Page 123

“You sure Dutch. I know you?—”
“Regardless of how I feel ‘bout her, at the end of the day Sincere, she still my Mama.”
“I know. I wasn’t meaning it like that.”
“I know you wasn’t. I’m letting you know that I ain’t that heartless.”
“You got it, Dutch. When the doctor come in, I’ll shoot you a text.”
“Bet.”
Placing my hands down on the counter, I dropped my head. Shit could never just go right. Something always had to come up. I kept my mama at a distance but at the end of the day she was still the woman responsible for bringing me into this world. My disdain for her wasn’t enough for me to want to see her hurt.
Now I was gon’ have to cancel all of my meetings tomorrow to head up to the Heights to make sure she good.
“That was the longest shower in history,” Talitha noted when I stepped back in the kitchen.
Leaning with my back against the counter, I stood stoic and watched her fix our plates. “I was on the phone with Sincere.”
She spun around and looked at me before going back to what she was doing. “Everything okay?”
“My Mama was in a car accident tonight.”
Sitting the plate down on the counter, she did a full spin and walked into me. “Oh my God, Lawton. Is she okay?”
“Shattered her foot and she’s banged up, but he said she’s good. I’mma have to skip out on lunch with you ladies tomorrow. I’ve gotta go home to check on her.”
“I can go with you,” she offered but I shook my head to decline.
“No, you gotta be here when Gema comes. I’m just going to make sure she’s okay. Once I check everything out, I’ll be back.”
“Harvey, this is your mother we’re talking about. It is human of you to feel something. You’ve been by my side the whole time I’ve been dealing with this shit with my Mama. Let me be there for you.”
“You being here right now is enough for me, love. I appreciate the offer though. But I want you here so you can welcome Gema back home.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes love. I’m sure.”
“I could pack you up a plate if you wanted to leave tonight.”
“Sincere got her. I’ll go check on her tomorrow and be back before it gets dark.”
“Law,” she sighed.
The way her eyes gazed at me, I knew she was about to try and convince me to leave now. I had to mentally prepare myself to be in my mother’s presence therefore I would take the rest ofthe night to get my mind right and go check on her tomorrow. “Drop it, Talitha. I promise I’m okay.”
“If you say you’re okay, I’ll let it go.”
“Where we eating at tonight?”
“Living room. I found a movie I want to watch.”
“I’ll set the tray tables up,” I mentioned before walking out of the kitchen. Hopefully she took the hint that I no longer wanted to talk about it and didn’t try to force the issue.
After dinner last night, I was no more settled than I was after my call with Preme. Instead of going to sleep, I took my frustrations out on Talitha’s pussy. After fucking her into a coma, I stayed up staring at the ceiling. I hadn’t been face to face with my mother in years and if it wasn’t for her getting into an accident, it would be plenty more that passed by before we saw one another.
Before Talitha could wake up this morning, I was slipping out of the house. I knew she would be pissed that I left without telling her bye, so I wrote a note and left it on the fridge. Baker picked me up before the sun had the chance to rise and by the time day broke, we were pulling up to the hospital.