Chapter Eighteen
Gracie. Nothing and no one could override the thoughts that Marcus had going through his mind. Not that he hated to admit it, but he was head over heels with Gracie all over again. He felt that she was the one. She always had been.
Since getting into the groove with Gracie, Marcus had felt secure knowing that Gracie’s presence was and had always been missing in his life. Not just on a significant-other level, but as a friend as well.
Back in his senior year of high school, when his parents decided to divorce, Gracie was the only person who helped him stay focused on his future. Marcus lost all hope about graduating and taking the SAT, but Gracie was the one who reminded him to study and fill out applications for college. She was there.
She never questioned his tears; she just comforted him. But most of all, Gracie helped him lean on God for understanding and to know that tomorrow would be a brighter day, and it had been. Her listening ear helped pull him through, and that’s exactly what he wanted to be for her now in return for all that she had done for him. His mind was made up to be there for Gracie.
Marcus was cruising and listening to the sports radio station. He glanced at his ringing cell phone in its cradle.
“This is Marcus,” he answered after he pushed the talk button.
“Hey, Marcus, it’s Michelle. I was just calling to see how you were doing.”
“Oh! Hey. What’s going on?” Securing his hands-free earpiece, Marcus continued his drive.
“Nothing much, I didn’t want us to become complete strangers, so I just thought I’d call and check on you. How’s Gracie?”
Marcus didn’t jump to conclusions about the last question. He just went with the flow. “Uh, she’s fine.”
“Really?” Michelle asked in a surprising voice, hoping she would make Marcus fall into her trap.
“Yeah really. Is that surprising?”
“Oh, it’s just that, in her condition, I thought, well.... Oh never mind. Well let me let you go, you have a ...”
“Wait Michelle ... what are you talking about ... Gracie and her condition. I don’t understand?”
“Well ...”
As Michelle told him the secret, as she knew it, about Gracie and AIDS, Marcus had to swerve to avoid hitting the compact car in the next lane.
Marcus quickly made the connection to Dillian’s disappearance.
Marcus removed his left hand from the steering wheel and kept his right hand in place. With a confused look in his eyes and a nauseated stomach, Marcus yanked his earpiece out of his ear. Hitting the wheel out of disbelief and pain, all Marcus worried about was getting to Gracie.