Sagas

{14} Fire and water ~ D

I should have been dead by now. Or that was what the doctors thought. They didn't stumble over their words as they handed Aunty Flora the results of my bizarre "illness".

"The closest thing to what your child has is Anhidrosis, which is a condition that affects the sweat glands, preventing them from functioning as they should. This condition can be life-threatening as sweat glands are needed to regulate the body temperature, and improper functioning often leads to overheating or even death if not properly managed. But, madam, your son's condition is far worse, and I've never seen anything like it. He has sweat glands, but they have not worked a day in his life. That is why he doesn't sweat at all or gets cold like an average person does."

"What can be done, doctor? Please tell me you can do something about it." Aunty Flora would ask desperately.

"I'm truly sorry, but nothing can be done for your little boy." The doctor's voice would drop to a whisper, so only Aunty Flora could hear it, while the doctor threw pitiful glances at me. But I always managed to pick out what they were saying. "I'm afraid you have to prepare for the worst because it would be a miracle if your little boy lived past the age of ten." The doctor would tell her sorrowfully.

During the nights after we returned from those hospital visits, Aunty Flora would tuck me into bed with watery eyes, then she'd stay beside me, humming hymns and crying for hours after she thought I'd fallen asleep. In the morning, she would go back to Mother and ask for permission to take me to a different hospital and a more experienced doctor. Mother would give her consent, but the results never changed. It went on till Mother finally got fed up and put an end to the hospital visits. She was convinced she had never set her eyes on a healthier child, and nothing was wrong with me. She would say Aunty Flora was overreacting.

Mother was not the only person who thought so.

The old man, who couldn't care less if I was rotting in my grave as a kid or an adult, promised Mother and Aunty Flora that he would send me to the early grave they talked about so often with his own hands if he heard one more person say I was ill. That ended things, and all these years later, I had proved the doctors wrong. I wasn't only sixteen, but I had never felt better than I do right now. And if they were right, then the kind of heat I was feeling today should have killed me because my volcanic heart was erupting. It was boiling and spilling lava into every part of me.

I could call what was happening to me 'overheating', but instead of killing me, it was a welcome feeling, a hot and happy feeling that even the water I was swimming in could not quench. For the first time since I woke up today, I was hopeful because I had seen another chance to get closer to her, even after my first plan failed.

I was upset when I found out that Phoebe didn't pick up the paper as planned. I had been so pissed that I decided to come swim with Lawrence to blow off some steam. The other students we met at the pool left the pool one at a time, probably deciding to use the second pool and leave this one alone. They continued to stream out of the water till it was just Lawrence and me left in the big blue pool. Though they said nothing to us, we knew they were giving us our space, avoiding us as they had always done. At least they had some sense.

"I wouldn't have minded so much if she had been a Tiger or a Falcon, but she ended up a Lion. She had to end up on that rat's team," I said to Lawrence as we swam. I had seen Phoebe holding the Lion's jersey and knew she had been too stubborn to pick up the paper I had gone through all that trouble to place in that box.

Lawrence went into the water and emerged seconds later. "And I thought you'd let this go if you got what you wanted, but now that you didn't, I know I won't hear the end of this." He said it exasperatedly.

"You know what that motherfucker is like. He'd want to try something with her. Didn't I tell you what he said last night?"

"Yes, you did. But what if he does? I don't see why you keep letting him get to you." Lawrence wondered out loud.