Vexed 3, page 19
“Hello?”
“How’s my little munchkin, sis?”
Jill got up from the chair and hurried into the bathroom. “She’s resting peacefully. The doctor said she should sleep through the night. Zach left, so it’s only me here with her now.”
Dex sighed heavily. “I know, sis. That’s how come I called. I wanted to holla at you, not my bruh.”
“Oh?”
“Look, I’m going to shoot straight through the shit, sis. I don’t think my goddaughter accidentally ate no damn peanut butter. She’s too smart and careful and mature to slip like that. When Zion gets home and the smoke blows over, I want you to ask her exactly what happened. I don’t trust Nahima no further than I can piss on her. I can’t prove it, but something in my belly tells me I’m right.”
“Okay, Dex, I will do what you’ve asked. I trust you.”
“Let’s keep this between you, me, and Ramona, because she feels the same way. She’s the one who made me call you, sis.”
“Of course, I won’t say a word to Zachary or anyone else. We will talk later, eh?”
“Good night, Jill. Kiss my goddaughter for me.”
“I will, Dex. Good night.”
Jill looked in the bathroom mirror when Dex hung up. God had used him to confirm that she wasn’t crazy after all. He and Ramona believed exactly what she had felt in her heart the moment she realized Zion was having an allergic reaction. Nahima, Jay’s child, had tried to kill her child. But why?
* * *
Yashia was standing outside of Nahima’s first-period class, dressed to the nines in a red maxi dress, when her bestie walked up. “How come you didn’t call and tell me about your little cousin’s accident? That shit almost gave me a heart attack.”
Nahima did a subtle eye roll. “I forgot. Who told you anyway?”
“My mom saw your mom at Target after church yesterday, and they talked about it. My mom didn’t even tell me until I sat down at the breakfast table this morning. She said she thought I already knew. So how is Zion doing?”
“Oh, she’s all right.” Nahima waved Yashia off with a thoughtless flip of her wrist. “The doctor let her go home last night. She’ll be running around the house, getting on Zach Jr.’s and Jalen’s nerves tomorrow.”
“I’m glad little mama is okay. The way my mom explained it, Zion almost died.”
“Well, she didn’t. Anyway, I’ve got to tell you about my night with Santana, girl. He came over to my uncle’s house after I put my baby brother and cousins to bed, and it was on.”
“For real, bestie?” Yashia’s eyes stretched wide.
“Yes! And it was sooo good.”
“Well, Dondrae’s cousin got a motel room for us Friday night, and we tore some shit up too.”
The warning bell rang.
“Let me get in this classroom before Mrs. Fuller tries to clown me.”
Yashia started walking backward. “I’ll see you in fourth period.”
“Yeah, I’ll finish telling you about me and Santana then.”
* * *
Wallace closed his Bible after his morning devotion and looked out the window in the breakfast nook. His heart was kind of heavy over the news Oscar and Jackie had shared with him about Jay’s condition. He was terribly concerned about Zion, too. Wallace had called and spoken to Jill, and she had assured him that his little princess would make a full recovery. For that, he was grateful to God. However, the burden of knowing that Jay didn’t have long to live was weighing him down.
Wallace wanted to talk to Zach so that they could somehow come together and make amends with Jay. The death of their mother at his hands had caused so many problems for them as a family beyond his incarceration and their orphanhood. Now that Jay was dying, Wallace felt it was time for her and Zach to finally clear the air. He wanted his firstborn son and his only daughter, birthed of the same loving mother, to make peace with one another at last. According to Jackie, the doctor had given Jay only a month to live. Wallace thought that was plenty of time for her and Zach to get it right before she met her Maker.
His plan was to wait a few days for Zion to get fully settled back at home and return to school before reaching out to Zach. In the meantime, Wallace would call the prison to check on Jay and try to arrange a visit with her. Time wasn’t on his side, and he knew it. Jay was awaiting a transfer to another prison where, more than likely, she would die. Wallace hoped and prayed he would get to see his precious daughter before she was transferred. More importantly, he wished above all things that he could get her and Zach together before she passed away.
Jackie had promised she wouldn’t say anything to Zach about Jay, because their relationship had been a touchy subject for a long time now, especially since Jalen’s adoption and the kidney transplant between the siblings. And because Wallace was their father, she felt like he should be the one to try to help restore their relationship before it was too late.
* * *
“What’s up, Jay?”
“This ain’t your mama, honey. I’m KiKi, her friend.”
Nahima aimed the remote control at the TV and lowered the volume. “Where is Jay? Is something wrong with her?”
“She was kind of sick over the weekend, but she’s getting better. I’m calling to make sure you and your little brother are still coming to visit your mama Saturday.”
“Yes, we’ll be there.”
“All praise to the Messiah! I’m glad to hear that, because King really wants to see y’all. I can’t wait to tell her. It’s going to make her feel a lot better to know her kids are coming up here for sure. That’s why I called. I’ll go tell her y’all will definitely be here Saturday. Take care, Nahima.”
“I will. Tell Jay I love her.”
“I promise I’ll tell her.”
Nahima hung up the phone more determined than ever to make the trip to Leesworth with her baby brother. She had already spoken to Avila on FaceTime and sent her $125 by Cash App for her driving fee and gas money for Santana’s car. All they had to do was scoop up Jalen Saturday morning around nine o’clock and roll out. Nahima didn’t care how tired she would be from the Quay concert Friday night. It wasn’t going to stop her from taking her baby brother to see their real mother. Nothing and no one would keep them from visiting Jay.
Chapter Thirty-three
“Stop crying, Zion. Your mom and dad aren’t upset with you. No one is,” Aunt Jackie explained. “We’re just trying to figure out what happened to you Saturday morning.”
“I told you already. I don’t know what happened, but I didn’t eat any peanut butter cookies. I didn’t even touch the jar or the container they were in. I would never do that. I know I’m allergic.”
Aunt Jackie was sitting on the bed next to Zion with her arm wrapped around her. Jill was sitting at the foot of the bed, and Zach was standing above his wife. Zion’s health was pretty much back to normal, with the exception of the lingering hives, and Dr. Swan and her personal pediatrician had released her to return to school tomorrow. But her parents wanted answers about how the peanut butter had gotten into her system. They had called Aunt Jackie to come over to help them talk to Zion. So far, they hadn’t learned a single thing.
“Zion, did something happen here before we got home that you’re not telling us?”
A flashback of Nahima and her boyfriend kissing at the door caused Zion’s chest to hurt like she was having another allergic reaction. She imagined Jalen running into her room, crying for his mommy in the dark, too. Everything about that night replayed in her mind. Zion wished she could forget all of it.
Her friend Ocean had told her many times that if she kept running her mouth like a track star, something bad would happen to her just like it had to another one of their friends. Zion didn’t believe her warnings, so she had ignored the little girl. Sadly, Ocean’s words had come true Saturday morning. Zion didn’t want anything else bad to happen to her, so she decided not to snitch on Nahima.
“Answer your mom’s question, baby girl,” Zach insisted.
“Nothing happened that you don’t already know,” she lied. “Like I told you this morning, I sneaked a sugar cookie behind Mom’s back when she was cooking breakfast. I didn’t taste any peanut butter on it, though. But my tongue started feeling funny, and I was itching all over. Then when I tried to tell Mom, the room started spinning around real fast, I couldn’t catch my breath, and I fell on the floor. That’s when Mom turned around and saw me. I don’t remember anything else. When I woke up, I was in the ambulance and I saw you, Dad. I’m sorry for sneaking the cookie, Mom.”
“I don’t care about that bloody cookie, sweetheart. I care about you.”
“Nobody is mad about you sneaking a cookie, okay?” Zach grabbed Zion’s foot and shook it playfully.
“Okay, Dad.” Zion smiled for the first time since the conversation started.
Zach Jr. walked into his sister’s room with Jalen acting as his shadow. “Papa is on the house phone, Dad. He said he really needs to talk to you. It’s important.”
“Okay.” Zach left the room to talk to his father.
Jalen climbed on the bed next to his sister and gave her a kiss. “I hate peanut butter cookies. I hate peanut butter everything. I don’t want any more peanut butter in our house ever again.”
Zach picked up the land line in the kitchen. “What’s up, old-timer?”
“Hello, son, how are you?”
“I’m great now that my baby girl is out of danger.”
“Praise God my little princess is all right.”
“Yeah, praise God.” Zach laughed. “What’s going on with you, though? Junior said you really needed to holla at me.”
“It’s about your sister, Zach. She’s dying. The doctor has given her a month to live.”
Zach sat down on a barstool at the center island. “Man, I don’t even know what to say.”
“Say that you’ll meet me at the prison to see her if she’ll agree to put us on her visitation list.”
“Um . . . yeah, sure. I can do that. Just tell me when.”
“Thank you, son. I’ll call Leesworth tomorrow and get back with you.”
“Cool.”
* * *
“Hell nah, I don’t want to see his ass!” Jay balled up the request form and threw it across her cell.
“But, Kang, what about your daddy? He ain’t got nothin’ to do with what’s goin’ on between you and your brother. G’on ’head and make peace with the man, and then try to find some room in your heart to forgive Zach and Jill. Come on now.”
“Ms. Gracie’s right.” KiKi reached over and placed her hand on top of Jay’s as they sat a few inches apart on her bed. “I think you should let your daddy come and visit you, and . . . and Zach too. Let it all go so, when your time comes, you’ll meet the Messiah in paradise and be reunited with your mother.”
Jay pressed her lips tightly together and breathed in air through her nose. She was tired of crying because she was dying, but her tears wouldn’t stop falling. The bitterness in her heart for Zach and Jill constantly gnawed at her soul, yet it had become a part of her, and she didn’t know how to let it go. She had never gotten over their betrayal even after they’d adopted Jalen and her brother had given her one of his kidneys. The way Jay saw it, she didn’t really owe Zach nor Jill forgiveness. Her pending death made them even. They were happy and in love and were enjoying freedom with their two children and her baby boy. They had everything, goddamn it! All she had were a few more days left above the ground and a dream to see her little boy and to hold him one more time.
Jay didn’t give a damn about seeing Zach, and she was okay dying without ever seeing her father again. She did want to hug Aunt Jackie and look into her eyes and tell her how much she loved her before she died, though. Jay hated that she had been too sick to see her over the weekend. Mr. Odom, her corrections officer, had told her how upset her auntie was when he got in touch with her late Saturday evening to tell her she couldn’t visit her Sunday afternoon, per Dr. Dalrymple’s orders. By the good Lord’s grace, maybe Aunt Jackie could come to visit her next weekend. Yeah, that would be awesome. Hell, Wallace could even come too. But nobody but her son mattered to Jay at the moment. In just two days, she would see Jalen for the first time since he was a baby. Nahima had sworn to her on everything sacred that she and some girl named Avila were bringing her baby boy to visit her Saturday. Aunt Jackie and Wallace would just have to stand in line and wait one more week, because the day after tomorrow had already been reserved for little Jalen Gavin King.
* * *
“Can y’all believe we’re actually going to see Quay tomorrow night? Aaahhh! I’m so damn hyped!”
The three other clique members looked at Nahima like she had lost her damn mind, and started laughing.
“I can’t lie. I’m getting excited too. It hit me last night when I looked at my outfit hanging in the closet and my new shoes sitting in the box on my dresser! I mean, this shit is really about to go down tomorrow night!”
Kela rolled her eyes at her girl while she chomped on a mouthful of chicken salad. When she swallowed it, she asked, “How come ain’t none of us seen your outfit, Ryan? Everybody else showed theirs. What’s so special about yours that you can’t share it with your girls, huh? First you hide your outfit, and then you claim your mama ain’t gonna do your hair until tomorrow after school. What’s up with all the secrets?”
“Don’t nobody care about outfits and secrets right now. We’re going to see Quay, and I’m happy as hell about it. Damn lame-ass secrets.”
“Well, maybe you should care about secrets, Nahima, because I think somebody’s keeping a great big one from you.”
All four girls got quiet. They exchanged suspicious-looking stares and the air around them seemed too damn thick to even flow. Ryan could hardly breathe, and she felt naked all of a sudden out of guilt. But at least she knew for sure now that she wasn’t “just paranoid” like Rashawn had tried to make her believe. He had been wrong, and Ryan had guessed it right. Kela definitely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, knew that she and Rashawn were a couple. How she had figured it out was a puzzle Ryan couldn’t even begin to solve.
“Stop tripping, Kela!” Yashia snapped and hit the table one time with her fist. “I don’t know what the hell is going on with you and Ryan, but y’all need to fix that shit before tomorrow night!”
“But Ryan is—”
“Shut up, Kela! I’m the oldest and I’m talking now! It ain’t fair for you two to let your pettiness ruin a night that we’ve all been looking forward to for weeks. So lick each other or blow one another’s brains out! Shit, I don’t give a damn what y’all have to do. The only thing I know is Kela Daniels and Ryan Mathis better be back to being best friends since the third grade, fire-ass bitches from Pine Tree Hills, who live around the corner from each other before tomorrow night when Rashawn picks both of your asses up. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it,” Ryan mumbled.
Kela jumped up with her empty plate, gathering her backpack and purse. “I got it.”
Yashia, Nahima, and Ryan watched her storm off, grumbling under her breath as she did. As if on cue, Rashawn appeared at the table, seemingly out of thin air.
“Hey, Rashawn,” Yashia and Nahima purred at the same time with big smiles on their face.
He sat down in the chair Kela had just vacated. “Hey, lovely ladies. I hope everyone is feeling good and ready for the show tomorrow night.”
“Hell yeah, I am!”
“I am too, bestie.”
“I’m ready,” Ryan said softly, looking at everything except Rashawn.
“Cool. I stopped by to go over my pickup schedule. I figured I would scoop up Ryan first and swing around the corner and grab Kela and . . .”
Dear God, please let everything work out between me and Kela so all of us can have a good time at the Quay concert and IHOP tomorrow night. Don’t let us fuss, fight, or say anything to our other friends that we will live to regret. And thank you for putting Rashawn and me together, because we’re very happy. Amen.
Chapter Thirty-four
“Hold on, bae.” Nahima swiped the mute icon. “I’m coming, Dad. Let me put on some more mascara!” After unmuting her phone, she told Santana, “Just make sure your phone is on at all times. I’ll let you know where to meet me as soon as we park. We’ll be in a platinum limited-edition Lincoln Navigator.”
“Got’cha, shawty. Damn!”
“Put the tickets in your pocket right now, and please try not to be drunk or smelling like weed.”
“Girl, get the fuck off my damn phone. I’ll see you in a li’l while.”
“Okay. I can’t wait to see you.”
“Me too. Later.”
Nahima picked up her brand-new designer purse from her bed and dropped her phone inside. She walked over to the full-length mirror and busted a little dance move. Her reflection was volcano hot. Nahima looked awesome in her off-white strapless jumpsuit with flowing palazzo pants. The bronze glittery sparkles in the fabric set off her fourteen-karat gold teardrop earrings and matching rope chain with a teardrop pendant. Her mom had encouraged her to apply false lashes to accentuate her bronze, pearl, and sienna eye shadows that made her bronze lips and cheeks pop. Nahima was pleased that she had done away with her Afro by asking Valencia, her hairstylist, to part her soft curls down the middle and slick them back with shiny gel. Santana was going to be all over her tonight.
“Nahima! Get down here, baby girl!”
Satisfied with her appearance, she turned off the light, left her room, and locked her door. She took her time walking down the stairs on her three-inch strappy stiletto sandals. Nahima was surprised to see Uncle Zach standing at the bottom of the steps snapping pictures of her with his cell phone camera. Charles was moving about with his Canon forty-five-millimeter with the zoom lens, capturing her from all possible angles.
Zach moved in close to place a light peck on Nahima’s cheek. “I just stopped by for a minute to see you before your big night and to give you this.” He discreetly pressed some money into her palm.
