Read Online The Inverted Forest by John Dalton - Free Book Online Page B

succumbed to a weakened heart. For some there were a few days of clarity before they died or were moved to Special Unit C. It wasn’t as if they wanted Harriet to listen while they reviewed their lives. But they did hold her hand, even those who, upon first meeting Harriet, had gone to the front desk and wondered why they’d been assigned a “negro” nurse. Now they called her “dear” and asked about her home life. They wanted to see photos of her son. Such a handsome little boy, they said. She was brave to raise him alone, though, surely, it would be an easier task with the right man at her side, wouldn’t it? Why not marry and give the boy a father? There were several nice young men in housekeeping. Not that she shouldn’t set her sights higher, because she was pretty and there were a few eligible doctors who saw patients at Meadowmont Gardens each week. Why not Dr. Marshburn? He was married, of course, but everyone knew his wife lived in Columbus, Ohio, and the two rarely occupied the same residence. Or why not Dr. Silverman,only thirty-three and rumored to be a playboy, but if he took Harriet to dinner or away for the weekend, it would almost certainly be someplace very nice.
    The Garden Ladies never mentioned the fact that all these possible suitors for Harriet were white men. Had the picture of James tipped them off? Or did these distinctions no longer matter?
    Probably they no longer mattered. Because at this late hour in their lives, with the mindless and the comatose of Special Unit C waiting just a few hallways away, the Garden Ladies were no longer interested in judging the personal choices other people made. If anything, they were warning her not to deny herself a worthy experience.
    And so on the last day of counselor training, Kenny Cossman, unit leader for male counselors, came to the infirmary and told Harriet there’d be an after-hours bonfire in one of the horse pastures. Already the beer had been bought and iced, and there’d be music and something good to smoke, and, who knew, maybe later they would all sneak down to the pool for a swim? He hoped Harriet would join them. Most likely he was hoping for more than that. During the course of the week, he’d made a few small overtures. One evening before dinner the counselors had played a stupid game. They’d tossed around a soccer ball, and the person who caught it had to name a famous person whom they wouldn’t mind spending time with on a deserted island. Kenny had said he’d like to spend time with R&B singer Toni Braxton, an offering meant for Harriet—a nice offering since Harriet liked to think that her best features were more Toni Braxton–like than Mariah Carey–like or Whitney Houston–like. At least Kenny was paying attention. He was only twenty-two, though his friendliness and his husky build made him seem a bit older. He didn’t inspire in Harriet the hopes for any great romance, but if he were funny and modest, which he usually was, she wouldn’t mind going to the bonfire and getting a bit drunk and letting him lead her to some quiet corner of camp for a kiss. Nothing more than that. Ormaybe a little more. It was pleasant enough to think of treading water beside him in the pool. All that male yearning just a few watery feet away.
    The Garden Ladies would have been the first to tell her, yes, go ahead, even if it meant leaving James—truly the soundest of child sleepers—alone in the infirmary for bits of time while she joined the party. She could always run back to check on him. Was that irresponsible?
    It probably was, but she’d gone anyway. The gathering in the horse pasture was the very best kind of party, because a week of first aid and program training and side-by-side living had made them intimate enough to know who could be teased or flirted with, who could be counted on to act outrageously.
    At some point it was decided that they should go for a swim. A midnight dip the boys called it, though by then it was well