A Friend in Need

“Glynda?” It was Rico’s voice. But she sounded so far away.

“Rico?”

“Come on back, gurlfriend.”

“Man, my head hurts. What happened?” My eyes were slowly starting to focus.

“Well, Miss I’ve-got-this-all-under-control, you fainted.” Rico’s voice was sounding normal again.

“I fainted? I’ve never fainted before in my life!”

“You’re fine. Your vitals are returning to normal. You were only out for a short time. I’m just so glad I was here. You did hit your head on the floor before I could get to you. That’s why your head hurts. The extra thick padding that you just had to have paid off. It buffered your point of contact, so I’m not too concerned about it.” My friend had such a kind way about her. I do love this woman as much as my sisters.

“My sisters! What time is it?” I realized I had a plane to catch.

“It’s almost four forty-five. I’ll have you packed in a few minutes. If there is anything else you need once you get there, call me and I’ll come by and get it before I leave. Or I’ll just buy it for you when I get there. Are you okay to take a shower?”

“Yeah, my head is clearing now. I feel a little disoriented, though.”

“That’s to be expected. Your body shut down rather than deal with the trauma. Let me help you up.” Rico stood over me as I still lay on the floor.

“I sure do feel heavy.”

“You are heavy!” Rico was straining to get me to a standing position.

“See how you are. I’m laying here in a traumatized state, and you gonna crack on my weight.” I was feeling better with every passing second.

“Now you know if you give me an opening, I’m going to step boldly through it.”

“Silly me, I definitely should’ve known better. I’m going to get showered. If the phone rings, just answer it. My sisters are supposed to call when they get to Uncle Thomas’s place. This is going to be so hard on him. Daddy and he were inseparable.”

“Glynda, gurl, this is going to be hard. Period! I’ve been so lucky. I’ve never had to bury anyone I truly love.”

“Even though I was young when my mother died, I still remember how bad it hurt. But it was nothing like what I’m feeling now. I have pain in my chest. I feel like I have a hole in my soul. I knew Daddy would die some day, but I expected him to be almost eighty or ninety. He was so healthy, Rico!” Tears once again began to fall.

“We’ll know more when we get the autopsy report,” Rico whispered in my ear as she embraced me.

No more words exchanged between us as we went about our duties getting me ready to take the worst flight of my life. I stood in the shower and tried to let the water wash away my sorrows. I couldn’t seem to get the water hot enough, nor would it pound my body with the force I craved. I needed something, anything, to cause me enough external pain to dull the anguish that was tearing me up inside.

“Glynda, you okay in there? Uncle Thomas is on the phone.” Rico was yelling through the opaque white mist that filled the plush room that before had soothed my sorrows away no matter how grave, until today. Today was different. No black marble Jacuzzi tub made for two, no scented aromatherapy candles, no wine chilling in the crystal ice bucket, no trashy romance novel, not even Anthony’s tall, handsome, Adonis-like body could have soothed my pain today.

“Okay, tell him I’ll be right there. How is he?” I knew the answer before she even spoke.

“He’s crying. He said for you to come to the phone or for me to bring it to you.”

Uncle Thomas and I were almost as close as Daddy and me. Uncle Thomas had two sons, whom he hadn’t seen for years. My sisters and I became the center of his universe as he tried to fill the void left by his sons’ absence. Uncle Thomas had dropped out of high school to join the army, planning to serve Uncle Sam until he was forced to retire. But a sniper’s bullet in the jungles of Vietnam had changed all of that. He returned to Baltimore and, after much rehabilitation at the VA hospital, went to work helping other soldiers to grasp the ring of hope that meant a normal life.

Through it all Daddy had been an anchor for Uncle Thomas. Daddy had tried desperately, but in vain, to reunite Uncle Thomas with Thomas junior and Michael. Their mother was an unhappy woman who did all she could to keep Thomas away from his sons, including moving them from Baltimore to Anchorage, Alaska. She was one of the few women who worked on the pipeline. Even after Thomas junior and Michael graduated from college, they settled in the Pacific Northwest. I wondered if they would come to their only uncle’s funeral.

“Hi, Uncle Thomas,” I said quietly. “How ya doing?”

“Glynda, why mah buddy go and leave me like dis?” Uncle Thomas sobbed.

“I don’t know, Uncle Thomas. I don’t know.” My tears started anew.

“When ya comin’ home, baby gurl?”

“I’m getting dressed now. My flight leaves at about nine. I’ll be there at five-fifteen. Will you come to the airport to meet me, Uncle Thomas?”

“Course I will, Glynda. Ya know yo’ daddy would want me ta come git chu. He worried ’bout chu bein’ way out dere. Did you evah know dat?”

“He would never tell me, but I knew he did. He was really sad when I told him I wanted to stay out here after graduation.”

“Yeah, dat sho’ ’nuff broke his heart. But he undastood. Yes sah, he did. He was right proud of all y’all girls. Right proud.”

“Uncle Thomas, I have to leave for the airport real soon. I need to get dressed. Where’re my sisters?” I asked as I saw Rico pointing to the Swiss watch I’d given her several Christmases before.

“Dey right here. Dawn’s cryin’ pretty hard. Collette’s takin’ care of her. Aiight, baby, I’ll see ya tonight, ’bout five-fifteen.”

“I love you, Uncle Thomas.”

“Ya knows I loves ya, too, Glynda.”

I fell onto the bed, the heaviness of my body returning. I feared that I would faint again if I didn’t sit at least momentarily. Rico brought me my underwear and I stared at them, not exactly sure what it was I needed to do. I was so happy my friend was taking care of me.

“You need some help with that, gurlfriend?” Rico broke my trance.

“I was just sitting here wondering exactly what it is I’m supposed to do with these clothes. Is that wild or what?” I had to laugh at my own ineptitude.

“Not as strange as you may think. I deal with families in trauma all the time. It does very unusual things to us psychologically.”

Once I got started it all became natural, and I don’t remember getting dressed. The next thing I remembered was Rico putting my matching American Tourister carry-on and hang-up bag in the trunk of her emerald green BMW M5. When the automatic door locks released the button on the passenger side, I only stood staring. What was I supposed to do next? Rico leaned over to open my door. I slid in feeling like a four-year-old.

“I feel like a little kid, gurl. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing,” I said as I fumbled with the seat belt.

“That’s why I’m here.” Rico patted my hand.

The familiar voice of Carl Nelson, host of the early morning talk show The Front Page, filled the car. So much had happened in such a short time. Between the time I’d gone to bed and now, my world had crashed down around my feet and the sun hadn’t yet come up.

“When will you get to Baltimore?” I needed my friend by my side. I wanted her to leave with me now.

“I should be able to get out on the red-eye flight tomorrow night, which will put me in Baltimore Thursday morning at five. I’ll rent a car. Don’t worry about anyone picking me up.”

“Gurl, you can drive Daddy’s car!” For the first time since I’d gotten the call, I felt as if I had a solution to something.

“I don’t want to cause any confusion. You love me, but I’m not so sure about the rest of your sisters. They may think I’m trying to take over. Besides, I’m really hoping Uncle Thomas’s boys will come, and then they can use it. We’ll need a lot of people to drive to do all the running around. Don’t worry about me, okay?”

“As much as I hate to admit you’re right, you are right. Collette would be the main one.”

Rico only laughed and nodded her head in agreement.

“Dang, I wonder if Dawn went by Estelle’s yet? I forgot to ask if she was still going when I talked to Uncle Thomas. You know I really like her. She was so good for Daddy. He had been so happy since he asked her to marry him. I think she has been in love with Daddy a long time. Even back in the day when she was married. But you know Daddy wasn’t even going there. Then even after she found out that her husband’s tree branches swung however the wind blew and she left his ass, Daddy still held back.”

“I know. He was a good man, Glynda.”

“When he thought she’d had enough time to heal from all the hurt, he asked us if it was okay for him to marry her. Can you imagine a grown man with grown daughters asking for their permission? He told us he’d been in love with her for many, many years, even when she was still married, but that he respected her, her husband, and himself too much to make a move. My daddy was one of a kind. They broke the mold. Anthony says all the time that he can never measure up to Daddy, and that’s why I won’t marry him. Do you think that’s true?”

“All I do know is that Anthony is a wonderful man and that I’m going to do what you did for me with Jonathan. I’m going to give you a reality check. That man loves your week-old dirty drahs. And he isn’t going to keep begging yo’ ass to marry him. He would walk on broken glass spread over hot coals for you, and you betta recognize.”

I turned and stared at Rico. She rarely spoke to me in this sistahgurl tone.

“This is the same advice you gave me when I was too caught up on what Jonathan did for a living to realize that it was the size of his heart I should have been noticing. This kind of happiness doesn’t come twice in a lifetime, and I owe it all to you. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t return the favor?”

“This isn’t the time to talk about this, Rico.” I tried to be angry.

“You may be right. And you know I’m here for you every second of the day and every step of the way, but the one you need is Anthony, and because you have denied the man the one wish that would complete his life, he probably can’t be here. I love you so much, Glynda. I just want you to have it all. And despite what anyone says, you can have it all.”

Tears began to fall once again. “I know you’re right, gurl. I do love him so much. You’re a true friend. Most people wouldn’t tell me the truth the way you do. What am I going to do without Daddy?”

“I wish I knew the answer to that one. But you do have me. And you have Anthony. We could never replace Papa Eddie, but we can help you heal slowly. We will just love you.” Rico reached over and pressed her soft hand on top of mine.

A sense of peace washed over me, and I reclined the seat and closed my eyes. The remainder of the trip was spent in silence. I tried to think, but grief just crowded my mind to the point that nothing else would fit.

“Just drop me off. I don’t need help to the counter.” I could tell my request startled Rico.

“Oh paleeze! My best friend’s father just died and I’m just going to leave her on the curb. I don’t think so!”

“You never walk me inside. You slow the car down and throw me out the door.”

“I’m not that bad!” Rico had to laugh at herself.

“You know you are! But I can’t take a long teary good-bye right now, plus I’ll see you on Thursday.”

“You know Jonathan is meeting us here.”

“Oh, that’s right. I’ll just hug his neck and send him on his way. He’s a really good man, too. You know this is going to make him late on his route today.” Just the thought of Jonathan’s six-foot-four-inch mega-muscular body waiting to hug me warmed my heart.

Jonathan and I had become friends immediately after his first date with Rico. She’d told him that I was the one responsible for her acceptance of his request to have dinner with him. He said that he had to meet the woman who’d changed his life forever. The first time we played pool I skunked him. He never even got to take his first shot. He’d called me Minnesota Slim. To this day he still calls me Slim.

As we sat and debated about the pros and cons of drop-off versus walk-in, I was startled when the passenger door opened. There stood Jonathan with his dimpled smile.

“Hey, Slim. How ya doing?” Jonathan’s deep voice was a natural manifestation of his massive body.

Just seeing him with his warm, brown, puppylike eyes opened the floodgate of tears once again. “Oh Jonathan, what am I going to do without my daddy?”

“Oh Slim, don’t cry!” His voice cracked.

“Honey, get her bags out of the trunk. She doesn’t want me to walk her inside. Will you do it? No matter what she says, stay with her until she gets to security. She’ll pick up her ticket at the counter.” Rico was leaning over me to talk to Jonathan.

“Of course I will, baby. Do you know when the funeral will be yet? I really want to be there for both of you. I need to represent for my man Anthony. I know from my military days they aren’t going to let him off to come. I want to put in for an emergency vacation this morning.”

I stared up into Jonathan’s face. “Funeral?” It was the first time I had actually thought that we’d have a service with flowers, music, people speaking softly, shaking our hands and telling us how sorry they were.

Jonathan looked at Rico as if to say, What do I need to say here? “Will the funeral be in three or four days?”

“I don’t know.” I couldn’t breathe.

“I’ll let you know, honey.” I heard Rico say, though it seemed she was somewhere far away.

Jonathan retrieved the bags from the trunk and sat them by the rear passenger door as he extended his enormous hand to help me out of the car. He wanted desperately to say something, but nothing seemed right. “Come on, Slim, let’s get you on this plane.”

The touch of Jonathan’s strong arms made me long for Anthony. Rico was right. There was no reason I wasn’t Mrs. Sanders, except my own stupid issues. I blindly followed him inside the terminal, where thankfully there were no lines. As we stepped to the ticket counter, Jonathan placed my bags on the scale and took charge.

“Where’s your license, Slim?” he asked, awkwardly looking for my wallet in the abyss known as my purse.

Silently, I passed him my license.

“Ms. Naylor. You’re checking two bags through to Baltimore?” Debbie, according to her name tag, asked.

“Yes.” Jonathan answered.

“Did you pack yourself?

Did I pack the bags? I couldn’t remember.

“She packed them herself and they have been in her control the entire time.” Jonathan answered with such authority Debbie dared not question him.

Debbie continued to key what I presumed to be pertinent data into the computer. In a matter of seconds she returned my license and a boarding pass. With a well-rehearsed smile she said, “Enjoy your flight, Ms. Naylor.”

Jonathan walked me to the escalator leading to the security area. Looking down at me with his warm puppylike eyes, he smiled. He hugged me tight and whispered, “I’m so sorry, Glynda. I just wish I could fix this thing. Rico and I will be there for you just as soon as we can. I promise.”

As I stared up into his handsome, weathered face, I knew they would do just that. Friends are the part of heaven that God puts right here on earth.

The flight attendant offered the passengers a choice of water or orange juice before takeoff. I chose a glass of orange juice and took the little yellow pill Rico had given me. She’d simply said, “This should help you relax and sleep on the plane.” Of course, I had forgotten about it until the moment I sat down next to the middle-aged businessman of European descent who spoke with far more cheer than I was ready to receive. The seating was sparse in the business-class section of the wide-body aircraft, so why on earth had they seated us together? I really wanted to be alone. I smiled politely and apologized in advance that I wasn’t feeling well and wanted to sleep the entire flight. I hadn’t cared if I offended the pleasant stranger, which was totally out of character for me. He was perceptive enough, simply smiled and said he’d make sure the flight attendants knew not to disturb me. He’d taken on the role of my protector. Daddy always said to treat everyone the same because you never knew when you might be entertaining angels. I guess he was right.

Physical and emotional exhaustion overtook me quickly, and I slipped into a dream-filled slumber where faces and scenes changed quickly before I was at my mother’s funeral. Daddy had such an empty look in his eyes as we sat in the front pew. He stared straight ahead. We sat next to Daddy in birth order from oldest to youngest. I remembered someone had lined us up. Renee was fourteen and said she was going to be strong for the rest of us. She held my hand and pulled me along as fear gripped my soul when I saw the long white box with pink trim where my mother lay sleeping. How could a nine-year-old understand that her mother would never wake up again?

Collette had started sucking her thumb the night the police had rung the doorbell after Mama hadn’t picked us up from school. In all of her six years she’d never sucked her thumb. That fateful night she would start a habit that would take her well into adulthood, when her thumb had been replaced by cigarettes. Daddy held two-year-old Dawn in his arms as he spoke to the police officer, who said there had been an accident. A man had run a red light and hit Mama’s car on her side, and she had died on the way to the hospital. The man in the uniform told my daddy he had to come down to the morgue to identify the body, even though the car was registered to Edward and Lorraine Naylor at this address, and the purse on the front seat of the car had a wallet that held a driver’s license of Lorraine Marie Naylor. There was little doubt that it was his wife.

Then my dream turned bizarre. Mama sat up in her white box with the pink trim and called to Daddy. “Eddie, come on over with me. I need you, Eddie. I have waited long enough. Come on home with me.”

Daddy left the front pew and was climbing into the box with Mama when I heard myself screaming to Daddy, “No, don’t go. I need you to stay here with me. Please, Daddy, don’t leave me.” I woke up with tears streaming and a flight attendant touching my arm and my seat neighbor looking quite concerned.

“Are you alright, miss?” asked a young Asian flight attendant who was wearing an apron with the name Ian embroidered on it.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Was I talking out loud?” I felt groggy from the little yellow pill.

“You were in a very troubled sleep, and the gentleman here was concerned. Are you sure you’re okay?” Ian took a beverage napkin from his apron pocket and handed it to me to wipe my tear-streaked face.

“Yes, I’m so sorry. Thank you for your concern.” I wasn’t ready to tell anyone that I had dreamed that my dead mother had come and taken my daddy from me. They would’ve thought I was nuts for sure.

“May I get you something to drink?” Ian was showing his perfectly aligned teeth as he smiled the rehearsed customer-service smile.

“Just some water, please,” I managed to whisper.

“Are you sure you’re alright? You were calling to your father,” asked my concerned seatmate.

“I may never be alright again. My daddy died this morning.”

“I’m so sorry. My name is William. Here’s my card. I’m a psychologist. If you ever need to talk, just call me.”

I stared down at the card of William Barnett, Ph.D., Grief Therapist. Now I knew why I had been seated next to this man. He was my angel.

I hadn’t realized I’d slept so long. We were only twenty minutes from landing. I was glad the flight was almost over. Dr. Barnett would look over at me and smile occasionally, but he didn’t intrude on my thoughts. I was relieved.

As I gathered my things to deplane, Dr. Barnett touched my shoulder and simply said, “Don’t expect too much from yourself. Leave the strength to others.”

“Thank you.” Despite my best efforts, tears filled my eyes again.