“So, was your day that hard?” Mercy questioned Stoney, who was slouched in the booth right in front of her.
Before answering, Stoney took a sip of a flavored tea that Mercy had endorsed as the truth. With another gulp of the savory taste of different leaves, Stoney couldn’t help but agree with her about the cooled concoction.
“More than hard. Almost detrimental to my health.” Stoney knew she was speaking her own truth, and wondered if Mercy could read between the lines.
“Well…” Mercy knew she couldn’t sleep on what God had placed in her heart, no matter how she felt about her own situation. “You know God is the ruler over all.”
“Yep. I know.” Stoney rolled her eyes, not knowing why she had grabbed an attitude once Mercy brought God into the conversation. It was he who had made a way for any and everything having to do with her life.
Noticing the frown Stoney was harboring, Mercy kept on. “Have you given your cares over to him? I know I have. I mean…I’m pregnant.” She looked down at her belly. “I’m not married, and I still have to tell my parents about it all.” Mercy wanted Stoney to be comfortable with her. The only way she could was by being transparent.
Stoney seemed shocked by the confession. Stretching her upper torso while leaning forward, Stoney tried to get a better look at Mercy’s stomach. “Really? I can’t even tell.”
“That’s because I still have this lab jacket on,” Mercy said. “It’s been my wall of hiding.” She chuckled, really wanting to shed her own tears. “I’m barely in my first trimester.”
Raising her eyebrows, Mercy could tell what Stoney was thinking. She was shunning her without looking at her own daily barriers.
“We all have our own crosses to bear, but I thank God for allowing me the opportunity to repent to him and start fresh. I don’t even want to go into what the enemy was putting in my mind at first,” Mercy confessed.
When she saw Stoney buck her eyes, not believing what she was telling her, Mercy continued. “I’m just real. You’ll have to excuse me.” She shrugged. “I didn’t say I wanted to do it, I said what the devil put in my thinking.”
Thinking about her own heartbreak, Stoney suggested, “Real stupid if you ask me. Why waste God’s time if you were doing your own thing to begin with?” Stoney shook her head.
With a throw of her head, Mercy shot back, “Oh, and so trying to get your grandmother’s medication for her is not doing your own thing?” Mercy rested her elbows on the table. “I mean, seriously, what were you going to do, deliver them to the cemetery? Pah-lease.”
“No, I…” Stoney sat up straight and looked around the small tea shop.
“Exactly,” Mercy confirmed. “I know my situation is not pretty, but at least I’m living up to my mistake. I could have listened to the enemy and really done my own thing.”
“What about adoption? I wish my mother would have opted for it.” Stoney felt comfortable enough to share some of her own experiences.
“Nah. I’m better now. That was just a moment I had. But it was real heavy on me. Plus, it’s not just my child, and the dad, I must say, is unique compared to many young men of today.” Mercy answered the questions about her and remembered what Stoney had said about her own mother. “So, did you and your mother get into it or something?”
“I guess so.” Stoney took one of the last gulps of her tea. “I don’t know her, so I figure I must have done something to her at birth.” Stoney knew the joke was really pain seeping out. “My grandmother raised me,” Stoney said with pain in her heart.
“Oh, is your mother still living?”
“Living?” Stoney answered the question with a question. She thought about the photo and didn’t want to make any assumptions, but really couldn’t help herself. “Living la vida loca, I’m sure,” Stoney said without going into details. “Honestly, I don’t know. I want to know. I want to know her and meet her and for her to know me.” Stoney finally looked into Mercy’s eyes. “I just don’t know how to get to her. You know, find her.” Still stuck on the photo, Stoney made a mental note to get back over to Mike’s house sometime soon, only this time with her photo of her mother.
“Why not look for her? have you tried that?”
Shaking her head, not letting on just how close she thought she might have come to her mother, Stoney waited, wanting to know what Mercy would think of next.
“You should. You should look for your mother, I mean. I could help you if you’d like,” Mercy said.
With that, Stoney thought once more about telling Mercy about her encounter, but didn’t. Wanting to hear Mercy say it again, Stoney said, “Would you? Really? Oh my goodness. Serious?”
“Serious. I mean, it’s almost the summer, and I’d love to help you until I go off to school in the fall. Sure, it’ll be fun to see what we come up with.” The two displayed their giddy sides.
With a smile to confirm their plans, Stoney couldn’t wait to brainstorm with Mercy. With the lead she thought she already had, Stoney was still determined to do her own sideline investigation.