Page 39 of Only for the Week
“I know you can, but when you’re in my presence you should never be reaching for your wallet.”
“I give you one romance book and you don’t know how to act.”
I smirk and put her backpack back on her shoulders. “I would never take pointers from Jharrel’s corny ass. But you wait ’til I get my hands on book two. You done fucked up now.”
I give the man the seventy-four pesos he asks for in exchange for a bundle of the tuna fruit and put it in Janelle’s basket.
When we get to the candle store, we’re inundated with candles in all different styles and colors. Some are shaped like tea kettles and mugs. Others are shaped like basins, trinkets, and even faces. An overpowering scent of vanilla fills the space, canceling out all the scents from the different pieces.
We are welcomed in the store by a woman named Luz who tells us all about how the candles are all handmade and how most of them have herbs or crystals within them.
Janelle asks Luz for the candle we’re looking for and thankfully she does have them, but she only has three so hopefully Amerie will be satisfied with that.
Luz must help another customer before she can pack up our order, so we scan the remaining rows of candles.
Janelle picks up a navy blue and white candle that is shaped like a teapot, inspecting it closely. “You know what I was thinking?”
My brows pique at her question. “What?”
“I was thinking that I could expand Labor of Love to be more than just a birthing center.” When she first told me about her plans for Labor of Love over a year ago, I told her it was a brilliant idea. We’ve talked about it a few times on this trip as well and I’m happy to see she’s still just as passionate about it.
“Okay, expand how?”
She gets a faraway look in her eye. I’m not even sure if she’s really talking to me or if she’s in her head. Either way, I’m enraptured with what she has to say. “You remember at first, I just wanted it to be a birth center geared toward women of color, specifically Black women. The mortality rate for Black women during childbirth is three times higher than that of white women, so it was important to me to offer them alternative approaches to hospital births with doctors who look like them and not only hear them but listen to them. That’s still my goal, of course, but I just keep thinking there’s more that can be done. The care of Black women is sorely lacking in several areas, not just childbirth. I’d like to offer other services too. Mental health services, counseling, holistic medicine, homeopathy, nutrition and dietary counseling. I want it to be a one-stop shop for Black women, make all their care easily accessible with doctors they can trust.”
I smile at the excitement in her voice. Her energy feeds me in a way I’ve never felt before. Her drive to serve her community drives me to keep striving to do my part for our city.
“That’s a great idea. Where are you with your planning now?”
“I’ve been toying with the idea of expanding the center to be Labor of Love Health Center rather than Labor of Love Birth Center for a while, but something about these crystals and herbs embedded in these candles got me thinking about it again.”
“Take it as your sign, then.”
“Yeah. If I do it, I would need to form a board of doctors to invest and help me with it. I was prepared to go into it alone when it was just a birth center because I already have a network of doulas and midwives who would come work with me. I don’t have the network for the other services though.”
“Yet.”
She stands up straighter. “Yet. You’re right.” She looks at me with a shy smile. “I already found a place I like for it. I haven’t looked it up in a minute so it could be off the market by now but it’s perfect.”
“Where is it?”
She rattles off the location and I have to fight to keep the emotions off my face. The location she wants for her health center is a building I already own.
I had originally bought it with the intention of doing something with it for The Baltimore Collective but given the fact that it used to be some kind of clinic before it shut down, it would be an ideal setting for Labor of Love.
The Baltimore Collective is a foundation that Arnold, Christian, Micah, and I started because we wanted to see to the growth of our city. We offer scholarships for minority students in our fields of study—computer science, sports management, communications or journalism, and art. We also offer mentor programs for all minority students whether they want to pursue a college degree or not.
We’ve all bought buildings in and around the city to use for businesses made for us, by us. If my building is the location Janelle wants for her center, I’ll hand her the keys tomorrow. Getting her to agree to that, however, would be impossible. I’ll let her go about it in her own way. In the meantime, I make a mental note to put together a list of contractors I can give her that can help get the building where it needs to be.
“That’s a great location. It sounds like you got it all figured out. You just need to go for it.”
She sets the candle she was holding back on the shelf, tapping her lip with her finger. “Yeah, maybe. If the building is still available, then I’ll commit to looking for doctors who can join the mission.” She rears back at the Cheshire grin clouding my face. “Why do you look like that?”
“Nothing, I just have a feeling this is all going to work out in your favor.”
“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”
“I guess so.”
