by E. N. Joy
“Sister Paige, it’s good to see you, as always,” Deborah greeted as Paige entered the church basement, where they distributed the produce the last Saturday of the month.
“You too, Sister Deborah.” Paige gave Deborah a kiss on the cheek. She looked down at the little boy tugging at Deborah’s leg. “Hey there, li’l guy. You here to help Mommy?”
He nodded and then bashfully hid behind his mother’s leg.
“Aw, I know you ain’t trying to get shy on me with your handsome self.”
Deborah looked down at her son and smiled. She rubbed her protruding belly, which showed that she was four months into her pregnancy. “Lynox is on his way to pick him up. I’d be too busy chasing after him to help load anything into anybody’s car.”
Paige understood, which was why her girls were at her parents’ house. “Girl, you just need to be bagging,” Paige said, looking down at Deborah’s stomach. “You don’t need to be carrying nobody’s anything anywhere.”
Deborah sucked her teeth. “Girl, I’m just a little bit pregnant. I’m going to do all that I can until I get big as a house. Then I’m going to let my husband cater to me like it’s the end of the world.”
Both women laughed.
“I know that’s right,” Paige said. “Milk it for all it’s worth.”
“Think I ain’t?” Deborah said. “Speak of the devil.” She looked over Paige’s shoulder.
Paige turned to see Deborah’s husband, Lynox, coming down the church basement stairs.
“There’s the hubby now,” Deborah said. “Come on, Tyson,” she said to her son, taking him by his hand and going to meet up with her husband of not even one year. “I’ll be back in a sec,” she said over her shoulder to Paige.
“All right, girl,” Paige said, heading over toward the mounds of produce in order to prepare to help box and bag it all. She grabbed a pair of plastic gloves and slid them on her hands, a step that was required of anyone who would be handling the food. She made sure her hands were well covered.
“Are you passing out cucumbers or preparing for brain surgery?” said a voice behind Paige.
A smile crept onto Paige’s face as she finished putting the gloves on. She didn’t even have to turn around to know that the voice belonged to none other than Ryan Coleman. But she wanted to turn around. His hypnotizing voice. His mahogany wood scent. If he still looked as good as he talked and smelled, she’d marry the man now!
“Hey there,” she greeted him as she turned. When her eyes landed on him, she tried to keep the pretty girl smile on her face, but her mouth wanted to drop to the floor, because he looked so good. His medium brown skin was silky smooth. He had dark brown eyes and a smooth bald head, and his goatee still had enough gray hairs to make it attractive. He stood almost six feet tall and had a nice build. Not too slinky, not too thick.
“Ms. Paige,” Ryan said. He extended both hands.
Paige placed each of her hands in his. He pulled her toward him slightly, then planted a kiss on each cheek. Paige blushed and looked around to see if anyone was watching them. She couldn’t hide her embarrassment.
“Uh-oh! Did I break carnal church rule number one and engage in public affection with a woman who is not my wife?” He looked up. “And right here in the Lord’s house?”
His sense of humor washed away any embarrassment Paige felt about him giving her a friendly little kiss on the cheek. Standing there, looking at him, with her hands in his, and observing the way he was looking at her, made her feel as though they were the only two people in the room.
“Unless you got a daddy who looks half as good as you, take that mess on somewhere else.”
Church mother Eleanor was obviously in the room with them as well.
“Mother Eleanor,” Paige said, immediately dropping her hands to her sides.
“If y’all don’t stop with that mother business,” the older woman complained, making a shooing motion with her hand. “I look so good, I don’t even allow my own daughter to call me Mother, and she came out of my butt.”
Ryan’s eyes bucked at the words that had just come out of Eleanor’s mouth.
Once again, Paige was embarrassed, but this time it was on behalf of the Christian standing next to them, with an unfiltered mouth. She tried to hurry up and get the situation under control before something else crazy came out of the woman’s mouth. “Speaking of your daughter, I ran into her the other day at the dance studio. My girls are taking dance class now.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot you married into that rich white family. Y’all’s the only kind of black folks who can afford all that dance business. If Lorain wasn’t married to a doctor, them twins would be right out somewhere cheering for the Linden Eagles, talking about, ‘U-g-l-y. You ain’t got no alibi. You ugly,’ just like all the other little black girls did when I was coming up.”
Ryan tried to cover his mouth but couldn’t contain his laughter.
Eleanor looked at him. “And who is this fine-looking young man?” She gave Ryan the once-over.
“This is my friend Ryan,” Paige said. “Ryan, this is Mother . . . I mean miss . . . ?” She looked at Eleanor to see if the latter was a better title.
Eleanor shook her head in the negative.
Paige tried again. “Uh, Sister Eleanor?”
“That’s it right there. People mistake me for Lorain’s sister all the time, so call me sister.”
“Ryan, this is Sister Eleanor,” Paige said, introducing the older woman.
Ryan slowly took Eleanor’s hands in his while staring into her eyes. “For a woman as fine as you, you don’t even need a title. God couldn’t come up with one for someone as unique as you, so why should man try?” He kissed her on the hand while still staring into her eyes. He then allowed her hands to slide out of his.
“Oh my,” Eleanor said, grabbing her chest. She then looked at Paige. “Girl, if he’s yours and you want to keep him, then you betta get him. Because once he gets a load of this seasoned woman, ’spite the age difference, he’s going to need Viagra.”
That was it. Paige couldn’t take it anymore. She had to get away from Eleanor. By getting Ryan to come help out at the church, she had hoped not only that she would get to see him again, but also that he might get ministered to and consider attending her nondenominational church. That he might like it so much that he would even start attending with her on the regular. But Eleanor was giving the saints a pretty bad name right now.
“Ryan, why don’t you come with me so I can show you how it’s done?” Paige said, taking him by the hand.
“Oh, I can show him how it’s done.” Eleanor ran her hands down her body.
“That won’t be necessary.” Paige pulled Ryan away.
“It was nice meeting you, Sister Eleanor,” Ryan called out as Paige darn near dragged him away.
Eleanor waved as they left her in the dust.
Just as soon as Paige got Ryan over in a corner, next to a mound of boxes, she asked him, “Why on earth would you egg that woman on?”
Ryan could hardly contain his laughter. “What? She’s just a harmless old woman.”
“There is nothing harmless about Mother Eleanor. Don’t let the gray hair fool ya,” Paige warned.
“Aw, you jealous of Madea over there?”
Paige snapped her neck back in shock, but then she couldn’t do anything but laugh at Ryan’s silliness. “Since when did you start going for Kevin Hart’s crown? I don’t remember you being this funny.”
“Well, discovering you have a tumor on your brain can make you begin to look at things differently. Look at life differently.”
“Tumor?” Thank goodness Paige didn’t have any of the produce in her hands, as it would have tumbled all over the floor. She was both shocked and disappointed. She and Ryan had talked a couple times before today, playing catch-up. Not once had he mentioned anything about a tumor.
“Yeah, it wasn’t that serious. It was benign. On the right side of my brain. On the surface. Three days i
n the hospital. Just like having a baby,” Ryan said, as if it were an everyday thing.
“You say it like a woman going to give birth,” Paige said. “It was brain surgery.”
“I know that, but it wasn’t in my brain tissue or anything. It’s what they call a meningioma tumor. It’s very common. Was ’bout the size of a grape.” He used his hands to demonstrate the size.
“Well, a grape inside your head is nothing to shake a stick at.”
“Could have been worse. Could have been the size of a golf ball. From the date the doctors found it to the date I had it removed, six months passed, and it hadn’t grown at all.”
“Jesus, you walked around with a grape in your head for six months after finding out about it.” Paige shook her head. “I couldn’t do it. That doctor would have needed to get that thing out of me quick, fast, and in a hurry.”
“Well, they grow pretty slow,” Brian told her. “Matter of fact, the doctor said some of his patients watch them for years and never end up having to get them removed. I figured I’d go ahead and do it while I was young and healthy. Three hours of surgery, three days in the hospital, a month recovering at home, and I was back to life as usual. On top of that, I was able to fit the surgery in around my schedule.”
“Once again, you act like a pregnant woman whose doctor lets her decide which date she wants the C-section.”
“Hey, with all these baby analogies, are you trying to tell me something?” He looked down at Paige’s belly.
She followed his eyes. “Oh, God, no.” She covered her belly with her hands. “I’m just saying, you had a brain tumor. That’s serious business. Anything could have happened. I mean . . .” Paige had to calm herself down at the thought that she might have lost Ryan during all the time she’d allowed to pass. Life was short. She’d learned that from losing Norman. She’d learned that when the threat of being HIV positive tested her faith. She’d fooled around long enough. She was not going to waste any more precious time playing games. The days of waiting around for so-called perfect timing were over. From here on out, everything would be about God’s timing and His will.
Paige said a silent prayer, thanking God for keeping Ryan through his ailment. For healing him. For preserving him just for her. She was not going to allow him to slip through her fingers again. This time they were going to make it work between them, no matter what or who tried to get in the way. No playing cat and mouse. No waiting for him to tell her he loved her first before expressing how she truly felt about him. No fear of rejection. Whatever emotions welled up inside of her, by God, she was going to let them loose. Including the one that was boiling up inside of her at that very moment.
Being a woman of her word, Paige walked as close to Ryan as she could, placed each of her hands flat on his cheeks, pulled him to her face, and planted a long, passionate kiss on his lips.
“Umpf, umpf, umpf.”
Both Paige and Ryan looked over to see Eleanor standing there with her hands on her hips, shaking her head.
“Look at ya,” she said to Paige. “Spitting on him like a sandwich you don’t want anybody to ask for a bite of. Selfish butt.” She rolled her eyes and walked away.
Paige chuckled at Eleanor’s comment then, looked into Ryan’s eyes. “She’s right, you know. I’m claiming my man. I’ve adored you from the moment I met you. There is no need to turn back the hands of time. We’ll just move forward.”
“I agree,” Ryan said. “I think we’ve had the longest ‘getting to know one another’ period in history. I know everything there is to know about you.” He looked her up and down until his eyes reached hers again. “And I like it all.”
Paige tucked her lips in and tried to control all the sensual emotions that were brewing inside of her, her desire for the only man she’d even thought about having a relationship with since Norman’s death. For the only man she’d allowed to touch her. For the only man she’d allowed into her heart completely.
“Let’s, uh, do what we came here to do and help serve this produce.” Paige wiped her clammy palms down her jeans.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Ryan said. “Where do I start?”
Paige was so mentally discombobulated that she had no idea where she and Ryan should start. But she had a pretty good idea where and how she wanted things to finish.
Chapter 14
“I got it! I got it!” Miss Nettie barged through Paige’s front door with pure excitement.
This was her and Paige’s third meeting in their attempt to get information on Miss Nettie’s child. They’d gotten much accomplished this last go-round. She hadn’t found out the name of her child, but she had found out the sex. It was a boy. Miss Nettie had a son, and she’d found proof that she was the woman who had given birth to the boy in question. Paige had helped her send off for information about the birth and what happened to the baby from that point on. They had had to reach out to the hospital for Miss Nettie’s records, because their Department of Vital Statistics search hadn’t fared well at all. They’d learned that there had been some complications, and that the baby had been taken from Miss Nettie by C-section. That explained a little about why Miss Nettie didn’t remember a whole lot about giving birth.
“Calm down, Miss Nettie,” Paige said, closing the door behind her. “You got what?”
After catching her breath, Miss Nettie spoke. “When I was leaving out the house, heading here to meet you, the mailman delivered this.” Miss Nettie was waving a white envelope as if it were a flag of surrender. She handed it to Paige.
“What is it?” Paige had a smile on her face purely because the one Miss Nettie was wearing was contagious.
“Open it on up and see, child.”
Paige pulled a letter out of the envelope. She unfolded it and started to read it. Miss Nettie spoke before she could even finish reading it.
“He got adopted out,” Miss Nettie said.
“I see,” Paige said as she finished reading the paper. “Guess we just have to find out who adopted him. If we can find that out, then—”
“A married couple took him in,” Miss Nettie said.
“How do you know that?”
“I called the number on that there letter to see if they could tell me anything else. They couldn’t tell me much. Said something about a closed adoption. The girl wasn’t supposed to tell me nothing else. But I shared some of my story with her. I told her how heavy it’s been on my heart lately, and that I just want to make things right. I at least wanted to know what happened to him. He could have been born dead, for all I knew. But he wasn’t. He was born alive and kicking.”
Paige walked over and put her hand on Miss Nettie’s shoulder. “Miss Nettie, you know I’m not one to pry,” Paige said sympathetically. “There are a lot of things in the past I would like to forget. And I do a pretty good job of sweeping it all under the rug when it’s convenient. But you best believe when I want to remember something, I can. So what I’m trying to say is—”
“How in the world can a mother forget about the birth of her own child?” Miss Nettie said, finishing the sentence for Paige. “Child, I was messed up mentally. I remember taking drugs . . . lots of drugs. Some I think that doctor might have prescribed for my head and emotions. Some I had no business with. I was doped up more often than not. Anything was better than reality. I just wanted to escape from it all. Forget my real miserable life ever existed. Suppose I succeeded.”
Paige saw the look of shame on Miss Nettie’s face. She hadn’t meant to make Miss Nettie feel bad; she just wanted some kind of understanding.
“I do remember being pregnant, though. Those few months, I can’t say I was fully clean and sober all the time, but I’m going to take a guess and say it was probably the most sober I’d been. Otherwise I wouldn’t have even been able to remember being pregnant.”
“Miss Nettie, I’m glad the woman was able to tell you that you gave birth to a living baby boy and that he was adopted out,” Paige said on a lighter note. “But you
do know that it’s been almost forty years since you gave birth.”
Miss Nettie got hyper. “Don’t you go trying to tell me anything could have happened to him. That he could be dead,” Miss Nettie snapped. “He’s alive. My boy is alive. I feel it in my bones. I know I ain’t felt much about him over the years, but God knows, I’m ready now. I’m ready to find my boy, come what may. Now, if you’re gonna get all Negative Nancy on me all of a sudden, I reckon I won’t be needing your help anymore.”
“No, Miss Nettie. It’s not that at all. I’m here for you. You know that. I just want to be realistic.”
Miss Nettie looked at Paige pleadingly. “You’re a mother. Some things you just know when it comes to your babies. Some things you just feel.” Miss Nettie placed her hands on her belly. “Am I right about it?”
Paige nodded.
“Well, God didn’t punish me by taking that feeling away. My boy is closer to me than I know it. Even though I wouldn’t know his face in a lineup, nor would he mine, I feel some strange connection to him. I’m getting close, Paige. I’m getting close. And I have you to thank for it.” Miss Nettie threw her arms around Paige.
“Oh, Miss Nettie,” Paige said, rubbing Miss Nettie’s back. “We’re going to find your son. The same way Oprah’s long-lost sister that was adopted out found her biological mother, we’re going to find your son. Where there is a will, there’s a way. And I think I just might know the way. Come on,” Paige said, taking Miss Nettie by the hand and heading toward the front door. She snatched up her purse along the way.
“Where are we going?” Miss Nettie asked, confused. “I thought we were going to go get on that computer of yours and find my boy.”
“Miss Nettie, we are going to do you one better. We are going to have your boy find you.”
“Ryan, I really appreciate you doing this for us last minute,” Paige said as she and Miss Nettie stood in one of the three studios located in his office.
When Paige and Miss Nettie had walked through the front door, the smell of new carpeting had greeted them. There were no markings on the eggshell-color walls, a clear sign that the recently leased office building had been updated for its new tenants.