The day was bright, scrubbed clean from more late showers the night before. Elaine could still smell the moist earth, and she climbed from Michael’s Mercedes and stretched. She was in a good but anxious mood. Henry’s house looked safe enough, but she wasn’t really worried about her safety. She was worried about what lay harbored inside her.
“Check out that metal sculpture,” Michael said, pointing, then removing his designer shades. “That is incredible.”
“Mm.” She glanced up and down the street and found it quiet. Two other trucks sat in the driveway. One older, maybe seventies. The other she couldn’t quite make out. “He’s expecting us, right?”
Michael rounded the car and took her hand. “Yes.”
They walked to the front door, but a voice called from around the back of the house.
“Hello,” Henry called, greeting them with a smile. He wore old jeans, a turquoise squash belt buckle, a button-down shirt, and a turquoise bolo tie. He smelled of coffee. Elaine liked how his hair was smoothed back from his forehead and then tied into a long silver braid. She had liked him at once the day before when they’d met for coffee.
He was soft-spoken, sincere, had kind brown eyes hidden by webs of wrinkles. He hadn’t promised anything, hadn’t spoken of money. He’d only cared about her story. At one point, he’d even covered her hand with his own.
“You’re nervous,” he said, leading them into the back. “It’s normal.”
She exhaled and laughed nervously. Michael once again ripped off his shades to take in the art. He walked to each statue and touched it. He was sold. Elaine had never seen him so excited about art before. She wondered if he’d brought his checkbook.
“I have one in the work shed that’s for you,” Henry said. “Started it two weeks ago for a white man. Didn’t know who, but I knew he’d be coming here.”
“No shit?” Michael said. He shook his head. “Sorry. I just got excited.”
Henry laughed. “We will look at it later. Right now we need to take care of Elaine.”
They walked to the fire pit, and Elaine noted the small hut. Her heart fluttered. She didn’t like tight spaces, but Henry said the flap would be left open for the first ceremony. She stood next to him at the fire pit and he tied on a bandana with an elaborate design on it. He held out his hand. He led her to the hut.
“I’ve painted for you,” he said. “With the sand.”
She nodded.
“You must strip and sit on it. It is the only way it can pull the negative from you. Then when you’re finished, I mix the sand together with the earth and return it all to the earth and away from you.”
She swallowed. It didn’t sound so bad. “I’ll leave you now, to remove your clothes.”
He walked away and Michael went with him. Elaine slowly undressed and entered the hut. She found it cool and the sun angled in on her sand painting. It was so beautiful and precise she hated thinking about destroying it. But she did as instructed and sat on it.
Henry then peaked inside. “You ready?”
He entered and began to chant. She knew from his earlier instruction that she was to sit quietly. The sand painting was for healing he’d said, and he only did it for those in dire need. He’d asked her to tell no one about it. For it was still considered sacred.
She closed her eyes as he continued, and then when he finished, he left her alone with her thoughts. He told her to think of Barb, the accident, anything that caused her pain. She focused and brought up the pain, which seemed on the brim after the long chant. She fought the tears, wiped them away, but then let them fall into the dirt. The earth could have them.
When she was ready, he came in, did another chant, and then had her stand as best she could. He chanted as he destroyed the painting, returning it to the earth.
Then he led her from the hut where a woman who looked like him waited with a robe. When the woman saw her, she looked away quickly and excused herself. Michael came to her side. “How was it?”
“Different,” she said.
“How do you feel?”
She breathed deeply. “Lighter.”
He smiled. “Good.”
She looked around, and when she saw Henry, she asked to use the restroom. He told her where to go in the house and then said his sister, Jolene, should be able to show her. Elaine set off, walking barefoot through the dirt to the back patio. She entered the sliding glass door and turned right down the hall. She heard hurried voices and she paused, recognizing one and then hearing her name. And then she remembered Johnnie talking about a Jolene. And yesterday she had mentioned a Henry. Her stomach flipped.
Suddenly, Johnnie stepped into the hallway, completely nude, wet from an apparent shower.