“Jenna that’s enough,” Heziah was saying. He was always telling her when enough was enough. Didn’t always stop her though. She giggled, zigzagging from the living room to the dining room chasing Callie with a spray bottle of Arm and Hammer.
It was long past the bedtime Heziah had set for them, but that wasn’t so unusual. I stood watch from the second-floor landing, watching the three of them dart from one side of the hallway to the other and back again. I’d been fighting the urge to say “I told you so.” The twins had him wrapped around their little bitty fingers just like the older ones had me.
“California Jenkins!”
She froze, and a second later, Jenna did the same. They stood side by side in matching nightgowns, looking up at me with wide innocent eyes.
“Y’all must’ve lost your minds. You know what time it is? Don’t make me have to come down there.”
Right then the telephone rang, and Heziah disappeared into the kitchen to answer it.
The twins took the stairs in single file, each one blaming the other for getting in trouble. They went down easy enough after that. Kissed them both goodnight and checked in on Nat before I ran into a panic-stricken Heziah.
◼︎
When Heziah asked the security guard to point us in the direction of the emergency room, she was stunned. She looked right past him and at me. I ain’t have time to put on my wig, so I was like a walking advertisement for cancer.
“Miss?” He tried again.
She collected herself and pointed us to the double doors to the right and handed us two passes. Folks was practically sitting on top of each other waiting to be seen. Heziah went right to the desk, but I couldn’t help studying all the faces, hoping to see my baby.
“Belinda. She’s this way.”
I never had any love for hospitals, but after all my treatments were successful, I thought maybe we might be able to be friends. But when I saw Jackie curled up under a mountain of blankets, I knew it would never happen. I was gonna always hate hospitals.
“Hi, Mama. Hi, Daddy.” My girl tried to smile under the weight of all the swelling and bruising. She’d rolled herself up into a knot either outta fear or chill.
Heziah squeezed her shoulder and asked her what happened. My girl tried again to smile. Said she was robbed on her way home.
“Home? Or school?” Heziah wanted to know as if it would make a difference. Jackie didn’t answer. “You were walking by yourself? Where? Did somebody call the police? When did this happen?”
“Heziah…”
He took the hint well, nodded, and pushed the only chair, so it sat next to Jackie’s bed then went about finding a second one for himself.
“It’s okay, baby. You gonna be just fine.”
Tears made tracks down her cheeks, and her warm fingers grasped onto mine. It had happened again, and once again, I wasn’t there to stop it. To protect my child.
The doctor said Jackie had a few bruised ribs plus cuts and a black eye. One of Kem’s neighbors had called the police, and the boys had run off at the first siren before they could do any real damage.
“Real damage. What’s that supposed to mean?” Heziah glared at the man, then glanced down at Jackie.
She was fixated on the machine that sat over her shoulder beeping.
“Oh,” he gasped, and tears threatened to break free from his eyes.
We listened in silence as the doctor continued with instructions to care for Jackie’s wounds. Instructions I’d never heard before but knew better than he did.
They’d taken Jackie’s clothes and given her a sweatsuit that probably came from the lost and found. She huddled against Heziah, and I walked a few steps ahead of them, opening doors and doing my best to shield her from prying eyes.
◼︎
“Mama, who’s at the door?” Nat stumbled out of her bedroom, rubbing her eyes.
“Nobody. Go on back to bed.” I guided her gently and she didn’t resist. I wrapped my robe tighter around me and tied the sash into a knot. Had to lift both my robe and nightgown, so they wouldn’t trip me up on the way downstairs. Wasn’t appropriate attire to receive company, but I ain’t have a choice.
Heziah was already on edge, and he sounded as if he was about to lose it.
“Where were you, huh? You just leave my daughter to roam the streets at night by herself!”
It was a ridiculous accusation. One that he wouldn’t have made if he’d had a night to sleep on it.
“Where were you when she was being attacked by three thugs?”
“Heziah.”
He stood over an equally distraught Kem and turned ever so slightly in my direction. We ain’t need to make eye contact. He knew he’d gone too far. He sighed and headed toward the stairs.
Kem held his head in his hands, and as Heziah’s feet climbed to the second floor, Kem slowly withdrew his fingers until I could see his face. He loved my girl, I was sure. It was easy to feel guilt for something that wasn’t your doing when you loved the person hurt by it.
“Is she…? Did they…?”
“Just a few cuts and bruises. She’s gonna be just fine.”
He nodded, more for my sake than his own.
I sat next to him, squeezing my knees together, and took his hand in mine. Jackie had seen and felt enough pain in her young life for any mama to feel the burden of that failure. Not to mention I knew my girl. I’d raised her. And wasn’t no man or even three strong enough to break her. Not in this life or the next.