The House by Anjuelle Floyd Page B

“What will make of the time you have left?”
    “I’ll care for Edward, try to make him as comfortable as possible. I don’t want him to die alone.” Anna recalled Elena’s last days. The Reverend Elijah had urged Anna to visit her mother. Anna had re fused. “I was pregnant when Mama died. Edward and I were not having a good time of it.” Again she stated, “I don’t want Edward to die alone.”
    “I’m sure he appreciates that.” The priest’s words did not match his demeanor. He seemed to expect more from Anna. She grew anxious. He then said, as if knowing she needed to hear it, “You’re a good woman, Anna. So many women in your position would gloat over the deck of cards life has dealt a husband like Edward. Instead, what I hear from you is a fairly deep sense of commitment, and concern for a man who’s done little to make himself available to you or anyone, even the women with whom he was involved. And yet, rarely are the things we do as humans completely altruistic.”
    “What good would it do for me to be angry with him?”
    “Nicely put, but what is it you hope to gain by offering Edward an olive branch in taking him back, particularly since he has such a short time to live?”
    “You sound protective of Edward. I mean him no harm.”
    “I believe you,” said Father Richard. “But he is dying.”
    “Why is it so hard to believe that I want to help him and make his last days comfortable?” Anna thought of Inman. Will I lose him in the process of helping Edward in his last days? “Edward has no right to live the kind of life he has and then up and die like this. It’s not fair.”
    “You say this despite having fought for over a year to leave him.”
    “That’s not fair.”
    “Truth is not always fair and just.”
    And then the words, “I’ve been sleeping with Inman,” slipped from Anna’s lips. “He’s asked me to marry him.” It was a confession of sorts.
    “How did you leave things with Inman?”
    “I told him I needed time to take care of Edward and spend time with him. Inman seemed to understand. He’s a widower. His wife was killed in a car accident two years after she left him and their daughter. That was twenty years ago.”
    “How were things with you and Inman before learning of Ed ward’s illness?”
    Again Anna shied from directness. “He’s somewhat like Edward, determined and hardworking. But he likes being with me.” Anna grew warm. “He’s good in bed.” Anna considered the last years of her marriage. “I can’t remember the last time Edward and I made love before I asked for the divorce.”
    “Was that one of the things that prompted you to request a divorce?”
    Startled at Father Richard’s directness mixed with a lack of judgment, Anna settled into thought. She had endured three decades of infidelity. She said, “I’m not sleeping with Edward now that he’s home.”
    “But, you’re still married to him.”
    “What are you getting at?”
    “He can’t cheat on you now.”
    Why have you brought Edward home ? The question hung in the chambers of Anna’s mind.
    The priest asked, “Is there anything you’d like to say to him?’ “There’s a lot I could say. I don’t know if it would be the right thing. He is dying.”
    Father Richard became thoughtful. He then said, “There’s a group of Proverbs, African. They go like this. `Death needs a strong heart. The goat says, Nobody willingly walks to his own death. If one could know where death resided, one would never stop there.’’
    A lump formed in Anna’s throat against the priest’s recitation of truths that knew no denial.
    “`Death does not sound a trumpet. When death holds something in its grip, life cannot take it away. Death is one ditch you cannot jump. Whatever you love, death also loves. Lie down and die. You will see who really loves you.”
    At that, Anna gasped and caught her lips. She began to cry.?
     
    Chapter 14
    Anna arrived back home to find Edward lying upon the