Damali shook her head and began rinsing out the sponge.
"Seems to me, you and Carlos go way back."
"We do," Damali said, twisting the sponge. "But things change... he did a lotta stuff, Mar."
Marlene nodded and took the sponge from her hands. "Every relationship is different. Every man is different. All advice aside from your girlfriends and bystanders, you follow your heart. Just remember, keep true to that. Never kill anything that you want to get up and live one day. Don't injure or cripple it, either. If you all argue, and draw blades, which is bound to happen from time to time, make sure you cut with a practice, blunt edge... something dull, so he can get back up and recover without bleeding." Marlene stared at her hard. "Don't use the Isis in your mouth to do that. Hear? I don't care what anybody else told you." Marlene continued to stare at her without blinking. "Other situations are tainted by bitterness. That ain't a part of your soul, so don't let it slither in there, no matter how good a friend the advisor is. It doesn't mean the counsel wasn't well-meant, or the person evil, just that the method was flawed."
Damali went still. "Your third eye, Mar... how is it?"
"Sore, but still a laser, and can see nonsense around corners, through shadows, and written all over your face. Don't need it. This is age and wisdom, not magic or telepathy. I know my child. That's all I have to see to know what I'm talking about."
Marlene drew herself up to stand with a grunt, and Damali helped her and got a towel. She wrapped Marlene in it as she stepped out of the tub and hugged her, drying her, petting appreciation into her as she wiped water from her fragile body.
"I just wanted to let him know how it felt."
Marlene sighed and twisted water out of her hair over the tub. "Oh, baby... I think he knows. Now it's a matter of damage control."
"But what about. . ." Damali let her words trail off as she helped Marlene to sit so she could begin to apply healing creams to her skin.
"You dance," Marlene said simply.
"Dance?" Damali chuckled. "Yep. You dance, you investigate, you take your time to decide. You learn, you cry, you laugh, you sample--I ain't telling you what you should do with your body, you're grown. Lord knows," Marlene chuckled, "I sampled. Uhmph, uhmph, uhmph, did I sample in my day."
They both laughed.
"You find out what you need to know, then if you want to, you come on home," Marlene murmured. "Just know that if you take the risk, home as you knew it might not still be there. So you ask yourself, are you ready to put it all on red? Whatever you do, you're gonna still be mine. Whatever you do, you're gonna still have options. I just don't want to see you do whatever you do, brazen, tacky, spiteful, or mean. Even if you switch dance partners, there's a way to do it respectfully."
Marlene made Damali look up by finding her chin with the soft pad of her index finger. "That's not for them, honey. That's for you. So you can sleep at night without any negative karma adding to the weight of your world. That's not weak, that's quiet, serene, regal, goddess strength. Understand? Always be a queen, even while quietly sampling... with discretion."
Damali covered Marlene's hand with her own and allowed her eyes to slide shut as she sat at Marlene's withered feet on the tile floor. Slowly her head went to Marlene's lap, in tribute, in homage for the wisdom that had been imparted. Quiet tears added to the white bathwater that had absorbed into Marlene's towel. Older, gentle female hands stroked weariness and confusion from her mind without magic.
"There is no one on the Neteru Council who compares to you, Queen Mother," Damali whispered. "Thank you."
The sound of Carlos's hysterical voice oddly fused with Cain's belting out a foreign name made Damali leave Marlene and Shabazz's side. "I have to go," Damali said quickly.
Shabazz stood up fast from the wicker bedroom chair, but glanced at Marlene, who remained relaxed in bed.
"I'll be all right. This is where you should be, not down on the beach," Damali said, trying to keep her voice even and calm.
Shabazz nodded once Marlene had nodded.
Damali exited quickly, shut the door quietly, and then tore from the room, her bare footfalls echoing