Chapter Seven
Time to Dream
I woke up and groaned. I hurt!
Everything was sore even my head was throbbing. Maybe laying flat would’ve been a better idea. I didn’t want to wake Clark up though. Clark…. my memory came back to me; Talaric was snoring softly behind me.
It was still dark outside so it had to be early yet. I longed to see the sun rising in order to get this night and all of its emotions and pain over with. I thought back over everything that had happened. Being captured, waking up in Victor’s study and the ensuing fight. I shook my head slightly in self-denial. Had that really been me kicking and bashing away at Victor’s bodyguards?
Then came the realization suddenly that I had killed a man. Perhaps more than one. My stomach roiled at the notion that I had.
I had taken a human life, even if it had been deserved. Was I a killer? Obviously I now must be. I had never thought of myself as being one of those kinds of people.
The thought of my new condition left a queasy feeling in my stomach, which compounded by the throbbing in my head and my general all-around pain soon escalated into something worse. I shook Talaric’s hand hard and he came awake with a start.
“What is it?”
“I’m going to be sick!” I managed to croak out.
The light switch was flipped on and several seconds later I found myself with my head over the edge of the bed overtop the basin that Talaric had used to wash away dried blood earlier.
My stomach heaved and in a mixture of retching combined with screams from the pain of my torso convulsing I spewed into the basin over and over it seemed. If I had hurt before, now it was replaced with an unbearable agony.
I was at the end of my endurance. It had been a terrible day, but a good one in other ways. I was all mixed up inside, physically and emotionally. It was the middle of the night and all I wanted to do was sleep and be free of pain.
Talaric had pulled my hair back, as I vomited. He had even rubbed my back throughout the painful ordeal. I was sobbing and crying hysterically, when Talaric pulled me back from the edge of the bed. With his help I rolled onto my back.
He brought a cool wet rag out from somewhere and started wiping my face off. He laid another across my forehead and turned the light off. The room stank and I hated the smell of my vomit.
“I’m so sorry!” I said over and over.
I felt his big hands frame around my face and his head drew close to mine, “Would you please stop saying that Evangelina!”
I started to respond, but he kissed me deeply for a moment. Shocked out of my crying I stared up at him in amazement.
“That had to be gross!” I wailed out softly in mortification.
“Yes, it was actually, but that’s not the point. The point is that I don’t care! I’ve come to care for you deeply and I don’t mind the unglamorous aspects of life that are inherent to simply living in a fallen world. You can be real with me, as at some point I will no doubt be real with you, in some unglamorous way. Now you need to calm down and let your body heal! I’ll get this cleaned up and be back in a bit, okay?”
I nodded and he was off the bed and gone with the basin.
I shook my head softly in the dark. I did not deserve any of this, but I was soaking up every minute and savoring it. My eyes closed and the next time I opened them it was broad daylight outside and I felt better. I looked around the room, but Talaric wasn’t there. I didn’t hear Talaric or Rafael in the other room either.
Was something wrong?
I should get up. It didn’t take but a moment to realize that getting up was still beyond my capabilities at the moment. I heard the door of the apartment open and then voices sounded out. Rafael sounded excited. Really excited, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. Talaric peeked into the room and I looked up at him.
“Feel better?” He asked and I nodded yes.
“Good!”
He disappeared again and I waited for him to come back. I noticed something then. The pillows, except for the ones under my head, were all gone. Maybe he had used them for Rafael’s bed in the other room.
Talaric came back into the room with a blanket and I looked up at him curiously. The room was warm, why the blanket?
He spread it out over me and then simply said, “I’m leaving.”
My heart stopped. I felt one arm slide under the back of my thighs and the other the middle of my back as he gently picked me up.
“And you’re coming with me.”
My eyes flew up to his and I started to breathe again. I had died on his first statement and come back to life on his second one. He stepped into the other room with me and there was Rafael. He was practically jumping up and down in excitement, which was how I felt inside.
“We’re going to ride in an SUV!” Rafael said, practically shouting it out in his ecstatic state.
I didn’t care what we rode in. My joy was that we were leaving this dump of a city and that we were leaving it with Talaric.
“Is there anything you want to bring with you Evangelina?” Talaric asked.
I looked around, but there was nothing. Anything I had of value I had sold long ago.
Absently I said, “Other than some clothes, no.”
“I packed you and Rafael some clothes and I’ll buy new ones along the way.”
Along the way to where I wondered, but I didn’t ask the question. I really didn’t care.
“You’re not a drug runner are you?” I asked hurriedly upon seeing the shiny SUV parked along the street.
“No!” He said chuckling.
“I assure you all of my business dealings are above board, from my perspective anyway. Others might have a differing opinion depending on who you asked.”
I didn’t understand what he meant, but I trusted him and that was enough. Rafael opened the back door of the SUV and I saw where all my pillows had gotten too. He had lined the seat with them and piled the one side up with them as a back support. Twisting he lifted me up and onto the seat. I lay comfortably back against the built up pillows.
“I know it’s going to be uncomfortable for you, but I’ll try to avoid the bumps.” Talaric said sounding apologetic.
“I’ll be fine!” I hurriedly said.
Rafael insisted on riding in the passenger seat across from Talaric. We started out into the busy traffic of the city.
It was slow going as we had to wait for people to clear out of the way. Vehicles were scarce these days and many people stared at us curiously as we passed by. Talaric would glance back at me from time to time and I would always smile back at him. I think my smile got even brighter when the outskirts of the city fell behind us completely. I was never going back!
I could tell from Rafael’s vocal sounds and the way his seat moved energetically that every moment was his next best moment in life. It was the same way for me.
Talaric gripped the steering wheel tightly. Not because the road conditions demanded it, but rather it was an attempt on his part to keep from turning and looking back at his alluring backseat occupant.
The first time he had glanced back to check up on her she had given him a smile. A real smile. A beautiful smile. The kind that he had wanted to inspire her to have, but it was hard to prepare for their effect upon him and even harder to look away from them. He’d swerved off the road several times distracted by her smiling face.
Oh what the heck! He glanced back again, but she was asleep. The look of complete peace written all over her sleeping features was almost as good as a smile though.
He glanced over at Rafael and grinned. It had all been too much for the little boy, who was fast asleep, slumped against the side of his door. He studied them both for a moment and had the distinct feeling that he was doing and being used to accomplish something very special, but instead of feeling a healthy burst of self pride he instead felt humbled at the enormity of what had been given to him.
He had given not quite sure why at first, but now he was being given back more than he had ever given in the first place. He just hoped that he could keep both of them safe. They were tough from the threadbare lives they had led and that was good, because toughness would probably be required of them before all this was over.
I smelled something. It was a delicious aroma. It got stronger. Oh I was so hungry!
I opened my eyes to see Talaric standing there with a big grin, as he held a plate of food under my nose. I sat up some stiffly and took the plate from him, as I looked around.
We were pulled off from the road a good ways and parked in a grove of trees. The sun was disappearing over the horizon.
I glanced back at him astonished, “I slept the whole day away again?”
“You sure did and you needed to.”
My rumbling stomach overcame me and I started devouring the food. There were some vegetables I recognized, but the meat was so savory!
“What is this meat?” I asked.
Talaric was watching me eat with a soft expression on his face.
His eyes twinkled as he said, “Let’s just leave it with the fact that you like it.”
I shrugged and kept eating. Whatever it was it was good!
The plate was empty before I knew it and I started to hand it back, when he asked, “Would you like some more?”
I quickly nodded my head, feeling like a pig, but unable to stop myself.
He chuckled and walked away with the plate and I took stock of things. I had never been so far from the city in this direction before and I could hardly wait to be another day’s journey even further away from it.
Later sitting up by the fire I watched the flames flicker on the chunks of burning wood just happy to be alive. Rafael was already down for the night in the cozy little pile of blankets, but I was wide awake still.
“You look happy.” Came the deep reply from across the fire at me.
I looked up from the fire smiling. I realized that I had already been smiling and nodded my head in acceptance of a fact. I felt a lot better too.
He set the book down that he had been reading onto his chest. He’d been reading for close to an hour, but now he watched me watch him with a slight smile of his own.
“What are you reading?” I asked.
“The Bible.” He said holding it up for me to see and then he reached out to hand it to me.
I took it carefully from him, as the little Bible was quite worn.
“Have you ever seen one before?” He asked softly.
I held the little book in my hand as some of my best memories of early childhood came back to me.
I looked up, “My mother had one even though it wasn’t popular to have one. She used to read stories from it to Maria and I. After she died I looked for it, but I couldn’t find it. I think father threw it away.”
A moment passed and he asked, “What did you think of what she read to you? What is it that you believe about God Evangelina or do you even believe that He exists?”
I looked down at the little book in my hands and then back up, “I don’t know? Do you believe there’s a God?”
“Yes, yes I do.” He responded quickly his eyes serious.
I held a little book up slightly and asked directly, “Is this belief in God why you’re such a good man?”
He took a moment to answer looking like he was searching for the right words. “Yes, but let me explain a little more than that.”
I nodded and he sat up, “It’s not enough to believe just because I’m a good man in your eyes. Other men are good too, who don’t believe as I do in the Creator. I’m far from perfect and I have a lot to live with in terms of my past and even things in the present, but what is important is that my faith in God is real, because He is real. That’s been made clear to me through countless ways. And as God is real, He can use me to be a better man than I could ever be on my own merit. He’s given me the purpose that I live my life by. I honor him in whatever way I can each day, as I continually pursue a relationship with Him.”
He looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped himself. I looked down at the flickering fire, as I remembered my mother. How different things may have turned out, if only she hadn’t died.
Maybe this was my second chance. I looked up at Talaric. I could tell his belief in his God was heartfelt and not a made-up emotion brought on by the need to believe in something bigger than himself. God must really exist, but where did that leave me?
“Do you mind if I read your Bible Talaric?”
“Keep it as long as you want.” Came his quick reply.
I looked at the dog eared little book in my hands, “Where do I start?”
“All of God’s word is meaningful and useful for learning. Start wherever you want to. Personally I’ve found that the Creator ministers to me wherever I turn to in that book.”
I kind of remembered the beginning part of the book, so I turned the pages open ahead of the beginning some. The book was called Psalms.
I was doing what I was for three reasons. For one, I knew that Talaric really wanted me to share his belief in his God and I wanted to please him. Secondly, I was simply curious and thirdly I knew that the way my life had abruptly changed was out of the ordinary course of events. Perhaps it was because of this God I had never really known in my life. I read.
I read for a long time.
A single tear leaked out of the corner of my eye. I hadn’t expected this. It seemed like the writer of the book had experienced some circumstances in life similar to the ups and downs of my life. I wasn’t alone in how I felt or what I had suffered through.
I finished the book of Psalms and kept reading. All through the night Talaric would wake up like clockwork to place sticks on the fire so that I would have light to read by.
He never asked any questions. He just went back to sleep for another hour or so. I decided to start the book from the beginning out of a desire to gain a fresh and personal perspective of the entire book from beginning to end.
I read till the light of dawn started to peek up over the treetops. I stopped reading to make a simple breakfast, which I surprised both Rafael and Talaric with. After breakfast we got back in the SUV and then I fell asleep.