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After Toya walked Princess, she wasn’t feeling much like staying at home. Her mother was always busy with church activities, so she hesitated to call her. But then she realized that Tia couldn’t hang out like she used to, not now that she had the baby and she certainly wasn’t calling Gina. So, she picked up the phone and called her mother. To her surprise, her mother was available, so they met at one of their favorite soul food restaurants for a late lunch.
“Thanks for hanging out with me, Mom. I really didn’t feel like sitting around the house doing nothing today.”
“I’m so glad to hear that, because to tell you the truth, Thomas and I have been a bit worried that you were becoming too reclusive.”
Toya hadn’t thought that anyone was paying attention to her struggles. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“We’ve been praying for you.”
“Thank you for that.” The waitress brought their food to the table. Her mother said grace and then Toya admitted, “I didn’t want to worry you. I felt bad enough about not listening to you when you told me not to date Marvel.”
Yvonne put a hand over Toya’s. “You can come to me with anything, you know that, don’t you?”
Toya nodded. “I just didn’t understand what was happening to me when I first started having panic attacks every time I left work. But now I know that I was subconsciously reliving the day Marvel kidnapped me from work.”
“You never even told me you were having panic attacks. That’s not something I should just now be hearing. But I am glad that you were able to figure out what was triggering them?”
“This Armor of God Bible study has really been helping me deal with things that have been troubling me and figure out who the true enemy is. Now I know I’m in a battle and I’m fighting it with God’s help.”
“I’m so glad that this Bible study is ministering to you.”
“It is. I just wish you had done this study a few months ago, maybe I wouldn’t have quit my job.”
“You’ll find another job. My strong, vibrant daughter is beginning to emerge again, and nothing is going to stop you. I’m proud of who you are becoming.”
“Me too. But in truth, Jarrod had a lot to do with that as well.”
“I heard that you’ve fallen in love.”
Toya’s cheeks reddened as her eyes widened. “Mom, Jarrod, and I are not in love. We are friends... always have been. I mean, Jarrod isn’t interested in me like that anyway.”
Yvonne leaned back in her chair and studied her daughter. “I wasn’t talking about you and Jarrod. I was talking about Princess.”
“Oh, yes, of course, you were talking about Princess. That dog has helped me more than you know. I’m out here having lunch with you and haven’t had a panic attack in weeks. All that dog walking broke me of those panic attacks.”
Yvonne smiled. “You think it was the dog walking... I think it was all the praying Thomas and I have been doing.”
They took a break from talking as they dug into the mac and cheese, yams, fried chicken, and delicious cornbread. Even though they were enjoying the meal, Toya admitted, “I’ve got to start back eating right, I have put on ten more pounds in the last few months.”
“This is definitely not an everyday thing for me. So, I’m going to enjoy every bit of this fried chicken,” Yvonne told her as she picked up a napkin and wiped the grease from her fingers.
“You can eat whatever you want because you never gain weight anyway. Thomas is a blessed man to have a wife like you.”
“That’s what he tells me.” Now it was Yvonne’s turn to blush. “But what about you, sweetheart? Are you ready to give love another try?”
Toya didn’t even know how to answer that. There had only been one man that she had wanted to spend forever with. But he didn’t feel the same way, so she just had to make the best of the loveless life she had.
~~~
“So, what’s our plan for today, old man?” Jarrod enjoyed reminding his father about his age, especially since the elder Reed’s fountain of youth tree had obviously shaved twenty years off the man; he didn’t look a day over fifty, and he was almost seventy.
“I got your old man. Just let me get you back on that court. I’ll show you who’s the old man and who still has hops.”
“Oh no you don’t. I’m not about to be the cause of your heart attack. You are not allowed on the basketball court with me or anyone else. Don’t make me tell Yvonne about the last time.” There was no quit in his father. He wasn’t going to lose gracefully and would fight to the bitter end. The last time they shot hoops, his dad worked up such a sweat that he almost dehydrated himself.
“I beat you that last time and the time before that if I recall correctly,” Thomas said, getting up from behind his desk and putting on his suit jacket.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re the man. Alright, you don’t have to prove yourself to me or anyone else. I mean it, dad. You scared me.”
Looking guilty as charged, he admitted, “I did overdo it. But that’s only because you provoked me.”
“Well, I’m good for hanging out, just as long as there’s no sports involved. I get it already. You are better than me in basketball... that’s why you had to pay for all my college fees. If you had made sure I had skills, I could have gotten myself a basketball scholarship. Maybe even gone pro.”
“Look at you, dreaming big.” Thomas nudged his son toward the door. “I’d say you turned out alright, even better than some of those guys who went pro. Because I guarantee you not many of them have the heart for people that you have.”
“I wouldn’t mind a few extra dollars along with my heart.”
“Who wouldn’t, son... who wouldn’t.” They walked out of the church and got in Thomas’s SUV. “I’m doing my hospital visits today, and I wanted some company. You up for it?”
“Well, since you didn’t tell me until you had me in the car and locked the doors, I guess I’d better go.”
“You can always say no. I just thought you’d like to see Mrs. Brown.”
“Deacon Brown’s wife?” When Thomas nodded, Jarrod said, “So you did help with her medical bills?”
“Ethel is a good woman. She had been attending the church for three decades with her husband. Of course, we helped her.”
“How is Mrs. Ethel doing?”
“She had heart surgery a few weeks ago. They had to replace valves because they were so blocked that she could have died at any moment. But she has been steadily improving since the surgery. I believe she will be going home this week.”
“I’m so glad y’all were able to help her, especially since she will be going home without her husband.”
“From what the prosecutor told me; Brown is looking at least three to five years. But Ethel has three daughters, and one of them has moved back home to help her during her time of recovery.”
“Good. But with Mrs. Ethel’s health condition, you can kind of understand how Deacon Brown became so desperate.”
Thomas didn’t agree with that. “Brown didn’t have to steal from the church or shoot himself to get our help. It was his pride that wouldn’t let him verbalize his needs. He could have received help the right way.”
“I know about that pride stuff, Dad. I think it has cost me the one woman I truly want to be with.”
“Toya.” It was a statement, not a question.
Jarrod’s head jerked toward his father. “You knew?”
“I’ve known for a long time, Son. What I couldn’t figure out though, was how you messed up the prom thing.”
Jarrod pounded his skull with his fist and then shook his head as if he was trying to rattle it free or something. “She won’t let me live down that one dumb mistake, Dad. It’s not like Toya is so perfect. She has made mistakes too.”
“Yeah, but Toya was the one who asked you to the prom. You had her right where you wanted her. All you had to do was take her to prom and then tell her how you felt. But you chose to stand her up. I never said anything to you about it, but you hurt her that day.”
“I was young. I was confused.” His hands went to his face again. But this time he wasn’t trying to pound some sense into it, he used his open palm to massage his temples. He took a deep breath. “When Toya, Gina and I were planning which college we would attend. I told her that I wanted to attend Howard University.
“Gina and I both put in our applications to Howard. I thought Toya did too. But she never confirmed. Then, a couple of weeks before the prom, she tells me that she has been accepted at Stanford. She wouldn’t even give me an explanation for why she didn’t apply at Howard like I thought she was going to do.”
Thomas glanced over at Jarrod as they pulled up to a red light. “I thought you knew.”
Jarrod shook his head. “Knew what?”
“David graduated from Stanford. Toya probably picked that school to honor her father.”
Sighing, Jarrod said, “I guess I can understand that. But what made me so mad at the time was that the three of us filled out the application for Howard University together, but Toya never planned to attend in the first place. She should have just told me. And then I started thinking about how far away she would be for so many years, and I just didn’t see any reason why we should go to the prom and look into each other's eyes on that dance floor. Possibly kiss, and then I would be left to think about that while she partied it up in California... at least, that’s the way my eighteen-year-old self saw the matter.”
“And now?”
“Now, I realize how fast time can pass. Now I realize the second chances don’t come so easy.”