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GOTAMA RETURNS
Miss Buddha — 45
Chapter Forty-Five — Pasadena
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Her first sensation was: this had not happened. Could not, must not have happened.
No, not the conversation with Ruth, her Buddha Gotama. That was as real as anything, was the most real thing she’d ever experienced. What must not have happened was that she had said her words not only directly to Ruth, in their shared space, but also into the air, for Charles to hear and see — see his wife talking to his infant daughter at no (obviously imaginary) replies. She’d seen his face, and she’d venture that he had — in that brief moment of eye contact — been more terrified than she.
“He heard you,” whispered Ruth.
“I know,” answered Melissa, quelling the impulse to, again, also say this aloud. Succeeding.
“He is in turmoil.”
“I saw that.”
Yes, that is what she had seen in his face, in his eyes. Terror at first, then turmoil — as if terror clashed with some other equally potent force — and then, as he turned and left, surrounding him, protecting him, a cloud — stiff and impatient — of annoyance.
“He will pose a danger,” said Ruth.
