Against the Wall
Tatyanna made it to the bar in record time and was very thankful she hadn’t come across any cops. She wasn’t in the mood to play sweet and dumb in the hopes of getting out of a ticket.
She made a sharp right into the bar’s parking lot, causing her tires to squeal as she skidded to a stop. Stepping out of the car, Tatyanna slammed the door shut and stomped into the bar, holding tightly to her car keys. She barely glanced at the half-filled room as she looked for Emmett. She finally spotted him toward the back of the room, standing behind the bar, talking to a busty blond. She rolled her eyes as she watched the blond practically laying on top of the counter as she tried to shove her ample cleavage into his face. As she walked up to Emmett, the blond turned to her giving her a nasty look, as if to claim her territory, and was visibly upset when Emmett cheerfully greeted Tatyanna.
“We need to talk,” she said brusquely, ignoring the blustering woman beside her.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I need answers.”
“Okay.” Emmett thought for a moment. “Three hundred and sixty-two.”
Tatyanna was not amused. “What the hell is that?”
He shrugged. “My favorite number.”
“Dammit, Emmett, I am not playing around,” Tatyanna yelled, slamming her fist holding her keys down on the table and causing enough racket to silence the bar. The customers who had seen her before quietly took a step back and acknowledged her presence with a bow of their head. Tatyanna thought their behavior was strange, but at least they were giving her space, except for the dimwitted bimbo, who continued to give her the evil eye.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” he asked, causing her to narrow her eyes.
“That’s what I mean. You’ve been holding out on me, and I demand to know what’s going on.”
“I cannot answer your questions, if you don’t ask them first.”
“Who are you?”
Emmett stared at Tatyanna for several seconds as he contemplated her question. He finally turned to the woman and quietly said, “Blondie, you should get out of here.”
“My name’s not Blondie,” she pouted. “I was here first. You should make her leave,” she said, in a childlike voice.
“Blondie, look at her. Do you recognize her?” His voice became harsher.
“Should I?” she asked, barely glancing at Tatyanna.
“Yes, you should. Now, look at her.”
Tatyanna could feel the blond scrutinize her. The other woman’s eyes grew wide as they took in Tatyanna’s hair, and then a look of fear when she saw the tattoo. Her jaw dropped and she quickly gathered up her purse then bowed at Tatyanna, muttering an apology. “I’ll call you later,” she said toward Emmett as she left the bar.
“I’ll ignore it,” he said under his breath. Tatyanna almost smiled until she remembered why she was there. “Perfect timing, I was trying to come up with a way for her to leave me alone.”
“A simple ‘no, not interested’ might have worked.”
“Not with her. She is a leech. I was trying to find someone more appealing than me to stick her on.” He paused for a moment and tilted his head to look at her. “So, where were we?”
“You were avoiding my question.”
“And that question was?”
“Who are you?”
“Ahh, yes, next question.”
“What do you mean ‘next question’?”
“I can’t answer that one right now.”
“Fine,” she said, through clenched teeth.
“I’m not in the mood for games any more than you are. So let’s get to the real reason why you are here. What happened today?”
“I think I healed a boy,” she whispered.
“Why are you whispering?”
“Because I don’t want anyone to think I am crazy.”
“There’s no one here but us,” he said, and she turned and took in the room. He was right.
“Where’d everyone go?”
“Seriously? Who is going to stick around when there is an angry woman on the loose?”
She ignored what he had said. “Somehow, I think there’s more to it.” Emmett simply shrugged and went back to cleaning glasses behind the bar.
“So…uh…you don’t think I am crazy?” she asked him nervously.
“That you can heal people?”
“Well, I don’t know if I can heal people, as in, I’ve never done it before, but I think I healed a little boy.”
“Danny, right? On the cancer floor?”
She narrowed her eyes at him, her eyebrows furrowed. Emmett could feel her scrutiny, but refused to meet her eye. “Can you read my mind?” she asked at last.
“No.”
Tatyanna burned with curiosity, wanting to know how Emmett knew about Danny. However, he was only going to reveal as little as possible to pacify her, and always leaving her wanting.
“Yes, it is Danny. I saw him today, and he was so excited about going home, and the fact there isn’t any sign of the cancer once plaguing him.”
“What makes you think you healed him?”
“Because, when I met him, he was talking about dying and how nothing was working on him. Then, a few days later, the cancer is gone, and I think I had something to do with that.”
“How do you think you healed him?”
She bit her lip in concentration. “I don’t know. The only thing I really ever did with Danny was talk to him, and give him sponge baths. But I’ve been giving other patients baths, and I haven’t heard of any of them getting better. I don’t know, maybe I really am going crazy.”
“At any point during his bath did you think about him getting better?”
“All the time. Who wouldn’t wish he could get better? He’s the sweetest little boy I have ever met.”
“So maybe it was your positive thinking that healed him.”
“I don’t think that is it. Positive thinking only works for the person who is sick.”
Emmett didn’t say anything for a moment, debating with himself about how much he should say to her, or if he should wait for the right moment. “When you worked in the nursing home, didn’t you have patients who claimed they felt better after you spent some time with them?”
“How…” she started to ask and then shook her head, waving her hand to the side. “Never mind, you won’t tell me how you knew about my job at the nursing home, will you?” Emmett shook his head, and she let out a loud huff in frustration. “Well, yeah, the patients did say they felt better, but it gets lonely for them being holed up in their rooms, with little to no visitors. I just figured I made them feel better by visiting and talking with them. I don’t know anymore. There are just too many strange things going on. I don’t know if I am imagining things, or if I am losing my mind.” Emmett hesitated, and Tatyanna saw it. “You do know something. Why can’t you tell me?”
“I can’t tell you. I can tell you that you aren’t going crazy, but I can’t answer your questions. It’s not time yet.”
“According to who?”
Emmett stayed silent, having said too much, and ignored her. He saw the pain written on her face, and felt like he had just stabbed her in the back.
“You’re a crappy friend.”
“I never said I was your friend.”
“Then who are you?” she practically shouted at him, feeling herself growing angrier by the second, but once again, she was met with silence. “I demand you tell me what is going on!”
Emmett looked Tatyanna in the eye. He wanted to smile, because she was starting to act like the woman she was meant to be, but knew if he did smile, it would only infuriate her more. Instead, he stayed silent, and after a few moments, she stomped out of the bar, slamming the door shut, making Emmett feel like he had made matters worse.
“You know, that would have been the perfect time to tell her everything,” a voice said from a man emerging from a darken corner.
“Cale,” Emmett said, acknowledging him.
“So, when will it be the right time? She already thinks she is losing her mind, and she already thinks she healed someone. What more does she have to do before the truth is revealed to her?”
“She thinks she healed someone. She doesn’t know for sure, and until she can truly accept her gift for what it is, nothing I say will really matter. She will think I am crazy and come up with an excuse to justify everything I tell her. We have to wait and be patient.”
“Screw that. I’m tired of being patient. We need to make a move and make it now.”
“No. We have to wait. If we reveal too much to her, we could lose her forever.”
Cale looked toward the door. “Well, you do what you feel is right, and I will do what I feel is right.”
“What are you planning on doing?”
“Like I am going to tell you that. What do you take me for? You will just run back to the elders and whine like you always do. But, I’m done waiting. It’s time for action.” He waved his right hand in the air, whispered a few words, and disappeared into thin air.
Emmett muttered an expletive. He made a gesture with his hands that caused the entire bar to light up. Once he was sure he was the only one there, he quickly locked the door. Emmett walked to the middle of the room, waving his hands again, and muttered a few words. He heard a loud pop.
“What do you think you are doing, boy? It’s too dangerous for you to summon me,” an elderly man complained, his voice low and gravelly.
Emmett didn’t apologize to his elder. “Cale has magic,” he said simply instead.
His elder lifted the bearskin off his head and met Emmett’s eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. He disappeared right here, in front of my eyes.”
“Did anyone else see him do this?”
“No. We were alone.”
“Good.”
Emmett was confused by his elder’s reaction. He was livid Cale was using magic and assumed his elder would be, too. “Aren’t you upset? Aren’t you the least bit curious as to where his magic came from?”
“I’d be more upset if he used magic in front of others, and yes, I am curious as to who gave him magic, but there’s nothing I can do about it. More than likely, Grandfather gave it to him.”
“But why would he do that?”
“I don’t know. One doesn’t ask Grandfather why he does what he does. He is all powerful and can do what he pleases. He wanted Cale on this mission, and he must have thought it would be useful to share magic with him.”
“You don’t think he got it from Larik, do you?”
“How could he? He has been with our people this whole time. There is no way Larik could have recruited him. Either way, keep an eye on him, and make sure he doesn’t abuse his new-found gift.” And, with that, he disappeared, leaving Emmett alone in an empty bar, with his thoughts to keep him company.