I had told them that I would buy the carrots at full price. Why wasn't my word good enough for them? Now I find myself thinking about those carrots and those people who threatened to make him ill. They had been standing in the rain carrying bags of carrots. I was walking along the sidewalk minding my own business when an elderly woman ran up to me and shoved a bag of carrots in my face. She wouldn't leave me alone. I kept pushing her away, but she was too persistent. She never uttered a word, but her message was clear. This strange woman wanted me to buy her carrots. As defeat set in, I reached into my coat pocket and shoved a five dollar bill into her hand.
She then put her arms around my waist and whispered, "These carrots are six dollars, please give me another dollar." I pushed her away and ran as fast as I could. She screamed after me, but I blocked out her words. Now, I remember those threatening words bombarding my brain. She had said, "You will have to pay me another dollar or else your boyfriend will turn orange. He'll lose weight and won't be able to leave his bed. Martin won't ever get better. So, you will have to pay me."
I do remember telling her that when my check comes, I'd be happy to give her another dollar bill.
As if I had to be reminded of her bizarre behavior, Martin began to turn an orange color and he stopped talking. He lost all motivation to get out of bed and blankly stared up at the ceiling. I couldn't believe I was going to sink to her level. I was letting her bully and harrass me, all because I didn't want her curse to be true. She proved she had a stronger will-power than I.
Awaiting the stop-light to turn green, I felt my legs getting a little stiff, my bladder was full. I secretly wished the light would hurry up and change. Why was it taking so long? I had the urge to step on the gas pedal and just run all the pedestrians down. I took a deep breath and tried to focus on that light. It took everything I had not to start screaming. I just hoped I could find a dollar bill in time. Martin was sleeping in the back seat of the car with a carrot hanging out of his mouth. I know that sounds silly, but I was desperate and would try anything. I guess I thought that if that carrot lady was right, the carrots might be magical or something stupid like that. I didn't have a clue as to what I was doing. Maybe that carrot lady is the real deal or maybe I'm in the middle of getting a bad perm.
Who knows what's real anyway?
All of a sudden, I found myself standing in front of my ex-husband's door knocking on it. As I hear myself asking for money, I can hear my voice slowing down, ricocheting off the nearby trees. I looked down at my hands and saw a ten dollar bill in it. I regained my composure and thanked him for the money.
Speeding down the highway, I feverishly looked for that carrot woman. As I approached that same walkway, I saw her standing in the same spot carrying a bag of celery. I parked my car along the curb. She came over to the window. All of a sudden, Martin was sitting upright; his skin was returning to its normal color. The carrot that had been in his mouth was gone and in its place was a bouquet of red tulips. I blinked a few times, but they were still there.
I quickly rolled down the window and placed the ten dollar bill in her mouth. I don't even know what propelled me to do this, only that it felt right. She smiled and said, "Now you're helping yourself and the less fortunate. All the negativity that you felt today is going to reside a little bit. Those carrots will do the same. As you eat them your hunger pangs will dissipate a little and you will feel good about yourself. Then you will remember that you helped me out by buying them, which puts food on my plate. It's a cyclic reality. I may be a pushy woman, but I see a heart that needs to be deshelved. Go seek out confrontation as it is part of life and cannot be swept away when we want it to."
As I rolled up the window, I smiled to myself, because I already knew.
Bio: I am pursuing a M.A. in Mental Health Counseling and Art Therapy. My main interests include the following: using writing as a tool for healing, seeking out differing multicultural perspectives in approaching therapy by utilizing art, music and storytelling and understanding how to draw out imagination from people who don't normally see themselves as creative. Previous publications include a poetry book entitled, "Exception to the Rule" and various poems and short stories on the Internet.
E-mail: GJG123@prodigy.net
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