The Black Thumb by Frankie Bow

Author:Frankie Bow [Bow, Frankie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gardeners, Gardening, Cozy, tropical, Albanian-Americans, hawaii the big island revealed, hawaii, container gardening, Albanian, academic novels, postmodernism, organic gardening, female sleuths, Frenemies, Frenemy
ISBN: 9781943476169
Publisher: Hawaiian Heritage Press
Published: 2016-04-19T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

DONNIE APPROACHED OUR table and hovered uneasily at the vacant chair. He was dressed appropriately for the Maritime Club, his perfectly pressed aloha shirt tucked into black slacks. He really was quite good looking, unfortunately. I tried to bestow a distant but gracious smile on him. It probably looked like a rictus.

Pat acknowledged Donnie with the barest politeness. Pat and Donnie had never really gotten along.

“Hi, Molly.” Donnie’s tense expression made him look older. Emma watched him expectantly; Pat examined the menu.

“You know I—” Donnie paused. “Here, let me sit down. If you don’t mind.”

He pulled out a chair and seated himself. A waitress appeared with a table setting and a menu, and then spent several minutes cheerfully reciting the daily specials from memory. Then she whisked off to the kitchen, leaving behind a bleak silence.

“Molly,” Donnie said, finally. “I care about you a lot.”

“Thank you. Right back at’cha.”

What on earth was this about? Did this have something to do with the strange phone call Emma got earlier?

“You’ve been—” Donnie and Emma said in unison.

“Go ahead, Emma,” Donnie said.

“Molly,” Emma said, “you’ve been acting weird.”

I looked around the table.

“I’ve been acting weird. Okay.”

“No, seriously, Molly. You’ve been saying things that are, Pat, what would you call it?”

“Out of character,” Pat said.

“Out of character,” Emma agreed. “You’ve been coming out with some real strange stuff.”

Donnie nodded.

“Stress can disturb your sleep,” Donnie said. “And when you miss enough sleep, the health consequences can be very severe. Sleep is crucial for physical and mental health.”

It sounded like he was reciting something he’d read on an online health site.

“No shame asking for help when you need it,” Emma added.

“What do you mean, help?” I asked. “What kind of help?”

“I checked,” Donnie said. “Your university health plan covers up to ten visits a year to your HMO’s Behavioral Health program. And I have some good names in private practice too, if you want. So if you’d rather see a female—”

“Oh, I see what you’re doing.”

“We’re trying to help you,” Emma said.

“No, no. You’re not trying to help. This is more than just trying to help. Step One: Open With Affection. Step Two: Describe Specific Behaviors. Step Three: Detail the Physical Problems. Step Four: Outline Treatment Options. You’re following the intervention script! You brought me down to the Maritime Club so you could stage an intervention!”

“Molly.” Donnie looked concerned. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. But I still care about you and I want to see you well. I want you to know I’m here for you.

“Step five!” I pointed an accusing finger at him. “Express Love and Support! Emma, Pat, how could you go along with this?”

“Cause we worried about you, babooze,” Emma said. “You kinda stressed out, ah? Just wanna make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

“And Donnie, what is this, some kind of scorched-earth policy you have? You can’t just let us go our separate ways? You have to leave me gibbering in the corner, wondering what’s real and what isn’t?”

“Molly, please.

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