Bring on the Blessings (12 page)

B
ernadine’s guest bedroom with its cream and beige color scheme held twin beds. “There’s a bathroom through that door with plenty of towels and soaps. Help yourself if you want to take a shower or wash up. Do you need anything?”

“Toothbrush. I try and take good care of my teeth.”

Bernadine was glad to hear the teen had some measure of hygiene because you couldn’t tell by the bad weave, tattoos, and all the makeup slathered on her face. “There are some new ones in the medicine cabinet.” She’d asked Tamar to pick up a few when she and her friends did all the grocery shopping for the houses. “You need anything, Zoey?”

She gave a small shake of her dark head, which both surprised and pleased Bernadine. “Okay. I’ll be down the hall. TV is on the wall over there if you want to watch something. I’ll come back and check on you in a bit.”

“What time is it?” Crystal wanted to know.

Bernadine checked her watch. “A little after nine.”

Zoey yawned.

Crystal pointed out, “It’s too early for me to go to bed.”

“That’s fine, but we’ll be getting up at eight for breakfast. No sleeping in allowed.”

“Okay.”

Bernadine left them to themselves and walked down the hall to her own bedroom. The room had been decorated to reflect her stylish tastes, and like the other spaces of her home it was accented with the artwork and sculptures she’d collected on her travels. She came out of her heels and her black suit and sighed with relief.
Long day
. A quick shower gave her a second wind, so she donned a pair of lightweight silk-blend sweats and a tee and checked in on the girls. Zoey was in the shower. Crystal was watching TV.

“Do you have pajamas, Crystal?” She noticed the tatoos were gone, and was glad that they’d been only temporary ones.

“Nope.”

“How about Zoey?”

Crystal searched through Zoey’s little suitcase. “Nope.”

“Okay. I have some T-shirts you can use.”

Crystal said, “I’m good. I’ll just sleep in my underwear like I always do.”

“When we go shopping, we’ll get you and Zoey pajamas.”

“We’re going shopping?”

“Yep.”

“Why?”

“Because we can.”

Crystal looked impressed. “I like that.”

“Let me get the shirts. Be right back.”

After leaving the shirts with Crystal, Bernadine headed back downstairs to relax a bit before bed.

She wound up outside. It wasn’t fully dark yet, but the sun had already gone down and the breeze was a good one. She thought about the girls inside watching TV and hoped they were getting along. Although Crystal had seemed protective of Zoey at first, the teen was a loose cannon, so Bernadine hoped she’d be nice. All of the trailers were spread out on Tamar’s vast property, and she could see the front of Trent’s trailer clearly.

A few moments later, Malachi came out and seeing her walked over.

“Everything okay over there?” she asked when he got close.

“Seems to be. Devon’s just sitting back and watching everything, but Amari’s asking a thousand questions a minute. Trent may have to gag that boy so he can sleep. Amari and Preston both are real quick.”

“Yes, they are. If we can keep them from setting Crystal off, we might live through this.”

He waved it away. “They’re kids. They’ll work it out.”

“Since when did you become such an expert?”

His mustache lifted in a smile. “Used to be a kid myself once upon a time.”

“This has to be scary for them, though.”

“Sure, but once they figure out they’re safe, it’ll be okay. How are you doing? After flying all over the country you have to be whipped.”

“I am, but there’s still miles to go. The Paynes and Garlands will be here sometime tomorrow. I hope they’ll all get along. I so want this to work.”

“It will.”

She appreciated his support. “I’d like you to think about the kinds of renovations you want done to the D&C.”

“Really?”

“We need a diner, and since we already have one, I thought we’d fix it up.”

“Okay. When you get the chance how about we get together and do a walk-through and see what we can come up with?”

“Sounds good.” In the silence Bernadine could feel his presence washing over her like the evening breeze.

“You know, what you’re doing here is fantastic and I’ll do whatever I can to help. I might be made out of snake oil, but I am a July. This means a lot.”

The sincerity in his tone touched her as much as his presence. Bernadine had to admit she hadn’t felt this kind of heat around a man in a long time, and because of that, this little interlude had to end. She stood and said quietly, “Thanks, Malachi. I appreciate that. Now, I’m going in to check on the girls. You have a good evening.”

“Running?” he asked.

Bernadine chuckled at his insight. “Yeah. I am.”

“At least you’re honest.”

“I am that, if nothing else.”

The silence rose between them again until she finally said, “See you tomorrow, Malachi.”

“’Night, Bernadine.”

He walked back toward Trent’s place and she went inside.

Later, after all the lights were out in the new trailers and everyone was supposed to be asleep, Amari lying on a sleeping bag in the dark asked Preston, “What do you think about all of this, my man?”

Preston was in a sleeping bag close by. “Best first day I’ve had in new place, so for now, it’s okay.”

“My best too.”

The two boys had opted for sleeping bags on the floor of Trent’s guest bedroom. Devon was in the big bed.

Amari called to him softly, “Hey, Creflo, you asleep?”

There was no response.

Preston raised up to look. “I think he is.”

There was silence again and then Preston asked, “You think the foster parents are going to be wack?”

“Aren’t they always? Wish I could stay here. Trent seems pretty straight.”

“Yeah. We’ll probably wind up with some crazy old bitch who’ll feed us dog food.”

“Been there.”

“Me too.”

For a few moments they each thought about the past. Finally, Preston said. “I’m going to sleep. Been good hanging with you today, Amari. See you in the morning.”

“’Night.”

Preston drifted off, but Amari lay in the dark thinking for a long time.

Over at Bernadine’s, Crystal woke up and groggily looked around. Something had awakened her but she wasn’t
sure what it was. Lifting up, she saw the moon streaming into the room through the open curtains and Zoey sitting in a chair bathed in the light. “What’s the matter, Zoey? Why you got the drapes open?”

No response.

Crystal slowly tossed aside her lightweight blanket and got up. She walked over and knelt beside her so she could see better. Zoey looked like a little ghost. Crystal placed her hand on her forehead. “You sick?”

But her forehead was cool.

Crystal knelt there for a moment looking at Zoey and trying to figure this out. She studied Zoey and then looked over at the opened curtains letting in the wide beam of moonlight. “Are you scared of the dark?” Zoey’s eyes met hers, and the look in them told Crystal all she needed to know. “Okay,” she said softly. “How about you come sleep with me? I won’t let anything get you. I promise.”

Zoey continued to hold her gaze.

“If you want to keep the curtains open, that’s okay, but you can’t stay up all night. You got a big day tomorrow. Come on,” she urged gently. Standing up, she held out her hand. “Nothing’s going to get you. Me and Ms. Bernadine will beat the hell out of anything that tries. Anything, I swear,” she promised again.

Finally, Zoey, in the T-shirt that brushed her ankles, scooted to the edge of the chair and took Crystal’s hand. Crystal could feel the little girl’s trembling but didn’t mention it. Together they walked across the half-lit room to the beds. “You get in. I’ll get your pillow.”

Zoey climbed in.

“And don’t worry about kicking me or anything. I’ve slept with little kids all my life. I’m used to waking up with feet in my face.” She put Zoey’s pillow next to her own and got under the blanket.

“Okay?”

She sensed Zoey relax.

“Good girl. Now go on to sleep. If you need to wake me up that’s okay. I won’t yell at you.”

Crystal threw a protective arm across Zoey’s thin frame and a few minutes later they were both asleep.

The next morning was Marie’s party, and Crystal came in for breakfast first. “Where’s Zoey?” Bernadine asked.

“In the bathroom. She’ll be out in a minute. Do you know that she’s scared of the dark?”

Bernadine stopped. “She is?”

“Yeah. I woke up in the middle of the night and she had the curtains open and was sitting in the moonlight. She was shaking.”

Bernadine sighed, wishing she knew what was going on inside her youngest child. “What did you do?”

So Crystal told her the rest of the story.

Moved by the teen’s heart and spirit, Bernadine said, “She’s blessed to have you in her life, Crystal.”

“
Aw
come on. Don’t go all mushy on me.”

“It’s a mushy moment, girl. Somebody else would have just left her sitting there and gone on back to sleep. Shows your good heart and your maturity.” She had to remember to get the teen something nice as a reward for her kindness. “I won’t forget this, Crys. Is it okay to call you that or do you prefer Crystal?”

“I prefer Crystal but Crys is okay too.”

Bernadine looked at the ratty Day-Glo gold weave and wondered how she could convince the teen to do something different with her hair, but since they had a lot to do today, she set the thoughts aside for now.

Zoey entered looking sleepy.

“’Morning Zoey. We’re going to a picnic birthday party today, are you ready for breakfast so we can head on over?”

Her face said she was. She climbed onto the stool next to Crystal and they began their day.

It took Bernadine a while to find a place to park on the road to Marie’s, but once she did, she and the girls got out and started the long walk back toward the house. It had been a while since she’d hiked any kind of distance as evidenced by her increased breathing and the straining muscles in her legs, but the exertion felt good. She made a mental note to work some exercise into her daily routine; she had no idea where she’d find the time, but for her age and size she was in good shape and she wanted to keep it that way.

“Whose party are we going to?” Crystal asked. She was holding Zoey’s hand.

“Marie Jefferson. She was the lady with the cat eye glasses last night at dinner. She’s also going to be your teacher once we get school started.”

“School?”

“Yep. You can’t grow up and get a good job without an education. Any idea what you might want to be after college?”

“College? I’m not going to college!”

“And why not?”

“College is for geeks.”

“I see.”

Cars and trucks were still arriving so they walked close to the edge of the road. Folks waved as they passed them by.

“Do you know all those people?” Crystal asked.

Bernadine shook her head.

“Then why you waving at them?”

“They waved at me, I wave back. It’s called being friendly.”

“Where I live you don’t just be waving at people you don’t know. People’ll think you’re a crackhead or something.”

“Small towns are different. People care about each other and want to say hi.”

“I’m not going to be waving.”

“That’s okay. You may change your mind once you’re here for a while.”

The look on the teen’s face said she didn’t agree, but Bernadine didn’t press. An old red truck she recognized as belonging to Malachi rolled up slowly beside them and kept pace. “Hey Ms. Brown. Hey ladies.”

“Hey, Mr. July,” she said, looking in at him and his dark assessing eyes. A smile played along the salt-and-pepper mustache crowning his lips. A young brown-skinned woman dressed in a yellow halter top and gold chains was in the seat beside him.

“Want you to meet Tarika Sims.”

“Hi there, Tarika,” Bernadine responded.

Tarika leaned forward and waved. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Brown. Hi, girls.”

Crystal nodded. Zoey looked away shyly.

Bernadine knew it was not her place to judge, but she had shoes older than the girl with him and he probably did too. Directing her attention back to him she said, “Good luck finding a place to park. We’re way down the road. Are Marie’s parties always this packed?”

“Always.”

Bernadine didn’t know what else to say, so she said, “Ok. Well, we’ll see you all there.”

He flashed a smile. “See you later.”

With a wave, he drove on. Bernadine shook her head and continued her walk up the road.

Crystal said, “He’s kind of cute for an old guy. Is that his granddaughter?”

“No. I believe she’s a friend.”

“As in girlfriend?”

“Not sure.”

“
Whoa.
Mr. Malachi’s a player.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

The weather was much cooler than it had been for the past few days and Bernadine was thankful for that. Nothing like arriving at a function a sweaty mess, but she was fine. The Jefferson place was a sizeable brick structure laid out on flat land just like most of the other places in the area and had a lone tree in the front yard. There was music in the air, along with the smells of meat grilling, and she could hear the distant sounds of voices.

As she and the girls approached, some of the folks immediately waved. She waved back.

“Do you know them?” Crystal asked.

When she responded that she didn’t, Crystal rolled her eyes. “Is it just going to be old people here?”

Bernadine shrugged. “This is my first time.”

“If me and Zoey get bored can we go back to your place?”

“Let’s see how it goes first.”

“I’m not going to have a good time and neither is Zoey.”

“You don’t know that Crystal.”

“Yeah, I do.”

The sight of Lily coming out of the front door carrying a carrying a large cookie sheet groaning with halved, seasoned chickens covered with a long sheet of waxed paper cut off further discussion. Bernadine could have kissed her.

“Hey, there. Hi, Zoey. Crystal. How are you?”