The Black Witch of Mexico by Colin Falconer Read Free Book Online

see you smiling,” she said with her back to him, and carried on putting lilies in a vase. “When you have kids you’ll know what it’s like.” She finished the arrangement and turned around, doing a double take. “For goodness’ sake. You look like Dracula on speed. What’s happened to you?”
    He told her about Elena he wasn’t going to, he didn’t want to, he felt like such a damned fool. He didn’t do this; he was the one who gave advice. He wasn’t the guy who went looking for help, or for sympathy, least of all from his big sister.
    “All this is over a woman?” she said when he had finished.
    “Go ahead and laugh. I guess I deserve it.”
    “I’m not laughing. You got your heart broken. Join the human race. Maybe it’s a good thing.”
    “How can losing the only woman I ever loved be a good thing, sis?”
    “Well, Adam, if you don’t mind me saying, you’ve always been so ... self-contained. From where I stand, seeing you lose control is almost a relief.”
    “Thanks.”
    “I mean it. You’ve always been so rational, just like Mitchell.” Mitchell, their father; she never called him ‘Dad,’ it was always ‘Mitchell.’ “So finally someone has got under your skin. It means there’s someone alive in there.” She patted his chest.
    “It’s not funny.”
    “All these women you’ve had, all this money, all this perfection. It’s not good for a body.”
    “I’ll get her back.”
    “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
    “If you want something, you don’t give up just like that. You fight for it.”
    “Yeah, that sounds good if you’re training for the world heavyweight championship or coaching the World Series. But she’s made up her mind, honey, she’s gone.”
    “I can’t let her go.”
    “You dropped plenty of girls in the past. How many times did you change your mind?”
    “This is different.”
    “It’s not different. How would you have felt if they kept running after you? A few of them did, didn’t they?”
    He didn’t want to hear this; he just wanted her to agree with him that Elena was crazy and that he had to find a way to make her see sense.
    “Come back to my place, I’ll make you pot roast. Are you on roster tomorrow? You can have some beers with Denny and sleep over.”
    “No, I have to get back. I’ve got graveyard shift tonight.” It wasn’t true. He wasn’t back on roster until the morning. He got up to leave.
    “When I go to prayer group on Wednesday night, we’ll pray for you.”
    “You think God will change her mind?”
    “I will pray for a happy outcome for both of you, never mind how it happens.”
    “You believe all that stuff, sis?”
    “Sure I do. We prayed for Walt Sangster’s sister last week, she was in the hospital with a cardiac infraction.”
    “Infarction.”
    “Well, whatever. She got better from it, and I believe it was us praying for her that helped.”
    “You see, that’s what needles me. The patient dies, the hospital and doctor get sued. The patient lives, God gets all the credit.”
    “I’m saying you shouldn’t underestimate the power of prayer.”
    “I bring people back to life every day, sis. It doesn’t make me a miracle worker, it just means the defibrillator’s working.”
    “Always Mister Cynic,” she said.
    “Always Mrs. Head up her Ass,” he said as a parting shot and went out, slamming the door behind them. Then he turned around and walked back in. “Sorry,” he said.
    “You shouldn’t say ‘ass’ in the Lord’s house,” Lynne said. “I’m not offended, but He might be. Take it easy, little brother.”
    “You too, sis,” he said and left.
     
    * * *
     
    He drove down to the Cape; couldn’t contemplate the idea of his own company, which meant his apartment was out of the question. He thought about calling up Jay and another of his beer buddies from Massachusetts General and heading into South End, but he didn’t want anyone to see him like this. After a couple of beers