Page 26 of A Kingpin's Weakness
“Please don’t,” I whispered, picturing the chaos Jo would bring into another life.
“Well, why don’t you give me a grandbaby to love me?” she demanded.
I stared at my phone, stunned. This was Jo all over the place. She was supposed to be calling about Noah, but in less than ten minutes, she’d dragged both our fathers through the mud, me too, and then flipped to asking about grandkids.
“Are you coming up here?” I asked, needing to hear something real.
“Yeah, when he wakes up. I’m not about to be sitting there talking to that boy while he chases that white light.”
I pulled the phone from my ear, heart pounding. “Who the fuck says that?”
“It’s true. You never seen those shows where somebody in a coma follows the white light, all dressed in white, talking to the dead? I hope Sweetie told him to turn around; it ain’t his time yet. Knowing her ass, she’d grab my baby to stay up there with her.”
I swallowed hard. “Really?”
“You right, Stormi. Sweetie’s down in hell, nowhere near no white light. More like resting by a fire pit.”
Jo’s words hit me like a punch to the gut. I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache coming on from the nonsense.
“What happened with you and Sweetie? Ms. Serena mentioned something from your childhood, something that made her understand you better. What happened, Jo?”
“What the fuck that heffa say to you?”
“Nothing. She said you’d tell me. So I’m asking.”
“Your mother-in-law better shut the fuck up.”
“Jo, she’s not my mother-in-law. And why can’t you talk to me?”
“The shit ain’t even worth bringing up. You need to tell your man we need groceries over here. The lights and water bill’s due. Hell, I want cable TV.”
“Jo, I’ll get groceries. All the bills over there are paid.”
“Why you spending your money when Seth ass probably sitting on millions?”
“Because that’s his money, not mine. Jo, it’s not even like that.”
“It could be. You don’t see how that man looks at you?”
I thought about the few moments Seth and I shared, and how his eyes lingered, the way he looked at me like I was the only thing that mattered. It made my chest ache.
I was lonely. I was scared. I was hurting. And maybe that’s why I stayed on the phone with Jo so long, even though her words were driving me crazy. I needed something, anything to pull me out of the silence.
Noah began to stir in his sleep, and I quickly grabbed his hand, my heart pounding.
“Noah,” I called softly, hoping to coax him awake.
His eyelids fluttered, barely opening.
“What’s happening? Stormi, put me on speaker! That boy’s waking up he heard his mama’s voice, that’s why,” Jo shouted through the phone.
“Noah, get your ass up!” she yelled, her voice rough but desperate.
“Stormi, what are you doing here? Where am I?” he asked, his voice hoarse and weak as he tried to adjust to the harsh hospital light.
They’d removed the breathing tube earlier that day, letting him breathe on his own, but it must’ve left his throat raw.
I didn’t waste a second I hit the nurse’s call button. “He’s up! Jo, get your ass down here now!”
