Page 24 of Wild Cub

Me:Tonight? I don’t know. Can I call you later? I’m dealing with something at the moment.

He doesn’t respond right away. I don’t imagine him waiting by the phone for my reply. After our night in the kitchen and the stars, he calmed my mind. I knew that in this relationship, I’d have to be more understanding, like I had to be with my police chief father.

“Look Teresa, I told you to give me a chance. I guess I should’ve warned you that between the club, the bar, and the shop, I may get carried away with work. It’s never intentional” he says, laying on his back in my bed. Seamus cuddles into the crevice of his underarm. My head lays on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, counting the vibrations against my cheek.

I sigh. “I know, but my head was saying other things. It’s hard to silence those thoughts sometimes.”

“So that’s not your superpower, quieting your mind.”

I smack him on the chest lightly as he laughs. “Look, I thought I said or did something wrong.”

Jackson rubs my side, soothing me into sinking closer to him.

“Little Cub, you’ve done nothing wrong; Do I need to get between your legs and ease your mind?”

I practically choke at his insinuation. “Jackson, my cousin is currently peeking through her blinds with buttered popcorn.”

The sound of his first name stirs something in him. He looks down at me with a wicked grin. “Maybe we should give her a show.” He flips off his back and starts to wiggle my shorts down. Brittany would approve and probably with popcorn.

My heart’s still beating out of my chest. I know there are things that I can’t control, something I’ve covered extensively with my therapist, but this has me rattled. I park the car near the Center and sprint to the entrance. It’s mid-afternoon, which means Aggie’s probably in the big room. I pop open the doors with a “Where’s Aggie?” at the receptionist, already anticipating the answer.

“And you are?” Either she’s giving me attitude or she’s new.

“Tessa Bjorn from Lighthouse Foundations! Aggie called my office. I need to see her. Now!” I slam my hands on the receptionist’s desk. The slam echoes down the halls, slightly scaring me with the intensity.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, I’ll call security.” The side twang and her attitude are heating me up and my patience is running thin. For a month, a side of me has been uneasy. Something within the community is changing and it isn’t good.

I bypass her and sprint to the larger community room in search of Aggie. I can feel the sting of incoming tears building under my eyes. I keep going down the hallway, looking into each room and office. I make my way to the very back of the building, silently praying to God that she’s in the donation room. Sweat drips across my forehead as I pump my arms.

I push through the swinging doors, huffing out my breaths. “Aggie! Please for the love of God and all things holy, please be back here.” I look across the space, peering down the aisles. The room starts spinning, colors starting to mesh together. Tears run down my face, my mind a mess with anxiety. My chest heaves up and down, my body going numb.

A hand on my shoulder wakes me up and whips me around. I stare into the chocolate eyes of Aggie. “Tessa, child.”

I immediately wrap my arms around her neck, continuing to sob. “Child, what’s wrong?” The question is so simple, yet so loaded. I incoherently sob into her shoulders, my body failing me, going weak and numb. Her arms wrap around me and her hand cradles my head. “Shh, honey child. Hey, I’m here, I’m here.”

My emotions have betrayed me. How do I explain this to her? I let fear take over and rule my actions. I let myself and my thoughts cause an outburst. Although it feels like a lifetime has passed, I know it’s only been a few minutes. Aggie takes me to her office and hands me a box of tissues. The amount of black coming from wiping my eyes tells me I don’t have mascara left.

“Now, would you like to tell me why Keisha said there was a mad woman looking for me?” she says, easing back into her chair. I know she’s waiting for me to explain myself.

“You called my office, which you rarely do.” I put the ball back into her court.

She nods. “I called because I did need to talk to you. Obviously, I may have needed to give Reva the message if I’d known you would react this way.”

“I tried to call you back, Aggie, but you didn’t answer.” I tap dance around the real reason I acted the way I did, with no apology.

She scoffs. “Child, do I ever answer my phone?”

She may have a point. There’s a beat between us. I overreacted. I breathe in and out a few more times, gathering myself back to composure.

“Well, I’m here now. What did you need to talk about?” I start to get back to myself.

She doesn’t let me off the hook. “What I’m about to say is strictly an observation. I figure you and I are more involved with our city, enough that I thought you would want to know.” She rummages through the stack of paperwork on her desk.

“You know we have our daily check-ins, and we add them into the information system. I was running reports for the grants and committees for next week. I noticed a slight decrease in the amount of people we had over the month of March. Compared to last year, it doesn’t seem like that much.” She pulls out charts and the reports, similar to what I pull for the hotline.

“Aggie, how much is it?”

“30.”

---