Sharmaine was given a larger storage space in the basement a year later, which she doubled as her office.
A new team of brokers was hired after the incident where Lyle lit them on fire with his tirade a year previous. Lyle eased up a bit after explaining to Sharmaine that everyone in the building knew that Night Marchers came through the brokers' office but did not speak about it openly. Sharmaine remedied the problem by aligning everything on the broker's floor so that a clear path was left for them to pass through on the nights of their march."You made it through a year," Lyle said. "You can quit; I'll give you a good recommendation."
"I did you dirty," Sharmaine admitted." I did a lot of people dirty without blinking twice, and it was all because I didn't want to be stepped on, like how I watched my parents get stepped on when they had to sweep the dry mango leaves from store parking lots or clean people's houses. I swore I'd do it to people before they did it to me. When it finally did happen to me, I got stomped," she chuckled. "I kinda wised up after that."
"You did," Lyle said. "You did."
"I hated you," she said to Lyle. "Not as much as I should have because I couldn't afford to get in your face and get fired, so I took it, and I'm here to say I'm sorry, Lyle, if sorry even makes up for what I did."
"You being sorry and me forgiving you is one thing," Lyle said. "What's more important is that you forgive yourself. When and where that happens is up to you in your own time. That's when you'll be free of everything from before."
The next day, Sharmaine pulled up to a space at Ruger Park, or what everyone knows as the Triangle Park. On the opposite end was a minor soccer league game with a group of young players trying to teach a group of kindergarteners the basics of the game. A string of memories surfaced from the well of her subconscious, which she wasn't prepared for. Starting her car, she drove down Monsarrat to the old Bogart's Cafe to drown her sorrows in an over-stuffed omelet with an acai bowl on the side. Sharmaine needed to pay more attention to who came and went in and out of the cafe'; she was more concerned with burying bad memories with an overload of comfort food. She had no clue that a man seated in the corner of the establishment watched her closely from when she entered until her food arrived. Now, watching her pay the bill, the man left ahead and positioned himself on Sharmaine's car. She hadn't even noticed him because she'd pulled up her work schedule on the phone.
"My, how the might have fallen," hearing the voice, not knowing it was meant for her. Sharmaine didn't bother to look up. She removed her keys from her purse and went to open the car door. "You're gonna ignore me too, huh?"
"Rodney," Sharmaine sighed. "What are you doing here?"
"Did you know that Wee-Sah died while you were in prison?" Rodney edged closer.
"Yes, but I didn't know until after I got out," Sharmaine began. "I do make it a point to leave flowers for her. I always do,"
"That don't mean shit," Rodney got closer, and Sharmaine took a step back, but not without removing her pepper spray first. "She came to visit you, and they told Wee-Sah that you didn't want to see her!"
"ANYONE!" She raised her voice. "I didn't want to see ANYONE! I was humiliated and ashamed because of everything that happened. I had no idea that Wee-Sah was going to die, so don't put that shit on me, Rodney!"
"I just wanted to tell you that you're a piece of shit, once and for all, and to your face!" Rodney jabbed his finger in the air at Sharmaine.
"Stand in line," Sharmaine replied. "While you're at it, you can also join the fuck you line, but that's me telling everyone, including you, to go fuck yourselves!"
~
The following day, while on her lunch break, Sharmaine stuck her head into Lyle's office. "Sorry to interrupt?"
"Not a problem," Lyle smiled. "What can I do for you?"
"Um, I just wanted to ask," Sharmaine fidgeted with a button on her shirt. "How do I go about forgiving myself?"
Lyle put his head down and smiled. "I have someone I can introduce you to if you're ready?"
"I am," she shook her head. "I'm ready."
"You have to be for real about this, Sharmaine; you can't half-ass it," Lyle warned her.
"I'm totally for real," Sharmaine promised.
"Alright," Lyle said. I'll text you the phone number and name in a couple of minutes. I have some paperwork I have to finish up."
Twenty minutes later, Sharmaine's phone buzzed, and on it was the text message, as promised, from Lyle
808-555-7385
Halali'i
"Oh shit," Sharmaine laughed and shook head. She remembered that Halali'i was connected to herself and Wee-Sah through Lyle, who made the introduction. The two wanted to meet Halali'i because of his specialty, for which he was sought after. Ho'oponopono.
...The End...
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