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“Saiida?”
She rounded from the panoramic windows that claimed the entire rear wall of the sumptuous third-floor suite that had been reserved for her private lab. She had been staring out over the skyscraping Western Hemlocks that were accented by clusters of enormous ferns banking the vast inlet fed by the river. Misery layered over the apprehension in her almond-toned eyes when she saw Chisulo.
“She’s alright, she’s alright honey,” Chisulo soothed when Saiida rushed across the space to dig her nails into his shirt front. “She’s alright, she-”
“Bach. Bach he-he said terrible things. Kam sh-she- he said-”
“I’m afraid it’s true, honey. It’s all true. Easy,” Chisulo firmed his hold on her arms when her legs seemed to go out from under her and she buckled against him. “Stay with me, love. We really need that incredible brain of yours now.”
Saiida began to nod against his shoulder. Her movements were methodical as though she were trying to collect herself. “The serum...” she sighed. “It can’t be about that. Kam hasn’t been within a mile of anything I’ve been working on.”
Chisulo was already shaking his head. “We know it’s not that, honey.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You have a theory?”
“Not a one, other than something like this can’t be natural,” he offered with a tight smile.
“No...” Saiida began a slow turn around the big, starkly furnished room. “No Chisulo, it’s not natural.”
“Can you recall anything like this happening to anyone else in your family? In the clan? Any... historical documentation?” Chisulo asked.
Saiida’s expression foreshadowed that her response wouldn’t be one of confirmation. “Kam’s a rarity in our line as you know. Everyone born to the Okonkwo family has the ability to shift regardless of their parentage.”
Chisulo pushed his hands into the pockets of the khakis he wore and took a slow step toward Saiida. “Was there ever any question about Kam’s parentage?”
Something tensed on Saiida’s pretty face. “Yes, but not for the reason you’d suspect. My Aunt Eshe graced my Uncle Obi with boy after boy. When Kam came along he endured quite a bit of ribbing. Some said he was losing his potency, others just the opposite.
Those saying he hadn’t lost his potency,” Saiida continued, “they honored my uncle-”
“But cast a shadow on Kam’s legitimacy at the same time,” Chisulo finished.
Saiida’s nod was somber. “There was a DNA test to silence all questions about my aunt’s honor. Kam is one-hundred percent Okonkwo or as close to that as you can get.”
Chisulo smirked. “Must’ve been hard on your aunt’s and uncle’s marriage.”
“Not exactly,” softness returned to Saiida’s gaze. “The rumors were annoying, but my uncle fell in love with Kam the second the midwife put her in his arms. He would’ve killed any man who tried to claim her for his own.”
Chisulo grinned resolvedly. “I know how he felt.”
Saiida’s smile reflected the warmth of her eyes. “You love her very much.”
“I’d die for her,” he said with no hesitation. “I would have two nights ago if...she’d waited.”
“The way I understand it, you could’ve lost her forever if she had. How is she?” Saiida asked in the same breath.
Chisulo hiked a shoulder and slowly lowered it. “She doesn’t remember it.”
Saiida could hear what it cost him to share that. “You don’t want her to remember, do you?”
“Not until we can give her an explanation, Saiida. Hell, a reason- anything. Some way to stop it from happening again.”
“An explanation is needed before a prevention can be found,” Saiida warned.
Decided, Chisulo inclined his head. “Then I’d like to keep it from her until we have one.”
“Understandable,” Saiida’s tone had the same decided tone. “But you should know, my cousin reads me very easily. She’ll know something’s wrong if I go to her with words to soothe.”
“Any way to throw her off the scent? No pun intended,” Chisulo grinned at the look she sent his way.
“Doubtful that’ll be too difficult as long as I’m here.”
“Right,” pulling his hands from his pockets, he raised them encouragingly. “If it helps, Bach’s as miserable as I suspect you are.”
“Again, doubtful,” Saiida offered a sour look. “I was just another in a long line of conquests for him.”
“I’d advise you not to hang on to that belief no matter how much my idiot big brother tries to convince you otherwise.”
Chisulo could easily hear the shudders coming from the other side of the room. Slowly, he made his way toward her. “Saiida, I won’t profess to know the details of your relationship with Bach, but he’s always kept his feelings under wraps. I suppose we all do that- the Nkosi way,” he reciprocated Saiida’s sour look then.
She smiled. “I can confirm that the Okonkwo men live by the same code.”
“Until someone comes along who grinds our code into dust,” a refreshing element held his words. “It’s what Kam did for me and it’s what we all believe you’ve done for Bach. It’s clear that he loves you.”
Her smile turned sad. “Funny how those things are always so clear to everyone but the ones directly involved.”
“And yet, there it is,” Chisulo sighed.
Saiida appeared to be considering the words, but then quickly shook her head. “I have to focus, Chisulo. I have to figure out what’s happened to Kam.”
“Okay, but while you’re doing that, you have to find a way not to clue her in to how dire her situation is. Not until we’ve got more to tell her.”
“Right,” Saiida slapped her hands to her sides and sent a ripple through the wide legs of her jumpsuit.
“Maybe being here will allow you to help Kam while you lean on her for clarity about what’s happening with Bach?” Chisulo suggested, grimacing when he noticed Saiida’s unease appearing to increase.
“I don’t like this either, you know?” he began to walk the grand, unfurnished space before stopping to take in the picturesque view before the windows. “She has a right to know what’s happening to her, but I don’t know how to tell her without destroying her. If you have a way to do that, I’d love to hear it.”
“And if she remembers on her own?”
To that, Chisulo had no reply.
Expressing a sigh of her own, Saiida turned for the room doors. “Let’s go see what we’re dealing with,” she called over her shoulder.
––––––––
Chisulo had selected a suite of rooms for himself and Kam overlooking a heavily wooded side of the estate. Saiida found her cousin there in the airy, yet cozily designed space. She had an unequaled view of the stunning property.
“Whatever their faults, they do have an eye for prime real estate. Hi there, Omo,” she said when Kam swiveled to face her.
The younger woman opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. Only tears emerged in Kam’s rich cocoa gaze.
“It’s alright,” Saiida assured. “It’s alright, Omo,” she soothed, using the Yoruba word for ‘baby’, one she had used when her cousin was just that. She hadn’t been able to speak the word since her own... loss.
“It’s alright,” Saiida repeated the promise and wondered who she was trying harder to convince. Quickly, she closed their distance and drew her cousin into a reassuring hold.
Kam, still seated, locked her arms around Saiida’s waist, pressing her head into her belly as she was rocked.
“Can you talk about it?” Saiida wondered if more of Kam’s memory had surfaced during her alone time in the room.
Kam shook her head though, her arms tightening imperceptibly as she held onto her cousin. “I don’t know where to start I-” she looked up at Saiida with pleading eyes. “I think something’s wrong in my head. I think I’ve forgotten something.”
Saiida nodded, cupping Kam’s cheeks. “Eating might help,” with that, she took note of the untouched toast, coffee and fruit waiting on the platter set between the two chairs in the alcove.
Again, Kam nodded. “I haven’t had an appetite in...I don’t know how long,” quick, quiet laughter followed the admission.
“Have you talked to Chisulo about it?”
Now, Kam’s laughter flowed a bit more robustly yet there was a decisive chill mingled with the sound.
“He won’t even touch me, much less talk to me.”
“What?” Saiida frowned.
“We’ve come a long way from me taking the job to design his museum,” Kam gave in to more of the quiet laughter as she reminisced. “He was so infuriating back then-always doing or saying something completely inappropriate...”
Saiida laughed. “Doubtful he would’ve kept that up unless he thought he had a chance with you.”
“Yeah,” Kam nodded in spite of herself. “I wasn’t nearly as offended as I should’ve been. He never actually chased me around his desk though...hmph, I wonder if I would’ve let him catch me if he had- the man is very hard to resist.”
“I know the type, cousin,” Saiida patted Kam’s cheek. “I was getting much of the same from his brother, remember?”
Kam blinked deliberately as a certain awareness filtered through her eyes. “Of course, I remember,” the whispered words, tapered as she stood.
“Sydi,” Kam soothed and then drew her cousin into a tight hug.
––––––––
A short while later, the women were seated on opposite sides of the round table carrying the platter of breakfast offerings.
“Our lives were so much easier before the Nkosi landed on our path, weren’t they?” Kam mused while smearing butter to a corner of her toast.
“I can remember how carefree I felt,” she went on, “sketching on the beach in Jamaica...excited about the possibility of a new client-”
“What?” Saiida looked up from the slab of honeydew melon she cut into. She’d heard the abrupt end to Kam’s words.
Kam’s eyes held a faraway look. “I think meeting Chisulo just staved off the inevitable.”
“How?”
“I was sketching designs for The Safari Industrial Park when I first met Max Davis.”
“The Safari?” Saiida looked concerned, having recognized the name of the organization as well as that of Max Davis. Her cousin had considered the man a friend until his betrayal.
“He tried to talk me out of taking the job for them or...rather the things he said convinced me not to take it. But now...I wonder if it was all part of the plan. Telling me how that park would be so bad for the environment and all his important work with birds.”
Saiida laughed. “I thought he was a doctor?”
“Ornithologist,” Kam put in. “They study bird behaviors and migration habits. He’s written several books since then and he knew who The Safari was, even then. I mean, I told him who they were and he-he joined up with them anyway thinking they might actually help fund his cause.”
“I know the type,” Saiida chewed on a slice of melon. “So fixed on the agenda, they’ll do anything to see it fulfilled.”
Kam heard the fresh strain in her cousin’s voice now. “That may have been Bach’s motivation for seeking you out, but I think you quickly became much more than that to him. How long will you go without talking to him about what happened?” she asked while breaking off another chunk of the toasted apple bread.
Saiida now warmed her hands around a second cup of the blueberry tea she was hooked on. “We already talked about it,” she said.
“Right. Talked around it, maybe,” Kam disputed and then confronted the look Saiida sent her way. “Do you really believe Bach didn’t want the baby?”
“Again, do you recall me telling you he told me to get rid of it?”
“Because he saw what it was doing to you-to your health.”
Saiida waved away the comment. “That was nothing. I would’ve gladly given my life for our child.”
“I think it was your life he was worried about- the woman he loves.”
Absently, Saiida blew across the steamy surface of her tea and squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t focus on that right now. Chisulo brought me here for a reason.”
Kam rolled her eyes and shoved a corner of the toast into her mouth. “To babysit me, you mean?” she accused while chewing.
Saiida kept her expression schooled. “I think he’s hoping we can babysit each other.”
Coming down off her irritation, Kam leaned in to squeeze Saiida’s hand. “I’m so very sorry about the baby, Sydi.”
“I know, love,” Saiida patted the hand covering hers. “It makes it easier, knowing that. Hopefully, it’ll make it easier to tolerate being here with Bach.”
Kam smiled with playful coyness. “You know, he’s only hanging around because of you.”
“I can’t let him back in, Kam.”
“Because you think he doesn’t love you?”
“Because I love him. After all of it, I still love him and-” She closed her eyes again as if to take a moment to calm herself.
“Finding out I was pregnant, Kam...it made me happier than I could ever remember being. I’m an only child, but with you guys for cousins, I never felt alone. Even still, there’s a lot to be said for having something of your own. For a long time, chemistry was that thing for me and as much as I love being a scientist...that was nothing compared to knowing there was a baby growing inside me. The only thing better, was knowing it was Bach’s baby.” She shook her head defiantly. “Guess I’m not ready to face the fact that it may never happen again.”
Renewed awareness pooled Kam’s eyes and she moved to perch on the arm of Saiida’s chair. “You’re still grieving a terrible loss,” she drew her cousin close. “It’ll take you a long time to want to live again. You’ll never be over it, but you will learn to live with it.”
“God...” Saiida moaned, sniffled. “I’m so sorry Kam, I-it wasn’t so long ago that you lost Rashid.”
Slowly now, Kam nodded at the mention of her brother. She and Rashid were the last of their parents’ six children. “It’s how I know,” she said and pressed a hard kiss to the top of Saiida’s head. “I don’t know Bach well, but maybe he’s feeling heartbroken too? Maybe you can use the time here to find out? Leaning on each other...it could make learning to live with it a little easier.”
Saiida’s soft laughter warmed the room then and she eased back a little from Kam’s embrace to look up at her. “Who’s supposed to be making who feel better here?” she asked.
With exaggerated slowness, Kam stood and returned to her chair. “I think I’m feeling as good as it can get,” she said.
“What was that you told me about leaning on Bach? Maybe you could try that with Chisulo?”
Kam snorted. “Maybe you should tell him that?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Saiida frowned.
Kam kept her back turned. It didn’t take long for Saiida to realize the younger woman was trying to keep tears at bay.
“Hey...” Saiida went to Kam, patted her upper arms. “What is it?”
“I’d tell you if I knew.”
“You must know plenty already to make a statement like that,” Saiida’s brows lifted in challenge when Kam finally faced her.
“I think Chisulo brought you here to help me deal with what’s to come. In fact, I know he did. Seeing you just confirms what became very clear this morning.”
“Honey,” Saiida smoothed back tendrils of Kam’s hair. “What became clear?”
Kam’s lips trembled, but determination gripped her eyes. “It would seem Chisulo’s realized he made a mistake with me.”
“Oh Kam...honey how can that be? He loves you-”
“And he’s asked me to marry him,” Kam put in.
“But that’s wonder-”
“And I think he’s just now getting what that could mean. So whatever may have been on the path for us, I believe it’s coming to an end.”