Broken Read Free

before. A few years later I heard he had
another stroke cause by a blood-clot. But like the first one he survived it
without any vital injury. He was still keen on killing my Aiyana whom he only knew as the jaguar that had taken his leg, but as far as I knew
the stock market took up most of his time so he only ventured into the swamps
occasionally with his rifle. I was hoping he would give up eventually like he
had given up on ever marrying Heather.
    "Thanks," I said as we toasted.
    "To money," he said.
    "And loads of it," I answered as our glasses
touched.
    "You're not doing too bad yourself I hear,"
Jim said after our glasses had left our lips.
      "I
can't complain."
    "So you've taken over the clinic completely now?
Since the old doctor had the stroke?"
    I nodded and drank again. "He can't operate
anymore. His hands are not steady enough. So I took over last year. He is still
in on most of the decision making, but the clinic is practically mine."
    "That's good news. I am sure Heather is enjoying
it."
    I looked at my wife in her silver dress showing her
back and expensive jewelry talking to a similar looking woman with no
expression to her face. "I am sure she does," I said and emptied yet
another glass.
    "And you're doing the laser now? That should
bring in the big load. You gonna get a new house
then? I bet Heather is getting tired of the old one, huh? A woman like her gets
bored easily. You need to keep her busy if you know what I mean. Give her some
decorating to do." Jim glanced in her direction with longing. She barely
noticed him.
    "Yeah well we just bought this one last
year," I sighed.
    "Then give her a beach house or something. I bet
she would love to decorate a beach house," Jim said chuckling lightly.
    "I don't know ... she doesn't even like to go to
the beach. I don't have the time for it so what would we do with a beach
house?" I asked, exchanging my glass for another one from a waiter's
platter as he walked past us.
    "Still surfing?" Jim asked.
    I scoffed. "When?"
    "Yeah, me and you both, brother. Making money
takes up your time right? Haven't even been fishing lately or hunting for that
matter."
    I felt a pinch of relief in my heart. No hunting meant Aiyana was safe when she went on her nightly forays
in the swamps. I thought for a second about my dream earlier that day. About
her. There was something I had seen. Something in her face. It was as if she
were trying to say something but I just couldn't hear it. I shook my head
slightly. No, it was just a dream, I told myself while wondering what she would
look like by now ten years later. Did she have any kids? Considering what she
was and the secret she carried in her blood I knew she hadn't aged much. The
Fountain of Youth flowing through her veins would prevent her from looking
older than her mid-twenties. Just like her mother and grandmother had done. She
would definitely still be astonishing.
    I toasted again with Jim while contemplating the
spectacle of rich people showing off in front of one another, creating
connections and laughing their empty laughter filled with pride and supremacy all in the name of
charity. People toasting, greeting, smiling, nodding, discussing money, loving
money, living small meaningless lives filled with only the love for themselves
and what they have created in life. How I loathed these kinds of parties. How I
loathed myself for being a part of it.
    As I returned a greeting from a man in black suit and
bow tie by lifting my glass while wondering who he was and why I even cared, I
suddenly felt the strangest thing. It was as if a hot flash radiated through my
entire body. My blood started to boil; everything inside of me was steaming. I
bent over and tried to loosen my bow tie while I gasped for air. Jim gripped me
and pulled me up to look me in the face.
    "Chris! Are you alright?" I heard him say in
the distance.
    I tried to focus on him but my vision was foggy and
dreamlike.
    "Chris! Talk to me. Are you okay?" he
repeated.