"No," he insisted.
"Okay, Daddy. Okay. You should go upstairs and get some sleep. I'll see if Belinda's at home. Have you been to the office while I was away?"
"I don't know," he said. "I think I was there one day. Time seems to have flown by. Your honeymoon's over already?"
"Yes, Daddy."
"Hmm. Where's Samuel?"
"He's at his father's house. I was hoping to take you to dinner tonight, Daddy, and Belinda, too."
"Oh, that's a nice thought. I'll just wash up and take a nap and then we'll meet you and Samuel," he said. "You took a very bad fall, Daddy."
"What? Oh, yes, I think I tripped over a rock and fell down the hill a bit."
"Down the hill? You mean you almost fell down to the rocks?"
"Oh . . . no," he said. "It's nothing." He started to lift himself out of the chair. I could see that the bruise on his leg was more serious than he knew. It gave him great pain to put his full weight on the leg.
"Maybe the doctor should look at you, Daddy?" "No," he said quickly. "I'll be fine. I'll just wash up and rest a bit."
"Did Belinda know you took a fall?" I asked.
"Belinda?" He stared, thinking. "Oh now I remember. I think she's been with one of her girlfriends. I think they went someplace."
"When?"
He scratched his head.
"It seems like she left right after your wedding." "And she hasn't been back since?"
"I'm not sure," he said.
"Oh, Daddy. You know you have to keep better tabs on her. You promised you would."
I took hold of his right arm and guided him around the chair and toward the door. He looked like he was in pain when he walked on that leg.
"Are you sure you don't want to see the doctor today, Daddy?"
"I'm fine. I'll be all right," he said. "You don't have to hold onto me, Olivia."
"Okay. I'm going up to see if Belinda returned," I said and marched ahead of him.
The door to Belinda's bedroom was open and a quick perusa
l of her bed and the room revealed she hadn't been there for a while. I heard Daddy talking below and returned to the stairway. Carmelita had joined him at the foot of the stairway.
"Is that you, Miss Olivia?" she asked looking up at me. "I didn't know you had come home," she said.
"I just arrived. Do you know where my sister is?"
"I haven't seen her for days," Carmelita said.
Daddy struggled on the stairs, pulling himself up on the balustrade: I hurried down to help him because he wobbled. Carmelita was right behind him, too, keeping her right palm against his lower back to support and guide him. She looked at me and shook her head.
We got him up to his room and he went into the bathroom to undress and wash his bruises.
"How long has he been like that?" I asked her.