3. Dindi
I’d been in the hospital now for five days and was slated to go home in two. My lung collapsed from a broken rib puncturing it. I also broke my ankle. I had scrapes and bruises on my arms and face. The doctors said that it was a miracle that I didn’t have more severe injuries. The car didn’t fully hit me from what they said. It clipped me. Whatever that means.
My mind had been all over the place with the reaction of Aaron’s wife. Why was she so hostile? Why didn’t that man who was my father stop her? He let her push me into the damn street. I could have died.
I didn’t tell my cousin what happened. Her crazy ass would fly here with some of the homies and have that lady murdered. I couldn’t have that blood on my hands. My interest in getting to know my sperm donor was the last thing on my mind now.
The light over my door came on, letting me know that someone was about to enter. I smiled when Dr. Basil stepped into my room. She was the most stylish doctor that I’d ever met. It was a plus that she was black and knew ASL (American Sign Language). Her sister, Hera, who was a nurse here, knew it too. I knew how to read lips, which was what I normally did.
“Good afternoon, Dindi. How are you feeling today?” Hestia asked. I told her the other day that I read lips, so she didn’t have to sign unless she wanted to say something that she didn’t want others to know.
I smiled before I lifted my hands to sign. “I’m good. Ready to go home.”
She gave me a warm smile. “About that. My mother didn’t like the idea of you going home and hiring someone to help you. She wants you to come stay at her house until you are better and more mobile.”
My eyes bucked. Is she serious? “No, no! I’ll be fine. That is not necessary.”
She giggled. “I figured you would say that, and I told my mother that you would. I apologize in advance for my mother’s intrusiveness. She’s standing outside. She wants to talk to you. Is that alright?”
I shifted in my bed before I nodded my head. Hestia turned, went to the door, opened it, then stuck her head out. Seconds later, a beautiful chocolate woman walked in with a warm smile. She was dressed to the nines as well. I knew Jimmy Choo when I saw it. I was a shoe fanatic.
“Hi, Dindi, my name is Laverne. You can call me Mrs. Laverne. Now my daughter told me that you can read lips, so I’m going to try and talk slowly. When I get to running my mouth, I talk like Speedy Gonzolez,” she said with a titter.
It pulled one out of me as well. That was a vital part of communication with someone that read lips. I knew a few people who went to school with me when I was younger who mastered reading lips of those who spoke fast. From a young age, I knew that I wouldn’t be that social. I didn’t want her to go out of her way for me though. I glanced at Hestia, then signed to her that I would turn on my implant.
“Mama, she said that she’s going to turn on her implant. You can talk your talk.”
Laverne smiled at Hestia, then me. She gave me a second to turn it on before she started to talk again. “Alright, now I know you don’t want to come to my house because you don’t know us. That is understandable. I also know that you are here alone in this city and will not have you paying someone for help. Now, I’m not ya people, but now… I’m ya people. With that being said, you’re gonna come stay at my house and love it.
“Consider this a friendly kidnapping. Now, my son, Zeus, is coming to pick you up with me when it’s time to get discharged. I have a beautiful guest room downstairs, so you don’t have to climb stairs, and you are close to the kitchen. I’m gonna cook a nice dinner so you can meet the rest of your new people here. Is that alright with you?”
It didn’t seem like she was giving me an option for it to not be alright. It would be nice to have a nurturing spirit around me. God, I miss Auntie Kadence. There was a hole where my heart used to be. Clearing my throat, I spoke for the first time to anyone outside of Melody in months. “Yes, that is alright, Mrs. Laverne.”
Mrs. Laverne smiled, then asked me if I had any food allergies. I shook my head to let her know that I didn’t. For another hour, she sat with me, and we got to know each other. Hestia left after I agreed to stay, to tend to her other patients. I enjoyed my conversation with Mrs. Laverne. She was so country that I would consider keeping on my cochlear just to hear her speak.
DISCHARGE…
It was time to be discharged, and I was ready! Hera just came in to tell me that her brother and mother were on their way up for me. Hestia worked this morning, so she would be free for the dinner that Mrs. Laverne planned tonight. Hera had just gotten off. Just as Hera got me into the wheelchair, the light above the door went off before the door opened seconds later.
Mrs. Laverne walked in followed by this man that looked like everything a good man was meant to be. His curly hair sat atop his head in a man bun. If I had a sexier voice, I would have said, “ Hey, stranger!”
“Hey, Dindi! You ready to go?” She cheesed after I nodded my head. “This is my oldest son, Zeus.”
My head tilted as I started to notice a theme. Hestia, Hera, now Zeus. Hestia did tell me that their father was Greek. In my mind, I didn’t take that as him being for real Greek. Yes, that was ignorant, but black people were quick to tell you they had Indian in their family. You found out that the Indian was their six-time great grandmother. They didn’t even know that lady’s name.
“What’s up, baby girl?”
I was so damn happy that I turned my implant on when Hera told me that they were on the way up. To hear that voice was worth it. I didn’t want him to hear my voice, so I just smiled. When he returned the smile and those bottom gold fangs peeked out, I had to close my eyes. Lord, I said I wouldn’t be loose here. I guess you said let me test this out on you real quick.
Once Mrs. Laverne said we were leaving, Hera stepped beside me to push my wheelchair. The entire time I was pushed to the elevator, I watched Zeus, who walked in front of me. This man had a boss aura. One thing that made me happy about myself was that I had a keen eye for things and people. Discernment was what my auntie called it. My discernment saved me from heartache and fuck boys.
I dealt with people on my own terms. The last committed relationship that I was in was over five years ago. We broke up amicably, for the most part. He was the one with the whole babies were going to be deaf bullshit. Most would think that would have hurt my feelings, but nah. If Ray Charles was blind to the bullshit, then I was deaf to it. My mother, God rest her soul, and my auntie set me up for success. I loved them for that.
When we got to the hospital entrance, there was a big body Tahoe sitting outside. I was prepared to get into the back seat, but Mrs. Laverne told him to push the front seat back and sit me there. I didn’t need much space. I was maybe a few inches taller than her.
Her son did as she asked. I thought that he would just help me up into the SUV. Nope. This man of wonder scooped me up into his arms and placed me into the car. When he picked me up, my arms wrapped around his neck, and my face went into it. He smells so damn good.
“You comfortable, baby girl?”
I nodded to his question. I wonder if I would be comfortable on his dick. I closed my eyes at my overly invasive sexual thoughts. This man was so damn fine though. He told me to put my address into his GPS so that he could take me to my house to get things that I needed. I wanted to push back, but I knew that I needed shit. I’d rather put in the GPS address to this pussy. Dammit, Dindi!
After I entered the address, Mrs. Laverne, Zeus, Hera, and I were on the way to my house. This would be the first time that anyone outside of my family or contractors came inside. My music room and studio were in a separate part that we didn’t have to go in. The ride there was full of conversation between the family. I sat there and listened but didn’t say anything. Hera and Mrs. Laverne knew that I talked, but I was sure Zeus thought I was a mute.
Everyone got quiet when we pulled up to my house. “This is your house?” Hera asked.
When I nodded, Zeus mumbled that my house was very nice. I signed thank you, then it hit me that he may not sign. Hera told him what I signed.
Zeus walked around his SUV, opened the door, then seconds later, I was scooped up into his arms again. If my ankle took a delayed time to heel, I wouldn’t be upset if it meant that he could pick me up all the time. There was a code to get into my house that I texted to Hera on our way over. Once we were in the house, I pointed in the direction of my room, which was upstairs. Zeus had yet to put me down, and I had yet to trust that I wouldn’t cum in his arms.
Zeus asked me where I wanted him to set me, and I pointed at the bed. The gentleness that he used to set me down was so sexy. Lord, I need to get my mind out my coochie. I knew it would be easier to verbally talk to them, but I didn’t want him to hear me. I signed to Hera to ask her to ask Zeus to go downstairs. When she did, he nodded then left.
After he left, I told them where my suitcases were and the things that I would like them to pack. I noticed Mrs. Laverne’s ass was packing way more shit than I asked her to. This lady was for real trying to friendly kidnap me. When it came to packing my shoes, I only wanted slides and Crocs. They got caught up in my other shoes that were in my shoe closet.
“Girl, your shoe taste is crazy! I wanted to beat Jennifer’s ass extra when I saw the scuffs on your combat boots. I have the same pair.”
I giggled. “Yeah, I have a shoe problem. This isn’t all of them. I turned one of my bedrooms into a walk-in closet, dress room.”
“Baby, this house is nice. How did you find this prime real estate?” Mrs. Laverne stood near the bay window in my room that looked over the lake.
They knew that I moved here from California, but I never alluded to my family being from here. I hope they don’t ask too many questions. “This is my family’s home. My mom owned it before I was born. Over the years, my auntie Kadence made upgrades and expansions on it. She died not too long ago, so I decided to move here instead of only coming in the summer.”
“Oh, so you’re people were from here?” Mrs. Laverne asked.
I nodded before I responded. “Yes, you could say that. I think that’s all I need for now.”
I didn’t want to go down the family road anymore. From the smirk that rose on Mrs. Laverne’s face, she caught the vibe. She walked out of the room, then moments later, she returned with Zeus on her heels.
“You got everything that you need, baby girl?”
He has one more time to call me baby girl and I’m going to give him a damn baby girl. Like the good girl that I could be, I nodded with a smile. He returned the gesture with a wink. My cheeks betrayed me by warming and reddening.
“Mm, y’all come on here with all that silent ass flirting.”
Mrs. Laverne called me out. Wait, did she call me out or us out? Was the wink a flirtation? I inconspicuously peeked up at Zeus as he carried me back out to his SUV. Before he put me in the truck, he looked down at me.
“Keep looking at me like that with your pretty ass and you’re gonna bite off more than you can chew or should I say swallow.”
My eyes bulged. I wanted to say something so bad, but insecurities about my voice stopped me. Instinct had my face tucked into his neck. He chuckled before he slid me into the front seat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the raised brow that Mrs. Laverne gave us. When she walked past him, she whispered something that made him snicker. What did she say to him?
It took almost an hour to get to where Mrs. Laverne lived. My mouth dropped when we pulled up to a big gate with a Greek statue on each side of the gate. Zeus stopped at the gate to put a code in. When we drove through them, I looked at each of them with big eyes. Now, I wasn’t going to discount the success and wealth that I had acquired over the years. This right here, though, was generational wealth.
There was a gigantic house at the top of a hill and five smaller, but still large houses going down it. You heard about family compounds in books, maybe, but seeing one was a different thing. The landscaping was immaculate. I opened my phone to text Hera.
Me:
This is so gorgeous. Is your house here too?
Hera:
Thank you! Yes, my house is the first one on the left closest to the big house. Zeus’s is the one closest to the gate on the right.
Me:
Ok…
I wasn’t sure why she felt the need to tell me that. I didn’t care… that much. We finally stopped in front of the door at the big house. I wanted to take a picture of the huge statue that sat in the middle of the driveway but thought it would be weird. The other cars that lined the driveway made me wonder who else was there.
Before he came to open my door, Zeus went inside for a second. When he came back out, he was followed by two other men. Mrs. Laverne has some fine ass sons! They greeted the two women before they grabbed my bags to bring in.
“Y’all can say hi. She has her implant on,” Hera said with an eye roll.
Hades laughed, then said, “Shit, I didn’t want to waste my damn hello.” He turned his attention to me. “What’s up, pretty lady? I mean, what up, sis?”
Poseidon and Hera huffed. Hades threw his hands up. “What the fuck! I’on know what to call her. I called her pretty lady, and Zeus looked like he was about to bust my ass. I’m just trying to say hi and live another day.”
His words did something unexpected. It pulled a verbal laugh from me. All the men’s heads turned in my direction. I quickly covered my mouth with my hand. I did not mean to do that! I closed my eyes because I probably sounded like a weirdo.
Zeus came over, and for the fourth time today, I was in his arms. “So, she does laugh. I’ll assume that you talk too. We’ll talk about that shit later.” With his last sentence, he looked directly into my eyes like he was letting me know I had no other options. I see this is a family of bullies.
He carried me through the home’s double doors. My eyes bounced back and forth around their enormous foyer until it landed on the most beautiful sight. The most beautiful crystal-clear grand piano was the centerpiece of the space. I wondered if anyone knew how to play it. My fingers started to tingle at the thought of my fingers on the keys.
“Come on so the girls can get her settled in her room. I’m gonna start cooking dinner. Dindi, my husband will be home soon. You’ll meet him at dinner.” Mrs. Laverne threw out instructions.
Zeus kissed his mother’s forehead before he turned down a hallway that was just before the living room that sat to the right of the foyer. We ended up in a very big, nice bedroom that I knew I would enjoy being in.
“Do you want me to sit you on the bed?” Zeus asked. His eyes narrowed when I nodded my head. “Nah, I want to hear you tell me yes. I know you can talk. I already heard you talking in your room at your house.”
Now my eyes were narrowed because, what the fuck! He was supposed to be downstairs and outside. I stared at him in defiance. I heard Hestia and Hera snickering, but I wasn’t going to say shit. When he told me that he wouldn’t put me down until I told him to, I unwrapped my arms from around his neck so that I could sign to the sisters.
They both guffawed after I finished. “Um, she said, she hope you can stand on business with that because she’s not saying shit.” She snickered before she said the last thing that I signed. “She also said that we were going to see if Zeus had real Zeus strength.”
His head bucked back before he put his eyes on me with the corner of his top lip turned up. It was in the sexiest of ways too. “Word. That’s what you on, baby girl? Ight, bet!”
He carried me over to the sitting area that was in the room. In that area, there was a couch and love seat. The love seat faced the bed. My arms wrapped back around his neck when I felt his body lowering to sit. Once we were seated, he told the girls to get me settled in. Plan of tricking him to keep me in his arms accomplished. I didn’t realize it was a plan until this very moment, but yay to accomplishment.
When I scooted around gently on his lap to get more comfortable, because the position that I sat in had my side sore, he grabbed my hips. The hairs on my neck stood when the warmth from his breath soothed my ear. “Watch that moving around on my lap shit, baby girl. You don’t want to wake the monster.”
One thing that I loved about being disabled as crazy as it may sound was knowing that most people initially underestimated you. There was this air of insecurities that they assumed you had. The only, and I do mean only insecurity that Dindi Aria Paulson had was in the sound of my voice. I wouldn’t even call that an insecurity. I just got tired of the weird looks and whispers about the sound of my voice.
Blessed wasn’t enough of a word to describe having Auntie Kandence in my life for all the life that I remember. She made sure that I knew the power I possessed and how to use it. It was important, especially in the music industry. I could count on all fingers and toes plus someone else’s how many times people thought my deafness meant that I was stupid. I was anything but. My introverted nature was often misread as well because I was to myself but outgoing around the people that I trusted.
His lips were still near my ear. I pulled the top of my body away from him, looked at him square in his eyes, then shimmied on his lap until I was comfortable. I made sure that my focus stayed on him as I got comfortable. When I got to my comfy spot, I gave him a smirk before I leaned back into him so that I could sign.
With a smirk, Hera signed. “A time is about to be had I see. Let me find out you’re crushing on my brother.” She and Hestia giggled.
“More like let you find out that your brother has a crush on the kid.” To my signed words, they laughed uncontrollably.
Zeus shifted under me. “Y’all not going to talk about me in my fucking face. Rude asses, but I got something for that shit, Miss Dindi.”
For the next forty-five minutes, they put my things away. It would have gone a lot quicker if I let go of my stubbornness and just spoke, but nope. At least not today, or so I thought. Zeus was serious about not setting me down anywhere, and now, I had to pee as well as get freshened up for dinner.
Hera and Hestia had just left the bedroom. Zeus showed me that he had great leg strength by standing with me in his arms. When he started toward the bedroom door, I took a deep breath before I let my voice be heard. “I need to use the bathroom and get freshened up.”
His movement stopped. Slowly, his head tilted down so that his focus was on me. There was this awkward but at the same time sensual silence that lingered between us. His smile lifted his cheeks. “I know you weren’t worried about letting me hear that sexy, squeaky voice? Make sure I hear it from now on, Jin.”
Jin… He gave me a nickname. I liked it. He helped me into the bathroom. I told him that I could manage. He grabbed the crutches that Hera left leaned against the wall and placed them against the counter in the bathroom before he closed the door.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to do this. It was harder to maneuver with this broken ankle than I thought it would be. Add to that the soreness from my broken rib and I was having more problems than I would have liked to admit. I used the bathroom, then washed my hands. I wanted to take a shower, but I knew that wasn’t something that I could accomplish alone. I picked up my phone that I set on the counter. I put a message in the group chat with Mrs. Laverne, Hera, Hestia, and me in it.
Me:
I want to take a shower but I need help.
Hestia:
Ok I’m coming now.
Me:
Thank you.
I grabbed the crutches, opened the bathroom door, then hobbled over to the dresser to grab a change of clothes. I was hungry and couldn’t wait to eat. I also was ready to be in this room alone so that I could be in my loud silence. I didn’t want to be rude to the family that selflessly was allowing me to stay in their space, for I’m not sure how long yet.
Hestia and Hera came to help me shower and get dressed. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and put on some lip gloss before I grabbed my crutches to make my way out to where the rest of the Basil family were.
“Jin, why you didn’t tell them to come get me? I would have come to get you,” Zeus said.
Because I could be an asshole sometimes, I pretended that I didn’t hear him and continued to hobble past him. I wanted to see something. I saw his brow hitch as I went past.
“Aye, she turned her hear me things off?” Zeus’s voice held distress like he was really bothered. It was cute.
Hera glanced at me with a knowing look. “I don’t think so. Dindi, can you hear me?” When I glanced in her direction with a head nod, she giggled. “Yeah, she can hear you.”
Zeus tittered. “Come on now, Jin. This how you want our story to begin?”
Before anyone could say anything else, Mrs. Laverne walked into the living room where we all were. “Y’all bring y’all beginning story behinds in this dining room so we can eat.” She pointed her finger at me, then Zeus. “I see y’all, and don’t think that I don’t. Miss Dindi, you can stop acting all innocent too, lil girl.” She said all of that with a smile.
Everyone got up to head to the dining room. Zeus asserted his dominance by scooping me up into his arms to carry me instead of me using my crutches. Mr. Basil already sat at the head of a nicely sized table. Mrs. Laverne must have cooked some of this food earlier today before we got here. There was no way that she could have done all of this while I was getting settled. We sat, ate, they talked, I listened. No one forced me to talk, and I appreciated that. I appreciated everything.
Once I got settled later tonight, I would finally call my cousin to let her know what happened. Well, an abridged version. I wasn’t ready to feel the craziness of Melody Harmony Paulson. No one was ready for that shit.