Page 4 of Full Circle

CELESTE

The next day I was up before the sun rose. I could barely sleep for thinking about Wesley. He actually helped me forget some of the loneliness and he didn’t look at me like I was the strange girl who lost her mama. He didn’t have one either.

Daddy blinked rapidly when he shuffled into the kitchen and found me sitting at the breakfast bar next to a plate of steaming pancakes, bacon, and fresh coffee. The pancakes were one of mama’s recipes and I imagined the lumps I worked out in the batter were the same as the lump I felt in my throat when I pictured her. How many mornings had we spent together cooking a piping hot breakfast before heading into the restaurant? How many times had she kissed the top of my head after whispering the secret ingredient to me?

“It’s that extra sugar you give because you’re so sweet!” she would say with a proud smile.

This was the first time I had attempted to make anything since she passed.

Daddy looked behind him as if he was confused. “What happened? Where did that food come from?”

I rolled my eyes. “From me, Daddy, obviously!” The last word stretched out of my mouth, bordering on sassy. Without coffee yet, I knew Daddy would let it slide.

He did. “You cooked all that? For me?” His navy terrycloth bathrobe hung open over pinstripe pajama bottoms and an old concert t-shirt. Thick brown hair stood up in odd tufts, a speckle of gray mixing in at the roots. Watching Mama succumb to her illness had taken its toll on him.

Pulling another plate over with a couple pancakes and fruit, I shook my head. “For me, too. When can we go to the restaurant?”

Daddy shuffled over and drank deeply from the coffee mug in his daze. “You wanna go with me today?”

“And it’s about time, too!” Nana shuffled into the kitchen, her too big house shoes smacking hard against the linoleum floors. “Been hidin’ out in this house way too long!”

Nana lived in a small cottage about twenty yards behind our house. The property both houses sat on had been in Daddy’s family for six generations, and when Nana’s knee started giving her trouble, Mama and Daddy insisted on building a small place for her so they could “keep an eye on her.” If you asked me, Nana was the one always doing the spying. Nothing ever got past her.

Although she slept in her own place, she spent most of her days in our living room watching soap operas and eating peanuts that she had to wash down with a Coke. She would fill an entire grocery bag of shells in a single episode. Yet you would never know it because soaking wet, I doubted Nana could hit the ninety pound mark. She was a tiny, little spitfire—full of quick quips, wild stories, and firm beliefs.

Despite the early morning hour, Nana had on her usual pair of sweatpants and baggy t-shirt, large bag of peanuts in hand. “Now what’s gotten into you?” she asked, eyes squinting in my direction.

As excited as I was feeling, I wasn’t sure how Nana would react to news of Wesley. She was old school and maintained that boys and girls couldn’t be friends because boys were always up to no good.

“Um…I just wanted to help out today,” I hedged. It was a feeble excuse at best and one that she immediately saw through.

“Help out?” Nana cackled. “Girl, you ain’t been in a helping mood in months. Wallowin’ around, feelin’ sorry for yourself! Now come on, out with it.”

I glanced over at Daddy for help because he usually intervened when Nana got too pushy, but right now his attention was focused on me, too, his eyebrows arching up towards his hairline. “What is it, sugar bee?” he asked gently.

There would be no distracting them. “I made a friend, that’s all.” Shrugging, I kept my eyes on my plate, fiddling with my fork as I tried to find the right words. “Thought I might be able to play at the park again.”

“Is this that boy Marla told me about?” Daddy inquired.

“A boy!” Nana spat. “Don’t you go getting caught up with some little hooligan, Celeste! What’s this boy’s name, huh? Who’s his mama?”

It took every ounce of restraint I had not to roll my eyes. While it might be too early for Daddy to notice my sass, Nana had the beady eyes of a hawk and would waste no time in boxing my ears.

“He’s new in town, Nana. I was just tryin’ to be nice.”

“Bein’ nice, my foot! Now you listen here?—”

“Suzanne,” Daddy cut her off, his tone firm. “That’s enough.”

Nana’s face twisted. She had always been respectful of my father and treated him like he was her own flesh and blood. But this was one subject for which she could not budge.

“Mark my words,” she warned, pointing a finger towards in my direction. “This girl’s gonna get her heart broken! Boys ain’t worth a lick!”

Daddy winked at me before saying, “Hey, now, what about me?” He held his arms out as if to invite her to say anything derogatory.

Nana leaned back on one foot, a fist planted on her hip. “If Celeste wants to wait until she’s thirty and found a man who’s matured some like you, then she can be my guest!” With that, she opened the fridge behind her and snatched out a Coke bottle, shuffling into the living room as she muttered under her breath.

Daddy couldn’t help but smile at me as I repressed a grin. We both knew Nana would cool off after a while. She didn’t believe in holding grudges.

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