“Yes. Then he started moaning and passed out.” He looked down at the comforter in his hand. “I had to move him a little so I could get the comforter around him.”
Calvin stirred. His eyes opened but he had difficulty focusing. His lips moved but no sound emerged. The muscles in his neck strained. Jaden realized that he was trying to raise his head, but his body was too weak to comply.
“We’ve got to get him to the hospital.”
“What do you think it is?”
“You’ll have to wait for the doctors to check him out.”
Jaden followed the team as they rolled Calvin to the top of the stairs on a stretcher and then lifted him down the stairs. Jaden wanted to help, but they efficiently managed without him.
He followed, taking the time to alert his parents.
Jaden sat with his parents in the hospital cafeteria. They each had a cup of coffee in front of them. The breakfast hours were nearly over and the facility emptied. The doctor’s prognosis was hard news to bear.
“We need to get a second opinion.” His father laid his palms flat against the table, his fingers splayed across the surface.
“Dad, there is no need for a second opinion. Calvin has alcohol poisoning and is lucky that he’s not dead. We know he has a problem. And on a good, coherent day, Calvin knows he has a problem. You are the only one who seems to look the other way. That’s not helping him.”
“Don’t disrespect your father. Calvin needs loving care. This is why I insist he come home.”
“You are not a professional, Mom. No offense.”
“Well, offense is taken because I’m his mother. I know Calvin. We don’t need an overpriced, over-educated professional to dig into his head and put all kinds of nonsense in there.”
His father rose and waited for his mother to stand next to him. “He’ll stay here for a few days. Then he comes home. We’re going to see him now.”
Jaden took the emphasis of “we” to mean that he was excluded.
“This might not have happened if he’d been staying with you,” his father accused.
Jaden kept his hands around the small coffee cup to keep warm against the frigid anger of his father. He knew that his parents hurt and he tried to keep that in mind as they looked for any place or person to hang their blame.
He waited half an hour before heading up to see his brother. As he walked the corridors, inhaling the strong, pungent aroma of disinfectant and human misery, fear matched his strides even as he walked more slowly when he entered the unit.
As big brother, the role of protector came naturally. Through high school and college, he responded to all of Calvin’s requests for help, no matter how insignificant. As they got older, the bond that he thought would tighten as they matured instead grew brittle.
Seeing the aftereffects of too much booze was a megaphone for how fragile life was. Jaden looked down at the figure bloated with shadows of his hardship. He gritted his teeth to hold on to his emotions, on the brink of unraveling. He couldn’t let his brother slip away any further.
“I’m a mess, aren’t I?” His brother’s voice sounded like sandpaper.
Jaden wiggled his eyebrows. His throat felt constricted.
“I pretended to be out of it when Mom and Dad were here.” Calvin closed his eyes. “I’ll do better when I’m out of here.” He pulled at his gown.
Jaden shook his head. “No, I don’t think you can. And this is too hard on them. I have to step up for you and their sake.”
“What?”
“When you leave here, you’re going straight into a rehab facility. You don’t have to worry about the expenses. We’ll find the right one for you.”
“I could be out as early as tomorrow.”
“We’ll manage.”
“No. I need time to think about this. Dad is going to help me.”
“He can’t.” Jaden took a deep breath to lower his voice. “Dad has his own medical issues to deal with. He’s a handful for Mom. What do you think you’ll do to her or them?”
“I don’t have to stay with them. I can stay with you.”
Jaden hated to see his brother’s increased agitation as his hands feverishly pulled at the covers. His forehead had a thin sheen of sweat.
Calvin put a hand over his face. He didn’t say anything for several long seconds. “I don’t believe this is happening.”
“Trust me.” Jaden’s entire body tensed for his brother’s response.
“Okay, I’ll go.”
Jaden clapped his hands. Overwhelming emotion swelled in his chest. He pressed his clasped hands to his lips. Gratitude poured out of him. Slowly a part of him that he didn’t even know he’d closed off relaxed, allowing in a ray of hope.
He left the room shortly after, heading to the nurses’ station to leave a message for the doctor. He’d need the doctor to give him twenty-four hours to find a facility. Once he had Calvin registered, then he’d tell his parents.
Jaden returned home to shower and take on his new project of finding a drug rehabilitation center. He called his doctor for referrals, used various search engines on the Internet and asked a few of his friends who may have had to use such a facility.
After making a short list and starting the interview process, he concluded that it was sad that so many treatment centers were needed in the first place. Finally he settled on one in Florida that catered to clients with deep pocketbooks. Maybe guilt led his decision, but he settled all the details over the phone.
Jaden decided to fly with him to the center, which arranged to have one of its attendants meet them at the airport when they arrived.
With the better part of the day complete, he rescheduled his upcoming meetings. He wondered if Denise was still in her office. That wasn’t the real issue. How much to tell her? What to tell her? These questions rumbled around in his mind looking for the right answers. She might not hold it against him, but her family would be mortified. His parents would have had a fit if he’d brought home a woman who had a close relative who was an addict.
Denise answered his call on the first ring. “Hey, I was thinking about you.”
“Same here. Busy?”
“Same thing, different day. How about yourself? You sound kind of tired.”
“Dealing with the family. As a matter of fact, I’m heading out of town tomorrow.”
“I don’t have any events where you can pop up and surprise me.” Her voice was warm and inviting.
Jaden shared a laugh. “I’ll be gone for a couple of days. I’ll call you.”
“Sure.”
He detected a slight hesitation.
Jaden hung up, not pleased with the way he’d handled the call. Now she was probably suspicious and angry when there was no cause for her concern. He’d handle one crisis at a time. Right now he had to focus on Calvin.
When he got back, he’d turn his attention to Denise. It was a promise.
Chapter 7
“It’s raining.” Denise complained to no avail. Athena and Asia wore one of their few identical outfits, a slate-gray exercise suit. Denise dragged herself around the house as she located socks and then tennis shoes.
“The time doesn’t start until we’re at the track. You can stop dawdling.” Athena sat on the edge of the chair’s arm in Denise’s bedroom. Denise made quite a sexy picture in her powder-blue-and-white sweatsuit.
Denise looked at her reflection, swearing that her hips had doubled since the last time she weighed. Not being able to fit into her favorite pair of jeans provided enough motivation to join Asia and Athena’s training workout. However, her plan was to stay safely in a gym riding a bike while chatting about the latest celebrity gossip. Instead, her girls had her running outside.
They got in the car and drove to a nearby college stadium and track. “Are you going to get out of the car today?” Asia asked.
“I’m not really feeling like it today. I change my mind.”
“Oh, no, you don’t. You get mopey every time that Jaden
doesn’t call you or goes away.”
“I do not. No man is going to control my emotions like that.”
“When love is involved you don’t have any control over your emotions,” Athena chimed in.
“Um…and what would you know about that?” Denise turned to glare at Athena in the backseat. Her soror had her pick of the hunky college guys. Now she barely dated. The second that a guy got too attached or clingy, they all knew that he was a goner.
“I’m getting out to run. It’s a light rain.” Asia stepped out wearing her poncho. She pulled up the hood and headed to the track.
“How could you have a sister who doesn’t care about her hair? What grown African-American woman would allow her hair to get wet in a downpour?”
“Her new braids will survive it. And Asia has become the health nut, way more than I ever did. Everything is organic and vegetarian. She said that she’s going natural. And she doesn’t even shave her legs anymore.”
“Sounds like she needs an intervention. I hope she’s shaving her underarms.”
“Can’t promise.”
“I hope she’ll find a man who can see past the ‘natural’ bushiness to appreciate her inner beauty.”
There was dead silence, then both women laughed heartily.
“Let’s go before she makes us do extra laps.”
“I’m only running the stadium stairs once.” Denise looked up at the daunting height of the stadium seats rising sharply into the air. Going up the narrow steps was difficult, but coming down was worse. She felt like a mountain goat without the sure-footedness.
The three women jogged around the track. Conversation peaked and died as they passed the one-mile mark for the third time. No one else joined them as they progressed through the exercise regimen.
“Time for the stairs.” Asia jogged off toward the stadium, leaving her two running partners.
Denise felt as if a lung would pop out. She had no energy to get up the stairs. While Asia ran ahead, she leaned over and placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath.
“What a bunch of freakin’ losers!”
Denise shot upright. Her face broke into a wide grin. “Naomi!” She ran to her soror, who was also in her running gear but without a poncho.
“Let’s walk up halfway so I can talk to you,” Denise bargained.
“Sure.” Naomi turned to Athena, who had waited for Denise. “What’s up, girl?”
“I’ve been cool. Good to see you.”
Denise saved her breath to conquer the stairs. Even though she walked up the steps, which was the only way for her to surmount them, she would come down much more quickly.
At the top they each took a seat. The rain had stopped. Up there the wind blew away the humidity. Denise peeled off her poncho, followed by her line sisters. The world below appeared so small.
“I’ve missed everyone.”
“We’ve missed you, too,” Asia said.
“Have you heard that Sara has set the date?” Denise filled her in.
“No, I missed that. Are we going to do something?” Naomi rubbed her ankle.
“What are your schedules like? You know she’ll try to do things on her own,” Athena remarked.
“I’m free this weekend if she wants to go look at stuff.”
“Where’s your man?” Naomi asked.
“Please don’t ask her anything about Jaden or she’ll go into her funk.” Asia rolled her eyes.
Denise took the teasing as a sign for her to begin to descend the steps. She didn’t respond as they continued to talk about her and Jaden.
Sara had found her true love and her life had been transformed. Denise wasn’t looking for transformation or a makeover. She wasn’t even looking for love, or was she prepared to admit to finding it.
Naomi placed her arm around her shoulder. “Are you cool on all fronts?”
Denise wasn’t sure what she referred to. But one look at her face and the sweet concern that was shared between friends and she understood. “I’m fine. Look at me, don’t I look fine?” Her defenses were too fragile to withstand Naomi’s kindness. It took sheer willpower to keep her tears hidden. She was determined to work on this problem herself. She’d already dragged everyone into her life by borrowing money. This stuff she’d keep to herself.
“The girls filled me in on what happened at the fund-raiser.”
“Good grief. You all are a trip. You act as if you live these perfect lives.” Her agitation brought silence over the group. She kept her eyes focused forward. She was embarrassed and couldn’t handle looking at them and seeing pity, accusation and maybe anger.
“We don’t hide things from each other,” Asia said.
“But you don’t have to keep waving a flag like it’s something that defines me.”
“You take ownership of your vice and then you can control it.” Naomi took her hand.
Denise snatched her hand back. She bit back the caustic remark that she wanted to fling back at Naomi for turning the spotlight on her problem.
“Now isn’t the time.” Athena patted her knee. “Has anyone spoken to Sara lately?”
“Let’s call her.” Asia pulled out her cell phone. They leaned against the cars, cooling down before heading back home.
Denise listened to Asia pull the necessary information out of Sara. She was going to look at two venues.
“I’m in. Anyone else?” Athena looked pointedly at Naomi.
“I can make it,” Naomi answered, but her face revealed that she wasn’t sure if she would.
“Let’s meet over at Sara’s by one o’clock.”
They agreed before departing from the parking lot.
Denise took her shower before checking her messages. She listened to the answering machine, waiting for his voice. Nothing. He hadn’t called her. When the phone did ring, she grabbed it, greeting the caller with a natural exuberance.
“Denise, I’ve been trying to reach you. I have the guest list, but we need to discuss a few things. Meet me at Mom and Dad’s tomorrow. Five o’clock works for me.”
“Fine, Thea.” Denise automatically wanted to be difficult and disagreeable, but common sense prevailed. “I’ll meet you there.”
“Remember that we’re not going to talk about Uncle Floyd.”
“Bye.” Denise hung up. She wasn’t budging from her position that Floyd wasn’t coming to her parents’ anniversary celebration.
She finished dressing and headed over to Sara’s. As she pulled into a parking spot, Asia arrived. Athena followed, with Naomi sitting beside her. Right on time, Sara exited from her house and walked over to their cars.
“Are we taking one car?” Sara asked.
“Denise’s is the one with the most room.”
“Her SUV will work but she’s not the best driver.” Athena entered Denise’s car to sit in the backseat. “I don’t need to see the moment of impact.”
“Shut up. Get in or get left.” Denise revved the engine, enjoying seeing them scramble into her car.
The first destination was two florists that specialized in weddings. Their group descended on each business in noisy fashion, blowing past their affected, sophisticated atmosphere. No one could contain their good mood.
“I’m not trying to spend a gazillion dollars.” Sara’s frowned deepened as her finger trailed down the prices in the catalog.
“Price shouldn’t matter at a special time like this,” the saleswoman said. “You want to look sophisticated and romantic. This is the display that you could have, and then you could go with this beautiful bouquet with crisp white roses in the center, and blossoms on the outer edge that have a soft, barely visible touch of red on the tips of the petals.”
“Sounds fantastic.” Athena held up the sample, pretending that she was a bride.
“Here, let me see.” Asia took the bouquet from her sister.
“What do you think?” Sara turned to ask Denise.
Denise nodded. Sara could trust her to be truthful and understand her tast
es. The saleslady may have been a snob but she knew her business. Denise had to agree that the flowers would help transform the wedding. They told the florist they’d be back once they had picked the reception site.
Most of the other details were handled, except for the place for the reception. They drove to various hotels and facilities advertising for such events. Some had an annoying cheesiness that made her do a U-turn in the parking lot and head for the next one on the list.
“After this, I want to stop for food. I’m starving,” Naomi declared with major irritation.
Denise looked over at Sara. “Do you have to get back?”
“No. Jackson is busy picking out tuxes. Preparing a wedding, especially on short notice, is tiring.”
“Stop trying to do everything. We’re here to help you. And you know that I have your back.” Denise always had to prod Sara to give up control. But she didn’t want to see her friend wear herself to the point of exhaustion when they were all here to help. “I know that you’ll have a beautiful, memorable wedding.”
“Hear! Hear!” The chorus of agreement filled the car as they all yelled.
“Okay, where is this place? I feel like we’ve driven into Canada by now.” Naomi groaned in the back. “My legs are almost in my chest.”
Sara pulled out the directions. “From what I’ve read, we should be there in another fifteen minutes.” She looked out the window. “We certainly are in farm country.”
“Who recommended this place?”
“One of Jackson’s business partners told him about it.”
“Oh, I think we’re here.” Denise turned down an unpaved road that cut through two large fields. The car crunched against the gravel following the tracks. Then it veered sharply to the right through a wide gateway. The rough gravel gave way to a stone driveway with a large, country manor–style house at its end.
“I feel like we’re on a British country estate.” Sara opened her window and peered outside.
“Stop the car.” Athena tapped the back of Denise’s seat.
Denise didn’t argue, since she wanted the chance to get out and explore. The parking lot had a few cars, but it didn’t alter the charming surroundings.
Gamble on Love Page 12