Keeper of Keys Read Online Free Page B

rest….take a shower…eat some, before you go and get her." Sherry looked at her husband and then back at me. "She fine with Precious, you can have her in the morning."

    I looked at her and wondered where the saucer was for the teacup. Money can't buy class or common sense, I thought as I watched her walk back to the kitchen. 
"I-I guess you're right," I said and lifted the cup from the table. A small wet circle had formed on the wood. I wondered if they knew it would be white in the morning.

They put me in the guestroom where they had a single bed with no headboard. A short brown dresser and attending mirror looked out of place and lonely against the wall.

    I sat down on the bed and tried hard not to listen to the voices seeping through my cousin's bedroom door a few steps away from my own. I knew they were discussing me and when I heard the sound of the rotary dial on their telephone, I knew that they had decided to wake Precious from her slumber.

    I stretched out on the bed and the coiled springs complained beneath my weight. By then, my body had gone long past tired. The aching started in my head and spread through my body until my entire being throbbed.

    Panic began to spread over me as the pain that took over my body reminded me, once again that I was sick and had left town without the medication Dr. Tate had prescribed for me. I hadn't even filled the prescriptions and now the disease that was living in my blood was making itself known.

    "Stop it!" I hissed to myself. My words bounced off of the walls and came to rest on my chest. My breath caught in my throat and for a moment I couldn't inhale or exhale. I jumped up and ran to the window. My fingers seemed to fumble forever with the latch before I realized that the window swung open instead of pushed up.
My throat unlocked and I inhaled the cool night air. Honeysuckle and magnolia filled my lungs, the sweat that covered my forehead, dissipated and the fear that had suddenly struck me waned, fading into a dull throbbing that attached itself to my temples.

    "Kai?" The knock came first and then Sherry's serene voice. "Kai are you sleeping?"

    "No, " I said and wiped at the last remnants of sweat that clung to the space above my lip.

    The door opened slowly and Sherry's face popped in. She was smiling, but her eyes were worried and tired. "Here," she said stepping in and placing a nightgown, towel and wash cloth on the bed.

    "James checked your trunk and there wasn't any luggage or anything, so I supposed you'd be needing something to sleep in." 
Her eyes traveled across the room and stopped on the open window for a moment and then moved on.

    "I can put those clothes in the washer for you, if you'd like." She said stepping towards me, her arms out stretched, hands reaching out for me. For a moment I thought she would try and undress me and then she stopped abruptly and folded her arms across her chest.

    "I've already been too much trouble…I can just -"

    "It's no problem at all Kai, really. Just drop 'em outside the door and I'll collect them when I get up again in a few hours. It's no problem at all." She said and stepped backwards and out the door. "You know there's a bathroom right there," she said and pointed towards a door to my left. "The faucet in the sink leaks so, just make sure you shut it off tight and uhm, there's soap in there and toothpaste too."

    The room was always ready for guests, even though I was the only who ever utilized it and that was just once or twice a year.

    "Thanks Sherry."

    "You need anything else, just let us know." Her words dangled in the space between us. She wanted to say more and know more, but I wasn't saying any more than required. I would be up and out of their hair at first light.

    "Well, you uhm…you have a good rest and we'll talk in the morning, okay?" Her request was hopeful and eager. I didn't even feel sorry that I was going to have to disappoint her.

I don't know how long I lay there staring