcane fields will be mine.”

Basil rose from the chair, pretentiously dusting lint from his black suit. “And by the way, Miss Clayton has become a pretty interesting player in this. You can throw her sexual services in for good measure. I believe she would be eager to oblige.”

Basil looked up to assess the damage done by his last barb. In seconds he saw Ulysses' countenance change from hatred to pure fury as he leapt across the desk, placing steely fingers ‘around Basil's throat.

“You stay away from Nadine, you sick low-life,” Ulysses said between gritted teeth. “I am going to pay back every cent you say Sovereign owes to Sharpe Hall.” He continued his choke hold on Basil's neck. “But if anything else happens around here that keeps me from paying that debt, your life will not be worth one dollar, Basil Sharpe.”

Gasping for air and with his eyes bulging, Basil's hands flew up to his neck once Ulysses released him, and he fell back into the cushioned chair. Furious, Ulysses brushed past him, and strode rapidly through the courtyard. He passed the hall as he headed for his room.

Nadine had heard loud voices, and she came out of the hall just as Ulysses was storming by. She called to him but he did not answer. Automatically, she started for the library, but she did not get far. She ran into Basil who was coughing and sweating.

Nadine saw his disheveled appearance and guessed that things had gotten way out of hand, but she was so surprised she could not find the words to ask why.

Basil's eyes were still watery as he looked at her. He had threatened Ulysses with the welfare of Sovereign, but it was not until he brought Nadine Clayton up that he became physically violent. Basil stroked his neck. It still burned from Ulysses' strong hands. I will get even with the mixed bastard, he thought. Evidently, Ulysses and this woman had more feelings for each other than he suspected.

“Well, Miss Nadine. Lucky that I have bumped into you.” He cleared his throat and massaged it. “It saves me from sending that message. You see, Ulysses' family has gotten itself into quite a bind. They owe a lot of money. Much more than Ulysses thought. He did not include an old debt Sovereign owed to Sharpe Hall.”

“And?” She eyed him cautiously. “Sovereign is Ulysses' affair. What does this have to do with me?”

Basil raked her over with an assessing gaze, leaving little doubt of what was on his mind. “You are the only one in a position to help him out.” He smirked. “All you need to do is come to Sharpe Hall when I send for you.”

Nadine long ago decided she did not like Basil. Now, she knew why. He was nothing less than repulsive. There was a greasiness to his character, and a cruel feel about him. “I don't know what you're up to, Basil, but I'm not having any of it,” she retorted.

“Have it your way,” he shrugged, “but if you do not come when I send for you, Ulysses is going to lose half of Sovereign.”

Nadine shook her head. His words were incredible.

“You do not have to believe me. There is a piece of paper in there,” he pointed toward the library, “that explains everything. And Miss Nadine,” Basil rubbed his sweaty palms together, “if you say anything to Ulysses about our little talk, I will make sure he loses all of Sovereign.”

Basil placed the traditional kisses upon her cheeks and walked away.

Numb, Nadine entered the library. She was stunned to see the majority of the contents of Ulysses' desk on the floor. She sank into a chair, going over the things that Basil had said. When Nadine looked down at the floor she saw a piece of paper sticking out from beneath her foot. She picked it up and scanned the contents. It was a promissory note from Sovereign to Sharpe Hall signed by Madame Deane almost twenty years ago. It was proof that Basil was telling the truth.

All of a sudden Nadine felt as if the whole world was on her shoulders. She thought of Madame Deane and the legend, Ulysses and Sovereign. Ever since she had come to Eros there had been constant signs foretelling she had a tie to the people here and the land. It seemed impossible to believe, that she, a Black woman from Mississippi, would have such a legendary connection, but all the evidence made it real. Now Basil's last words reverberated through her tumultuous mind. “Have it your way, but if you do not come when I send for you, Ulysses is going to lose half of Sovereign.”