The Bargaining Path Read online

  ***

  Two words spread quickly: James and I were taking a hiatus from our relationship, though people did not know why, and Rene Ellis had been found murdered brutally in his home. When I awoke the following morning, I found that I was besieged by a rather intense headache. From the top of my head, down my neck, to the bottom of my shoulders, pain radiated, leaving my muscles tense and my heart racing. My mind cycled through all the diagnoses that could explain such a terrible headache: meningitis, a rupturing brain aneurysm, ebola…

  “Brynnie, are you okay?” Violet came into the room, and because I was in so much pain, I did not immediately chastise her for calling me “Brynnie,” which no one had called me in at least ten years, not even Penny.

  “Ugh…” I groaned, and I grabbed James’s pillow and held it over my face to block out the light that was streaming through the window. “My head…”

  “Yeah, I talked to Dr. Terry this morning. Is it awful? He said it would be awful.”

  I felt her weight press into the bed beside me, and the slight depression moved my body barely, but still, a rolling explosion of nausea took my stomach, and I was turning over, dry-heaving first and then vomiting into the trash can that Violet had quickly grabbed.

  “Oh, God… Is there blood in it? Is there blood?” I asked, “Or black granules that resemble coffee grounds?”

  “Brynn, you do not have ebola!” She exclaimed, “Dr. Terry says that this is totally normal. I am going to make you some coffee.”

  “No. I can’t… My stomach.”

  “Yes. It’s the only thing that is going to help. Stay here.”

  She left and returned about ten minutes later with a cup of coffee. I had replaced James’s pillow, and Violet laid down on it after she had passed me the cup.

  “Now, if it sucks, I’m sorry. You know I can’t cook. Not even coffee.”

  “I know. It’s not bad, darling. It’s a little strong, but it’s better than being weak.”

  “Good.”

  Silence ensued between us, and when she spoke again, she did so quietly, and I knew that she was prodding me for an answer she assumed she already knew.

  “You know Rene was killed last night.” She said finally, “His throat was ripped out, and his neck was broken, and so was his jaw.”

  “Oh, really?” I replied, “Well, the universe has a sense of justice, I suppose. Karma truly is a female dog. Not only that, but she is a quickly working female dog.”

  “Brynn…” She reached out and grasped my hand, “I know you did it, and thank you.”

  “You are thanking me for nothing. I was here, making James leave, and…”

  “James found him, you know.”

  Admittedly, I was shocked.

  “What?”

  “He found him right after he left here, because he was going to go stay with him. He told the police, and they’re investigating. Brynn… please tell me you covered it up.”

  “Of course I did. Do not worry yourself over it.”

  Her arms were around my middle, and her head was on my chest before I could tell her that we would immediately be changing the subject. At first, I tensed, not only because I was grasping a piping hot cup of coffee and was afraid of sloshing some of it onto her, but because, as you know, showings of emotion disturbed me more frequently than they did not. Still, her arms stayed locked around me, and I kept one of mine around her, too. Neither one of us spoke for a long time.

  “You did it to protect me.”

  “Of course I did.”

  “You do it so easily.”

  “Yes. I did. It is always easy for me. When it is one you being threatened, I easily dispatch the threat.”

  “You’re a little scary, do you know that?” She asked, and she looked up at me. “I’m not scared of you, but you’re scary.”

  “Thank you?” I asked, and we both laughed quietly.

  “It is a compliment, so you’re welcome.”

  More silence, but it was not uncomfortable. I patted her back the way I often patted Penny’s.

  “Are you okay, Vi? Does it… bother you? What happened with him?” I asked, “Do you think about it often?”

  “No.” She assured me, looking up at me finally. “Believe it or not, I don’t really think about that part of it. It seemed to go on forever at the time, but now, I look back on it, and I realize that it was over rather quickly. Caspar handled it. You know he’s Janna and Adam’s son, so he’s the prince. How cool is that?”

  My mood soured upon hearing Janna’s name, and immediately, she felt it in my heart.

  “You don’t like her? Or you don’t like him?”

  “I do not like her, but that is none of your concern.”

  Her hand rested on my heart, and she closed her eyes. That is when I shook her off.

  “Don’t you have a work assignment to receive?”

  “Yes!” She snapped back as she stood up and put her hands on her hips, “And I’m receiving it from Janna, so why don’t I just ask her why you don’t like her, since I’m sure she knows, and since you won’t tell me!”

  “I love the bipolar-like tendencies of adolescents.” I muttered as I finished the rest of the coffee in the cup and threw myself onto my feet. My legs wobbled, and my stomach turned over, but her arms were around me before my knees could collapse.

  “Take it easy, you lunatic! Dr. Terry says that Dr. Miletus says that the venom has the effects of spinal meningitis, paranoid schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, so if you want to talk about how I act bipolar, look at yourself!”

  “We should not even be using mental illnesses to describe how we are feeling unless we have actually been diagnosed with those mental illnesses. I am perfectly well, Vi. Already, my head is starting to clear, and I am going to Town Hall for work.”

  “What work are you doing in town hall? Oh, right…” She smacked her forehead, and strangely, pain was rocket-launched from my forehead to the back of my neck just from watching her do it. “You’re Don’s second-in-command. Dude… you’re like Mom!”

  “What?” I asked, and suddenly, the deal I had struck with Paul was returned to the forefront of my mind after days of being gloriously absent.

  “You’re like Mom! You’re like a politician!”

  “I most certainly am not like Mom, nor am I like a politician! That is a terrible insult!”

  “Oh, of course it is. Come on, we’ll walk part of the way there together so I can make sure you don’t die.”

  After I got dressed, we left the house and began to walk up the road.

  “So I’ve been thinking that I want to be put on Medical.”

  “Medical?” I asked, genuinely stunned but rather delighted, admittedly, that that was her choice of employment.

  “Yeah.” She said with a laugh, “After watching you in the hospital, and not knowing what to do, I started thinking how good it would be for me to get trained in that stuff. To train with our doctors and the Pangaean doctors and hopefully become a doctor. And Dr. Terry said that there’s a process to go about doing it, and part of it involves a lot of reading, which you know I’m good at…”

  “Yes.”

  “Yeah, so there’s that. I just have to read and take a huge test, but more importantly than that is the practical experience. He says Johnny Raylow and a couple of others were in the process at the house. They were studying under Dr. Miletus here. It’s really, really hard work, because it’s not just things we know anymore. It’s all the Pangaean stuff. But do you remember how after the Purge at home, I wanted to go to the infected areas?”

  “Oh, yes, I remember that.” I said, “I admired your willingness to help, but of course, I thanked our lucky stars that you were too young to go. They were unsure if those bombs contained radiation or not. Luckily, they did not, but still, the devastation was unthinkable.”

  “And that would have been all the more reason to go, right? So, now, I want to do that. I want to learn to do this stuff, because I still really want to h
elp people. It’s just going to be really hard work.”

  “Well, you are more than capable, Violet Mae. And while the medical sciences are not my strongest suit, I do know much about them, so if you need any assistance, obviously, I am here to assist.”

  “Really?” She asked, and her smile widened, “Nick and I were sure that you wouldn’t approve of this.”

  “Why in the world wouldn’t I approve?”

  “Because you have to lock down your emotions to do it. You have to basically be like a machine, and you always say I’m so dramatic and emotional.”

  “I also say that you are young, and that in time, you will be less dramatic and less needlessly emotional.”

  “Maybe. But I think I need that emotionality. I need it to care.”

  “Oh, Violet…” I sighed and smiled slightly, “You have never needed any help caring about others, sweetheart. As I watched the footage from the after-effects of the Purge, I felt awfully, but I felt no urge to drive out to the Midwest and clean up the mess, or to tend to the wounded. It is only since coming here that I have discovered this desire to help people, and maybe that is because I, too, am getting older and less self-centered.”

  “Yeah, but you’re getting more emotional, not less.”

  “Yes, well, I am in the process of locking that down.”

  “But you don’t need to!” She told me, suddenly very upset. Bipolar adolescent tendencies…

  “Why would I choose to cry all day and scream in my sleep all night, Violet? Why would I not choose to be an automaton instead?”

  “Because you’re not as mean like this! You were so mean on Earth. You were so cold, and now you’re not. You’re different. You’re happier, and it’s making you more emotional, but that’s because you’re more human!”

  “Maybe. But it is locked down now, as they say, so there is no need to discuss it.” We had arrived at her destination.

  “But Brynn…!”

  “Now, go in there,and tell Janna that you want to be on Medical. Tell her you want to start formal training, and remember, you are capable of it. You are more than capable of it. I believe in you completely, Violet Mae.”

  “Really?” She asked, and I could see that she was suddenly very nervous.

  “Of course. I have been giving pep talks to wayward adolescents for the past couple of days, but I mean every word I have said to all of you. I am…” I stopped, not sure if I wanted to finish my thought, even though I truly did mean it. But it was so emotional. So kitschy. So… Lifetime movie-like…

  “I am very proud of you, Violet. I am proud that you came to this decision on your own.”

  “Aww!” She said, and she hugged me before I could turn and walk away without another word, “Brynnie!”

  “Alright, I have suffered through being called that twice, and I will not suffer it a third time.”

  “Alright, alright… Fine. Brynna.” She pulled away from me, stood up straight, reached her hand out abruptly, and shook mine firmly. “Brynna. Ms. Olivier. Have a swell day at work.”

  “Oh, you children…” I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling, “All four of you are utterly ridiculous!”

  “Yes. Yes, we are. But I will soon be Dr. Utterly Ridiculous.”

  “We can only hope. Goodbye, Dr. Utterly Ridiculous.”

  “Goodbye, Senator Bitchface Motherfucker.”

  “Violet!” I screamed, and I turned around and punched her hard in the arm, trying to stifle my laughter as she giggled so hysterically that she had to grasp her stomach and fight to remain standing upright.

  “You are an obscene, adolescent menace to society, and you should be promptly locked up in a madhouse and at the very least, receive electro-shock therapy, and at the most, be lobotomized!” I said as I punched her in the arm. I stormed away, finally allowing the smile to break on my face.

  “Aww, I love you, too, Brynnie!”

  “VIOLET!”