THE SECOND SIGHT
Chapter 51
THE MAN WITHOUT A HEAD
He pounded me warmly on my back.
GUY GRANT
(excited, happy)
Yaw, Yaw, Yaw! Thank you, brother. Man, thank you so much!
BOAT
(smiling)
Thank God, bro. I did absolutely nothing.
I introduced him to Nicole.
He smiled broadly and hu-gged her too, causing her to smile.
His relief and happiness was a blast that was unmistakable and infectious.
GUY GRANT
You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, Nicole, and believe me I have seen quite a few!
NICOLE
(smiling beautifully)
Thank you.
I could see she was secretly pleased.
GUY GRANT
(mischievously)
You should marry this lady, Yaw. She’ll make you a very good wife.
I responded quickly to mask my unease, and then quickly changed the subject.
BOAT
(with an uneasy smile)
That’s sound advice. Listen, we don’t have much time. Got to get to Portville by noon today. Just popped in to say goodbye and see how your wife’s faring, Guy.
GUY GRANT
(disappointed)
Wish you guys could stay for a while. Yaw, I can’t ever repay you for what you’ve done for me. I just want you to know that in me you’ve found a brother, man, permanently. If ever you’re in nee-d of anything, emphasis is on anything, call on me, bro. Anytime, anywhere, anything, you can count on me.
For a wild moment tears glistened in his eyes, and I was horrified.
I was afraid he would go into his damn bawling mode again.
He smiled broadly throu-ghthe tears, and the effect was damn freaky, if nothing else.
He took out a crumpled handkerchief and wiped his eyes, and then he clamped my hand in a warm handshake again, nodding furiously.
Nicole glanced from him to me, but she made no comment.
GUY GRANT
She’s now at the ICU, and no one’s allowed to see her. I only watch her throu-ghthe glas-s doors. She’s lost a lot weight, a lot of fluids and vitamins and stuff, you know, and she nee-ds to be pumped up, but slowly. Doctors say her heart is good, and her physical condition, in the state she is in, is okay. She’ll make it, eventually. Going to take a bit of time and some patience, but she’ll be fine, man. The better part of a year will see her on her feet again. Can you believe that, my brother? I’m gonna have my dear Sam back? Good Lord, man, that’s simply capital!
His happy mood had now covered his sentimental rush again, and I was grateful for that. I clapped him on the shoulder.
BOAT
(warmly)
I’m glad to hear that, Guy. Listen, we got to run now, though. Anytime I pas-s throu-ghI’ll call on you and Sam…maybe take the kids for a ride, if you’ll let me be their godfather!
He stared at me dreamily, and I realized I had said the wrong thing because his sentimental attack began to manifest again.
His li-ps began to quiver, and his eyes filled up real quickly, and this time he made no attempt to wipe them off. Tears trickled down his cheeks, and he swallowed painfully.
GUY GRANT
(tremulously)
A family! Yes, it is all possible now, isn’t it? Sam has always wanted to be a mother. Dear Lord, it is possible now!
I started to speak, but suddenly my attention was arrested by the arguing couple.
The thin lady jumped to her feet, tears pouring heedlessly down her face now, her tiny hands clenched into angry fists at her sides, staring at her companion with tortured eyes.
The man was gesturing to her to sit back down, his hu-ge chin thr-ust out pugnaciously. He was a bully still trapped inside the body of a man, and all he wanted to do was impose his will on anybody unlucky enough to be as-sociated with him.
The thin lady screeched, her whole body vibr@ting with the depths of her emotions.
THIN LADY
Why don’t you leave me alone? Leave us alone! I want a divorce! Leave us aloooooone!
The big man was on his feet in a flash, face black with anger, and then he backhanded her across the face.
The blow tossed her frail body across the chair, over it, and deposited her on the ha-rd floor. She lay there, curled up, balled hands un-der her chin, shaking violently.
I made a move toward them, and Grant reached out and grabbed my arm in a vice-like grip, pulling me back and shaking his head with sudden alarm.
GUY GRANT
(urgently, imploringly)
No, Yaw! You don’t want to do that!
The big man said something to the woman in a sneering manner, and then he turned and surveyed the room, his chin thr-ust out as if daring somebody to speak. He straightened his coat and swaggered toward the door.
Everybody else in room was standing now, staring at the weeping woman with looks of pity on their faces.
I glared at the hu-ge man as he approached. I could feel Grant’s fingers digging desperately into my arm, trying to hold me in check.
He could not have succeeded however, because I couldn’t have been able to stop myself from having a go at the bully and wiping that co-rky look off his face even if I had wanted to.
Nicole was also bristling beside me, and for one horrifying second I thought she was going to let her hands fly at the semi-giant.
But even as I hunched my shoulders and my fists began to curl something happened. One moment that big bully was swaying arrogantly toward us on his way to the main entrance, his look contemptuous…and in another moment I saw that suddenly there was something dark behind him.
It seemed to sprout up just behind his broad back, a sort of very dark cloud that hovered above the floor, keeping pace with him, closing the gap. There was something really terrible about that dark thing.
It seemed to be alive, breathing malevolently, seeking to devour. I sensed how bad and dangerous that thing was, somehow, and my body relaxed, drawing back on itself, the fight going out of me in a flash.
Now the man was just opposite me, within arm’s reach.
He was glaring at me, his close-set eyes narrowing some more, his gaze dark, daring me to react.
And then his head exploded off his ne-ck!
I saw his decapitated head swinging toward me, his ne-ck gushing blood in torrents, his head traveling straight at me. Instinctively I stepped aside to avoid the head, but speckles of blood flew throu-ghthe air, splashing my face…
Nicole’s frantic voice reached me from a long way off, and I came out of my instant reverie with shock.
NICOLE
(anxiously)
Yaw, what’s wrong?
GUY GRANT
(worried)
What happened, bro? For a moment there I could’ve sworn you were about to pas-s out.
I was breathing ha-rd, and there was perspiration on my face.
The big man had walked past me, and he was chuckling.
Evidently he believed he had put the fear of God in me. The timed glas-s doors slid open and he walked out.
His head was still fixed on his shoulders securely, and there was no dark cloud-like shadow behind him.
BOAT
(warily, chuckling)
I had a nasty vision. I saw that man without a head.
I expected them to laugh, and that would have reas-sured me somehow, but neither of them laughed.
Nicole regarded me thoughtfully for a moment.
____________________
BAD RAY
NICOLE
(calmly)
Do you believe in clairvoyance or divination, whatever you call it?
I shook my head vigorously, dimly aware that I had already said too much to her.
I was still spooked by that ominous black cloud I had seen behind the man, though, and I looked apprehensively at the glas-s doors, half-expecting to see the cloud coming back.
BOAT
(with a chuckle)
No, I leave that kind of spooky stuff to the weird people of the world, you know. Damn, maybe the man made me so angry that I wished only the ugliest of fates for him, and it sort of projected itself into some kind of bad vision. Had quite a late night, you know. Still feels so tired on my feet.
I was aware that I sounded lame, and defensive, and that I wasn’t making one shred of sense, but suddenly I wanted to get off the topic.
I was aware that maybe I had been thr-ust into another level of my special gift, and I had been so spooked by it that I had blurted out something I should have kept to myself; but that was what came out of being unprepared for things like that, and that was one of the reasons why I was still angry at Paul Anderson.
Nicole suddenly gave my arm a quick squee-ze.
NICOLE
(gently)
Maybe that’s it. God knows I was mad enough to scratch out that silly man’s eyes myself.
The woman the man had hit was still lying on the floor and crying pitifully; I could see a trail of blood running down her left nostril. She was trembling, squeezing herself up into a ti-ghter ball.
Nicole shook her head sadly and went to her.
She bent and helped the woman up, and then guided her gently into a chair.
GUY GRANT
(grimly, worried)
Well, don’t you go messing around with Ray Mensah, please, Yaw. He’s the only son of the police chief here. Ray is nasty, really nasty. He’s into drugs, prostitution, you name it…. every bad racket has his signature on it. You give him enough money, he could get anything for you. He was a small local criminal, but now he’s gone international, as the saying goes now, spreading his cartel and his power. He has a group of nasty goons who lic-ks his a$$. You take him on and they’ll kill you before you take three steps out of this place. The chief has turned blind eyes and deaf ears to his son. Ray is married to Mary, that lady over there. They have two boys – twins – and it seems Ray loves to use their faces as his punching bag. Keeps a string of who-res, a kind of harem, at one of his hotels, but he still holds on to Mary – even though she’s been trying to get a divorce for ages.
BOAT
Why’s she here?
GUY GRANT
(with a sigh)
Seems her boys were brou-ght here two nights ago. Ray, according to Mary, gambled with some wealthy guys that his kids could take on their kids. He lost the bet because his boys wouldn’t fight. They were un-derstandably scared. Ray was so furious at his sons for refusing to fight that he took a belt to their backs, and fists to their bodies. Broke them up pretty badly
TBc…