Page 16 of Forbidden Fruit

Nine

VASHTI

Icouldn’t have been more embarrassed with the way my dad treated Jedrek. It had been almost a month since that dreadful dinner, and I hadn’t seen Jedrek since. My dad had forbidden me from seeing him, and to make sure I didn’t, he put some kind of block on my phone where I couldn’t even call him. I had an interview with St. Elizabeth Hospital last week, and I couldn’t wait to see if I would get the job. Daddy had even gone as far as to hire a chauffeur to take me where I needed to go.

I missed Jedrek so much. I sent messages through Ms. Carol for the first couple of weeks, but he never responded. He was angry that I didn’t tell my parents who he was prior to him meeting them. A week ago, they fired Ms. Carol. I’d been miserable without him. As I sat in my room, watching TV, my phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number, so I quickly answered it, hoping it was Drek. “Hello?”

“Hello. Ms. Levine?”

“Yes,” I said as my heart sank because it wasn’t him.

“I’m calling from Christus St. Elizabeth. We wanted to offer you a position with us.”

I jumped from the bed in excitement. I was pacing all over my room, not being able to contain myself. “Okay.”

“The position pays $75,000 a year, and it’s the position next to the charge nurse. While we would like you to be a charge nurse, you don’t have the experience yet. So, you will work under her for at least a year. Then we will reevaluate you.”

“That’s amazing. I accept. Will you send the paperwork by email, or do I need to come there to fill it out?”

“We will need you to come here, because you will also need to do a drug test. Can you come tomorrow?”

“Yes, ma’am, I can. Thank you!”

“Great. We’ll see you tomorrow. You can come anytime between eight and five.”

“Okay! Thank you!”

I ended the call and danced all over my room. Before I could go tell my mom, nausea overwhelmed me. Barely making it to the bathroom, I fell to the floor and allowed everything to leave me. The unprotected sex with Jedrek briefly crossed my mind, but I’d had a period last week. While I knew it was still possible to be pregnant and have bleeding spells, I still felt a little relief when I saw it last week. That was the first time I’d ever been happy to see Aunt Flo.

I stood from the floor, then went to the sink to rinse my mouth and wash my face. Once I finished, I went downstairs and saw my mama in the kitchen. “Mama, I got the job.”

“That’s awesome, Vashti! Congratulations.”

I smiled, then began walking back to my room before she called out, “Vashti?” I turned to her. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m excited.”

“Are you sure? You don’t look good.”

“I’m okay.”

She nodded, so I continued to walk away. When I got upstairs, I looked up Magic Car Wash’s phone number in my contacts. I’d been calling there to talk to Jedrek, but I always seemed to call when he wasn’t there. Nervously, I hit the call button. “Magic Car Wash, may I help you?”

“Yes, may I speak to Jedrek Harris?”

“Sure. He just walked in. Hold on.”

Oh my God, he’s there.I immediately got hot, and my stomach felt weird, like I was gonna throw up again. “This is Jedrek.”

“Hey.” He was extremely quiet. “Jedrek, please talk to me. I’ve been miserable without you, please,” I cried.

The tears fell from my eyes, and I could feel that I was gonna throw up again. I ran to the bathroom and let it leave me. “Vashti, are you throwing up?”

I couldn’t answer him. The second I tried to, more came up. “Vash, meet me at CVS on Phelan at six.”

“Okay,” I whined.

“Vash, I miss you too. I have to go, okay?”

---