PART 22

Disposition:
[Middle English disposicioun, from Old French disposition, from Latin dispositi, dispositin-, from dispositus, past participle of dispnere, to dispose; see dispose.]
Synonyms: disposition, temperament, character, personality, nature.
These nouns refer to the combination of qualities that identify a person. Disposition is approximately equivalent to prevailing frame of mind or spirit: "A patronizing disposition always has its meaner side" George Eliot.
Temperament applies broadly to the sum of physical, emotional, and intellectual components that affect or determine a person’s actions and reactions: "She is . . . of a serene and proud and dignified temperament" H.G. Wells.
Character especially emphasizes moral and ethical qualities: "Education has for its object the formation of character" Herbert Spencer.
Personality is the sum of distinctive traits that give a person individuality: possessed a truly unique personality.
Nature denotes native or inherent qualities: "It is my habit,I hope I may say, my nature,to believe the best of people" George W. Curtis.

Origin:
[Middle English origine, ancestry, from Latin org, orgin-, from orr, to arise, be born; see er-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The point at which something comes into existence or from which it derives or is derived.
Ancestry: "We cannot escape our origins, however hard we try" James Baldwin.
The fact of originating; rise or derivation: The rumor had its origin in an impulsive remark.
Anatomy: The point of attachment of a muscle that remains relatively fixed during contraction.
Mathematics The point of intersection of coordinate axes, as in the Cartesian coordinate system.

Day 63 after the accident – Dante & Cassandra Bizzarri’s Hotel – h. 10.18 p.m.

I’m falling asleep when my cell phone rings.
With my eyes still closed, I reach for it on the nightstand.
“…Sì?” [“…Yeah?”], I mumble absently.
“Dante, it’s Tasha”.
I raise my head from the pillow, suddenly awake.
“Hey… What’s up?”, I whisper.
“Well, I need to talk to you…”.
A pause.
“…Why are you whispering? Were you sleeping already?”.
I glance at Cassandra’s naked body laying beside mine, her long red hair spread on her white back.
“…Uh…No, no, it’s just…”.
“…Fuck, Dante…I’m sorry…”.
I sit on the bedside.
“No, no, it’s okay, really… Cass is sleeping, I was awake…”.
My hand is blindly looking for my shorts.
“Non sto dormendo… Sono sul pavimento, proprio davanti a te…” [“I am not sleeping… They’re on the floor, right in front of you…”], my wife murmurs, half asleep.
Fuck, I think.
I grab the shorts and put them on.
“What’s the matter, Tash?”, I ask, getting up and silently motioning towards the living room.
“Well, I’ll make a long story short… Carmen is awake and Shane is nowhere to be found. Her phone is switched off and we already checked her house and WAX. And she’s not there…”.
I pour a glass of Bourbon and stare absent-mindedly at the cars passing on the street, through the window.
The liquid burns my throat.
“Don’t make it too short. Why do you think she’s disappeared?”, I say.
“First of all because she left approximately six hours ago… And then because this morning Carmen had a heart failure…”.
I swallow, shivers going down my spine.
“…Shane was there, she saw everything. When Carmen’s family arrived, she left the hospital saying that she would take a walk outside. But she never came back”.
“What about Carmen?”.
“When Shane left, she was in stable condition but…”.
“…I think Shane has reached her limit”, I cut in, simply.
“I think so”, Tasha agrees.
“Where are you now?”, I ask.
“We’re all at Cedars… Carmen is worried and I think she’s starting to figure out that something is happening…”.
I quickly garner my thoughts.
“Ok Tash… You guys stay there. With Carmen. I’m gonna call Marshall and we’re going to Sanders’ place”.
“Do you think Shane is there?”.
“I am sure she is. I mean, I am sure she’s looking for him, to say the least. I’d do the same if I were her, at this point”.
“How does she know where that creep is?”.
A legitimate question, I’d say.
“When Carmen fainted, Marshall was taking her to Roscomare Road… There are a few sheds, there… And Sanders is hiding in one of them”.
“I see”.
“Okay look, I’m gonna take care of it. You guys stay there with Carmen, okay? I’ll call you later”.