Natsinet paused, thinking, trying to find a way to get out of letting Mike into the apartment.
“Natsinet?”
“Yeah, I’ll let him in. Just let me get dressed first. I’m in my robe.”
Natsinet hung up the phone and rushed into Adelle’s room to clean her up. The old woman was still lying slumped on her side with drool coming from her mouth and blood caked on her chin. Natsinet grabbed a sponge and wiped her face, then she straightened her up and posed her in what she imagined was a restful position. When she was finished, she changed into a fresh pair of clothes—jeans and a blouse, no bra. She paused at the bathroom, both to make sure it looked okay and to briefly inspect herself in the mirror. Satisfied, she walked back to the door, knowing that Big Mike was still on the other side even though he’d stopped ringing the bell. He wouldn’t go away unless she made him. She opened the door.
“About damn time!”
Big Mike shouldered past Natsinet, glaring murderously down at her as he stepped into the apartment. He walked into the middle of the living room, standing directly in the spot where Rachael’s blood and brains had leaked onto the carpet, then he turned to face her as Natsinet closed the front door.
“You’re Natty right?”
“Natsinet Zenawi.”
“Yeah, they told me you was a stuck up half-White African bitch. Where’s Mrs. Smith?”
Mike leaned down until his nose almost touched Natsinet’s. Natsinet wanted to put the big man in his place for speaking so disrespectfully to her, but something about him seemed too dangerous to fool with. His physical presence was overpowering. Natsinet felt as if she were being attacked just by him standing in such close proximity to her. She backed up and Big Mike stepped forward until her back hit the wall adjacent to the door. His breath reeked of Marijuana and alcohol, yet his eyes were still clear and alert, intense.
“Well, where is she?”
“She’s in her room…sleeping. She’s had a hard day of physical therapy so please don’t disturb her. She needs her rest.”
“I ain’t gonna disturb her. I just want to make sure she’s being properly taken care of.”
He started towards Natsinet’s room and she stepped in front of him, barring his way.
“That’s my room. Adelle is in there.”
Big Mike turned away from her door, narrowing his eyes at her as he did so. Natsinet led the way to Adelle’s room.
She looked back over her shoulder and saw Mike’s eyes crawling over her ass. Her eyes met his and he winked at her and adjusted himself through his pants. She was appalled when she noticed that he was erect. At first she was outraged. She nearly turned to confront him. Then Natsinet recognized an opportunity to neutralize him as a threat.
Holding her index finger up to her lips as she opened the door, Natsinet led Mike into the room, taking his hand in hers. The curtains and blinds were drawn, shutting out the sun. The room was darkened and stank heavily of the cleansers and disinfectants Natsinet had used to clean Rachael’s blood from the tub in the adjoining master bathroom. Natsinet led Mike inside without turning on the lights.
“Mrs. Smith?” Big Mike said.
“Shhhh! You’ll wake her. I told you she’s had a hard day. She needs to rest.”
Mike jerked his hand free of hers and walked over to Adelle Smith, taking her hand in his as delicately as he was able.
“Mrs. Smith? It’s me, Big Mike, Nancy Edward’s son. Tonya sent me to check on you.”
He was about to check for a pulse when the sound of her soft snoring came to him. He let her hand drop, kissed her gently, reverently, on the forehead, and then backed quietly out of the room. Natsinet shut the door behind him.
“Is she going to be okay?” Mike’s voice was low, concern in his features. “I’m sayin’…she means a lot to a lot of folks around here.”
“She looks like she’s progressing but there are a lot of things that can go wrong with a stroke victim. Blood clots in the legs or in the lungs, pneumonia, infection, heart failure. There’s just no way of knowing when she’ll be completely out of the woods.”
Mike dropped his head. He looked almost heartbroken.
“Damn, I had no idea it was this bad.”
Natsinet placed a hand on his shoulder. It was hard as iron and nearly as big and round as a basketball. She patted him on the back and guided him back into the living room.
“Is that other nurse still here?”
“No, she’s off today.”
“But I saw her come in earlier, last night. I didn’t see her leave and I was out there most of the night.”
“She’d forgotten some personal items here from the weekend and she came to retrieve them. Her car was parked in back of the apartment complex. You probably just didn’t see her leave.”
Mike nodded solemnly.
“Would you like something to drink?”
“Naw, I’m straight. Maybe some water.”
Natsinet went into the kitchen and nearly fell as she skidded in a small puddle of blood on the vinyl floor where she’d been wrapping the two halves of Rachael’s torso. Mike went into the living room and sat down heavily on the couch, sinking deep into the cushions, oblivious to Natsinet, deep in his own thoughts.
Natsinet looked down at the blood congealing on the floor and then back at Big Mike to make sure he wasn’t watching. She grabbed a sponge from beneath the sink, dampened it with water from the faucet, and quickly scrubbed the dark reddish brown stain from the floor. Then she removed a glass from the cabinet and opened the freezer to get some ice. She reached through the tangle of plastic-wrapped limbs and withdrew two ice cubes from the tray in the back, then slammed the freezer door, checking once again to make sure Mike wasn’t looking over her shoulder and hadn’t seen Rachael’s large thighs crammed in next to the ice cream and frozen peas. She dropped the cubes into the glass and turned towards Mike, summoning as warm an expression as she could muster as if she were a kid making faces in a mirror with only a vague concept of what the expression was meant to convey or the emotions generally attached to it. She’d long come to understand that her emotions were not like others.
Before walking back into the living room Natsinet removed a small steak knife from the drawer by the oven and slid it into her pants pocket. She had forgotten to load the gun and besides, the knife would be a lot quieter. Big Mike was watching her now as she stepped back into the living room holding the glass of water.
“I’m glad Mrs. Smith has someone taking care of her,” Big Mike said. He seemed like a different guy now. “If she needs anything—if you need anything, you just let me know.”
Natsinet smiled.
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
She handed Big Mike the glass of water and sat down next to him. Mike raised one eyebrow as she scooted closer to him on the couch. As he drank, she rested a hand on his thigh.
“If you need anything, you be sure to let me know also.”
Mike was obviously a man who was used to women coming on to him. In high school he’d probably been a star athlete. Basketball or football or maybe both, and on the streets he was a ghetto superstar who could have his pick of any of the neighborhood women. Still, Natsinet’s uncharacteristically bold advance caught him off guard. His eyes went from her hand to her eyes as he gulped down the rest of the ice water. She could tell he had a hard time reading her expression.
“Yeah? Okay, so what do you want wit’ me?”
Natsinet was still smiling at him.
“I just think you’re handsome, that’s all.”
Big Mike’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Uh huh. Well, you’re fine as hell but still, something ain’t right wit’ you. I just get this fucked up vibe from you like you tryin’a play me and I’ve been out there livin’ reckless long enough to know to trust my instincts.”