Swelling in the hands and feet
Joint pain
Organ damage (e.g., to the heart, kidneys, and spleen)
Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes)
I take a deep breath when I see the list of symptoms, and the fact that a cure just became recent and it still carries a significant risk.
I’m still reading all about Sickle cell and the SC carrier when I received her text.
Anu - I’m home and thanks again. Also, if you change your mind, I promise I won’t hold it against you. I can still be your fake date from time to time. It should be fun!
Daniel- Glad that you are home safe. I won’t change my mind. Good night.
I return to reading all about sickle cell disease. After a long extensive read my first thought is to call her and give some flimsy excuse and take the easy option she gave me.
Instead, I call my friends Declan and Luke. Declan can’t make it because his wife Anne isn’t feeling well. Luke agrees to meet me after dropping his twin sons off at his mom’s.
I get to the corner and down a drink while waiting for him. My mind wavers in ways I can't understand. It shouldn't be hard to call her and explain I misspoke—a rare occurrence— but it's believable enough to scrap the whole idea of moving in with my niece's music teacher.
A woman that has captivated me from the moment I saw her. I can break free from that hold and make sure our paths never again cross. I can move back to New York.Yeah, that will do it but… are you going to?I already helped her with the music program, and my niece got the extra time with her. Deals are closed and everyone is happy. I can move back to New York, forget about her and break this choke hold she has on me.The real question is,do you want to break the hold?
No! The answer is immediate. I like how I feel around her.
Luke arrives and grabs the seat next to me. “Hey,” he says, patting my shoulder. He sits and the bartender brings his drink. He turns to me.
“I have a problem,” I say to him.
“Do you need your brothers?” he asks. Our coded language to pull the fire alarm.
I shake my head.
“If the problem required my brothers, then it was solved. Unfortunately, the problem I have involves a twenty something year old black woman who’s oblivious to my feelings for her.” Luke laughs, takes his jacket off. Guess he realizes it’s going to be a long night, and takes a sip of his drink. “I can’t stop thinking about her.” I released a frustrated sigh.
“I have been there, and the advice Declan gave me was to do something about it, and I’m giving you the same right now: if your feelings are real, then make your move now.”
“She needs a male roommate; I don’t know how it happened, but soon as she mentioned that she was looking for a male roommate, I immediately volunteered to be her roommate just to be a step closer to her. But now, I’m scared.” Luke listens without a word. “I can’t believe I’m saying this. I can call her, she gave me the option to change my mind.” I pause “but I can’t bring myself to take the option of walking away, and at the same time, moving in with her really makes no sense and it scares me.” I make a quick confession as Luke chuckles.
“Well, if it’s any consolation, I made sure Dele moved in with me fast because she had moved in with my brother, Osei, and the thought of her falling for my brother was driving me crazy. So, I guess I should ask you, if you don’t want to move in with her as her roommate, would you be okay if another guy becomes her roommate? Last I heard you dropped a hundred and fifty thousand just to keep her in town. I know you are going to claim it’s for your niece but, deep down, you want her around.”
