Last day, winter break:
April and I, Celestial Treasures,
Dad said I could accompany her,
even though I’m still grounded.
Gloria, behind the glass counter,
huge silver hoops swinging from her ears.
April palms an Animal Spirit book.
I trace Andromeda on the map.
Suddenly, I overhear: April telling Gloria Dad’s HIV Positive,
asking if there’s anything she has in her store to help him.
I yell her name. Tell her no.
But Gloria’s already there,
arm around April, tears sparkling, earrings twinkling.
She starts naming funny-sounding pills and herbs:
selenium, St. John’s wort, astragalus.
She says this is what they do for their HIV patients
in the Netherlands, India.
Says our dad is one of millions of cases worldwide.
That we need to give him the strength to endure these tragic times.
Shows us crystals, talks of Reiki, acupuncture, homeopathy.
Can’t listen to
these impossible remedies,
this invasion of privacy.
I leave. Wait for April outside.
Finally, she emerges, bundles of herbs in her arms,
crystals dangling around her neck.
I ask her how she could do this to us,
tell a total stranger something so personal,
so private,
April says this is our DeLorean,
this is our chance to save Dad.
She walks quickly home.
I walk twenty feet behind.