“No kidding?” I asked. “So I guess there’s no going back to being a tanner?”
Nason grinned. “Guess not. Not sure what’s worse though, smelling like lime or smelling like manure.”
Ira chided. “Either’s an improvement.”
Nason rolled his eyes, but didn’t take the bait. It was obvious that Ira had already made him a new target.
“How’s Udo handling everything?” I asked. “From what I’ve seen so far, Kasala looks great.”
“He’s doing real good,” said Nason.
Ira nodded. “Who’d have thought he’d become what he has in so short a time?”
I grinned. “I guess I did, huh?”
Ira cuffed me. “Don’t feed me that crap. When you put him in charge of the fields, you had no way of knowing all this would happen.”
“You sure? Maybe I’m just that good.”
We laughed.
“Gods, it’s good to see you up and about,” said Nason.
“It’s good to be up and about.”
I forced myself to part with them. They had work and I had people I wanted to see. However, after I made a quick pass through the fields to say hello to everyone, I was beat and needed rest. I convinced Damaris to let me stop by the towers once more, but Reuma confirmed there was still no word on Myra. I let her know we’d be at home for a while.
Word must have reached Udo about me moving about, as he was waiting for me on my porch as Damaris and I returned. We shook hands with much enthusiasm before going inside.
“Congratulations, Mayor,” I said.
He looked embarrassed. “I hope you’re not angry with me.”
“Why? Because they elected you mayor? Of course not. It’s obvious that the council and everyone else in town thought you were the right person for the job.”
Udo let out a slow breath. “It’s still so . . .”
“Overwhelming?”
“Yes! How did you juggle it all?”
I shrugged. “I wish there was a secret, but there isn’t. Just take your time where you can in making a decision, and do your best. Some things will work out, but some won’t.”
He snorted. “That’s more or less what my mother-in-law told me.”
“And how is Ayodele? Any less of a thorn in your side?”
Udo smiled. “Yes, actually. After the election, she’s like a new person. The wife says she brags to everyone about me. She even told me that I made her proud. Almost passed out at that.”
“Wow.”
“I asked her what changed. She said that I had become the man she always knew I could be.”
“I bet it feels good not to have that stress anymore.”
“Definitely,” The expression on his face changed. “It really is good to see you doing better. My whole family has been praying for you. You’ve done so much for us. For me. If there’s ever anything I can ever do to help, please let me know.”
“Well, there is one thing.”
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure what the council wanted of me from here on.”
“They didn’t say anything specifically before leaving. They just reiterated that you were not to take on a leadership role.”
“Well, as mayor, do you have any ideas on where I can help?”
“Tyrus!” Up until that point, Damaris had walked about quietly, picking up the kitchen from our morning breakfast. Obviously, she had not missed a word though. “You’re still not recovered. The last thing you need to worry about is working.”
“But soon enough I’ll be ready. It’d be nice to know what I’ll be doing then.”
Udo said, “I’ve actually thought about that. We’ve really moved past the point where people have to work in certain roles. Most people are able to make choices about moving on to their own thing if they’d like so I don’t want to necessarily tell you what to do.”
“But you do see a need,” I pressed.
“I do. How do you feel about working with Damaris at the tailor shop?”
“What?”
“What?” repeated Damaris.
He chuckled. “Believe it or not, it’s turned into a big need in just the last couple days. And not just for Kasala. After we helped Paki with his raiders, he remarked about some of the newer clothes our men wore. He hinted there’d be a market for them in Sinsca since they lack anyone with that skill. Xola made a similar comment as well since there weren’t many selling clothing in Batna’s markets. I imagine there are more opportunities elsewhere. It could become quite a lucrative business.”
“So now Paki wants to trade?” I asked, unable to hide the bite from my voice or focus on his other points.
“He’s not as bad as I thought he’d be,” said Udo. “He seemed ready to move past his previous reservations about us.”
I grunted, hoping Udo was right. However, my pessimism was hard to suppress. “I know nothing about making clothes. At least nothing past patching up a hole in a uniform.”
“Damaris has the knowledge for that.”
“Then what do I do?”
Damaris answered, “Seems pretty obvious to me. I focus on production and you manage the business side of things—money, transporting goods, ordering supplies, and so on.”
“Gods, I never thought I’d spend the rest of my days doing that sort of work.”
I had always thought I’d be a farmer like my old man. Sitting hunched over a desk all day didn’t appeal to me nearly as much as being outside working with my hands.
“Would it really be so bad to spend our days together?”
I caught a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her lips. The idea no longer seemed so bad.
My body relaxed. “Actually, I can’t think of a better way I’d want to spend my days.”
Udo smiled with us, then stuttered a bit. “One m-more thing.”
“Sure.”
“I’d also like to retain you as an advisor of sorts, someone I can bounce ideas off of if I need to.”
I frowned. “Is the council all right with that?”
“They told me no leadership roles. Nothing about advisory roles. I was thinking we could just keep this between you and me.”
I grinned at that. Udo was easing nicely into the role of mayor. I gave him a mocking bow. “I’d be honored.”
“Thank you.” He looked out the window. “I hate to rush off, but I’m supposed to meet with Lemuel shortly.”
We said our goodbyes. I watched him go and turned back to see Damaris studying me closely.
I asked, “Is something wrong?”
“No. Just thinking about my father.”
“Oh?”
“After Roni died in the war, some of my best memories are of him and me working in his tailor shop. She reached out and took my hand. It’ll be nice to create new memories with you.”
I bobbed my head in the silence that followed.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
I had grown so guarded with my thoughts that the words “Nothing. I’m fine” were on the tip of my tongue. But I caught myself from vocalizing them, remembering the last couple days and most importantly that it was Damaris who asked me, someone I could speak with honestly.
I answered, “Just about how easily life has gone on without me. I feel guilty for saying this, but I was almost hoping there’d be some issue I’d have to jump in and solve. Something that proved I was still needed.”
She frowned. “You’re looking at it the wrong way. Think about why there aren’t any issues.”
“Because the council came here.”
“No. They didn’t change much from what you already had in place. A few minor things and making Udo mayor. That’s it. Every project you started is still in place and moving forward. And the people you placed in charge of those projec
ts are still overseeing them. If the town looks as though it doesn’t need you, it’s because you made it that way.”
Stepping back and thinking for a moment, I realized what she said was true. There were almost no changes to what I had done to Kasala over the last few months. Mainly someone different in place to oversee the work. Considering how smoothly things seemed to be going, I decided that was probably for the best.
“I guess you’re right.”
“Say that again.”
“That you’re right?”
Damaris winked. “Yes. It’s good to hear you coming around.”
I smiled, leaned over and kissed her. “You’re right about a lot of things.”
She smiled back. I couldn’t get over how happy it made me to see her do so. My life had really turned around. But it wasn’t perfect, I thought, as both Myra and Zadok entered my mind.
She frowned and as if reading my thoughts said, “You’ll work it out with them.”
I furrowed my brow. “It’s not going to be easy.”
“No, but you’ll do it.”
* * *
“She’s not coming back,” I said, sitting on my mount and staring north of town with the purple-red sky hanging over us.
After eating again and regaining some strength, I decided to go back and wait for Myra to return from scouting, determined to speak with her at least before the day was done. I discovered she had briefly returned, but set right back out again in search of Zadok once she learned of his reaction to me looking for him.
Their behavior placed a huge cloud over an otherwise good day. What good was it that the rest of the town did well if my kids suffered?
“She has to come back to sleep,” said Damaris. “Reuma said she didn’t take anything special with her. Just food and water.”
“She could just sleep on the ground for the night.”
“I don’t think she’ll go that far.”
“She could come into town a different route in order to avoid me. If that’s the case, we’re just wasting our time waiting.”
“We can go home and wait there if you’d like,” said Damaris.
“No. I’ll wait here.”
“Be careful how you approach them. You’re not going to be able to force them to talk to you.”
“I won’t force them, but I don’t want them to think I gave up on them either. I’ll wait at least until the sun goes down.”
We waited until the sun went down. Then we waited at least two hours more. I was hungry, tired, and feeling weak from a long day I was unaccustomed to. But I wouldn’t be moved. The more time that passed, the more desperate I became.
“Tyrus. You need your rest,” nudged Damaris.
“Just a bit longer,” I pleaded.
She sighed, but said nothing more.
My patience finally paid off as ten minutes later a horse appeared in the distance, lit by a starry night. As they approached, I saw the mount carried two riders. As it neared, I knew it was Zadok and Myra.
My gut flipped.
“Tyrus?”
“Huh?” I said, twisting in my saddle.
“You’re breathing heavy.”
I tried to joke. “Sweating like a pig too. Gods, I’m nervous.”
“You’ll do fine,” she said, reaching over and squeezing my arm.
The reassurance of her touch calmed me.
I squinted.
Myra dismounted. She and Zadok looked to be having words over something, while waving their arms my way.
Myra stepped back when Zadok clicked the reins and galloped off the road, circling around the outside of town near the river. My head swiveled back and forth between him riding off and Myra standing alone.
“What’s going on? Should I go after him?”
“I don’t think so.”
“But something could be wrong.”
“I think you’re more likely to get answers from Myra.”
I started to click my reins, when Damaris stopped me.
“Meet her on equal terms and approach her on foot.”
I dismounted, took my reins in hand and walked toward my daughter. I stopped and looked back when I realized Damaris hadn’t moved. “Aren’t you coming?”
“This is a discussion between a daughter and her father.”
Frowning, I asked, “Don’t you want to be there when I tell her about us?”
“I wouldn’t bring that up right away.”
“Why not? It’s important.”
“But it’s not the most important thing. Besides, I’m sure she’s already heard.”
She was right.
I’m sure some men would laugh at the dread I felt approaching my sixteen-year-old daughter, but those men didn’t have a daughter as sharp as mine. She was still a girl in age, but she held herself every bit a woman as she walked toward me—shoulders and head back, chin up in defiance and confidence.
I already knew where I stood. Nothing I could say or do would give me the upper hand. But it wasn’t about gaining an upper hand, it was about gaining my daughter back and I would concede everything to do that.
She stopped ten feet away from me. I kept going, but halted myself when she took a step backward. That hurt.
“Hello,” I said.
Nothing. That hurt more.
“I came to see you earlier,” I continued.
“So I heard.”
“Why didn’t you come back so we could talk?”
“I had more important things to do like making sure Zadok was all right.”
“Is he?”
She furrowed her brow. “What do you think?”
“Considering he rode off just a few moments ago, I’d say no.”
“You got it.”
“I had hoped to apologize to him as well.”
“An apology isn’t going to fix how much you hurt him.”
“But it’s a start, isn’t it?”
“To what?”
“To making things right.”
“I hate to break it to you, Pa, but the way he talks, there isn’t anything you could do that would ever make it right with him.”
My breath caught in my throat. I managed to choke out, “And you?”
She shrugged. The careless way she did so hurt even more than the uncertainty it brought. It was as if she didn’t know the answer and it wasn’t worth her time to determine one.
“Myra, please. I know you’re mad at me and—”
“I’m not mad at you.”
That gave me pause. And hope. “You’re not?”
“No. Zadok is mad at you. I’m disgusted by you.”
That hope fluttered away. “Look, I’m sorry I failed you by not being able to handle this and—”
“By the gods, you still don’t understand. I never cared about whether you failed, and neither does Zadok. You lied to us. You misled us. You deceived us. You treated us like some plan or strategy you had in your head, choosing your words carefully, manipulating others into making us question our own concerns, playing people against each other.”
“I only meant to protect you both. You and your brother have been through so much.”
She snapped “Don’t blame us for your bad decisions.”
“I’m not. It’s the truth. I’m your father. A good father is supposed to protect his children from harm and hurt. I tried to do that. I was obviously wrong, but that’s why I made those choices.”
“You could have protected us without lying.”
“I tried. But you kept pressing me to open up to you. And there are just some things I don’t think I can share with you or Zadok. Ever.”
“It hurts to hear you say that, but I understand what you mean. And I could have accepted you opening up to someone else instead. But you didn’t. You made everyone
think you were doing that with Ira, but apparently you withheld a lot from him too.”
“I was trying to protect him too. That and I didn’t fully understand everything bothering me until the last few days.”
“That might be partially true. But the rest is that you were trying to protect yourself. Having to put everything out there would leave you vulnerable and you can’t cope with that. Am I right?”
“Yes. I think you are.”
“I see.” Myra glanced over my shoulder to where Damaris waited. “Did you tell her everything then?”
“Everything that I could think of, including the things that I told you I only recently understood. She did the same with me.”
“So, you two are finally together then?”
“Well, I—”
She snorted. “About time.”
I searched for what to say next. “Are you upset? It doesn’t mean I don’t still love your mother. I always will.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “I know that. And I’m not upset. I just didn’t think it would take this long for you and Damaris to happen.” She paused. “Are you happy with her?”
“I am.”
She twisted her mouth in a frown. “Funny, isn’t it?”
I tilted my head in confusion. “What is?”
“How it worked out. You finally did what everyone has been telling you to do for who knows how long now and look where it got you. You got a great woman, made peace with Ma’s death, and it looks like a great weight is off your shoulders. Just think of all the time and effort you wasted by not listening to those who cared about you sooner.”
Gods, was she going to say anything that didn’t cut deep? I knew I deserved every bit of her wrath, but that didn’t make experiencing it any easier. Especially because I desperately wanted to mend the damage between us.
“None of it matters if I lost you and Zadok.”
She grunted.
“Have I lost you two?”
“I can’t speak for Zadok. He still needs time to think. Give him his space.”
I swallowed. “If you think its best, I will.”
“I do.”
“And do you want space?”
She let out a small sigh. “It would be for the best.”
“For how long?”
She shrugged. “I’ll let you know when things change,” she said while starting to walk away.
Forever Soldiers: The Tyrus Chronicle - Book Four Page 46
