One good reason, p.9
One Good Reason, page 9
“I pretty much figured you would be joining me anyway. I have no plans to bring you to New York and alienate you.”
“Also good to know.”
“Class is starting. Let’s get this over with so we can get up out of here.”
Pulling up the seminar, I pushed my chair up to the table and secured my AirPods in my ears. Talitha and I could discuss details once we were done for the day.
“Where are we staying?”
“Central Park at the Plaza. Chari reserved us a two-bedroom suite.”
“I heard Central Park was nice.”
“Shit,” I scoffed. “Nice in the eyes of tourist. Me on the other hand, I don’t really fancy it.”
“Is there a specific reason?” Talitha probed.
“Hell yeah. Too congested.”
“If you feel like that then why are we staying there?”
“It’s neutral to the location of the gala.”
“Oh okay. What’s this gala for?”
“Autism foundation. A buddy of mine has twin daughters that’s on the spectrum. He throws it annually to raise money for the cause.”
“I love that.”
“As do I.” I nodded.
Watching her pick at the food on her plate was agitating me. The only thing she ate from breakfast was her pancakes. Surely it wasn’t enough to hold her over. She was sitting on the corner of the table with her plate in her lap, swinging her feet back and forth. “Less talking, more eating, Talitha.”
“You will soon learn that I don’t eat a lot.”
“Why is that?”
“Growing up being made to eat all of your food will have moving differently when you can control what you consume.”
My eyes dipped in confusing prompting her to add. “When I was younger, my egg donor was the type of person who made you sit at the table until you finished everything on your plate.”
“Your mother was one of those types?”
“Surely was.”
“At least she cared enough. Mine didn’t give a fuck if I ate or not,” I conferred.
“Believe me… my mother is no saint either. Why you think I called her my egg donor?”
“I heard that, I chose to skip over it though. I didn’t want to pry. You shut down on me yesterday when we were talking.”
Tossing her head back she laughed. “You were in my business yesterday.”
“I was trying to get to know you on a more personal level. You were the one mentioning me not knowing your age like it was a requirement.”
“That’s not how I meant it. I was just saying, surely, you looked at my resume and application.”
“Resume, yes. Application, no. Marsha handled all of that. When she was secure with her options, she gave me your resume to peruse, and I went with who I presumed was the best fit.”
“Oh, okay. Well in that case, back to your original question… I’m thirty-four.”
“Too young for you to let life bypass you.”
“I could say the same for you, ya’ know.”
“Do tell.”
Elongating her neck, she turned toward me. “People talk, ya’ know. I’ve heard things.”
“Things like what?”
“Your ex. The one I replaced… No one really knows what happened. I heard she was there one day and the next, she wasn’t. Everyone on staff assumes her abrupt absence has something to do with the two of you splitting. You affirming your singleness pretty much confirmed their suspicions.”
“Now you’re the one in my business,” I chuckled. “But yes, to confirm your suspicions the last director was indeed my last partner. The relationship ended and unfortunately, she saw no reason to continue her employment at the youth center.”
“That really sucks. Those kids really loved her, hell, it took them at least a month to get used to my presence alone. Let’s not even mentioned how long it took some of them to warm up to me,” she chuckled.
“I can see that. Dahlia was really something special.”
“If you don’t mind me asking…” She hesitated before further prying, “Why did the two of you call it quits?”
“Well.” Clearing my throat, I scratched at the back of my neck. “While there were a multitude of reasons, the main one was us going in two separate directions.” I kept my answer vague. I was trying to move past my relationship with Dahlia. The two of us were no more and I saw no reason to keep rehashing what was or what could have been.
“I can understand that too,” Talitha confirmed.
“Says the woman who admitted more than once that she doesn’t have time for anything but her beloved Gema,” I tossed out just to fuck with her.
Pointing her fork at me, Talitha laughed. “I’ve dated before, you know. ”
Leaning back in the chair, I folded my arms across my chest. “You found time to date? Why do I find that hard to believe?”
“Why would it be hard to believe? I’m not a nun, Law.”
“Could’ve fool me,” I chuckled.
“Go to hell, Lawton Harvey.” She pouted.
“As long as you’re along for the ride,” I followed up with a wink. “I’m basing all of this off the conversation we had yesterday.”
“A very brief conversation,” she surmised. “In fact, so brief that it wasn’t enough for you to draw any type of conclusions. So, I would deduce that you were merely guessing. Grasping at straws to be exact.”
“We can dive deeper if you feel that way.
Talitha huffed and rolled her eyes. “Anyways, back to New York.”
“What about it?”
“Shopping on tomorrow. The gala on Saturday. What’s the plan for Sunday?”
“Well, since I’m dragging you to this event with me, I figured we could spend Sunday doing whatever it is that you want to do. You mentioned this being your first time visiting so I guess I could take you around the city… do touristy shit.”
“Really?” She smirked.
I shrugged. “It’s the least I could do.”
“That’s so notable of you.”
“Trying to exercise that gentlemen spirit that I’ve been known to have.” I chuckled.
“Shit!” she groused. “All of this talk about nonbusiness had me forgetting. I spoke with someone about the vacant school. My sources say the city may be willing to sell it being that it’s sat vacant for so long.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I figured we could go check it out when we get back from New York.”
“Give me a time and we can make something happen.”
Her eyes slanted as she stared at me with her head cocked to the side. “Just like that?”
“What do you mean?”
“I say something, and you just make it happen.”
“Time wasted is time we can’t get back. If you feel like we could lock down this location, then the sooner we get on it, the faster we can submit the application. Time is of the essence, and we are racing against the clock.”
“I know,” she sighed. “The more we talk about it, the more my excitement bubbles. I pray that we can see it through.”
“We can and we will,” I affirmed.
“Good.” Closing the Styrofoam container, Talitha leaned over and tossed it in the trash before wiping off her pants and standing from the table. “Let’s get the rest of this seminar out of the way. I’ve gotta pack and go spend some time with Gema before I disappear on her for the next few days.”
Looking down at my watch, I nodded. “Yes. Let’s get back to work. I, myself, need to handle a few things before we leave.”
I had preemptively told Mia I would see her tonight and now I was going to have to decline. Since this was Talitha’s first time in New York, I wanted to take her out on the town for our last night and leave her with a lasting memory. I needed to spend the rest of my evening setting everything up for her.
CHAPTER 8
Talitha
Unlocking the door, I pushed it opened, kicked off my sneakers, and sat my bag down on the entry way table. After wrapping up the seminar earlier today, I left Law and stopped by the mall so I could shop for clothes. I wasn’t lying when I told him I didn’t have New York weather appropriate clothing.
I ended up going to Phipps so I could stop by Saks and Neiman’s. I grabbed a few things that would hold me over until we made it to New York. I tried to find a dress for the gala, but nothing was catching my eye. On my way home, I called Mrs. Jessie to see if her and Gema had eaten dinner yet and after she confirmed that they hadn’t, I let her know I would stop and grab something.
“Tali, is that you?” Mrs. Jessie called out from the kitchen.
“Yes ma’am. I’ll be in there in a second. Let me go check on Gema.”
Sauntering down the hall, I came up on Gema room and peeked my head through the doorway. Leaning against the frame, I watched her a few seconds before whistling.
Without taking her eyes off the puzzle she was working on she fussed, “A whistling woman and a crowing hen comes to a bad end.”
“Girl.” I laughed. “You and these old wives tells.”
“Ain’t no old wives tell. My mama used to tell me that all the time.”
“Like I said… old wives tell,” I teased. “How was your trip?”
“It was aight I guess. Litha and that damn Joe Lee done stressed me out so bad.”
“What they do to you baby?” I asked and plopped down at the foot of her bed.
“Just being them,” she fussed. “I swear if I had it my way, I would knock that Joe Lee upside his head. Hell, I’d knock ya’ mama upside hers too for being a fool.”
“Can’t fix ignorance, Gema.”
“Don’t I know it.”
“Other than that, how was it?”
I kept prying only because I needed her to confirm that everything was okay. If she said anything different, I would be the one knocking my mama and her husband the fuck out.
“Okay, I reckon. Ya’ mama got mad when Jessie mentioned you going out of town this weekend.”
“Mad for what?”
“Said had she known you wasn’t gon’ be here, they would’ve just kept me down there. Over my dead body.”
“Nawl. She didn’t need to keep you. You was gone long enough.”
“Don’t I know it.”
“You ready to eat? I brought dinner.”
“I got Jessie in there making me something.”
“Okay. Well… let me go check on her and I’ll be back.”
“Alright.” She nodded.
Getting up, I kissed her on the forehead before leaving the room.
Bypassing the kitchen, I went back to the front of the house and grabbed the bag I had sat down. Ambling back through the house, I walked into the kitchen and found Mrs. Jessie standing at the island, cutting up fruit.
“She asked for some pineapples. I didn’t want the rest of the fruit to get old, so I decided to just make a fruit salad.”
Placing the takeout bag down, I pulled out the chair and took a seat. “Now Gema knows she can’t have pineapples like that,” I fussed, but not at Mrs. Jessie. Gema was allergic to citric acid. The last incident we had resulted in an overnight stay in the hospital.
“I know. She’s hard to resist, besides, I have Benadryl and her EpiPen handy,” Mrs. Jessie laughed.
“I swear… you let Gema sucker you every time. How was she today?”
“Happy to be back. Your mother said some things to her when she dropped her off. After Bertha went off, she grabbed her purse and left in a hurry.”
“Yeah, she just told me about it. She’s mad cause Gema came home and I’m leaving. I want to thank you again for agreeing to spend the weekend with her. If I didn’t feel like this trip was a necessity, I promise I wouldn’t be going.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Talitha. Not only is it my job but I genuinely enjoy spending time with her. It gives me something to do.”
“I know Mrs. Jessie, it’s just that sometimes I feel guilty about things like this. I try not to take on too much because I don’t want it to take away from my time with her. I’m really all she has.”
Grabbing my hand, Mrs. Jessie gave it a light squeeze. “You’re not all she has Talitha. She has kids and I understand you’re her primary care giver but baby, you have got to live your life as well. Bertha has lived hers and the last thing she wants is for her to leave and you not have anyone. She wants you to be happy, Talitha.”
“I am happy. Since Papa Joe passed, Gema has been my sole responsibility. I don’t regret stepping up for her. Would it be nice to have a life of my own? Sure, it would. However, those weren’t the cards I was dealt so I have no choice but to deal with it. I don’t trust anyone but you with her health, and I would feel like I failed her if I sent her back home and left her in their care.”
“You know what she said to me earlier. Bertha told me sometimes she wished you would put her in assistant living. She sees how much taking care of her has you secluded from the world. She doesn’t appreciate the fact that you refuse to live your life.”
“She really said that?” I queried.
“She did,” Mrs. Jessie confirmed with a nod. “She feels like a burden most of the time. When I mentioned you going out of town, she was so happy. Chile, she thought you was going with a man!” She laughed.
Wiping the corner of my eyes, I giggled. “I am going with a man, just not that kind of man. He’s my boss and this trip is for business,” I clarified.
“Well honey, whatever it is, it’s something that you’re not used to doing so she’s happy.”
“I hate that she feels like a burden. I never want to make her feel that way.”
“You don’t make her feel that way. She sees how dedicated you are to her care. The amount of times you’ll drop everything to come to her aid. All she wants is for you to be happy ,Talitha.
It might be time for you to start dating. I got Bertha, baby. It is perfectly okay for you to start living your life.”
“I hear you, Mrs. Jessie. The other side of that is if I’m away and something happens, I’m going to feel like shit because I wasn’t there.”
“We can’t move about life worrying about what could happen.”
“You know,” I chuckled. “This is the second time in a matter of a few days that I’ve had this same conversation.”
“Umph,” she snorted. “That right there should tell you something.”
“I forgot to ask if she had a bath?”
“We did it about an hour ago. She was in there working on a puzzle. I told her we was gon’ watch Matlock after I finished cutting up this fruit.”
“I’ll finish cutting that up. You eat before it gets cold.”
“I got this and that.” She nodded toward the bag. “Gon’ upstairs and unwind for the day. I’ll fix Bertha a plate and take it in there to her.”
“You sure?”
“Gon’ now, Talitha,” she urged with finality.
Shaking my head, I stood from the island and trekked upstairs. Gema and Mrs. Jessie clicked so easily because the two of them were just alike. If it wasn’t Gema, then it was Mrs. Jessie bossing my ass around. I knew better than to argue with her so I strolled into my room to shower and put on my pajamas before going to join them in Gema room.
This morning I woke up to a call from Law informing me that we were going to leave at noon instead of two as previously discussed. Thank God Mrs. Jessie decided to stay over last night after getting Gema down because I had the chance to pack my bags. Since I didn’t have the opportunity to spend much time with her last night seeing as I didn’t get home until pass evening, I decided to get her dressed and bring her out for breakfast.
I had invited Mrs. Jessie to join us but she declined, citing that this special time was reserved for just Gema and I. One of Gema favorite breakfast spots was Thumbs Up Diner but the only location she liked was the one downtown in East Point; so that’s exactly where I brought her. After ordering our food, I did a quick sweep around the packed restaurant before deciding to pick her brain. Trying to see if I could bait her to tell me what she had mentioned to Mrs. Jessie yesterday.
“So, Gema, how you feel about me going out of town?”
“How I’m supposed to feel ‘bout it Tali?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged passively. “You not worried about me going out of state without you?”
“No. Am I supposed to? I thought you was going with your boss.”
“I am,” I confirmed. “I don’t know Gema. I figured you would have reservations.”
“No Tali. You need this break.”
“You do know this is business.” I giggled.
“Hell, I hope this business can turn into something personal. Maybe you’ll meet a man up there. Lord knows you could use the distraction.”
Tossing my head back, I laughed. “Gema, why would you say that?”
“Ain’t it the truth?”
“Bertha Mae!” I shrieked. “I don’t need a distraction. And I’m not trying to meet anybody.”
“You ought to wanna.” She laughed. “Somebody needs to get you up and out the house err now and again.”
“If I’m out of the house, who’s gonna take care of you?”
“I can take care of myself,” she stated matter-of-factly. “And if I can’t, that’s what you pay Jessie for.”
“Mrs. Jessie got a life of her own.”
“Umph,” she huffed. “Seems like everybody but you got one.”
“Bertha Mae, you know you wrong for that.”
“You need to have some babies, Tali. At least while I’m around to help you take care of ‘em.”
“Who says I wanna have babies?”
“You like bossing me around like I’m your child. Surely you need a few of your own.”
“Lady, I am not trying to be nobody’s mama.”
“Could’ve fooled me. You and Litha ain’t nothing alike. Just cause she messed up with ya’ don’t mean you gon’ do the same to yours.”
“I know that. Look at you. You raised her and the two of you are nothing alike.”
“You got damn right we not!” Gema bellowed. “She got them ways from ya’ grandaddy side. But still Tali, I see how ya’ eyes light up when you talk ‘bout them chirren down at that center. I know you got love in that heart to give to somebody else.”
