Page 15 of Somebody Else Will

A nurse led me to the room to see her, and I knew I wouldn’t be prepared to see her this way. She was just making a cup of coffee and had already called Will everything but a child of God. She was fine. After informing the nurse of the funeral home I wanted to use, I walked into the room. When I saw her lying there, I had to turn away for a moment. They’d gotten all the machines off her, and she literally looked like she was asleep. The hardest part was that I knew she wasn’t.

After composing myself, I walked into her room and went to her bedside. When the tears fell from my eyes, it was like I could hear her saying,“Girl, stop all that crying. This is a part of life. Heartbreak happens, but it’s up to you how you handle it. I know it hurts, but things happen just the way they are supposed to. It’s okay to be sad, but don’t wallow in that shit. Dust yourself off and move on.”

She’d said those exact words to me following my first real heartbreak. I grabbed her hand and kissed it just as the funeral home representative walked into the room with me. I gave him a tight smile as he offered his condolences. Once he was done with giving me information, I left the room to see my grandmother standing in the hallway. I ran to her arms, and we consoled each other. She gently rubbed my back.

When I lifted my head and saw her tears, that only made me cry more. She slowly shook her head. “Losing one child is hard, but losing two seems unbearable.”

She was speaking of my uncle that had died years ago, not long after Grandpa. He’d gotten into a car wreck and was ejected from the vehicle because he wasn’t wearing a seat belt. That was a hard time for all of us, but I knew it was even harder for her, especially since it only happened a few months after she lost her husband.

“I’m sorry, Grandma. We’re gonna be here for each other. It’s just me and you, so we have to stick together. I love you,” I said, somewhat sucking up my emotions, to be strong for her.

“I love you too, baby.”

I was morenervous than a pastor caught in a whorehouse. As I drove to Houston, all I could think about was Ezekiel’s words.It’s a date.However, I would much rather be thinking about that instead of my mama. We would be having her funeral Monday, and I felt like I was in denial. I’d been keeping busy, throwing myself into work.

The police had caught up with Will’s ass. They arrested him, but he was only there two days before he got bailed out. He hadn’t tried to contact me about his things, and I was grateful. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to deal with his bullshit. I would probably snap and kill his ass.

My grandmother, Jerzey, and Jamia had come along with me, but I would be dropping them off at the hotel before I met Ezekiel for breakfast. Jamia said they would Uber somewhere and get breakfast. I was grateful Ezekiel had urged me to bring my staff along. My grandmother, while she wasn’t my staff, didn’t need to be alone at a time like this. I felt like this would serve as the perfect distraction.

I’d only spoken to Ezekiel once since my mother passed away, and I didn’t mention it. He was my first celebrity client, and I didn’t want him to be my last. There were plenty of celebrities that lived in Houston. I refused to flake on this job or make it seem like I was making excuses for why I couldn’t deliver. My soul was hurting, but I couldn’t let it hinder the taskat hand, although I knew my mama would have loved getting dressed up and rubbing shoulders with people she saw on TV. That kind of thing excited her. I would never forget how excited she was to meet Ezekiel.

“You good, boo?”

I glanced at Jamia in the passenger seat as Grandma and Jerzey laughed at something, having their own conversation. “I’m okay. I’m a little nervous about breakfast though.”

“Why? That man wants to be with you. I could see it in his eyes when he came to the shop.”

“I don’t know. Well, I guess because we’ll be alone. I’m too vulnerable right now. I’m fresh off a breakup and grieving my mother. I don’t think I can get any more vulnerable than that. I surely couldn’t cancel. This is my way of thanking him for standing up to Will. I feel like I owe him.”

“I understand, sis, but I think you just need to relax. He’s really feeling you. Does he know about your mom?”

I shook my head and swallowed hard. “But I’m sure he’ll ask about her when he sees she’s not at the party. He saw how close we were, so if everyone else is with me, there is no way I would leave her behind.”

She nodded as I turned the radio up slightly, indicating that I was done with the conversation. I just wanted to focus on the job we had to do later. I had to make sure everything was positioned correctly. I told the event planner that I would handle that part since they’d accepted my design. I knew that was beyond the scope of what I usually did, but I wanted to impress them.

As we entered Houston’s city limits, my cell phone rang. I slightly rolled my eyes when I saw Will’s name on the caller ID. There was no way I would answer his phone call. That shit would ruin my entire mood. However, once my phone stopped ringing and my grandmother’s started, that put me on high alert.I frowned and glanced at her in the back since she was on the passenger side of the van.

She answered her phone, and I listened to her intently. “Hello…? Hi, baby… I’m okay. How are you…? She’s okay also.”

I glanced at her again to see her eyes on me. Why in the fuck did Will have her number? Turning my attention back to the road, I felt Jamia’s hand on my arm, gently rubbing it. I knew she was trying to calm me down. I tuned back in to my grandmother’s conversation in time to hear her say, “Give her some time. I’ll tell her to call you after the event is over.”

The second she ended the call, I asked, “Why is he calling you?”

“I don’t know. He got my number from when he went to the store for us last Thanksgiving. I’d sent the list to him by text. He would call every now and then after that to see how I was doing and to ask me to pray for certain things.”

I rolled my eyes hard. I may as well had answered his call, because knowing he was calling my grandmother and she was actually entertaining his ass had infuriated me for some reason. I snatched my phone from the console and called him back. When he answered, I immediately went in. “What do you want, Will? And why are you calling my grandmother? She’s off-limits, just like I am.”

“Denishia, please. I’m so sorry about Miss Patsy. I knew if I called Grandma, I could get to you. I’m sorry about everything, baby. I really am. I let my emotions get the best of me. I became really insecure when I saw that actor paying attention to you. I saw the messages through the app. While I know that wasn’t your fault, I took it out on you. You stayed really professional and were sure to inform him of our relationship. I was insecure. I love you so much, baby. Do you need anything?”

I wanted to close my eyes. My heart felt like it was bleeding. I couldn’t respond to him. He sounded extremely tender. I hadn’theard that from him in months. Taking a deep breath, I said, “I’ll call you tomorrow night or Sunday morning, depending on how long the party lasts.”

I ended the call, not waiting for him to respond.God, help me.

I stoodoutside of Another Broken Egg, waiting for Denishia to arrive. It was slightly chilly outside, so I hoped she would arrive soon. I was a little early, because I was anxious to see her again. I needed to lay eyes on her. She didn’t sound so good the last time we talked. I could hear the sadness in her tone, although she was trying to hide it behind her professional voice.

A car pulled up, and when the door opened, she got out of the back seat. If she would have told me she needed a ride, I would’ve gladly picked her up. I made my way to her and grabbed her hand, closing the door for her. “Good morning, Denishia.”

“Good morning, Ezekiel. How are you this morning?”

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