Page 33 of Beautiful Beginning

ChapterFifteen

Journey

“What do you mean they are getting a divorce?” I shouted into the phone rattling the walls of my bedroom. I stood from the desk and paced the floor in front of my bed.

As Monroe went on, I tried to think of the last time she prank called me. Having two older siblings I dealt with a lot of foolery, and always found myself in the midst of their mess. When I was younger, the jokes often went over my head but brought plenty of laughter to the two of them. But since I’d been away in college the jokes decreased, the pranks came to an end.

“Wait, this isn’t a joke? You aren’t pranking me?” I blurted in the middle of whatever she was saying. “Did you sayourparents.” Was she talking about some show she was watching? Or one of her co-workers who became her good friends when she joined her firm. Not the two people who cared for each other more than life itself. The man who hung the stars, moon, and sun on my mom’s existence. A woman who would work all day then happily cook dinner. Sat across from him at the table to hear him talk about his day. To share hers with him.

“Monroe, what did you say?”

She was talking but nothing she said registered. Because whatever she was saying sounded like she was talking aboutour parents.

“Journey. If you would calm down and listen you’d hear what I’m saying.” Then she asked, “Do you have someone who can sit with you? I didn’t think this would send you off like it is, but it sounds like you are hyperventilating over there. Sis, you good?”

“No. You dropped our parents getting a divorce as if you were telling me you had coffee for breakfast. Is this not a surprise to you? How long have you known?”

Then there was a long pause. The one that indicated she’s known for some time. Another thing being the youngest afforded me, being the last to know everything in my family. When we moved in middle school, I didn’t find out until the day before movers showed up at the house. When Mom got hospitalized with pneumonia I didn’t know until Dad was in the kitchen cooking dinner that night. Meanwhile, Monroe and Dre casually mentioned they knew it all. Long before me.

“I can’t believe you all still don’t trust me enough to tell me shit. I’m not a kid anymore.” It was their main excuse. I was too young for all the details. To know them in advance. It wasn’t something I needed to worry myself about. But now? Why wait?

Monroe sighed like my questions were invalid or not worth her time to stress over. “Me and Dre agreed we wouldn’t say anything. I urged them to tell you when they came to this conclusion.”

Conclusion?Like they were picking where they were vacationing for summer. Not ending their thirty-plus-year marriage. “They’ve been together for too long to end things now.” I laughed. Or something like a laugh. It was more of a nervous reaction that I had no control over. “They can work this out, right?”

“Sorry, Journey, this is it.” I heard someone talking to her in the background before she offered, “Hey, I hate to do this to you now because it seems like you are having a hard time…but I have to run.”

“Now?” I don’t know what she could have done hours away from me, over the phone. After all, it wasn’t her who was petitioning for a divorce. It was my parents. They needed to console me. Explain what was going on and why. “Never mind, call me later.”

“Great, love you, sis.”

Although I had nothing but love for Monroe, it was hard to express it. Everything that I built my definition of love on was ending. “Love you too,” I mumbled, but it was after she hung up.

I sat back down at my desk and stared at the wall in front of me. The pictures that hung, some of me from high school. A few of my roommates. One of our family. The five of us each rocking a wide smile. Like everything was great. Back then, it was. When I graduated from high school, my parents bragged about having an empty nest. How they’d be able to travel the world together. Go to expensive restaurants and not worry about bringing home something for us to eat. Their ambitions to expand the family business. For my mom to soon retire and join my dad in managing the gyms.

Everything seemed so well planned out. Like they knew exactly how life would look for the next fifteen years, at least. But here we were, at year four, and that plan was falling apart.

A tear fell from my eye, and I swiped it away. I didn’t want to mourn what we were losing. I wanted to understand what was going on, encourage them to work things out. Convince my mom that all their broken pieces could fit together again. Tell my dad whatever it was he did to piss her off this time, he’d need to come ready to make it right. And not with a bouquet of flowers he always brought for her. But something more. It’s not like they fought often, if they did, a divorce wouldn’t surprise me. The fights they had I could count on one hand. The biggest being the start of the gym. My mom wasn’t as confident back then my dad should take a huge chunk of the savings to start it.

And look at it now. Two more opened since.No.I shook my head. Whatever it is they have going on, they can fix it. I closed my notebook and stood from my seat. After class, I’d call them. Talk to each of them and find out how they can make it back to where they needed to be.

On my way out of the apartment, Lauren stopped me and asked, “You good?”

I felt everything but, still, I replied, “Yeah, I’m good.”

She smacked her lips and shouted, “Lies.” Her hand wrapped around my wrist. “Tell me what’s going on. I see where you tried to wipe away that tear and failed.”

My hand hurried to my face. A finger slid along my cheek.

“See. Is it that man? The one who looked like he would rather watch paint dry than have your friends surrounding him?” Her hand rested on her hip. “What’d he do now?”

Lauren’s skepticism of Chaz was borderline comical. She had her doubts about him, and no matter what he did good, she wasn’t convinced. I confessed, “Actually, it’s my parents.” I wasn’t ready to say the words yet. “My sister called and said…”

“They had an accident?” Lauren panicked. Started looking around the apartment. “I can cut that six-hour drive into three. Let me grab my books, I’ll study while we are there.”

I held my hand up and shook my head. Lauren and Nia came home with me on occasion. My parents treated them as their own and made sure they didn’t have to worry about anything while they were with me.

“They are closing the gym?” Her nose crinkled. “Not Daddy Thompson with his zaddy vibes.” She sucked her teeth, and I tilted my head. “My bad, you know I love your mama.”

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