Growing Grounds

Chapter 16: Meeting A Bent Man

Matt fried chicken and heated peas mixed with carrots. Tammy paced the downstairs hallway and then the upstairs hallway, listening to Matt in the kitchen. She didn’t want chicken. What she wanted was moss, oak leaves, and the tall wild grasses out in the field. She had heard people call pregnant women cows, but this was ridiculous.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Tammy walked quietly downstairs to check on Crow. The bird sat, content and quiet, on the back of the chair. Standing just inside the doorway, Tammy looked from Crow to the front door.

Crow ruffled his feathers and shook his head side to side.

Tammy looked at the front door again. She could sneak out the door and maybe grab some grass to eat before Matt caught her. Besides, she really needed to be out of the house where the smell of the cooking food was overwhelming her, making her nauseous.

Crow ruffled his feathers and made the long, low cooing sound at Tammy.

Was he telling her not to go outside? Not to eat the plants she so longed for? The babies moved about inside her belly. Placing her hand on her growing stomach, Tammy smiled.

The babies spoke in unison and Tammy could hear both of them in that one stream of internal sound. Don’t go out. If he sees you, he will take you to the doctor. The doctor will send you to Daisy Lawn and we will die there.

Horrified at the thought, Tammy shook her head and looked to Crow. The bird tilted his head toward the seat of his chair, the chair, as if inviting her to sit.

Moving toward the chair, hand still on her belly, Tammy thought of her sister, Cindy. Cindy didn’t know she was going to be an aunt. Would she really comprehend the concept? Tammy thought so. Was Cindy capable of being an aunt on any level? Tammy thought maybe, but probably not.

We can’t live there, Mommy. Again, the twins spoke in unison.

“I wasn’t thinking of living there, babies. I was thinking of letting my sister know that she would soon be an aunt. She would love you both so much.” Tammy whispered. Sitting down gingerly, Tammy rubbed her tummy and hummed a lullaby.

Crow hopped down onto the armrest and then over to Tammy’s knee. She didn’t mind. Contentment enveloped her and she was sure she was right where she was supposed to be, doing exactly as she was supposed to be doing at that moment. Nothing else existed. No one else existed.

Crow sidled up close to Tammy’s belly and became still as she leaned back into the chair, still humming. Reality began to slip into something a little less vivid and Tammy closed her eyes. There was a physical sensation as she transitioned suddenly from waking reality to sleeping dream, it was as if she had been in an elevator, riding along and then it stopped. That soft thud.

***

The old man, bent at the waist and looking somehow crooked, stood at the edge of the forest waving to Tammy. She didn’t know him, but he was familiar all the same. His slow motion waving continued. He was beckoning her to come to him, follow him, see what he needed to reveal to her.

Tammy stepped out the front door and walked down the steps. The ground was no longer solid under her feet, but soft, submissive, giving under her feet as she walked along, slowly. The old man stopped waving as Tammy walked into the field.

Looking down as the ground sunk deeper under her feet, Tammy gasped. Her belly was huge. She couldn’t see her feet. The twins rolled and moved around, making balance precarious on the spongy ground.

Tammy rubbed her belly, amazed and thrilled at how large the babies had grown.

We’ll be born soon, Mommy. Then we can be together forever, the twins spoke in unison.

“Yes, forever, my loves.”

The sky had gone from early morning blue, bright, and high, to dusk orange, dark, and looming low over the treetops. The few scattered skiffs of clouds rushed overhead from right to left and Tammy could see the sun falling toward the horizon quickly.

Tammy was almost to the edge of the forest where the old man stood, his bent form now thrown into shadows. She thought she could see the silhouette of Crow sitting on the man’s shoulder. The sun had disappeared and the moon, a tiny sliver on the opposite horizon raced toward mid-heaven. The stars, little pinpricks in the velvet cover of night, shone brightly, twinkling, conveying their light to Tammy from thousands of years in the past.

Standing a few feet in front of the old man, Tammy could see that Crow was indeed perched on his shoulder. Tammy knew the man was truly ancient. Time had etched many wrinkles deep into the flesh of his face and now those wrinkles resembled the cracks in the bark of a pine tree. His eyes reminded her of the stars above—small, bright points set deep in the darkness and shadows of his face. Tammy’s overall impression of the man was that he was large and ancient, yet familiar.

The man spoke. The voice was something from another realm, imbued with knowledge and magic far beyond any earthly understanding to which Tammy had access. Not so much his words carried the magic and knowledge but the vibration of the sound of his voice carried it. Her ears heard his words and her brain recognized them, but her soul understood the magic and intent in the vibrations.

“Ah, you came willingly. Much better than the one before you.” He lowered his head and gave her a stern look. “And worlds better than the old hag that got away. May the universe be rid of her for good!” He spat on the ground and Crow squawked, flapping his wings either at the sudden movement or in agreement.

“Who or what came before me? I don’t understand.” Her own voice sounded ghostly to her ears.

“The other caretakers, of course. The last three have been sordid failures.” Widening his eyes and pointing into the forest, he said, “They were very upset. Not good times to be tending those trees, I tell you! Now, they are anxious.” He nodded toward her huge belly and winked.

Tammy protectively laid both hands over her tummy and her babies. They were her babies. Not his, not the forest’s , but hers and hers alone. Panic raised her heart rate and silver dots floated in her field of vision.

She wanted to run back to the house and put the distance, and her front door, between herself and the old man, but the babies screamed loud enough to make her drop to one knee, hands over ears. The old man leaned down and spoke a few words in some language that seemed not to be of earthly origins—could humans even produce those kinds of sounds? The babies stilled and became quiet again.

Warily, Tammy lowered her hands and eyed the old man cautiously. He didn’t offer a hand, only backed up close to the tree line and watched her with a serene half-smile rearranging the wrinkles and folds around his eyes.

Unnerved but thankful, Tammy struggled to her feet. “What do you want from me?”

Chuckling, the bent man said, “I want you to give birth to those twins in the center ring of the forest. That’s what I want. They want that too. The old gods want that more than any of us, though. Obey them and the twins and you’ll be fine; you’ll become almost immortal.”

“I don’t understand. These are my babies. I am not religious and I don’t believe in any gods or devils. That stuff is just myth.”

The sky was brightening. The moon fell from its high point in the sky, toward the horizon and the sun gave chase, casting peach and pink hues in fingerling streaks from behind the other mountains.

Laughing heartily, the man nodded. “Whatever you say.” He turned to go into the forest and stopped beside a tree and looked back. “Just remember, you don’t have to believe in them—they believe in you.”

****

Tammy woke with a start. She was sitting in the chair and Crow was on her thigh. Matt was still in the kitchen, now singing a bad rendition of the old Platters song, ****Smoke Gets in Your Eyes****

Crow bounced onto the armrest as Tammy wiggled forward and stood. How long had she been asleep? Why the hell was she in the chair? The clock said she’d only been out for maybe five minutes. But that couldn’t be right. Could it? It seemed as if hours had passed and Tammy felt as if she had slept a full shift.

Recalling the words of the old man, Tammy looked at her baby belly. “You’re my babies and nobody is going to take you from me. Ever. Not even gods.”

Matt yelled from the kitchen. “What’s that? You okay in there?”

Tammy moved to the hallway and answered, “Yeah. I’m fine. I just dozed off for a minute in here.”

Matt gave her thumbs up, smiling. “Thought I heard you talking to someone. Lunch is ready, if you are, babe.”

Tammy’s stomach churned at the abrasive odor of the chicken. She had always loved chicken any way that it was fixed. “All right. Be right there.”

Tammy picked at her food, mostly she just pushed it around with her fork, and told Matt that she had an upset stomach—which was very true. She would have to figure out how to get outside and get her hands on more moss and leaves while Matt was out of school for Thanksgiving break. Making a mental note to research the health risks involved with eating moss while pregnant, Tammy devised a plan to get her much desired greenery.

Dumping the food in the disposal, Tammy suggested, “Let’s go to town now. I want to look for Crow’s cage and I think I’ll buy some plants for the nurseries. I read that real plants help keep the air clean in your house. And, they’ll match the décor. What do you think?” If she couldn’t go to the plants, the plants would just have to come to her.

“That sounds good. We want the best for our little guy, or guys.” Matt pushed away from the table.

“Guy and girl.” Tammy put the plate and fork in the dishwasher.

“Huh?” Matt put his plate and fork in the dishwasher and then stood there looking confused.

“You said we want the best for our little guy, or guys.” Smiling, she rubbed her belly.

Matt’s brow furrowed and he slowly closed the dishwasher door. “Uh, all right. Okay.” He rubbed his chin and nodded.

“What? Were you hoping for two boys?” Tammy chuckled, a bit offended but trying to keep it lighthearted.

“No. No. Just wondering how you know that. That’s all.”

“I told you, I just know. I can feel it, Matt.” How could she tell him that she could hear the twins’ voices? Well, she couldn’t very well do that at all.

Looking at his watch, Matt nodded. “Okay. All right. Whatever you say, honey. Are you ready to go to town now?” He turned on his heel and headed out toward the front door.

Flabbergasted, Tammy stood there with her mouth hanging open. What was wrong with him? “I’m ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” She started down the hallway behind him. As she reached for her jacket and purse, she asked, “What’s wrong, Matt? You act mad.”

Without turning to her, he answered, “Nope. Not at all. I’ll start the truck.” He was out the door before she could argue.

Tammy opened the truck door and climbed in. Matt fiddled with the tuner on the radio, found a s**t-kicker country music station, and turned up the volume. Not once on the drive to town did he turn the volume down, speak, or even look at Tammy.

By the time they were parked in front of an antique store, Tammy was upset. More upset than she would ever admit to Matt or anyone else. If he wanted to pout like a two-year-old, she was more than willing to let him.