"Come on get up, Luka." Nikola said crossly, his boney, arthritic fingers wrapping around the man's arm and pulling him upwards. "Come on.. I'm taking you home dammit.. Get up.."
Slowly Luka allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and lead to the truck. In his grieving stupor he hadn't noticed the smell.. It wasn't prevalent then.. But it was now... His uncle's pickup truck smelled like shit.
***
"Ms.Weaver.. Are you okay? Ms.Weaver?" Mlungisi prodded the woman's shoulder and Kerry moaned softly in her sleep.
"She will be okay in the truck with her leg like that?" He asked worriedly to the doctor who nodded slowly.
"I'm sure she will be fine.. We've given you a pair of crutches.. Although.. Her leg.. I'm sure she will need some sort of orthodic piece to help her walk later on, or maybe a cane.. We will discuss this later. It will be good for her to get outside of the hospital for now." The doctor urged, more worried about not getting paid than the well-being of his patient.
The nurses helped the drugged, sleeping Kerry into a wheelchair and Mlungisi drove it down the corridors slowly as he pondered what in the hell he was doing.
It was true.. His father hadn't wanted to press charges. But he hadn't exactly invited the woman into his home.. This was a surprise of sorts. A surprise that Mlungisi prayed wouldn't blow up in his face like a landmine.
******
"You sure you will be okay, Luka?" Nik said worriedly.
"I will be fine. My friends are there.. I'm sure they are very worried about me. That will either work in my favour or against me.. We will see if I am alive in the morning." Luka said dryly.
"They will be angry? Why?"
"I was burying Tonto.. My uncle's dog.. I.. I couldn't do it.. I couldn't be there.. Doing that.. Doing that again. I had to go.. I had to go to the only place I felt safe.." Luka murmured sadly.
"That truly is sad, Luka.. Sad that you do not feel safe in the arms of the woman you love. You *do* love her don't you? You told me you loved her. You said she was your girlfriend."
"Yes! Yes I love Abby very much." The younger man admitted, staring at his hands.
"Don't you feel safe in her arms?"
"I.." Luka paused before dropping his head chest and shaking it. "No.. She poisoned herself. Was an alcoholic.. How can I trust someone like that."
"Trust them?? Is she still a drunk?"
Luka looked out the window and shook his head slightly.
"Well then.. If she's straightened herself out and if you love her." Nik prompted.
"I.. I just miss Danijela so much."
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE KOVAC!" Nikola yelled angrily, wrenching the wheel to the right and peeling to the shoulder before putting it in park.
"My daughter is DEAD! So are your children. Please.. For their sake.. For my sake.. For YOUR own sake.. Put them behind you.. Do not forget them.. Love them in your heart, but Luka... They are not with us anymore. Love them with the region of your heart reserved for your parents.. For your brother.. For those who are not with us any longer.. Do not love them as if they were still here. If you do that, you will drive yourself mad with anguish.. Do not do that." Nick said sadly before putting his hands back on the wheel and driving down the road to Croatian Sunrise.
******
"Is it SUPPOSED to look like that, Doug?? Honey? It looks lopsided.." Carol said worriedly as Doug nailed the newly refurbished sign in place.
"It's fine.. It's.." Doug climbed down the ladder and stood beside his wife before finishing his sentence weakly. "Supposed.. to look..." He sighed heavily. "Like that.."
Carol smiled and cocked her head to the side. "It's okay.. We just inform ALL the neighbours to look like *this* when they read the sign.. Then it's perfect."
Doug grumbled and climbed the ladder again. "Smart-ass.."
*******
"What do you mean you don't know where he is!?" Benton grumbled angrily.
Dave shrugged. "While the cat's away, the mice will play... If he doesn't show up tonight, who wants to sneak into the field and go cow-tipping?"
"Malucci... You are such an idiot.. Go find Weaver before I decide to get medieval on your ass.." Mark grumbled.
Dave laughed. "You and what army!?" His grin faded as his co-workers surrounded him. "Uhh.. Yeah.. I'll be right back. Don't worry."
****
"Who is that girl, Mlungisi??? Runako grumbled, taking long glances at the truck which was parted a few feet away.
"Her name is Kerry.." His son said quietly.
"The girl who was trespassing on my land?"
"Yes, Father.. That is the girl."
"What is she doing here!!??" Runako said angrily, starting towards the truck.
"I brought her here.. She has nowhere to go.. It is the least we can do." Mlungisi pleaded.
"No.. The least we can do is dump her back where she came from, come on. We're taking her back to the hospital." Runako stormed towards the truck and turned sharply on his heel about ten feet away and looked over his shoulder. "Mlungisi.. She cannot stay here."
"She is father. She is staying with me." Mlungisi said evenly, standing tall and firm, his shoulders square and his chin held high.
*******
"Well I don't know about you.. But I think standing around here waiting for him to come back is stupid." Carter muttered as he stomped back into the house.
**
Kerry? Dr.Weaver?" Dave said nervously as he tripped into the undergrowth. The orchard was unkempt, the grass long and full of weeds; rotted fruit tangled in the greenery.
He grimaced as his sneaker squished an overly ripe pear and skidded wet along the grass. "Gross..." The fermented juice seeped into his sneaker, soaking his socks and sticking his toes together. Dave groaned loudly.
As he ducked under the overgrown vines hanging from a plum tree, he slipped in a pile of rotted fruit, and slipped, landing face-first in a pile of spoiled apples. "FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!!!!!!" He yelled dripping with rotted apple sauce and browned skins. Dave angrily wiped the pureed fruit from his face and smeared it on his jeans, already soaked with pulp and grass-stains.
Kerry sat sleeping under the shade of an old wizened apple tree as Dave neared, smelling like he'd been dipped in home-made fruit wine.
She stirred in her slumber, rolling on her side and mumbling softly.
****
"You promised me. You said that I could live as I please. You said I was a man now." Mlungisi retorted, crossing his arms.
"I can't stop you, no.. You are a grown man. But remember, that girl was trespassing on *my* land. On a piece of land that was clearly marked with signs and warnings, which she chose to ignore." Runako said angrily.
Maybe she doesn't speak afrikaan." Mlungisi said weakly. His father was winning this argument, and he knew it.
"So.. If you went to France.. That would give you the right to tromp all over somebody's land because you don't speak their language. Trespassing is trespassing in any language. Besides, she speaks it. I called out to her that day in swahili.. She responded quite well. That Ms.Weaver is very smart, too smart to be wandering around in minefields like that. I have a feeling her boy-friend had a hand in it."
"She said that they were looking for unexplored caverns."
"Stupid American teenagers." He grumbled. "If you insist, she move in with you, I cannot stop you. Provided that when she is well, she returns to America-"
"I have a problem though. She has no money to get home. I told her that she could recuperate at my home and work on your farm and you could pay her. That way she would be able to save up and go home." Mlungisi admitted, embarrassed.
"Pay her!? What can she do!? She is crippled!!" Runako spat angrily and glared at his son.
"So are you father, that does not stop you." Mlungisi replied quietly, as he watched some ants crawl home in the dirt.
Runako sighed, his withered hand clenched around the ornate cane. "I have a cane, yes. But I have adapted to my disability, I have movement in my limbs, I am able to climb up into the lofts and feed my cattle. I am able to work in the fields. That girl does not have that ability right now. That girl is a ball of emotion, confusion and pain and is of no use to me in that condition. Pay her way back to America if you must, but I will have no part in it."
*****
"Chief?? Dr.Weaver?" Dave crouched onto his knees and shook her gently, causing Kerry to wake abruptly and burst into tears. Her hands struggled for something to hold onto before she grabbed Dave in a hug and sobbed into his shirt. "Dr.Weaver!??!!!" He stammered in disbelief.
Dave carried the sobbing mess in his arms as Kerry wept softly into his shirtsleeve. He walked her up the back lanes to the house where he snuck up the back steps to her bedroom.
As he get her nestled under the covers and turned to leave, she called out to Dave, her voice wavering with spent tears. "Malucci... Stay.."
******