“I wish I could clear my brain.”
“Go have a stiff drink, and then relax and be with your wife.”
“Thanks for listening.”
“Not a problem. Call me tomorrow if you need to talk more.”
Robert stared at the bottle of whiskey then opened it and poured a drink. He downed it in one motion.
He slept some, but kept waking, thinking Gini wasn’t in the bed. Each time, there she lay, not having moved. His exhaustion finally took over, and he went to sleep.
Gini quietly came out of the bedroom a little before nine the next morning. Robert was surprised that she hadn’t called for him as she always did. He sat her down and gave her juice. He asked her a few questions, but she didn’t seem to be talkative.
The balcony door was open, and a fresh breeze stirred the curtains. Outside the rain was still falling. Gini got up and walked toward the door. She suddenly stopped and quickly picked up her foot. He saw a long white feather lying on the floor. He picked it up and laid it on her palm.
“Bur… uff… fetter.” She put her other hand on top of it. “No… be… fray… uff… bur. No… be… hur… tah… guiney.”
“No, they were just fighting with each other.”
“Fy… uff… foo.”
He wrapped his hands around her head and then kissed her on top of her hair. “What do you want for breakfast?”
“No… uff… word… hur… tah. Guiney… be… uff… goo… wife.”
He pulled her close to him and took a deep breath. “No, we aren’t going to listen to stupid people. I love you more than anything in this world. Nothing will ever change that.”
“Rob… ber… luff.”
The rain was gently falling as they walked to the spa building. Robert wasn’t really sure how this would all play out. Gini seemed to be okay, but had been unusually quiet all morning. He didn’t know if she would sit in the chair with people working on her without him next to her holding her hand.
They were seated in spa chairs with their feet in soothing warm water. Then the spa attendants laid them back, rubbed goo on their faces, and wrapped a warm towel all around. Robert put up his hand for them to stop. He wanted to make sure Gini was okay. He looked over at her. The towel covered her face, and she seemed totally relaxed. He let out a sigh, and allowed the towel.
There was soft music playing and an aroma of herbs. After the facial, they finished the pedicure and worked on their hands. They brought several different red nail polish bottles for Gini to choose from.
“Rob… ber… be… uff… peck.”
He chose a bright cherry red.
“Rob… ber… be… uff… toe.”
He laughed. Sure, why not. Maybe it was the aroma, but he once again felt carefree. If she wanted him to paint his toenails red, so be it.
The lunch was relaxing. They listened to the rain, the few birds squawking, and the insects chirping. The massage put them both to sleep. When they awoke, Gini lay back in a chair and they washed her hair, then styled it. She looked beautiful.
Robert wanted to take her to the nice restaurant, so he dressed her in one of the dresses Debbie had packed, and they went to dinner.
There was a Fiesta Saturday night on the beach. Robert remembered going with his father. It was a big party to say farewell to the tours that would leave the next morning. He wanted to get Gini a festive dress and a shirt for himself.
They walked the row of shops until he found one with colorful clothes.
“Guiney, what size do you wear?”
“Patee… wan.” She slowly stuck her index finger out.
He pulled two dresses from the rack. One was black with blue flowers, the other was many colors with big orange hibiscus blossoms. When she tried them on, the orange flowered dress was definitely the one. He got himself a shirt with similar colors. Again, he surprised himself that he was so into going to the party and dressing up for it. He was going to take John’s advice and let his emotions take him to new places.
Gini was excited about the fun night. The stylist had made her hair look so beautiful the day before. Robert had to admit, he had no idea how to style a woman’s hair. He called and made an appointment for her.
When they arrived at the beach, the party was fully underway. A mariachi band played snappy music, and there were bars and tables of food all around the area.
Jennifer was sitting at a table with her friends. “Oh, there’s Gini and Robert.” She started to get up.
“Why do you want to be with her?” one of the men at her table asked. “She’s weird.”
“She’s not. She’s a wonderful person.”
“Can’t feed herself and talks funny. Weird.”
“She’s had a serious brain trauma. Come with me and meet them. They’re fun.”
“You and your medical jargon. No thanks, I’ll stay here with normal people.”
Jennifer gave him a stabbing look and left the table.
“Look how pretty you are.”
“Jen… nee… fer.”
Suddenly the music got very lively, and people started dancing in the sand.
“Come on, let’s dance.” Jennifer took Gini’s hand and reached for Robert’s.
“Oh, I’m not much of a dancer.”
“Come on, with those red toes? They’re begging to dance.”
A young girl went up to Gini and stuck an orange hibiscus on her ear, sticking the stem in her hair to anchor it. Then she tried to show Gini how to lift her feet to dance. Gini couldn’t get the gist of it but continually smiled a bright smile.
Jennifer grabbed around Robert’s waist
