We Were Gods: Oleander: Book One

Borrowed Time

"Mrs. Lavouie?" I freeze, my blood goes cold as his voice hits me.

"Yes?" My mother attempts to sit up, but doesn't get very far.

"Not here. Not now... Please-" I start to beg Ra but he holds up a hand, silencing me almost instantly.

"I heard you weren't doing very well, ma'am." He steps into the room, his footsteps barely making a sound against the bleached linoleum. "I thought I would come and send my regards."

"That's so sweet of you." My mother puts on a smile, instantly looking years younger as the wrinkles nearly disappear. Even though she isn't doing well, she puts on a tough act. "Please, come in."

I notice now that Ra has a rather large bouquet in his hands accompanied by a beautiful stained glass vase. There are so many different flowers that they nearly hide the vase. Lindie is pressed against him as he holds her gracefully with one arm. "Those are just lovely, dear. But you really didn't have to go to all that trouble."

"It is no trouble at all." Ra shines an unearthly white smile at her. "Your husband has gone to get some coffee, I believe. He should be up here soon to see you though. He has been working some pretty long hours again, is that correct?"

"He always does." My mother frowns. "I appreciate your visit, Ra."

In that sentence and from their actions my world begins to spin. How is it they know one another?

"Oleander, this is Ra. He stayed with us once, long ago when he had nowhere to call home. Your father helped him get a job and over the years we lost contact. I can see you've done well for yourself, Ra." Mother smiles and nods at the suited God. Nothing about Ra seems inexpensive, he even carries himself in a movie-star way.

"Patricia, I have a confession to make, my dear. Oleander and I have met before."

"Oh. I know you saw him when he was just a babe but I didn't know if you'd recognize him now that he's more gro-"

"What. The. Frickle. Frackle." I'm staring stupidly at both of them, my mouth hanging slightly open.

"Oleander, I was serious when I told you we have met before." Ra insists. My stomach twists and turns. I want to lunge at him and rip my daughter from his arms. I want to pull her away from the horrid man that I no longer trust.

"How could you? Does Dad know?" I am angrier at Ra than my mother at this point. I, once again, would like to kill the God. How dare he lay so much as a breath on my mother's cheek?! I am certain he seduced her; my mother is a good Christian woman she would never defile her marriage.

"Of course your father knows." Mother laughs and my blood goes frigid.

"Was it like... some kind of fetish thing? A three-way?" I nearly lose my stomach contents at the thought of elderly bodies meeting and mingling with a young body in such a lucrative way.

Ra laughs. My mother no longer laughs.

"Oleander Wilbur Lavouie! How dare you say something so vile! Me and your father are- we're good Christian people that do not engage in such acts!" My mother's weakness from earlier seems to have left her and is now being replaced with frustration.

"We were simply friends, Oleander. Your mother and I were close friends. Your family showed me true kindness that the world seems to lack now a days. How is Laurie, by the way?" There's a twinkle in Ra's eye and I sense that he already knows the answer to his question.

"She is doing wonderful. She just bought a home in Hawai'i. We have some family there, you know. She is also the head of her company." My mother's face lights with a smile at the mention of her daughter. For the most part, we do not talk about my sister anymore.