Earthbound by DM Arnold (read book .TXT) 📕

“I'd be delighted.”

“Dad, did my mother ever send you away?”

“Send me away?”

“Yes -- did you and she ever have a ... a disagreement and she sent you away.”

“No. We did have our differences. Most lovers do.”

“You never did something so...” Nyk wiped a tear from his cheek. “... so totally unforgivable...”

“Does this have to do with Sukiko? Nykkyo, I can't imagine you doing anything unforgivable.”

“I let slip about Andra and me -- that we're amften. Suki was so hurt -- so angry. She was furious. It kills me to know I hurt her so.”

“You and Andra are amften?”

“Don't sound so surprised.” Nyk could hear Veska laughing. “Is the notion really so absurd?”

“Not at all, Nyk...” Veska chuckled. “I was imagining Senta's expression when she learns...” He laughed again. “She's been trying to get Andra into her bed since she met her. How did you...”

“Andra and I discovered we're kindred spirits.”

“She's an ax'amfin...”

“She's a sweet girl and a good friend.” Nyk pressed his hand to his eyes. “I tried to explain to Suki what amften means to our people... She didn't understand...” He choked back tears. “She sent me away -- said she wanted me out of her sight. We were warned in our training about involvement with Earth women. I'm beginning to understand why.”

“How much do you love her?”

“I love her more than life itself. A day doesn't pass without thoughts of her filling my mind.”

“That sort of love rarely goes unreciprocated, Nyk. Love and anger are the two faces of the same emotion. I don't know much about Earth people, but I do know something about women. Ask for her forgiveness -- beg if you must -- I'd be shocked if she didn't grant it. You've gone this far. Don't give up now and do something you'll truly regret.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Nykkyo -- son, I've wanted such an opportunity for years. Do you still want to divert a packet?”

“I'll let you know.” The vidphone session terminated.

Nyk undressed. The phone rang and he answered it.

“Nick...”

“Yes, Yasuko?”

“Nick, I wish you had used the guestroom instead. Not ten minutes ago Sukiko came downstairs looking for you -- as I knew she would once she came to her senses. I told her you left and she went back upstairs. Now, she's wailing. She's not crying -- she's screaming. Listen...” Nyk heard muffled wailing in the background. “That's coming from upstairs. I've never heard her do anything like this.”

“I'm so sorry, Yasuko. You're right -- I shouldn't have left. Should I come home?”

“I don't know if that would make things better or worse. I'm worried, Nick. She seems to be spiraling into hysteria.”

“Let's let her calm down overnight and see how she feels in the morning.”

“Fine, Nick. I'll call if anything changes.”

Nyk set down the handset, flopped on the bed, laced his fingers behind his head and attempted to will himself to sleep. As much as he disliked using Floran sleep aids, he wished he had one now.

Sleep was almost upon him when loud knocking at his door disturbed him. “Nick? Nick?” he heard a man's voice.

He stood and pulled on his trousers, switched on the light and opened the door. Suki's father was standing in the hallway. “You'd better come with me,” George said.

“What's wrong?”

“I'll explain on the way.”

Nyk pulled on his polo shirt and slipped his bare feet into his running shoes. He grabbed the room key and followed George to the parking lot. George opened the door to a late-model Lincoln Town Car and Nyk sat on the passenger side. George slammed it into gear and stepped on it. “Nick, do you remember that antique tanto -- the samurai dagger that hangs on the wall at the house?”

“Yes... No, George! Don't tell me Suki's used it!”

“She's threatening to use it. She carried on for the longest time. Then she quieted down. Her mother and I decided to retire. Yasuko checked and found her with the dagger, summoning the courage...”

“No, George!” Queens landmarks whizzed past the car windows.

“Yasuko told her I'd fetch you. Sukiko doesn't believe you'll come, but her mother convinced her to wait and see. Yasuko kept her head. I'm proud of her.”

Nyk felt a knot in his stomach. “Oh, George, I had no idea. I should've stayed in your guestroom.” He pressed his hand to his eyes. “She must be in terrible, terrible pain, poor girl. Oh, George, I'm so sorry I didn't stay. I should've stayed. George, can we go any faster?”

George turned onto a main street. “She's threatened suicide before.”

“Yes, I know. She swallowed some pills.”

George shook his head. “No, that was the time she actually attempted something. She's threatened to kill herself numerous other times. We insisted she see a psychologist during high school, but we gave up when she wouldn't cooperate.” The car approached an intersection. George glimpsed in both directions and sped through the red light. “We were close to institutionalizing her, once.”

“It's a good thing you didn't. You'd have lost her, for sure.”

“You're probably right.” He sounded the horn and cut off a delivery truck. “She has us scared, this time. It's almost as if she's been seized by another, self-destructive personality. Nick, when we get past this crisis, Yasuko and I would appreciate it if you could ... encourage her to seek some counseling. She doesn't want to hear of it from us.”

“I'll do my best.”

“I'll be honest, Nick. I think she's crazy carrying that child. I question your sanity if you're volunteering to live with her and help her care for it.”

“I'm not volunteering. I intended to ask her to marry me, until she sent me away.”

George leaned on the horn and ran another red light, then looked at him. “Marry you?”

“I do love her that much, George.”

“Before you marry her, you must learn to recognize her histrionics when you see them. It's a rare woman who means it when she tells her man to go away.” George turned into their neighborhood. “Nick, you can count on whatever support Yasuko and I can give. If you need work, I can probably pull some strings at my office. We have a strong anti-nepotism policy, but until you're married you're not exactly family, so we can work through that issue.”

“Not exactly family. I guess that describes it. No, George, I already have a job.”

George pulled up to the house. He handed his house keys to Nyk. “She's in the apartment. I'll put the car away.”

Nyk jumped from the car and headed up the steps. He fumbled with the keys until he found the one that unlocked the door. He walked into the dimly lit living room and sprinted up the stairs to the apartment. Inside he saw Suki kneeling on the floor in her short robe. She held the dagger, unsheathed, pointing at the ceiling. Yasuko was kneeling near her.

Suki's eyes were swollen, but her expression was placid. Nyk walked into the room. “Don't come any closer.”

Yasuko grabbed his arm. “Stay back, Nick. She'll use it.”

“Mom, leave us alone.”

Yasuko glanced at Nyk, stood and headed down the stairs.

“You promised,” Nyk said, kneeling to face her.

“I promised I'd think of you,” she replied. “I've kept that promise. I am thinking of you.”

“Suki, let me hold you and make the pain go away.” He edged closer to her. “I'm here for you. Let me hold you. We'll solve this together.”

“You weren't here,” she said.

“I thought you wanted me gone.” He edged closer yet. “I shouldn't have gone -- I'm sorry. I won't leave you.”

“I wanted to feel you hold me but you weren't here. I know why you weren't here. You don't want me.”

“You're wrong, Suki. I do want you.”

“No, you don't. It's my fault. I showed you my true nature. You saw the real me, and you decided I'm not worth bothering with. I don't blame you. I don't want me.”

“I want you and I need you.” He continued to inch closer to her.

“No,” she said. “No one wants me. I'm at peace, and I'm not afraid.”

“Please don't do this, Suki. Let me hold you instead. Let me help you. Let us all help you, we all love you. I'm here now, and I won't leave. I'll never leave, I promise!”

“I'll make the pain go away forever.” She untied her robe and opened it. With her thumb she felt along the left side of her sternum, then placed the tip of the blade on the spot. She drew back the tanto. Her eyes turned upward and she closed them.

“NE!” Nyk yelled and lunged at her, intercepting the blade with the base of his hand. She thrust the dagger as he closed his fingers around the steel. He felt as if he'd grasped a red-hot poker from the razor edge slicing into his palm. A snap of his wrist broke the weapon free from her grip.

She opened her eyes and gasped, “Oh, Nykkyo! You're hurt -- you're bleeding. Oh my God -- oh my God! Mom!”

Panting, Nyk looked at his fist clenched around the dagger's blade. A ruddy rivulet ran from his palm down his arm. He heard footsteps pound up the stairs.

Suki threw her arms around him. “Oh my God! Mom, Nykkyo's hurt.”

Yasuko grabbed a towel from the closet and ripped a strip from it. Nyk opened his hand and removed the knife. “I'll bind it. George will take you to the E.R.”

“No,” Nyk said. “I'm needed here.”

Yasuko wrapped his hand. “That cut requires attention.”

“In due time. Suki and I need to be alone. Alone, Yasuko.” She picked up the dagger and headed down the stairs.

Suki kneeled beside him, stroking his hair and kissing his face. She caressed his wounded hand and kissed his fingers.

“In the bedroom closet,” he said, “on the top shelf is a carton with a polymer box. It's a Floran first-aid kit. Inside's a small, clear bottle with a dropper.”

She fetched the box, opened it, removed the bottle and brought it to him. He unwrapped his hand.

“Drop it into the cut.”

She opened the bottle and began dropping the thick liquid onto his wound.

He winced and grimaced. “Ow, it stings.” He looked at his hand. “That's good enough.” He watched as the bleeding stopped and the wound began to close.

“That's amazing,” Suki exclaimed.

He closed the bottle. “Healing salve. I never leave home without it.” He washed the blood from his hand and arm in the apartment's kitchen sink.

“It was another out-of-body experience,” she said. “As soon as I thrust the knife, I was watching from above. I knew it was wrong. I saw you grab for the blade.”

“I saw from above, too, and I knew what I was doing was right. Suki, these out-of-body experiences -- During the rape, did you know what you were doing was right?”

She nodded. “Yes. I knew it was right.”

“When you got cold feet at the clinic?”

“I knew the abortion was wrong.”

“We're being guided by the hand of Destiny!”

He pulled her robe closed and tied the belt. He held her as they sat together on the sofa. She began trembling and sobbing. “Oh, Nykkyo, I have so many demons in my psyche. I can't believe I came so close ... I'm afraid to die. Hold me. Help me, please -- help me!”

“I'm here to shine a light into the dark places where those demons lurk. The demons won't withstand the light of love.” He caressed her hair, kissed her head, and stroked her. “I'm here, I love you and I won't leave,” he said over and over. He heard a knock on the door. “Come in.”

Yasuko entered. “Is she all right?”

“I think she will be.”

“How's your hand?”

Nyk showed her his palm. The wound was now a thick, red welt. “I'm a fast healer.”

“You'll have a scar from that cut.”

“It's one I'll wear with pride.” Yasuko hugged him and kissed his cheek. She kissed her daughter and embraced them. “I'll take her to the bedroom. We'll see you in the morning.”

Daylight stirred Nyk. Suki was asleep in her robe with her arm across him. He leaned