Read Online The Wisdom of Evil by Scarlet Black - Free Book Online Page A

I’m goin’ down there right now,” she said. “Mickey…where’s Olivia?”
    “Where do yah think? Boston.”
    “Jesus H. Christ, this is gonna stop! You wait here for her, okay? I’ll call yah when I get there.”
    He looked relieved . No matter the age, children always believed their parents could fix anything. Glory grabbed the dog’s leash. “Haley, c’mon, boy.” His nose was already at the door; he chuffed, wagging his tail. She took Haley virtually everywhere with her. Joan loved to see him as well.
    When Glory arrived at Joan’s, all the lights were out and the curtains were pulled closed, doors locked.  She let herself in with the key she and Michael had, calling her name softly in case she was napping. She didn’t want to startle her. There was no reply. There was no sound of the television or any noise whatsoever except the slow tick tock of the pendulum on the grandfather clock standing against one of the living room walls.
    “Joan .” Glory’s voice was louder this time with concern and fear.
    A feeble, almost unrecognizable voice answered , “In here.”
    There is a strange sensation one gets when on a roller coaster or is having an unexpected fright; an actual physical feeling, starting in the stomach, flying up to the chest and causing the heart to pound in anxiety. This feeling came over Glory at the sound of that weak voice.
    As she stood at the threshold of the bedroom, she gasped at what she saw.
    Joan sat at a slant on the couch, struggling to sit up straight and gain her bearings. Her hair looked as if it had not been washed for quite a while. Her eyes were glassy and runny at the same time surrounded by skin that looked gray, used up, as did her overall appearance.
    The sound of ragged, overworked lungs was prominent . But, it was the smell that caused Glory’s heart to beat faster than she thought possible, her palms to sweat.
    Illness c ould deceive the senses if one chose to believe what they saw and heard, but the smell. The scent of illness and death could not be denied. That smell was there in that small bedroom with the embroidered lace white curtains and the comfortable old colonial furniture.
    Haley ran into the bedroom, stopped short, a low whining sound coming from deep in his throat. Dogs ha d the ability to sense things. Ears back, his tail wrapped underneath him, his whines grew. He licked gently at her face, but didn’t leap onto the bed. This was highly unusual behavior for a black Lab. Their rambunctious nature was notorious. Something was indeed very wrong.
    T his woman, whom Glory loved and admired, who called her “daughter” for so many years now, was obviously very ill. Yet, she wouldn’t admit it to Glory, or to herself.
    “We need to go to the emergency room .” Glory wrapped her arm around Joan, trying to pull her up. Joan was much larger than Glory and had no strength of her own. She couldn’t budge her.
    “It’s just a cold, I told you. I’ll be fine. I just need to …sleep it off.” An intense spasm of coughing overwhelmed her. She covered her mouth with her hand. When she pulled her hand away, Glory was shocked to see a fine mist of blood on the back of it. The misty spray of bright red was on her bottom lip as well.
    Primal fear tightened around her like a vise. Dear God, not her. Please, not her , she thought.
    “You need t o go. Maybe the cold has turned to pneumonia. A cold doesn’t last for two months!”
    From a distance, beyond the sound of her pounding heart, Glory heard the ring of the phone. It was Mickey . Glory asked him to drive down. Nana wasn’t well. She needed his help to get her to go to the hospital. If he wanted her to go, she would. Glory was certain of it.
    Her eyes lit up when he walked through the bedroom door and sat on her bed. Within minutes , Mickey convinced her to go to the emergency room. Between them, they got her up and dressed. Glory combed her hair and washed her face as she insisted she “looked a