The Curse of Behr

Everyday

"Have you taken your medication, dear?" Uncle Ginn asks over a cup of green tea.

I slip em his plate of breakfast, consisting of just two slices of toast with a sunny side up egg resting in the center and a spoon of butter in a bowl of hot grits.

I make this for em every morning. He won't take nothing else.

"Behr." I correct. "It'd gone empty yesterday. By the time night came, I'd remembered too late to remind ya. I was tired and you were workin' so I just-."

Uncle lowers his always scribblin' pen and glances at me over his eye piece. For some reason it sends a terrible chill down my spine.

It ain't that he's a scary man...

Well that's a lie, cause he is if you ain't used to his foreign looks. With his crazy bluish black hair and estranged white beard that he keeps braided down. He's got freckles like mum had on his sharp nose and tiny teeth.

He wouldn't be so scary, only creepy if he hadn't has so many wooden parts...

"You haven't had your medication since yesterday morning?" His tone drops a grave note.

"Well I.. I didn't wanna bother you, being your mind's else where on important stuff. I feel fine though." I smile anxiously in waiting to see if my reassurance makes him relax some.

But it doesn't.

Suddenly, uncle is up, his chair startling me with a fork metal screech along the floor. He lashes out a palm and the water from his tea springs up from the cup.
In a fluid gesture, the water swirls around as his hand did and slams hard into a cabinet on the opposite wall of us. It bounces open and different stand by remedies fall out.

I feel like crying when all the glass goes scattering but something catches my eye. On the very top shelf an oxygen case spirals over theedge.

Uncle turns the water into an ice shoot that launches the pump toward me.

I catch it and look to my uncle.

"Now." He says.

"...okay." I nod, quickly taking a puff of the of the vapor inside.

For some reason, when I do, a fire burns up my chest really bad. Carefully, I put the inhaler down and watch as my hands quiver up to my throat. I feel my eyes fill up with hotter tears than regular tears, so I pinch them shut in prepration to cough. I draw in a deep, deep, lung bursting breath just when uncle comes over and knocks it outta me.

A huge gust of air blows across the entire room even turning up my skirt, tearing out of my throat like it does a motor vehicle exhaust pipe. It nearly tips all things set up on our dinning table.

"Every day..." Uncle says slowly.

I look around at the mess I made just from coughin'.

I have not the slightest clue. Beside me Uncle is on his knees pickin' up bits of stuff.

Immediately, I go get the broom from the kitchen. "Uncle... Ginn?" I question softly, knowin' may not hear me from the dinnin' room.

I'm scareda asking what's on in my mind... but I gotta. He responds. And my heart drops.

"Do I got the illness that... mama had...?" Tears well up in my eyes and fall down the broom, stainin' it dark.

My mind can't help but linkin' the drop to an abyss I'm slowly leanin' over into.

"What was that, dear?" Uncle brushes by and dumps something in the garbage.

Should I ask again?

"Do i-?" My voice cracks and I can't keep myself up right.

"Behr!" Uncle gasps. "Behr, sweetheart! What is wrong? Is something hurting?"

He quickly comes over and kneels down by me. I hold the broom tightly to my chest. I feel Uncle probin' my body tenderly like in search of somethin'. But the only place hurtin' is my heart.

If I got what mama got then that means I'm dyin'...

I sink a little lower into the floor, Uncle unfolds me and takes me in his arms. "To rest you go."

I don't wanna go to bed. I'll just be waitin' kindly for death to take me as soon as my eyes fall.

There's just no way I could have what mama did... I'm perfectly fine.

Right?