A Treasure of Their Own

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  When Max pushed play, the camera went behind a sitting Arthur and gave everyone their first look at Arthur’s back. At first everyone grimaced as they saw a bloody cut that reached almost from shoulder to shoulder.

  They heard a male voice say something in Tagalog and Arthur stood up. Off camera, Mayumi interpreted, “He said that Arthur needed to take his clothes off and they needed to go outside so that they could wash the wound outside.” Arthur stood up and unbuttoned his shirt but had to have a little help in taking it off. A lady came into camera range with a shirt and a pair of pants and walked out the door. Arthur followed her outside.

  Jim said, “I noticed he doesn’t seem to have lost a whole lot of mobility. He raised, lowered and twisted his arms with what I would say was the normal amount of pain that would come with a cut like that. And, that’s a good sign.”

  “I agree,” concurred Mrs. P.

  The man with the camera sat it down on something that was about waist high and left it recording. As he stepped from behind the camera, he seemed to be no more than a teenager. He began helping the doctor bring some supplies into view and they began to arrange them on a counter.

  “O-o-o-o-h, my gosh, that looks more like a kitchen than a doctor’s office,” Sheila said.

  Mayumi answered, “That’s all that the outpost clinics are in those areas. All the doctors have to live and work with is donations from churches and that varies from season to season. Other than that the seriously injured have a five hour walk to the nearest government run hospital. U-u-hm, we-e-e-e had to take Arthur to this hole-in-the wall place for security reasons. And we had to hurry and get him out of the country for the same reasons. He-e-e-e might want to explain that when he gets there. By the way, has anyone heard from him?”

  Fred spoke up, “I did get in touch with his mother and she was going to try to call him. I called his cell phone and left a message. If he’s traveling on a motorcycle, he’s probably not able to hear it.”

  “That’s true,” Mrs. P added. “I guess we’ll just have to sit back and wait.”

  Sheila asked, “It’s ten o’clock and we have folks outside. What are we going to do?”

  “Sheila, check in that back closet between the office and the back door. See if we have some ‘to go’ boxes,” Mrs. P proposed.

  “We do,” Fred stated. “We have forty-two of them to be exact.”

  Mrs. P quipped to Jim, “I like that girl.”

  “She got an A in Algebra, that’s for sure,” he cracked back.

  Mrs. P took charge, “Bert, take some pads, pencils and menus out to Ben and Tommy. Give them some OJT on taking orders. Tell them that it’s all going to be to-go business today. Tell them we are going to have a surprise disaster preparedness drill today.”

  “What?” the girls asked simultaneously.

  Mrs. P continued, “Fred, get a roll of craft paper out of the storage closet and round up some magic markers. Leo and Jim put about three tables together and then cover it with a sheet of that craft paper. Somebody with a good hand writing write the words “Disaster Preparedness Drill” on it and put it up at the window. But, make sure you paper the whole window. I don’t mind them seeing you put paper on the tables. That will make them think we really are having a drill. We just don’t need anyone to see the real operation. Got it?”

  Fred answered on her way to the storage room, “Got it.”

  Jim and Leo slid four tables together and pushed the chairs up against the picture window. Leo waived at some of the guys standing there watching and shrugged his shoulders before he started rolling out the craft paper on the tables. Bert and Sheila took care of the sign duties and Fred went back to the kitchen to finish the prep and get started on the grill.

  Jim and Mrs. P left the work up to the youngsters and got back to watching the laptop screen. There was some Tagalog chit-chat as Arthur came in. His hair was still wet but he was pretty well cleaned up. To no one’s surprise, Mayumi explained that the nurse had given Arthur an impromptu bath as well as clean his wounds.

  Bert questioned, “She gave him a bath?”

  Mayumi half-way scolded and half-way mocked her as she replied, “She IS a nurse. Besides, he’s going to be flying about 15 hours and really doesn’t need to be seen with blood all over him and stinking to high heavens.”

  Marci asked, “Mayumi, do you have any idea about when he was supposed to arrive in Georgia and where?”

  There was a little bit of a bite in the tone of her voice as she answered Marci, “All Dad could tell me was that he had to hop Arthur around on some military planes to keep Arthur from being seen in public.” He voice softened as she added, “I’m sorry, Marci. My nerves are just as frayed….. And…I didn’t get to see him before he left.”

  Off camera they could hear her sniffle a bit and knew that she was trying to pull herself together. Marci looked at Mrs. P, and mouthed the words so Mayumi couldn’t hear, “I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”

  Finally Mayumi cleared her throat and began again, “The last I heard from Dad, he hadn’t finished lining up the planes, yet. He also had to arrange for some protection for Arthur on his trip.”

  “Protection?” Marci asked, “What would……”

  “You’ll just have to ask him when he gets there, I can’t say any more during this transmission,” Mayumi interrupted. “Besides the doctor is about to start showing the gash and describe what he is doing.”

  Arthur turned the chair around and sat down backwards in it so the camera could get a good shot of his back. The doctor spoke in fairly good English and began to point out the particulars about the gash. Jim and Leo feverishly took down their own notes.

  As the cameraman came in for a close up, the nurse turned on the makeshift spot light. The doctor began, “As you can see, we have cleaned the cut as best as we can. Whatever made the cut had to have a very sharp edge to it. The wound is a clean cut. There are no rips in the flesh. We have no more money for the proper medicines so we have to revert back to some mountain medicine. Before tacking the two sides together, I am going to stuff some crushed guava leaves in the wound. That will act as an antiseptic and it will ease the pain. After that, I will apply a paste made out of crushed ampalaya seed. Then, I will wrap him in plenty of gauze to last him until he can get some proper medical help. Again, I apologize that I don’t have the proper small needles or thread. There again, I am only going to tack the wound together in a couple of places. Actually, that will probably be the most beneficial thing to do. It would allow it to drain if necessary.”

  Arthur put his forearms on the table and straightened his back like the doctor directed him to. A noise at the door made him look up. A lady was coming in with a smiling little girl in her arms. She pointed at him and giggled, “Turo.” It was all that the lady could do to keep the girl from crawling out of her arms.

  Mayumi’s voice was heard again, “Alright, here’s the part I told you about. I HAVE to interpret everything that was said. Max you might have to pause it if I start losing it.”

  Max’s voice quivered a bit as he stated, “Who’s going to help me if I start losing it? Y’all better get your hankies.”

  Very gently the lady stepped over to the table and slid the little girl on her back between Arthur’s two arms. Her bright eyes sparkled as she was able to look up and see him again.

  “Oh, my gosh,” Bert exclaimed. “Look at the way she is looking at him.

  Fred added, “And that smile, wow! It’s almost as big as she is.”

  “Maybe bigger,” Mrs. P stated.

  Sheila corrected them, “No, look at Arthur.”

  Marci looked at Arthur. Something rang in her heart.

  They heard the doctor say, “Put that camera down, son, they’ve seen enough of his wound. I need you to help me hold the cut closed while tack it in about four or five places.”

  The camera moved, blurred and then re-focused as he put it at the other end of th
e table. “Hang on just a second as I get this shot set up,” the boy said. “This will probably be a whole lot more interesting than anything they have seen so far. Dad, that little girl is so-o-o photogenic”

  They heard the dad clear his throat and say, “Now if my son the movie producer will be kind enough to assist me, we will finish this job. I am sure they will be here any moment to whisk you out of here.”

  After a short pause, he continued, “Arthur, I am sorry that I don’t have anything to give you for a local anesthetic. This big needle is going to hurt. But, it’s the best I can do.”

  As Arthur stared into the eyes of the angel on the table in front of him he answered, “That’s OK. I’ve got some antiseptic here right in front of me.”

  There was a collective “Aw-w-w-e” from the group as Bert gently punched Marci on the shoulder.

  Marci looked up at her best friend with a weak smile and said, “That’s Arthur. Wait ‘til you meet him.” She started to say something else but changed her mind and repeated her last line, “Just wait ‘til you meet him.”

  “Amen,” came a soft voice from the laptop.

  They saw Arthur flinch and squint his eyes just a bit but he maintained his smile at the precious bundle between his arms. She reached up and patted his face as she sang, “Turo, Turo, Turo, Turo,” in little girl fashion.

  “Listen to that happy little bundle,” Mrs. P beamed. “I do believe she’s found her hero.”

  Arthur relaxed a bit and asked, “Ano ang iyong pangalan sa aking maliit na anghel?”

  Mayumi, “What is your name my little angel?”

  “Liwayway,” she answered.

  Mayumi, “Liwayway is Tagalog for “the dawn.”

  Arthur began to sing her name in the same tones she sang his, “Liwayway, Liwayway, Liwayway, Liwayway.”

  Mrs. P got up abruptly but was stopped when Marci held up one of the towels Bert had brought for her. “Thanks,” she said quickly. Mr. Dunavant and Leo exchanged smiles and shakes of their heads. Mrs. P batted him playfully with her towel before she sat down.

  All of a sudden, Arthur’s facial expression changed as he uttered a loud, “A-a-a-h-h!” His eyes closed and his head hung down from the pain.

  “I’m sorry, Arthur. I really am,” the doctor apologized. “It’s the best I can do. Hold on while I pull the thread through. I’ll try not to go so deep next time.”

  “That’s fine,” Arthur groaned. He tried to turn his head away from the camera and from Liwayway but she had already seen his expression.

  The horror she lived through was probably playing through her mind as she grabbed his face and screamed, “Turo, Turo, hindi mamatay, hindi mamatay.”

  Mayumi, “Don’t die. Don’t die.”

  Arthur finally exhaled as the thread had obviously been pulled through. Breathing deeply, he scooped her up in his arms and brought her face close to his without having to move his back. One by one, he kissed each tear that had been falling down her face as he said in Tagalog, “Hindi ako pagpunta sa mamatay.Ito lamang nasaktan ng kaunti, na ang lahat.”

  Mayumi, “I'm not going to die. It just hurt a little, that's all.”

  As she held his face tightly between her two tiny hands she sobbed, “Kapag ang aking ina nasaktan, siya namatay.”

  Mayumi, “When my mother hurt, she died.”

  Arthur answered, “Alam ko, Syota.”

  Mayumi, “I know, Sweetheart.”

  Liwayway continued, “Kapag ang aking tatay nasasaktan, siya ay namatay.”

  Mayumi, “When my daddy hurt, he died.”

  Arthur answered again, “Alam ko, Syota. Ngunit, ako dito mismo sa iyo at hindi ako pagpunta sa mamatay.”

  Mayumi said quickly, “I know, Sweetheart. But, I'm right here with you and I'm not going to die.”

  She smiled and pulled her cheek close to his before she fell back into her arms. Arthur smiled real big. With a little effort, he bent down and they rubbed noses Eskimo style. She giggled and patted the side of his cheek again. This time Leo reached for his hanky. He slowly drawled, “Y’all can turn that stuff off any time you want to.”

  For about a minute and a half, they watched the two of them at play. Liwayway touched his nose and Arthur growled and pretended to bite it. Amid giggles that led to laughter, she touched his cheek, then his chin, and then his nose with the same results.

  “Look at the way those two play,” Mrs. P remarked.

  Bert sniffed as she replied, “It’s hard to tell which one of them is having the most fun.”

  Mr. Dunavant agreed with a chuckle, “Brings back memories of when my kids were that age.”

  After five seconds of silence, Sheila’s voice quivered as she declared, “You can have your old Brian if you want to. I’ll take Arthur. That’s the kind of man I want to father my children.” She softly blew her nose and added, “We can have twelve of them if he wants.”

  Marci stared at Sheila as she whispered Sheila's words, "Father of my children." Her grandmother's words pounded their way into her heart. 'He needs a Godly daddy to show him how to treat a Godly mama.'

  Everyone got quiet as Marci slowly looked at everyone in the room while she mouthed her words again and again. She was bewildered. Her eyes looked as if they were trying to focus on something a million miles away. She began to shake her head slowly as if she was trying to make any kind of sense out of a deep, dark mystery. Arthur had been God's choice for her all along but she had never seen her mother loved by a Godly man. She had no Godly example to follow. Therefore, she was choosing her husband by a blank set of rules.

  It was a good thing that Mayumi was behind her computer and couldn't see Marci as she turned from Bert to Sheila to Mrs. P and back again. With the most confused look on her face she kept mouthing the words, "I can't marry Brian. I love Arthur" over and over to them.

  A softly speaking Mayumi interrupted her, “Here we go."

  Liwayway's giggling stopped and they saw two small dark eyes earnestly look up at a pair of adult dark eyes before saying his name as a question, “Tu-u-r-o-o?”

  He looked at her and imitated her question, “Liwaywa-a-y?”

  Something was on her mind. She looked at her little hands as she toyed with the front of her little shirt. Finally she looked up at Arthur with a smile and asked, “Turo, ikaw ang aking tatay?”

  Marci’s heart jumped when she heard her say tatay. She remembered that name from Arthur’s great-grandfather Tom Dandridge.

  Mayumi could hardly get it out, “She just asked Arthur if he would be her daddy.”

  “Oh……my…..gosh.” Bert gushed.

  “That’s so sweet,” Sheila said almost in a whisper.

  “I could almost figure that was coming,” Mrs. P said.

  “You’re right,” Mr. Dunavant agreed, “But how can he say yes?”

  “Don’t worry about my Arthur,” Marci stated matter-of-factly as she stared at the computer screen and wiped a tear from her eye. “He’ll wind up doing whatever he says that he will do and not one thing will stand in his way. He got that from his great-grandfather.”

  On Marci's words, 'my Arthur', the crowd gave each other short glances. Several smiles were exchanged that Marci never saw, including a couple between Mrs. P and Mr. Dunavant.

  On the computer, they heard a couple of vehicles drive up and a couple of doors open and shut. As everyone watched the computer monitor they saw Diego and Bea enter the room. Arthur lifted his head and said to them, “Just a minute.”

  The nurse stepped over and whispered to them what had happened. They looked at each other with a bit of apprehension.

  Arthur looked at the precious bundle of joy and said, “Oo, nais kong ibigin na ang iyong tatay.”

  Mayumi interpreted, “Yes, I would love to be your daddy.”

  Liwayway’s face lit up and she clapped her hands together. Then Arthur said, “Pero.”

  The smile left her face until Arthur took a few minutes explaining to her that she would have to
go to a little children’s hospital and he would have to go to a big people’s hospital because he couldn’t sleep in a little people’s bed. That brought a contented look to her but she still questioned, “Gaano katagal?”

  Mayumi, “How long?”

  With as big a smile as he could muster he told her, “Hangga't hindi mo pagalingin at ako pagalingin.”

  Mayumi, “Until you heal and I heal.”

  Liwayway was pretty much satisfied with that. Arthur explained to her that he had to go with Uncle Diego and she had to go with Aunt Bea. When she heard the terms ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt’ she knew that Bea must be family. Eagerly she held her hands up for Aunt Bea to take her and began babbling to her in Tagalog.

  The video froze and Mayumi came back into view. “Has anyone heard from Arthur?”

  Everybody looked at Fred, “He texted that he stopped at a rest area and that he should be here in half an hour or so.”

  Mayumi looked from one person to another and said with a weak smile, “That’s good. It looks like he’s going to be in good hands.”

  Her voice quivered as she continued, “You guys take good care of my Turo, will you? He means….. a lot to me.”

  “We will, Sweetheart, I promise you we will” Mr. Dunavant declared as he stood up. “Leo I think we’ve got a pretty good idea of what we need to do. Let’s make sure that we brought the right supplies.”

  “Alright.”

  Mrs. P got the girl’s attention to become scarce while Marci and Mayumi have some time to end their conversation.

  Marci looked at the laptop screen and saw Mayumi looking at her with already reddening eyes. Marci softly asked, “What number do you want Arthur to call you at when he gets here?”

  Blandly she answered, “He has me on speed-dial. It’s my personal phone. And, I know you’ve seen pictures of me and Arthur kissing and holding on to one another.”

  “You take a very lovely picture Mayumi,” was all that Marci could come up with at the moment. Mayumi needed to say something to her and Marci did not want to side track her thoughts in any way.

  Mayumi looked down at her hands for a moment as she began. A tear fell as she started, “You know...as well as I do that those pictures meant more to me than they did Arthur.”

  When she looked back up into the camera, it wasn’t hard to tell that the dam was about to break. “We’ve talked about the possibility of him waiting for me until I’m eighteen and out of school. And, I’m trying hard to set that conversation aside. If anything ever did happen like that, I know that I would always be Number Two. But, if he ever gave me that chance, I swear to you that I would love him so hard that he would forget who Number One was.”

  Without waiting for an answer, she stood and was heard to say, “You can turn the camera off now, Max.” A door slammed.