The next morning, rounds finished even earlier than Lucy anticipated and by ten-thirty, she and Keisha were headed back to their hall to go get their groceries. On their way they spotted Nola on her way to the hospital for a class. It was always so refreshing to talk to Nola. She was kind, friendly, spoke at a rate that was almost hard to keep up with and always had a positive attitude even when things were going horrible for her. When the sun began beating on them mercilessly, Lucy motioned for them to step back into the shade and sit on the bench behind them.
The conversation began simple and light. From the comparing the consultants at this private hospital to the friendlier ones at the public one. Being shocked at the friendly ones who transferred from the public one to the private one and being so traumatized by the hostile ones that the friendly ones seemed suspicious. Then they stumbled onto the misogynistic comments from the senior doctors, both male and female, though predominantly male.
Advanced maternal age went from forty, to thirty-eight, to thirty-six in the matter of a year. Lucy's consultant had even made the statement, "Good girls get fibroids, Bad girls get pregnant" and when Lucy had looked it up, sure enough there were articles (written by male doctors) about virginity being linked to fibroids, but it was more linked to nulliparity. Nola said that so many of her male consultants keep telling them that getting pregnant reduces the chances of breast cancer, and so on and so forth. And what was the point of al this and why did Lucy consider it misogyny? Because based on all of this, the men wanted to have sex with younger women. So scare the women into having sex, to protect themselves. Terrify them into the idea that if they don't have sex or if they don't get pregnant, their own bodies will retaliate against them and make them sick. How twisted is that?
It made Lucy's stomach churn to think that people, especially patients who listen to their doctors, would believe these things and actually become scared and may not think twice when the opportunity for sex presents itself. It truly was sickening. The girls joked about where they could find those medieval chastity belts and where they would chuck the keys, never to be found.
As they were laughing, there was a sudden male voice that rounded the corner. "G-string! Silk panty! Get your G-string!" The girls' conversation died down and they waited for the owner of the voice to pass by them. Instead, it stopped right in front of Lucy. It had to be a patient that escaped the psychiatry ward...again. But when Lucy looked, she saw that he indeed had a large sack carrying and pulled out a pink thong from his bag. Lucy's eyes widened as she searched man's face for any sign of insanity. He was clear eyed and serious as a hurricane.
The girls politely declined. Lucy held up a hand and said "That's alright, sir". Keisha said "Thanks, but we're ok". The man's attention snagged on one word. "Thanks? what you mean thanks? I haven't even given it to you!"
Lucy and Nola both said to the man "That's alright sir, we are fine". The bastard was persistent. "You guys don't have husbands?" The three girls exchanged looks and burst out laughing. More misogyny...if she was a young lady, she ought to be having sex. Nola said between laughs "We are broke sir, no husbands". He seemed like he was going to say something else but began murmuring to himself and put the panty back in the bag. However, instead of leaving, he pulled out a pair of white and black socks. "You guys interested in socks?" They shook their heads and said they were fine. The guy stood the same place and looked down at his hands.
Lucy was tired. She leaned forward, felt her eyes slit and a corner of her mouth curve up as her head tilted to one size. She could take the bastard. Pot belly and all. But his eyes never met hers as he mumbled something again and at long last took his leave.
The girls were silent to allow the man to get to a respectable distance. Then Lucy said, "I really thought was a mad man from the time I heard G-string!" The laughs erupted from the girls and Lucy hoped the man heard them.
"I mean he could have shown us the socks first instead of scaring us with the pink panty with the giant jewel on the side!" Lucy clamped a hand on her mouth as she laughed.
Nola chimed in "It's true! And who knows which clothes line he stole that off of" More laughing.
After ranting about the nurses' negligence of the patients and bad tempers, Nola departed to head to her class and Keisha and Lucy headed to their hall once again. The sun was horrible and by the time she got to the hall she peeled off her white coat up until her elbows and held it there like a jacket. She just wanted to feel the cool breeze on her skin so she would not suffocate in the heat. While she and Keisha decided what time they should leave, Keisha was waving someone over Lucy's shoulder. Lucy turned to see Michael. He was a colleague's brother who gave them a ride one day. He was in fact a very nice guy and Lucy remembered his name because she had always liked that name "Michael". She always felt there was an unmatchable strength to that name and figured she may name her son Michael. If she ever had one. He was a lanky law student and came to greet them.
Lucy opted for loose fitting clothes to go out, due to the sun and they left maybe half an hour later. They decided to stop at a restaurant nearby since neither of them had eaten anything since morning. The ambiance of "Chiller's" was warm and inviting. The light gave off soft tones and there was a light R&B playing in the background. It was an open restaurant so they were technically still outside but the large oscillating fans that had seen better days, around the tables were amazing to combat the heat. Despite the rocking table and skimpy quantity of cheese dip for Keisha's nachos, they had a good time.
When they finally left, they had a ten minute walk in the blistering sun to the store. As they walked and joked, Lucy spotted a young male student who reminded her of Adam. His facial features were so similar and he had similar white skin and thick black hair. As soon as he walked passed her, Keisha said to Lucy, "I wonder if that's what Dr. Lightning looked like when he was that age". Lucy burst out laughing and told Keisha she was thinking the same thing. It was uncanny how their thoughts slid across each other like that. She really wondered if it were maybe even the same school that he went to. Not that any of it mattered, but if was just fun to think about.
When they got to the plaza, Lucy wanted to stop at the pharmacy. She felt that same pull. The pull that had her buy the pink lanyard at the bookstore. But this pull was to buy a journal in the pharmacy. Not a specific one...but simply to buy a journal. She chose a beautiful real leather bound, handmade journal with a beautiful tree imprint on the cover. The price was terrible, but she would not spend money on a journal again. She had no idea what she would write in it. But, just like she had no idea what she would do with the lanyard, she trusted that God would show her and she would have a use for it as well. Maybe even a better one than that pink lanyard that was Lord knows where. Maybe Adam lost it again and did not have the faintest clue as to where it was. Not her problem.
The cool from the air conditioning in the grocery store caressed Lucy's skin and almost made her moan. While she and Keisha went from isle to isle, she realized that she recognized the old classic songs, the same time she heard Keisha say, "Hey, I know this song". Before she knew it, the two girls began bopping and dancing to the songs that played one after the other. Lucy did not remember the last time she felt so comfortable that she could dance and sing in public. She felt that Keisha had a big part to play in that. She did not judge Lucy, at least not to Lucy's face, and Lucy returned the courtesy. She had also never seen Keisha sing or dance in public either and felt happy that she was comfortable with her enough to do so. They had both been among very judgmental people, who they considered "friends". But this friendship was different. Lucy knew to her core that she could trust no one and she did not tell Keisha anything that she would not be comfortable telling others. But that did not prevent her from feeling that Keisha was really a friend.
Keisha skimmed over her list when they reached the last isle and realized that she forgot her seasonings. So they trekked back up to the first isle. Lucy saw a bit of movement in the corner of her right eye and turned a bit to her right. She saw Keisha jump out of the way to prevent from crashing into someone. That someone had a familiar figure and white skin. She even saw the person glance up at her quickly and look back to the floor, but she only saw them out of the corner of her eye. The person was wearing black. She never saw the face.
When they rounded the corner, Lucy asked Keisha if she saw the face of the person who almost crashed into her. Keisha shook her head and said she was just trying to avoid the person.
Every cell in Lucy's body was screaming at her... that the man was, in fact, Adam.
