The Curse of Flight

by R. G. Hendrickson

  Chapter 44

  “Bye, Josh. It’ll be okay, sweetie.” Genie put down the phone. Dan walked in the front door. Thank God he was home. She was just beside herself. “Josh says he hasn’t heard from Steve. You have to do something.”

  Dan gave her a blank look and paced around the room. “Like what?”

  “Talk to him. What are you looking for?” She followed him and seldom sat anymore. So big, it was getting more and more difficult to get back up.

  “The leash. We talk all the time.” He got down on hands and knees by the sofa.

  “This isn’t about football.” It felt like a football was sitting on her bladder.

  “Then what are we talking about?” His head dipped under the couch.

  “Their relationship.” She leaned against the arm.

  His head popped up. “Why would I talk about that?”

  “He listens to you.”

  “Taco wants a walk.” The little dog danced.

  “You’re not listening to me. You have to talk to him.”

  He got up and continued his search. “I don’t want to. It’s none of my business.” He picked up the collar from where he found it in the corner. Taco stood on hind legs.

  “You have to. It’s not for him, it’s for me.” If Steve and Josh didn’t get back together, it was going to drive her crazy.

  “Genie, why?” He attached the leash and edged toward the door.

  “You’re not leaving. We’re talking.” That stopped him short as she intended.

  “What am I supposed to do?” His arms outstretched like a question.

  “Tell him they love each other. He has to make up and give Josh whatever he wants.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Steve.” Taco pulled on the leash.

  “He needs you to encourage him. Josh isn’t asking for much.”

  “What does he want?”

  “The same thing that Josh has given him.” She couldn’t believe she had to explain this all over again. “Josh wants to be as close and intimate with Steve as Steve is with him.”

  “Sorry, you lost me.” Taco cocked his head.

  “He wants Steve to bottom for once.”

  “What?” Taco whined.

  “You know what I mean. Think about it.”

  “Did I need to know this?”

  “He’s your friend.”

  “Why does he have to do that?”

  “To make up and show Josh he means it.”

  “Can’t he just get flowers?”

  “It has to be something meaningful. Josh is devastated. Steve needs to prove himself.”

  “I don’t get it.” Taco yipped. “Why that?” Dan visibly cringed.

  “What? Have sex?” Her husband was so dense. She had no idea how she put up with him.

  “Maybe they’d be better off without it, if they have to do that.”

  “Better off without sex? Okay, would you like to test that theory?” She regretted saying it, because, in truth, the pregnancy already had tested it, at least to a degree. She regretted adding salt to the wound and appreciated Dan’s kindness and patience during this time, though she hesitated to tell him that.

  Dan slumped. “I wasn’t talking about us.” Taco lay by the door.

  She crossed her arms over the bulge. “Are Steve and Josh any different?”

  “I’m just saying, what a way to get off. Man, who thought that one up?”

  She couldn’t believe her ears. “What in God’s name are you talking about?” He was sidestepping, and she wasn’t putting up with it.

  “You know. It’s kind of a stretch. Isn’t it? Who came up with that? It must have been some hippie from the sixties.”

  “Oh, don’t be silly. It’s been around forever. Since the Stone Age.”

  “Really? Cavemen? I don’t think so.”

  “A peg and a hole. It doesn’t take that much imagination. Does it?”

  “It does for me. Why? Want to try it?” He smirked.

  “Okay, I’ll stop by the store for a dildo.” She would get the biggest one they had. It was only fair. He deserved it.

  Dan stepped back. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Then what did you mean?” She wanted to hear him say it. Surely, he wasn’t serious.

  “Never mind.” He had that sheepish expression he got sometimes when he was bad. “Is this their only problem?” he asked.

  “It’s the only one that Steve can do anything about.” She had to pee. She always had to pee.

  Dan leaned on the door. “He doesn’t like it, obviously. Why should he?”

  “He’s never tried it. How could he know?”

  His eyes rolled. “There’re a lot of things I’ve never done that I’m pretty sure I don’t like.”

  “It’s for Josh and only once. That’s all he was asking. Is that too much?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “I want you to talk to Steve. Tell him it’s okay. Tell him you know what Josh means to him. Tell him you’ve seen the change that Josh has made in him. Encourage him to keep an open mind. There’s nothing wrong with being versatile in bed.”

  “Wait a minute now. I don’t think I can do that. What if it messes him up?”

  “It won’t hurt him if they’re careful, and Josh is probably gentler than Steve ever was.”

  “I’m sorry, Genie. You know I hate to say no to anything for you, but I can’t.”

  She focused on his eyes. “I want you to tell Steve to do it. Tell him it’s okay to give Josh what he wants. It won’t kill him, and it won’t kill you to tell him that. Understand? Sometimes we do things for people we love. He should count his blessings. It’s not like he’s going to have a baby. I’m doing that for you. He’s lucky. All he has to do is bend over and relax.” Her husband’s eyes got wide.

  He dropped the leash. “Okay, okay. Whatever you want.” He pulled the phone out of his pocket and called. “Hey, it’s me.” Dan paused before he spoke again. “We have to talk.” He listened. “Where are you?” Another short pause. “I’ll meet you there.”

  Chapter 45

  Steve left the empty on the coffee table and went to the kitchen for another beer. Weird, Dan never came over much. Now he was on his way. Steve wondered what was up.

  A cold bottle in his hand from the fridge, he searched through empty potato chip bags, candy wrappers, and ice cream cartons on the counter. “There you are.” He picked up the bottle opener and popped off the top.

  Cool suds soothed his throat. An itch brought his free hand to his back, but he couldn’t reach the spot. A drawer slid open. He pulled the tangled utensils to the countertop and selected a long-handled spatula. It did the trick. He got relief between his shoulder blades.

  “Shit, what a mess.” Dishes from Chris’s dinner piled in the sink along with three more days’ worth stacked up to the brim. Beer bottles collected on the kitchen table. Back in the living room, ash trays overflowed on the coffee table covered with crumpled Kleenex from one of his favorite movies along with more empties.

  “It’s Dan. He won’t care.” Steve sat back down on the couch and put his feet up. The phone beeped again. He glanced at the screen, a call from a client. Messages piled up.

  His mind wandered. It seemed like forever before the door knock. He returned to the present, got up, and answered.

  Dan had a strange expression on his face. He walked in and looked around before he spoke. “Hi, buddy, how’s it going?”

  Steve lifted his hand to signal a thumbs up but realized he still had a beer in it. “Want one?” He didn’t wait for an answer but went to the kitchen to fetch it. Dan’s footsteps on the tile floor followed him.

  Dan accepted the beer, but put it on the counter. If he didn’t want it, he shouldn’t have taken it. He must have something on his mind.

  “Don’t you have a maid?” Dan asked.

  “She quit.”

  “Get a new one.”

  “It’s too late. They just look and leave.” He was tired of tryi
ng.

  “How about one of those services that clear out trashed rentals?”

  “What do you want, Dan?” Steve looked his buddy in the eye.

  Dan backed up against the counter. “Genie wanted me to talk to you about something.”

  “What?” Why couldn’t Genie do it herself?

  “She thinks you should work things out with Josh. She’s worried about you.”

  “And what about you? Are you worried?”

  “I wasn’t, until I got here. What’s going on with you?”

  “Nothing.” Steve took a long swig.

  Dan’s eyebrows narrowed. “Really?”

  “I’m kind of disappointed, but I’ll get over it. Damned curse.”

  “Yeah, that’s crazy, man. Some sort of superstition, huh? Genie told me.”

  “He can’t have sex, except on Tuesdays!”

  “Oh, yeah, yeah. That’s what it was. Not such a big deal, is it?”

  “Well, yeah!”

  “I mean, Genie hasn’t felt like it for a while now. She’s big as a house, you know. Can’t blame her.”

  “That’s rough, man.”

  “Tell me about it.” Dan sat at the kitchen table, next to the chair with the underwear. “I’m looking forward to the baby,” he said. “I really love Genie.”

  It occurred to Steve that maybe he should do something about the shorts on the chair, but first he lifted his hand in a toast. “I know you do, Dan.”

  “I would do anything for her.”

  “I know you would.” The toast seemed a little silly now, since Dan had left his beer on the counter. “You’d do anything for Genie.”

  No response from Dan. Condensation dripped from Steve’s hand. He set his beer on the table and didn’t want to sit on the shorts, so he tipped the chair. They slid off the seat to the ground.

  The expression on Dan’s face looked serious. It leaned in. “You know, I’d take a bullet for Genie if I had to.”

  “I know you would.” Steve wanted another sip of beer but didn’t like the sweaty bottle. It was just one of those things, a pet peeve of his. He usually used a mug. They were all in the sink.

  “Do you remember that surprise dinner party I set up for you and Josh?” Dan asked.

  “Yeah, some surprise.”

  “Do you know why I did it? Because Genie asked me to. I didn’t want to. I didn’t need to have dinner with you guys, but I did it anyway, because that’s what she wanted. I didn’t ask why. I just did it. It made her happy. I make her happy because she makes me happy. Are you happy, Steve?”

  Steve really wanted another swig, so he looked around and picked up the underwear from the floor. It soaked up the sweat from the bottle, but he was careful not to wipe the top. That wouldn’t be sanitary. The shorts weren’t his, and he wasn’t sure where they came from. “No, I’m not happy.” The beer tasted good though.

  “What are you going to do about that?”

  “I don’t know. What should I do?” He took another gulp.

  “I think we both know the answer to that.”

  “Genie put you up to this.” It was clear to Steve.

  “Yeah, but I agree with her. I’ve known you a long time, and I can tell. Josh made you happy. Don’t lose that. Give him what he wants. Just make him happy.”

  “But we only had sex once a week.”

  “So? What’s so unusual about that? That’s what happens when you get married, and you’re thankful for it. Get over it. Grow up. Tell him you had a moment of weakness. You learned your lesson, and you won’t leave again. Then give him whatever he wants. It doesn’t matter what it is. Just do it. That’s what I do for Genie, anything she tells me. I’d take a bullet for her. Would you do that for Josh? That day he almost fell, you were ready to catch him. I saw it.”

  “It’s not so simple. I don’t think you know what you’re saying.”

  “I do. I know everything. They talk. I don’t want to hear it, but it doesn’t matter. She tells me anyway. I know what your problem is. Let me tell you something. I don’t have to, but if I did have to, I’d do anything for Genie.”

  “Not anything.” Steve’s certainty about this point was unquestionable, and Dan clearly didn’t know what they were talking about.

  Dan leaned in and put a forearm on the table. “I’d take it up the ass for Genie, if I had to, but I don’t. Okay, so I do a little bending and groveling sometimes or else I wouldn’t be here, but that’s beside the point. Just do what you got to do. It won’t kill you.”

  Steve didn’t expect to hear that. Something tickled his face. It ran from the eye, across the cheek to the chin, maybe a bug. He swiped it away, and it was wet, like the condensation. Then he understood how much it meant for Dan to talk to him. “Thanks, I guess.”

  “Any time, buddy.” Dan squeezed and patted Steve’s shoulder. “You take care of yourself, and take care of Josh.”

  The home phone rang. Steve picked up the kitchen extension. “Hi, Sis.”

  “Steve, it’s dad. We’re at the hospital.”

  “Hospital?”

  “Come right now. He had a heart attack. We’re at UMC.”

  “How is he?”

  “I don’t know. Just come.”

  “Okay.” He hung up.

  Dan’s eyes were big. “What happened?”

  Steve tried to hold it back. If he closed his eyes tight enough, squeezed them shut, it wouldn’t come out. A couple drops escaped. He wiped his face, and then he was okay for a minute. “It’s my dad. Heart attack. I’ve got to go.”

  “Oh, no. I’ll take you. Where are they? Drink some water first.”

  “University Medical Center. Thanks, Dan. I don’t think I can drive.”

  “No, you can’t.”

  Chapter 46

  Josh sat on his couch and fiddled with his phone. An email notification popped up. When he had written the professor, he didn’t necessarily expect a response, but the picture sparked the academic’s interest. The latest communications in the chain involved several linguists, experts on lost languages.

  The message spelled out the inscription, which Josh had photographed for the scientists. The letters suggested modern Coptic but had some peculiarities they noted, clues as to the origin and dialect. A debate ensued.

  Archeologists, studied in jewelry fashions, joined the chain to date the ring. Josh scratched a tiny sample of its gold and sent it for chemical analysis. It was old. Very old. They all agreed.

  While one young linguist formulated a thesis and planned a paper, a long-tenured PhD found it a threat to his publications. They quibbled back and forth. Josh didn’t understand it. He just wanted to know what the inscription meant.

  The disagreement focused on one obscure word. They concurred on the rest, which gave no hint as to the meaning of the unknown term. Like a blank space in a picture puzzle of the sea, it confounded them. He who spares the -blank-, breaks the curse.

  Similar words in other dialects might refer to a girl or maiden. The unknown term, in related languages, resembled words for purity and passion. The academics agreed that synonyms for these meanings already existed in the ring’s era and dialect. The blank in their puzzle might refer to something else.

  Josh resigned himself to never knowing. Nonetheless, he wore the ring as his uncle insisted. Maybe it would bring him luck. He needed some. Today he would call the curse on himself and face his destiny that night. Though a Tuesday, he had a performance, a benefit for local charities.

  The door sounded a knock. He didn’t expect anyone. A look through the peephole, it was Steve. Josh froze. He might not answer. Should he do it, there was little hope of anything good coming from it. Through the glass, Steve brushed away a single tear on his cheek. Josh swallowed the lump in his throat.

  He opened the door a crack and looked out tentatively. Steve’s smile belied the sadness in his eyes. He lifted white roses. It wasn’t enough.

  Josh opened the door wider but not for entry. Warm air brushed his face.
The scent of salt wafted in. Steve had gained weight. “You’ve gained weight?”

  “I know.” Steve looked down at himself and shook his head. He dropped the flowers to his side. “I have to talk to you.”

  Josh’s eyes lifted from the ground. He couldn’t turn down Steve’s sincere request and sensed something was wrong. “Come in. I don’t want the flowers.”

  Like a tall ship sailing, Steve crossed the threshold. “Maybe I’ll bring them to my dad. He’s in the hospital.”

  “What happened?”

  “Heart attack. They think he’ll make it.”

  “Oh my God. Sit.” Josh gestured to the armchair and chose for himself a seat on the sofa’s furthest side. Steve laid the flowers on the coffee table and leaned in with forearms on knees.

  “I made a mistake. I’m sorry. It was a moment of weakness. I learned my lesson. I won’t leave again. I’ll give you whatever you want. It doesn’t matter what. We were happy.”

  Tropical waters swelled around Josh’s feet. They rose to his knees and higher. An ocean breeze came from nowhere. Silent, caressing, it soothed him. His anger washed away.

  Steve got a sheepish look while he waited for reply. Josh offered none but bathed in the warm waters. In no hurry, he would see what else Steve had to say.

  The voice stumbled. “I deleted the app and the ringtone.” He took the phone out of his pocket, showed the screen, and flipped through the pages.

  The bittersweet news passed by Josh like driftwood and seaweed. It was too late. He’d made up his mind and was done with Steve.

  If he had to, Josh could do it alone. His chest emptied out a sigh. He’d get help from a stranger or do it by himself. He needn’t involve Steve.

  Like he read the thought, Steve’s head tilted sideways, and his brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “Just asking. I have something for you.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Make love to me.”

  “What?”

  “I want you to. You know.”

  “Why now?”

  “I want you to have that. I wish I’d done it sooner. I’m sorry.”