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"Ural what am I t'do? My infant son cries all the time. We have tried everything. Yet still he cries. Is this the colic? Tis what my wife believes. She be so sad. She cries almost as much as he. We summon the doctor t'come. He says he does not know why the infant cries. He says there is nothing wrong with him. All night long my wife is up with him. I am really worried about her. She can not go on like this much longer, but I don't know what to do. Tis so unfair for her t'suffer. It breaks my heart. Hilda has convinced her that I should take him to the Fertile Woman who lives in your village. She told my wife the Fertile Woman will nurse my son to steal away his small soul and bury it, and he will no longer cry. I am an educated man. I do not believe in such nonsense and voodoo. I do not put trust in powders and potions, but my wife insists. Have you ever heard of such a woman? Do you know her?"

"Ah yes. Yu speak of Lucille, sir. She lives on de other side of de village wit her family. I hear similar stories of her powers too. Dey say she was born of an infertile woman. Dey say she is the dah'ter of Ptah, de ancient Egyptian God of Fertility. Dey say he bestow up her his great powers of spiritual wonder. Maybe yu should take yo infant son t'her. Wha can it hurt?"

"I will do no such thing." I am the Minister of Commerce. I can not be seen with such a woman. You go. Bring her back to me, but wait until night."

An obedient house servant, Ural goes back to his village to tell Lucille. Rapping on the bamboo and palm leaf door of her mud hut he calls to her. "Lucille?" No one answers. He raps again harder this time. "Lucille, tis very inpotent."

Silently she stands before the door when Ural is just about to knock again. She speaks startling him. "Wha tis it dat be so inpotent yu mus break in my door?"

"My keepa has summon yu t'come."

"And jus who be yo keepa?"

"He is Kingston Truth, De Minista of Commerce."

"Wha does he want wit me?"

"Tis his infant son. Dey know not what t'do for him. Dey want yu t'steal away his small soul so he does not cry all de time."

"He be an infant, no? Den he posed t'cry."

"No. No. No, Yu do not understand. He cries all de day and night."

"So summon de doctor. Maybe he be sic."

"The doctor come. He could find no'ting."

"Deese people are of high education. Dey do not believe. How do they hear about me? Is dis a trick, Ural?"

"No Lucille. I swear t'yu dis is no trick. Please come bac wit me. Kingston is a very rich and powerful man. He can reward yu handsomely. Do not dishonor him by refusing when he as invited yu." "Huh. He did not invite me." "How can yu say dat. He sent me for yu."

"He did not ask me. He tol yu t'bring me bac t'him like I am his possession. I go nowhere unless I want. I am not moved by his wealth and inpotence. I have ev'rything I need. Now yu go. Be gone, Ural."

Ural returns to Kingston's estate with Lucille's message. "How dare she refuse my generous invitation into my fine home. She should be honored we wish to associate with a dirt floor dweller as she. Tis better she keep her black ugly face hidden so I waste no more time on the barefoot wretch."

"Tis not wise t'speak ill of Lucille, sir." "I am not afraid of her. I do not believe in her magic and nonsense." And so the infant cries.

Mildred sinks into a deep depression becoming unable to care for him. Hilda, Mildred's personal attendant has her hands full with managing the household and taking care of the infant too. With her threatening to quit, Kingston concedes that Lucille is his only recourse. When Ural comes to work at the estate that day, Kingston tells him to take him to Lucille's at nightfall. Under the secret of night, the two men and the infant head for Lucille's. Kingston cloaks himself to look like a commoner so he doesn't draw attention to himself in the village. They ride in Ural' sputtering, putty grey pick-up truck with no windshield, and no passenger door. The sputtering ride on the narrow winding road soothes the crying infant. He rides quietly wide-eyed and alert. Soon dense brush constricts the road to a slender path that must be made by foot. Cradling his son in his arms, Kingston makes his way through the dense brush with Ural several feet in front slicing away a path with a knife in one hand and a flaming torch in the other. The brush is alive with the sounds of nocturnal wildlife be it beetle, bird, or some other tropical island inhabitant. The sweltering heat of the day has smoldered into a warm breezy night. Had it not been for them having to make their way through the dense brush they would not have broken a sweat. Kingston angrily swats at hungry mosquitoes and gnats they muster up as they make their way. Angry, because he is ten times better than she, yet he must go to her, as if he were the commoner. The infant is crying inconsolably again. Disgusted Kingston calls out, "How much further Ural, we have walked more than a mile."

"Not much futha sir." He echoes back. "I hear de waterfall whereby she lives."

The sounds of the infant's cry has alerted Lucille of their approach. She prepares for them. She pierces the side of a black boar letting a pint of blood in a clay bowl. From inside her hut she struggles to bring out into the clearing an ornately carved wooden broad base stool. She carefully drapes a soft animal skin over it. She goes back inside the hut and takes from a bamboo cupboard a small wide mouth glass jar containing pollen she had collected from the Lotus blossoms, orchids, and lilies near and about her home. A few hundred feet from her hut is a gentle cascading waterfall that pours into a shallow lagoon. She zigzags as she steps from rock to rock making her way to the cave opening just behind the waterfall. Feeling her way through the dark dank cave she gathers a few big stones from the cave floor and wraps them carefully in another animal skin to keep them getting any wetter. She then makes her way back to the hut. No sooner than Kingston hears Ural's reply does his eyes widen with wonder and awe. He is distracted momentarily from his wailing infant son, "What tis this place Ural?" I know all of the island well, yet I have never seen or heard of this place. Tis like a paradise, like in The Beginning."

"Tis Lucille's Gate, sir. Tis here where she lives."

She emerges barefoot from her mud hut to greet Kingston and Ural. Again, Kingston finds himself in awe. He has never seen such darkness of skin and beauty together. More than six feet, she stands taller than he. Her dark black skin contrasts the long white garb wrapped about her waist and torso and tied in a knot exposing one shoulder, she moves gracefully toward them.

"Lucille my keepa has come t'yu wit his infant son. Will yu see him?"

"I will." Kingston places the crying infant in Lucille's arms. His tiny little arms with their tightly clenched fist reach out for someone to comfort him. She cradles him gently. "Wha tis his name?"

"His name is Solomon Ibo Truth." "Dis be yo first and only son?"

"He is."

Gently rocking the infant Lucille looks over at Kingston. "What tis de moon reign of his birth?"

Kingston did not know. Ural was quick to respond. "He was born the second day of the red sinking moon."

She turns her attention to the crying infant and begins to melodically coo to it while Kingston and Ural watch intensely. The earth stands still, the animals quiet, and the waterfall hushes. Soon the infant's cry wanes as he gazes into her face. He tries to grab her necklace of shells and wooden beads. Reaching upward he grabs one of her many long dread locks with it's shells and metal ringlets. He tries to bring it to his mouth to suckle, but she places his foot in his hand instead. She then places him on the large oval shaped platter. "Shooo . . . oooo. She says to him. And when her eyes affix to his, he hushes much to the amazement of Kingston. "So Kingston wha do yu hav t'offer de Gods."

"Why must I offer anything?"

"Because tis dey who decide yo fate, and yu mus prove yo sef worthy of good fate."

"But tis not for me, tis for my son."

"Ah tis where yu are wrong. He is so young his fate can not be apart from yours."

"What tis it the Gods would want from me, I am dressed as a commoner and have nothing of value in my possession."

"Of earthly possessions de Gods need not, but a gift of yo heart would be a worthwhile sacrifice."

"Sacrifice my heart? Then I must die?"

"Yes, I see dhat as a fair an even trade. Death tis but another part of life, tis not de end. Dis I giv yu my word."

"I find that unacceptable. Surely the Gods would allow som'ting else. I am The Minister of Commerce. My sudden death would cause great chaos and possible financial ruin for my country."

She looks at him quietly, "Yu have five senses, I ask yu offer de Gods yo sense of touch."

"My sense of touch?"

"Yes."

"What will come of me, and by what means can I do that?"

"I am one wit de Gods, and tis through me dat dey will receive your touch."

"But what will come of me?" "Tis the God's privilege to decide yo fate, I do not have all the answers. De choice is yours."

Still not fully believing in Lucille's powers, Kingston looks over at his son laying contentedly. "I guess I have no other choice." She removes a newly molted snake skin from a wicker basket, and lays it on the ground smoothing it out with one of the stone she had retrieved from the cave. She ladles a soft creamy goo into another small clay bowl and drops a pinch of the pollen on top. "Yu mus was yo sef good. Tak dis soap and snake skin down t'de lagoon and wash yo sef clean of sweat and grit. She hands Kingston the small bowl of goo and the soft supple snake skin. "Bring ev'ryting bac t'me when yu are done."

Kingston follows Lucille's instructions and goes down to the lagoon to wash unaware that this very act will strip him of his sense of touch. While he is down there she fixes Ural a potion to drink. She adds a pinch of the pollen to it and hands it to him. "Drink up, Ural. De thirst of yo journey shall be quenched wit dis." Ural is charmed by her alluring beauty. He willingly obeys when her eyes affix to his; drinking it all. She is the supreme temptress, womanly, desirable, and forbidden. She is one with the Gods, and to take of her is to rape the Gods. Within minutes his vision get blurry, he slumps over and falls to the ground in a deep sleep. With Kingston a few hundred feet away and Ural sound asleep, she quickly prepares for the feeding of the infant Solomon Ibo Truth. She takes a strange looking shepherd's staff and dips it into the bowl containing the boars blood. Using the length of the staff as a measure she makes an impression in the ground and draws a circle encompassing her, the sacred stool, and the infant leaving an opening of about a yard for the Gods to enter and leave. The remaining boars blood, she pours into the crevice of the circle.

Soon Kingston returns from the lagoon with the soap and the snake skin with his sense of touch within it. Lucille offers him the same concoction she had given Ural and promises that it is safe to drink. Seeing Ural out cold on the ground, Kingston is reluctant, but when her eyes affix to his, and he hears her say drink up, even though her lips never move, he drinks it all willingly and soon he is asleep too. She stretches the snake skin out across the opening of the circle and holds it in place with two of the stones she had retrieved from the cave. Removing her top garb exposing her breast, she kneels in front of the sacred stool and says prayers and incantations for several hours. Afterwards desiring Kingston for herself, she keeps the snake skin with his sense of touch, instead of offering it to the Gods, and wraps it about her body careful to leave a breast exposed for the early morning feeding His sense of touch feels good to her, much as a man and a woman feel good to each other. When the orange waking sun kisses the horizon, the sky bleeds at her betrayal. She sees the colors of death inch across a dawning sky. "Why must I be so alone?" She cries out. "Yu make me of flesh and blood. Yu make me a woman of needs, I be not a God! If I mus die in order t'live and t'luv, den I be not afraid of death."

The infant awakens, and when she affixes her eyes to his he does not cry. She takes him up to her bosom and sits upon the sacred stool and nurses him lovingly as if he were her own. Just as she had done with so many other infants so many times before. Soon Kingston and Ural both awaken a little sluggish but no worse for wear. They had no recollection of Lucille having ever given them anything to drink. They return to the estate with the infant and carry on as usual. In days Mildred's depression lifts, and she enjoys the pleasures of motherhood. Kingston feeling no different is adamant in his disbelief attributing nothing to Lucille. He believes the infant simply tired of crying. He and Mildred were soon able to resume their relationship as man and wife. Nothing had changed. The Gods are often slow in their actions, but they forget nothing, and they forgive even less. Betray them and their wrath will be widespread and undiscriminating. Nothing or no one is exempt no matter how long it takes. Accepting this fate Lucille, The Fertile Woman was prepared to meet her destiny. She wanted him for herself at any cost. A pebble was tossed into the pool of life. See the ripples? Kingston begins to lose feeling for his wife, Mildred. And in the beginning he didn't know her. He had only heard of her, but now he yearned for her . . .

CHAPTER 2

EXHALE

Ruby Freeman is executive vice-president of Freeman Motors Inc. When she married her husband Calvin Ray Freeman 27 years ago, Freeman Motors was a two-bit used car lot owned by her father-in-law, the late Johnny Ray Freeman. It had never been her intentions to go into the auto sales industry. She had just had Kia seven months ago, and was seriously considering opening a daycare in her home to earn extra money. But Mr. Johnny died suddenly from a stroke leaving the business to Calvin Ray. The car lot could not support them alone, Calvin Ray could not give up his job driving for UPS so Ruby took over the business. Unable to afford a baby-sitter, she would haul bottles, diapers, a playpen, and the baby down to the old shanty of an office on the car lot. Five years she ran the business learning the ropes, but it made little money.

Pregnant again she told Calvin Ray that she wanted to close the car lot because it was too much on her with a second baby on the way. Very shortly thereafter, Reginald Ray Freeman was born. About the same time of his birth, Horizon Motors Corporation had lost their appeal in the United States Supreme Court for unfairly denying minorities dealerships, and was ordered to make reparations in the form of establishing dealerships to qualified applicants. Unbeknownst to Ruby Calvin Ray took their down payment for a home, and his 401k savings plan as seed money, and applied for the dealership. Things would never ever be the same.

It's May 26, 2004. Life has been good to the Freemans, and they have prospered. Freeman Motors thrives as one of Durham, North Carolina's first and only minority owned full service automobile dealerships. Calvin Ray has hit the half century mark in his life and has relinquished command of Freeman Motors Inc. to his wife Ruby Joyce Freeman due to a severe stroke. Kia is twenty-three and still lives at home. And at 7 p.m. tonight Reggie graduates from high school

"Cynthia, I'm gone for the day. If the attorney calls tell him I received the contract, and I will get back with him some time next week. Also would you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What?" She says looking up from her terminal.

"Give this order to the receptionist. Tell her I want it delivered to my house around 6 p. m. tonight please. Thanks. I'll see you Tuesday."

"Oh so you're too good to work the holiday?"

"Yes." Ruby replies putting on her leopard print shades.

"Well all right Miss Freeman. You have a good weekend."

Scurrying out to her car Ruby knows she is late for her hair appointment at sister's beauty shop. "Damn it's already four-o'clock," she says to herself slightly flustered. "I better call Remy and let her know I'm running behind." Cellular in hand the phone is ringing at the salon.

"Hello Remy's." "Look, I'm running . . ."

"I should say so, your appointment was at three thirty." "I'm sorry, but I'm on my way, and I don't have all day, I want get in the chair as soon as I walk through the door."

"You got your damn nerve. All I can say is the sooner you get your late ass here, the sooner you can leave."

Women scrutinize each other from head to toe with just a glance. At 10 feet they can detect weave. 5 feet outfit identification - point of purchase, designer, and price. 2 feet weave confirmation. 1 foot - age, dependent status, and general outlook on life. But if a woman commands a stare . . . Ruby was use to those odd double takes and stares. It made her laugh inside. She was attractive. She had class. She had clout. Nearly everyone goes to Remy's salon to get their hair and their nails done. It's the place go. Lisa is her nail technician, and her common-law sister-in-law. Perm, cut, curl and spritz be back in a week. It's the holiday weekend. It's graduation weekend. Her first head was at 6:00 a. m. Ruby is her last. More anxious to leave than her customers who have been there all day, she styles with deft and swiftness. In waddles Debbie to the shop. "Hello ladies," she says smiling.

"Hey Deb." Remy and Lisa chime in unison.

"Now girlfriend, I know this is all new to you, but you only have to carry that baby nine months." Remy teases as she curls a clients hair. "How much bigger you gonna get?" "Girl please leave me alone! The doctor has already told me I've put on too much weight, but this ain't nuttin butt baby." She says patting her overly extended waistline. "He says if I don't deliver in another week, he'll induce labor."

"He won't have to." Remy says assuredly.

"Like you know." Lisa interrupts. "You and that voodoo shit get on my nerves."

Remy warns Lisa's reflection in the mirror at her station, "You just be quiet before I put a spell on your ass and send you a man with a crook in his dick." "Debbie come on over and take a load off. Giving you a pedicure now is like buying a blind man a big screen tv. You know you can't see your feet."

"It's not for me, but for my husband, or did he not kiss your feet?"

"Ooh stop! Got that toe-love thang going on." Remy butts in.

Lisa cuts her eyes at Debbie. "Let's get one thing straight. We don't have to like each other to do business. He's not my man anymore, and could give a damn whether he kisses your feet or your ass. Cause he don't mean shit to me."

Ruby enters the beauty shop fashionably chic, characteristically late. "Hello everyone. Ah so you can't speak Remy?"

Rolling her eyes at Ruby, she responds. "Please don't start with me. You're forty minutes late, it's been a long day, and I just want to go home."

Ruby's attention turns to her best friend Debbie. "My goodness Debbie, you're carrying the baby and the baby bed too." She pats her on the stomach.

Debbie smiles and shakes her head. "You're not going to worry me." "Girl I swear if you don't deliver that baby already in a car seat or high chair, it will be a miracle. When is your due date? If you need me to do anything just let me know."

"It was Tuesday. So I guess it's any day now."

"What you can do for me is get here on time for your appointments." Remy dictates sweeping hair from the floor up into the dust pan.

Ruby says waving her sister off. "Girl I remember when you didn't have any appointments, so just stay out of my conversation. So now Ms. Wilson are you planning to breast-feed?"

"If I can. That's what Earl wants me to do. He claims he can remember his mother breast feeding him."

"He ain't fooling no one he just likes to suck titts." Lisa says polishing Debbie's toes. "You know you could smell the milk on his breath."

"Anyway." Debbie sighs her attention turning back to Ruby upon rolling her eyes upward at Lisa's pointed attack "I read it's better for the baby, and it creates a really strong bond." "I believe that. Reggie was my breast baby. We've always been very close. I couldn't do it with Kia. It was too hard to do trying to work and all."

"Two breast babies, Daddy and Daddy's baby You're going to be a damn dairy."

"You know Lisa, I understand your pain. Earl has a ravenous appetite whether he dines out or eats . . . in bed."

"Whoa!" Someone says.

"Pull up, ya'll pull up." Remy referees.

"I'm threw with it," says Debbie.

"Earl Wilson is gonna be a daddy. I can't believe it. He don't seem like the type. So what's he got to say bout all this."

"Oh Ruby he has been so good to me." Debbie's eyes glisten. "He calls me from work every four hours. He reads to my stomach every night. He hired a housekeeper, as big as I am now it's hard for me to do much around the house. And girl, he is so sensuous. We are still making . . . that's my phone ringing. Excuse me Ruby." She reaches into her bag and answers her cellular knowing it's Earl. "Heeey Baby." Lisa still in love with him mocks Debbie quietly in her mind. "Heeey Baby."

"How's my Yummy and my tummy?"

"We're doing fine." "I tried to call you at home. Where are you?"

"I'm at Remy's Shop."

"Can I bring you anything?"

"No sweetie, I'm fine. As a matter of fact I'm just about done. I'm going to run by the market and get a few things on the way home."

"I'll do that. You just go straight home. I love coming home to you so just tell me what to get."

"I need a bottle of extra virgin olive oil. Please make sure it's extra virgin this time Earl. Two pounds of scallops, and from the produce section get me half pound of snow peas, a ginger root, and you know the fruit I like."

"Got it. I'll see you in a few. Love you."

"I love you too, bye."

Remy combs and clips the ends of Ruby's wet hair. "Damn why is it every time I sit in this chair you cut off all my hair. Can't you do hair without cutting it?"

"Lord God, I'm gonna kill her." Remy says looking up at the ceiling momentarily. "I do hair for a living. You sell cars. I don't come over to your dealership and tell you how to do your job. Don't tell me how to do mine. You can always go to someone else. Hell I might even pay for it."

"Please. You know I not going to let anyone else touch my hair. Here, I all most forgot." Ruby reaches in her purse and pulls out two tickets to Reggie's graduation.

"Thanks slip them in my pocket. We're going to try to make it."

"Well ladies, I'm out of here," says Debbie. Lisa helps her to her feet.

"Call if you need us," says Ruby.

"Okay." she says walking out of the door.

Walking over to the shampoo bowl Ruby readily advises, "Lisa you need to show some professionalism in the way you talk to your customers. You couldn't work for me. You need to grow up and stop acting like a bitch. "

Lisa walks over to the shampoo bowl angrily with Ruby stretched out getting her hair shampooed. "You don't tell me what to do. I don't work you. I work for my damn self. And I am sick and tired of your shit, butting into other peoples business. I don't give a damn if that is your best friend. She needs to keep her damn mouth shut. I don't care what she and Earl do. She needs to take her old ass somewhere and have that baby. That's why she's past due now. So damn old that shit's in menopause. Earl needs to find something to pry that bitch open. Let that poor baby out of there. Here she is damn near fifty and trying to have a baby by a man young enough to be her son. He probably had to jump start her old ass into ovulation. If I hadn't had a baby by her age, then I just wouldn't have one."

"And would that be such a great loss to the world, but we know what's it all about. She took your man."

Lisa snaps at Ruby. "She didn't take shit from me. And she damn sure don't have shit."

"Both of you need to quit," insists Remy coming between the two. She finishes Ruby's hair.

"That's enough of that dog gone hair spray. I've told you before you don't need to put all that shit in my hair. It starts to flake in three or four days, then I walk around with my hair looking dirty."

"If you weren't my sister . . ." Remy removes the plastic cape from Ruby.

"All right then, I'm running behind. I hope you and Benny can make it." Deciding she doesn't have enough time to go home and change, she heads straight for the school hoping she hasn't missed too much of the graduation ceremony. "I'll call Ray and tell him to meet there. She speed dials home on her cellular. "Hello baby, let me speak to your dad."

"He's gone already. He said he wasn't going to be late because of you."

"Ah okay. Screw him too," she says to herself. "That's where I'm headed now. Has the food arrived yet?"

"Not yet."

"Well it should be on the way. I have some money in an envelope under the mattress on my side of the bed. Pay for the food out of that, and set everything up for me please.

"Okay moma.