Chapter 3 : To Mourn and Grieve
Frank rubbed his hands together nervously and entered the shopping mall. He walked towards the men's section and glanced casually around. He spotted the two salesgirls - the chatty one and the pretty one. Suddenly the two girls looked in his direction. The pretty brunette nudged her chatty friend, who dashed immediately to attend to him.
"Hello, sir, may I help you?" she said, beaming from ear to ear.
"Um…I'm looking for …uh…black socks?" he said. Great job, Frank, black socks, yeah…
"Oh, black socks?" she said pointing to a shelf-full of black socks. "We have many, many types of black socks. What shall it be? Nylon, cotton, wool, just say it, we've got it all."
"Cotton, cotton, should do," he said.
"Okay, sir, here you go, black cotton socks," she said. She handed him a pair of cotton socks in a transparent plastic wrapper. "Please pay at the counter over there, thank you. Please come again."
"Thanks."
Frank walked away feeling rather annoyed that the brunette salesgirl did not attend to him, so that he could ask her out for a date. He paid for the socks and left.
………………………………………………….
Ally dashed to Daniele, grinning. "He - is - so - cute!"
"Yes, Ally, I know," said Daniele nodding.
Then, Ally became quiet, and thoughtful, for once. "You know something, Dani, he hasn't asked me out for a date."
"He hasn't?" asked Daniele, shocked.
"No, no," she insisted, shaking her head. "Maybe he's just shy."
………………………………………………….
"Ojciec, I'm home!" called Daniele as she pushed the door of her apartment open.
She heard a spasm of coughs from the back of the apartment. She ran to her father's room.
"Ojciec!"
The door was ajar. Her father lay on the floor beside his bed, coughing. By his frail body, there were some droplets of blood on the wooden floor. The side of his mouth had a small trail of blood.
"Ojciec! Are you okay?"
"Uhmm…."
"Ojciec! Ojciec!"
……………………………………………………
"It's exactly like what I told you before, Daniele, your father's not too good. In fact, he might…umm…expire soon," said Dr. Haremon. He walked across the room and stared at an x-ray of Jerzy Jovanovich.
"Take a look here, Dan," he said, pointing to the x-ray. "The infection is spreading too quickly. There is no way we can handle it."
Daniele hung her head.
"He can be cured if he gets the best medical attention," the doctor explained. "But, it would definitely not be in any hospital in Bayport, and it will be very costly."
She lifted her head. "Then, is there no other way?" she asked, her voice cracked.
The doctor shook his head grimly. "No."
…………………………………………………….
Daniele walked home dejectedly. "It's exactly like what I told you before, Daniele, your father's not too good. In fact, he might…umm…expire soon."
She entered her glum little apartment. It was less cheerful than it had been yesterday, when her father was still around. When Jacek could joke around freely with nothing to bother him, when Ojciec was still a strong man, when Matka was busy cooking up a simple meal for the four of them, when they were just carefree kids.
She stared out of the window. The sky was getting darker. "Oh, Jacek, please hurry home."