Sacred Ground

“Sure.”

Drew filled two bowls. “There was this guy in the movie who had to find out who was kidnapping little kids for ransom,” he began. “And the cool thing was that it was a bunch of high school seniors who cracked the case.”

Gabe was accustomed to listening to Drew’s analysis of the movies he liked. When Drew finished, Gabe said, “How’d you and Jeff get along?”

“Fine. He’s coming over tomorrow after school.”

We’re both having company tomorrow and we’ve only been here two days, Gabe mused as they went up to bed.

By the time Makima was ready to go to her appointment on Monday she’d tried on and discarded three different outfits. One was too dressy, the second was too informal and the third would do but that was all. She hadn’t been this nervous getting ready for a presentation to a foundation, she thought as she selected a fourth outfit.

This would do, or maybe she was tired of her indecision. The deep violet wool jacket with a shawl collar had pants to match. With them she wore a silk georgette blouse in a geometric floral print. She found some earrings with a single violet stone and decided to wear her new suede sling backs with the covered buckle and a matching bag. Looking at her image in the full-length mirror she felt ready for a business appointment with Mr. Gabriel Bell.

As she walked up the familiar steps of Mr. Zeke’s house, sadness overcame her. This was her first time back since he’d passed away. All her life she’d come up those steps and crossed the porch to ring this bell. As a little girl the porch had seemed so wide.

The door opened promptly just as it used to do but this time it was Gabe Bell who welcomed her in. He looks like he belongs here, she thought.

He wore dark pants with a striped pullover sweater and everything about him was well groomed.

“It’s nice to see you again, Makima. Please come in.”

“Thank you.” She instinctively turned left into the living room. “Oh, you’ve opened the curtains. I’m so glad,” she said involuntarily.

Gabe looked puzzled. “Great-Grandfather never opened them?”

“Not much as he grew older, and it was so dark in here. It’s lovely to have the light again.” She gazed around the room as if seeing old friends once more.

“Please have a seat and let me bring you something to drink,” Gabe said. “Tea, coffee, soft drink?”

“Water will be fine, thanks.”

He served the water on a small tray with a napkin and sat down opposite her with his own glass.

“I gather you’ve been here many times and are familiar with the house,” he said.

“I’ve been coming here all my life,” she said simply. “That’s why it made me feel sad when I walked up the steps today. It’s my first time here since Mr. Zeke passed.”

“I understand,” Gabe said and waited for her to continue.

“Miss Sarah used to call me her little girl. My father was principal of the school where she taught and they were great friends, which is one reason my parents allowed me to visit. Our house is on the street behind the church, so it was easy to walk or ride my bike over here.” She took a sip of water and saw amusement in his eyes. What had she said that was funny?

“I suddenly had this picture of you with your hair in braids whizzing along on your bike.” The openness of his smile invited her to smile with him at the picture and she smiled back before resuming her story.

“Miss Sarah had one daughter, Elizabeth, who died as an infant. But I guess you know all about that. Then she had two boys, but she’d always wanted a girl, so I was her make-believe daughter or granddaughter and we spent a lot of time together. Mr. Zeke was very kind to me, too. I used to follow him around to see what he was doing. After Miss Sarah died I came by often to keep him company. He’d explain to me how he fashioned parts of this house.”

“You can tell he loved working with wood,” Gabe said. “I’m finding out a lot about him little by little.”

This was the opening Makima had been looking for.

“This may or may not be something you knew about, Gabe, but Mr. Zeke had promised to sell me some property.” No, he hadn’t known about that. She saw that instantly and girded herself for battle.

Gabe sat straight in his chair. “He promised to sell you some of this property where we are or did he have some more?”

“It was this property we always talked about,” she said firmly.

“What was it for?”

“The Grayson Medical Clinic.”

“I don’t know anything about that.”

“The need for it came about because of a tragedy, as is so often the case.” Her tone softened and she relaxed in her chair.

“The youngest child in our family was my sister June. She was eighteen, getting ready to go to college. On a Saturday night she and three friends went to a football game at South Carolina State in Orangeburg. A drunk driver hit the car when they were almost home. June was sitting in the passenger seat in the front and that’s what took the impact. Everybody in the car had some injuries but June died because we couldn’t get her to the hospital in Swinton in time.”

“I’m sorry,” Gabe said “When did that happen?”

“Three years ago. Since then I’ve made the establishment of a medical clinic here in Grayson a priority.”

“By yourself?” Gabe sounded a little disbelieving.

“No, everyone in Grayson is helping and there’s a board.”

“How have you progressed so far?”

“We have ten folders with details which I’ll be happy to show you another time, but I can tell you that we’ve gone through most of the legal procedures. We’ve met with medical authorities and building contractors. We’ve written many grant proposals and met with quite a few foundations.”

“Have you raised much money?”

“The first large sum was the insurance that was paid for June’s wrongful death. Our family gave it as seed money. Since then we’ve added money from grants, foundations, organizations and frequent fund-raisers.”

Gabe turned his glass in his hand. “Where does this property come in?” He fixed on her with a direct stare.

Makima knew this was the moment of truth. He had to believe as she did that Mr. Zeke had intended to sell her what she needed.

“I asked Mr. Zeke to sell us a part of his property for the clinic. I’ve never considered any other place because this location is perfect and there’s something about it that draws me. I know that doesn’t make much business sense but that’s the way I feel.”

“What exactly did he say, Makima?” Gabe asked.

“He said, ‘We’ll see.’ I didn’t have the down payment yet, so I didn’t go beyond that, but each time I reminded him, he said, ‘It’ll still be here.’ In other words, when I had the money ready he’d sell it to me. Then he died quite unexpectedly, so I’m coming to you.” Makima took a deep breath and said a silent prayer as she waited for his response.

“How much property do you need?” he asked calmly.

“We can’t afford more than five acres.” Makima allowed herself to hope that this was going to work. It had to work for the sake of the whole community.

“It’s a worthwhile project and I wish I could help you, Makima, but I can’t.” Gabe looked at her with sympathy.

Makima flinched as if she’d suffered a blow. She couldn’t give up. The clinic had to be fought for.