Chapter Thirty-two
Lenora rolled her head from side to side. Her eyes were still closed, but she could tell she was not in the king-size bed she shared with Jonathan. She slowly opened her eyes, but shut them tight as the bright lights caused tears to form. Her throat was dry and scratchy. She placed her hands over her parched lips and coughed over and over again.
“Lenora, take it easy. I’ll get the nurse to come back in.”
Nurse? Recognizing Jonathan’s voice in the midst of her disorientation, she peeled her eyes open. Lenora focused on Jonathan’s face. She opened her mouth to speak, but her vocal cords were unwilling to cooperate. Lenora struggled to sit up.
“No, stay put. You’re very sick right now. I’m glad Mother found you. You had a very high fever.”
She remembered being warm and lightheaded. They were at Charmayne’s funeral. Lenora sank back against the pillows. Now she was starting to remember.
A nurse entered the room. “Mrs. Freeman, how are you? It’s so good to see we got that fever down for you.”
Her dry, parched throat allowed her voice to break through. “I’m thirsty.”
The nurse nodded. “You were pretty dehydrated.” She poured water from a plastic pitcher on the side table and handed the paper cup to Lenora.
Lenora began to gulp, but the nurse said, “Take sips. Easy, there you go. The doctor administered some heavy-duty antibiotics to help you clear up the rest of that nasty bacterial infection.”
Lenora nodded and handed her cup back to the nurse. “Thank you.”
When the nurse left, she looked over at Jonathan who sat quietly. He eyed her, and then stated, “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you need to slow down for a while.”
“I can’t—,” she began to argue.
He held up his hand. “Sometimes we don’t have a choice when God wants us to sit still. I know it’s a busy time for you, but you do have employees who can step in and help. Right now, you have a lot on your plate. I think you’re taking Charmayne’s death harder than you’re willing to admit.”
At the mention of her friend’s name, Lenora’s eyes watered. “That’s because she shouldn’t have left us so soon. Certainly not that way.”
Jonathan leaned over and grabbed her hand. “I’m sorry. If I could change the events of these past few days I would. Right now, we can do something about making sure you get back to being 100 percent. Take care of you. You’re not going to be good for anyone if you aren’t well.”
She knew Jonathan was right. Ever since Charmayne’s death, Lenora had pushed herself so she didn’t have to deal with the stark reality.
After getting the doctor’s okay, Lenora was discharged from the hospital. As she walked into her home with Jonathan holding her elbow, she felt grateful. Grateful to see the photos of her family on the wall. She hadn’t had time to jump into her annual spring cleaning, but their home was still welcoming and a safe haven.
“Let’s get you upstairs. Straight to bed for rest.” Jonathan guided her toward the stairs.
“Mom, you’re home!”
Lenora turned around to see Michael and Keith both get up from the living room to walk toward her. She smiled, proud of her almost grown men. “I’m home. Need to get some rest, especially according to Dr. Jonathan Freeman here.” She eyed Jonathan, who nodded.
After she entered her bedroom, she slipped into an old favorite, her light blue cotton nightgown. It wasn’t the most attractive attire she had for sleepwear, but the long flowing fabric was what she needed to wrap up in under the covers.
“Do you need anything before I go?” Jonathan had come in the room. He placed her bag on the chair by her side of the bed.
The nightgown was not one of his favorites although she couldn’t tell by his face. All she saw was concern. Lenora pulled the covers up underneath her neck. “Where are you going?”
“Tonight’s Thursday. You know it’s a busy night at Victory Gospel. Choir practice and other meetings. Members like to know I’m around.”
Lenora nodded. “Sure. Just don’t catch what I have.”
He laughed. “I will keep that in mind. I don’t think any of us want what you have. You’re a real trooper, though.” Before he walked out the door, he turned around. “Mother is still here. She will be happy to help, so don’t hesitate to reach out.”
Lenora sank down under the covers. She felt a bit ashamed knowing her illness was a long-awaited wake-up call for her. She hadn’t been feeling well for a few days, but she was used to working through stress headaches. A superwoman she was not, and right now, her eyes were having a tug-of-war. Lenora finally let sleep win. Her dreams were fitful. She was standing inside the sanctuary of Greater Heights Church.
Charmayne was standing up front with her hands on her hips, waving her finger. Lenora tried to interpret what she was saying. All of a sudden, Lenora heard someone calling her name. She stared at Charmayne who now had her hands on the side of her face. Her mouth was opened in an “o” shape, and her eyes were wide. What was she trying to tell her? Lenora spun around and saw a dark figure coming toward her.
Before the person reached her, a persistent knocking snatched her away from the dream. Lenora sat up. Someone was knocking on the bedroom door. She peered over at the clock and realized she had fallen asleep for a few hours. She yelled, “Come in.”
Eliza swung the door open. “Girl, you were starting to worry us. In a few minutes, I was just going to break the door down. We need to get some food in you. You’ve been sleeping too long.”
Lenora sat up as Eliza shuffled in the room with Michael behind her. Her son brought her a tray. As he came closer, she saw a bowl of soup with crackers to the side. “Eliza, you didn’t have to do this.”
“Oh yes, I did. You need to keep your strength up. Girl, we can’t have you go downhill like that again. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that sick before.”
“Yeah, Mom. I hope you feel better soon.” Michael set the tray over her lap. The steam from the soup rose up to her nostrils. She inhaled the chicken noodle soup.
Lenora caught her son’s hand. “Thanks, honey. I’m doing exactly what I’ve been told. Rest.”
“Good, well, I need to head out.”
Lenora frowned. “You’re going out on a school night.”
“Study session. Don’t worry, I’ll be back on time.”
“Okay.” Lenora wasn’t familiar with Michael having any friends in a study group, but she didn’t always keep up with him like she used to do when he was younger. Back then, she knew every playmate and friend her sons had in their lives.
“You need to eat now.” Eliza pointed to the soup.
“Yes, ma’am.” Lenora wasn’t used to Eliza being quite so motherly toward her either. She was sick and out of commission for twenty-four hours, and it seemed like everyone was acting out of character. Or maybe she just always took care of everything.
She took the soup spoon lying on the side and scooped up a few noodles and pieces of chicken. After she blew on the soup, she chewed and swallowed the hot, salty broth. Lenora looked up to see Eliza watching her closely.
“Eliza, I’m okay. I’m not going to fall completely apart.”
“That’s good to hear because I wasn’t sure. No, I shouldn’t say that. You’re a strong woman and a woman of faith. Always have been.”
Did her mother-in-law just compliment her? Lenora swallowed a few more spoonfuls of soup. “You sound like you’re worried about me.”
“You just lost a friend in a pretty horrible way.”
Lenora let the spoon fall in the soup. She stared down at the soup in silence.
Eliza continued, “You know, Charmayne was strong-willed, very much her dad’s daughter. Now her mother, Mrs. Valerie Hudson, was very meek. Poor thing.”
Lenora eyed her mother-in-law, wondering where the story was going.
Eliza sat on the edge of the bed. “At least I used to think that. One day I saw Bishop Hudson raise his hand and strike Valerie across her face. The way he did it, I doubt it was the first time. I confronted her about it, and she said she could take him. She just didn’t want him to ever take anything out on Charmayne.”
Lenora responded. “She protected her daughter.”
“Valerie was the referee, sometimes taking not just licks from him, but being the brunt of Charmayne’s lashes too.”
“Why are you telling me this, Eliza? Is this supposed to make me feel better?”
The old woman let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know. I guess what I’m trying to say is when Valerie died, I regretted that I didn’t stick up for her more. You know? You stuck by Charmayne through some thick and thin. I just don’t want you to feel any guilt.”
Lenora shook her head. “I don’t. Guilt is not what I feel. I feel confused.”
Eliza tilted her head. “Why? Because she took her own life?”
“It wasn’t something she would ever do.”
“Honey, we don’t know what goes on inside of other people’s minds.”
“I’m tired. I appreciate you coming in here to help comfort me, but I’ve known Charmayne all my life. She could be a mental case sometimes. She would be quick to knock back a bottle of wine, but she didn’t do this.”
Eliza stared at her. “Well, if she didn’t kill herself, what are you saying, Lenora? Are you sure this isn’t just denial?”
Realizing she probably said too much, Lenora thrust the tray forward. She knew Jonathan hadn’t shared with his mother anything she’d told him last Friday in front of Detective Jackson. She needed it to stay that way until she could figure out some things. “Maybe I am. I need time to process.”
“It’s okay. Anyone can understand, and you need to grieve.” Eliza reached for the tray.
“No, you don’t need to carry this back downstairs. Michael can come for it later.”
“I’m sorry, Lenora. I really am. I hope God gives you some peace.”
Lenora nodded and looked away. When the door had closed behind her mother-in-law, she grabbed the tray and set it on the floor beside the bed. She struggled until her foot hit the floor, and then she wobbled over to where she saw Jonathan place her bag.
Now that she had time on her hands, she was going to figure out exactly what was going on. She knew people wanted her to believe Charmayne took her life, but they simply didn’t know what she knew. Lenora pulled out her phone and her daytimer. With a pen in hand she climbed back in bed.
She used to use her day-timer to jot down appointments. Now, since she was using the calendar on her smartphone more regularly, she had plenty of empty pages in the day-timer. She jotted down the first time she received a text, Keith’s accident, the second time she received a text, Charmayne’s visit to the salon, and finally, events leading up to Charmayne’s death.
What about the man with the pale green eyes? She vaguely remembered talking to him, but Lenora couldn’t recall any of the conversation.
Darnell had kept the copy of the crumpled article that had been left rolled up in her car windshield wipers. He did say he would process prints, but she knew enough from cop shows that there may not be viable prints. She’d touched the paper herself.
That didn’t matter. What mattered is she needed to find out who else knew. She jotted down Charmayne and the bishop’s name. Then her name.
So who else knew what happened that night? Lenora wrote down “The Victim” and circled the words. Detective Darnell told her he would look into what happened to the man who was struck that night. Was it really him doing this? Did he even see their faces in the dark that night so long ago? Did the injured man catch a glimpse of the license plate?
If he found out who had hit him, why didn’t he come forward back then? For what purpose did it serve a person to sit on information for this many years?