Page 159 of Taeja

Miss Charm smiled, accepting it. “Aww, they look so beautiful. Thanks, my child.” Hearing a car door slam behind Taeja, Miss Charm squinted her eyes in that direction. Laughing, she placed the pot on the floor to clap her hands. “Thank you, Lord. My prodigal children have returned.”

Liyah laughed as she hugged Miss Charm. “Yu can handle we bad isi.”

“Everyday mi sidung ina the house a wonder when unu a come look fimi. But mi know seh college hard, so mi naa hold it ova unu head,” Miss Charm said as she hugged Mason then ushered everyone inside the house. “Wahm, son?”

Mason smiled as he sat on the sofa. “They’ve been holding me hostage from you.”

“Mason lie!” Taeja exclaimed.

Miss Charm laughed. “Unu stay right deso. Mi just make some potato pudding. Mason, you can carry piece go give Missa Gordon.”

Once the woman was out of earshot, Taeja shook her head with a smile. “Nuh she seh mi fat and now she a give me pudding? Mi naa complain still cause me will nyam poison if a Miss Charm mek it.”

“She’s blessed, I’m telling you.” Liyah said. “It’s because of her elbow rolls.”

Mason snickered. “I’m telling Miss Charm.”

“Do it and I won’t marry you,” Liyah joked, and Mason’s grin faded. Liyah smirked as Miss Charm reentered the living room.

Miss Charm served them a pastry with a drink. She stood aside and watched them eat while they had small chat. When they were done, she took the plates and returned to the kitchen to wash up.

Taeja followed behind her. She made Miss Charm stand aside so she could wash the dishes instead. “Miss Charm, I need a little advice.”

“Should’ve known that you didn’t just come to visit me,” Miss Charm laughed. “Talk to me, child.”

“I… spoke to Cassedi.”

“Wa yu deh seh to me?”

Sighing, Taeja set the last plate to air-dry, then faced Miss Charm. “I reached out to her, and we talked on the phone. She wants me to visit her.”

“Do you want to?”

“Yes,” Taeja said without thinking. “I miss her.”

Miss Charm nodded and held her arms out. “Come here, child.”

Taeja stepped into Miss Charm’s hug, laying her head on the woman’s shoulder, and releasing a long sigh. She blinked away the urge to cry before she spoke. “She told me she didn’t want to leave me, and I want to believe her. That’s why I want to go. I want to look into her eyes and demand the truth.”

“Everything happened so fast. You shouldn’t feel bad about missing out on memories with Cassedi. It was her duty as a mother to at least make you understand why she couldn’t be present.”

More tears pricked Taeja’s eyes, and she quickly blinked them away. “So, youthink it’s a good idea to visit her? I won’t go by myself, because I don’t know her, and I don’t remember Jamaica.”

“I think you should if it brings you peace, my child,” Miss Charm said while pulling away. She gave Taeja a smile before wiping her thumb below Taeja’s eyes. “Remember what I told you?”

“I have to be strong for myself because no one else will do it for me.”

“Good. I want you to always remember that.” Miss Charm smiled, patting Taeja’s cheeks. “Who will go to Jamaica with you? Mi hope yu neva come here fi ask mi. Because mi love yu, but yu wuda wicked fi waa put me pon plane when yu know me cya manage the flying.”

“No, Miss Charm. Mi nuh so wicked,” Taeja laughed. “I… already know who I’ll invite.”

Miss Charm laughed and clapped her hands. “How that sound like yu find boyfriend so, child? You should tell me about him, cause see Dee get big and gone live with man, so mi don’t have her to tease.”

“Owen?”

“You know him?”

Taeja shook her head. “No. Mi meet him one time at Dee shop. Yu cudn tell me that she a work at a different salon now?”

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