Finding Mrs. Wright

by Sherri L. Lewis

  The silence was starting to wear on my nerves, so I turned the TV on. I flipped the channels until I got to ESPN and let some NFL commentary drone on to fill the awkward quietness.

  “Did you eat? Are you hungry?” Cassandra asked after about ten minutes.

  I shook my head. “I can’t eat anything.” I flipped a few channels and finally landed on CNN. Maybe seeing the horrible stuff going on in the world would take my mind off my own troubles. “Are you hungry? I can find you something to eat.”

  “I’m fine. I was finishing up a meal when Chuckie called me.”

  I wondered what made Chuckie call Cassandra anyway. I had told him she was refusing my calls. What would make him think I wanted her here?

  “You watching that?” she asked, gesturing toward the TV.

  “Not really.”

  She took the remote and turned the TV off. “Sorry about last week.”

  “Cassandra, I can’t deal with that right now.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I just wanted to say I was sorry. It’s just that . . . Sorry, never mind.”

  I picked up the remote and turned the TV back on. Maybe she’d get the hint and leave. Unfortunately, curiosity got the best of me. I guessed because she’d left me wondering all week. I picked up the remote and turned the TV back off. “It’s just that what?”

  “Devon, we don’t have to talk right now. It was insensitive of me to even bring it up. Sorry.”

  “Well, now that you brought it up, what were you going to say?”

  “Please, let’s talk about it later. We need to focus on Brianna right now.”

  “There’s nothing we can do about Brianna, and to be honest, sitting here with you not talking feels weird and uncomfortable. We might as well talk about it.”

  She flinched. “I don’t mean to make you feel weird and uncomfortable.” She reached down for her huge purse. “Do you want me to go?”

  I gently grabbed her wrist. “No, I don’t want you to go.” I looked into those big, pretty eyes. “Just like I didn’t want you to go last week.”

  Cassandra looked down at the floor. “I didn’t want to go last week but . . .” She let out a deep breath. “I don’t want to get hurt again, Devon. I can’t take it.” Strong, sassy Cassandra had the most vulnerable look on her face. It cut me.

  I took her hand. “Who said anything about you getting hurt? The last thing I want to do is to be the last man to hurt you.”

  She smiled a little at my joke. “I also don’t want to mess up again.” She finally looked up at me, but only for a second. “I messed up real bad with my last ex. I kept promising myself I wouldn’t, but I kept finding myself at his house, late at night and . . . you know. And even though I knew it was wrong, I kept doing it. I couldn’t seem to stop. I realized if a guy isn’t as serious about God as I am, it won’t work.”

  “So you decided I wasn’t as serious about God as you were? I mean, I know I’m new with this being close to God stuff, but you didn’t even give me a chance.”

  She squeezed my hand. “I know. And that’s not fair. Sorry.” She looked up at me and held my gaze for a while. Then she blushed a little and looked down at our hands. “But it really takes a lot to stay holy when you’re in a relationship. Especially with a fine specimen of a man such as yourself.”

  I had to chuckle. “Yeah, you’re pretty sexy yourself and it would take God to help me do this.” I got serious again. “But that’s the thing. I know I started coming to church for the wrong reasons, but now . . . me and God are cool. And I don’t mean cool like before. I mean real cool. Like we boys and stuff.”

  Cassandra smiled.

  “And even though I don’t understand why He would create someone like you and then expect me to look and don’t touch . . . I don’t know. I mean, I really don’t understand that. But today, when everything happened with Brianna, I prayed and I felt better. These past few weeks, I’ve been praying a lot and it helps. It’s something to know that I don’t have to fix everything and take care of everything and have the answer for everything. It’s like all this isn’t dependent on me, but it’s on Him. He’s got my back, so I don’t have to worry so much.”

  “Yeah. I hear you.”

  “Like stuff in the past that happened with Brianna and Shauntae, my stomach would be all jacked up and I would be all stressed out. And even though today has been rough, I’m calm. It’s like He’s got it. You know?’

  “I know, Devon. Trust me, I know.”

  “So if you know, why are you afraid of getting hurt? Why are you afraid of messing up? Can’t we just let Him handle everything with us?”

  She looked up at me and then a shocked smile spread across her face. She scooted closer to me and planted a soft kiss on my cheek. “Okay, Devon.”

  I put my arms around her and kissed her forehead. “Okay.”

  We sat back on the couch, my arms around her and her head nestled into my chest. Right then and there, smelling her peachy smell and feeling her body fitting perfectly next to mine, I decided that I wanted us to . . . be.

  I prayed a silent prayer. God, you got us, a’ight?

  We sat there for a while like that, not saying much of anything, when my cell phone rang. It was Shauntae. I sat straight up and answered the phone. “Shauntae, I’ve been trying to call you. Look, I have the money—”

  “Devon, something’s wrong with Brianna. She been sweating real hard and was all shaky and acting strange, and then she started talking funny and crying and now she won’t talk to me.”

  I jumped up from the couch. “Did you check her sugar? Call 911.” I put the phone on speaker so Cassandra could hear what was going on.

  “I can’t call 911. I’m not going to jail. Can’t you tell me what to do?”

  “Her sugar is probably low like I told you it would be. She said she had a juice box. Make her drink it.”

  “She’s not awake enough to drink a juice box. It’s like her eyes are rolling around in her head.”

  “Shauntae, call 911. Please. You won’t go to jail.”

  “Her whole body is shaking now. Like she caught a seizure or something. And she’s peeing on herself. Devon, tell me what to do.”

  Cassandra took the phone. “Shauntae, do have some syrup or some honey? Rub it on her lips and on her gums. You have to get her sugar up.”

  “Who is this? Miss Cassandra? What are you—”

  “Just do it!” I yelled into the phone. “Where are you? Shauntae, I swear if anything happens to Brianna, you won’t have to worry about jail. I will kill you. Do you understand? Are you somewhere where you can get syrup or honey?” I remembered what they had taught us in the diabetic education class. “Or cake icing. Anything really sweet.”

  “I’m at Sherece’s house and it’s a red velvet cake in the kitchen.”

  “Get some of the icing and rub it onto Brianna’s gums. As much as you can. But not too much because if she’s unconscious, you don’t want her to choke. Please, tell Sherece to call 911. They won’t put you in jail. We’ll tell them she just got diagnosed and we’re still learning. Okay? She has to get to the hospital.”

  “Sherece’s boyfriend got a warrant out on him. I can’t call 911. She don’t want no trouble.”

  “What does calling 911 for a health emergency have to do with a warrant?” I realized I was asking someone with no sense to make sense. “Shauntae, if you can’t call 911, then get in the car and drive Brianna to the hospital. Or tell the ambulance to meet you at the nearest grocery store or something. I swear if something happens—”

  “Stop threatening me. I’m trying.” Shauntae started crying.

  I suddenly remembered. “Wait a minute. Brianna has her emergency kit in her book bag. There’s a shot in there that will fix her sugar.” I described where the kit should be and where to find the shot in the kit. I tried to talk Shauntae through giving the shot but she wouldn’t stop crying, and she sounded like she was getting hysterical on me.

  Cassandra took the phone. “
Shauntae, where’s Sherece? Put her on the phone so she can give Brianna the shot.”

  After a few objections about how she couldn’t “stick nobody with no needle,” Sherece let Cassandra talk her through how to give the glucagon shot. “Sherece, please tell us where you are so we can come get Brianna. We won’t call 911; we just want to come get her.”

  “I don’t want no trouble. I live around the corner from Shauntae. I’ma take her back to her place and the amalance can come there.”

  I grabbed the phone back. “Thanks, Sherece. We’ll call 911 and they’ll meet you guys at Shauntae’s apartment. Thanks for everything. Thanks for helping my little girl.” I felt myself about to break down.

  Cassandra took the phone and squeezed my shoulder. She dialed 911 and I told them where to get Brianna. Then we called the police officer I had talked to earlier to let him know that Shauntae would be home soon.

  We got into Cassandra’s car, hoping to make it to Shauntae’s before the ambulance took Brianna to the hospital. I called Shauntae to tell her if they left before I got there, to call me and tell me which hospital to meet them at.

  Cassandra drove, and it was probably good because the only thing going through my mind was a thousand different ways that I could kill Shauntae when I saw her.

  Eighteen

  When we got to Shauntae’s apartment, there was no answer at the door. I knocked and banged but no answer. I dialed Shauntae’s cell but there was no answer.

  “What do you think happened? Do you think they’re still at Sherece’s house? Surely they would have gotten here by now.” I fired the questions at Cassandra, not really expecting her to answer, but more thinking out loud.

  I paced back and forth in front of the door, dialing over and over until finally my calls went straight to voice mail. So she was seeing my name and not answering on purpose and now she had turned the phone off. I cursed under my breath. I looked up at Cassandra. “Sorry.”

  “It’s a’ight, playa. I feel the same way right about now.”

  I finally thought to dial Brianna’s number. A male voice answered the phone. “Hello?”

  I was shocked for some man to be answering my daughter’s cell phone. “Hello, I’m trying to reach my daughter, Brianna.” I heard beeping sounds and someone giving medical commands.

  “Yes, I’m Mike Wallace, an EMT. We have her in an ambulance headed to Egleston. Her mother took off when the cops showed up at the apartment.”

  My eyes bugged out. “She left?”

  “Yeah, kept saying over and over that she wasn’t going to jail.”

  I shook myself. Forget about Shauntae. “How’s Brianna?” I gestured for Cassandra to head back to the car. We both got in.

  “She’s improving. She was unconscious when we first showed up but we’ve given her some dextrose—sugar water—and she’s come around. She’s gonna be fine. Sounds like she had a seizure before we arrived.”

  “I know. I was on the phone with her mother when it happened.” I covered the phone with my hand. “She’s on her way to Egleston.” Cassandra nodded and started up the car and turned in the direction of the hospital. “I can’t believe she left.”

  “She was pretty freaked out. Are you on your way to the hospital?”

  “Yeah, we’re right behind you. We’ll meet you in the emergency room.”

  We hung up and I sat there speechless for a second.

  “What’s going on? Shauntae left?” Cassandra asked.

  “Yeah, the cops came and she took off. Left her child with the EMTs. Can you believe that?”

  Cassandra took one hand off the steering wheel and put it on my arm. “Unfortunately, Devon, I can. It’s good, though. This is just what you need for custody. It’s a done deal now.”

  I nodded. “Yeah. She just put the nail in her coffin.” What kind of mother leaves her child in the back of an ambulance after she has a seizure? If nothing else could convince me that sex before marriage was a bad idea, having a child with the likes of Shauntae did.

  We pulled up at the hospital and Cassandra let me out at the emergency room and went to park the car. I rushed in and the clerk at the desk, who knew me by now, directed me to Brianna’s room. When I got there, she was awake and chatting away with the nurse.

  “Daddeeeee,” she cried out when I walked in the door. In a second, I was at her bedside with my arms around her.

  “Hey, baby girl.” I kissed her face a million times and then held her tight in my arms. “Daddy’s so sorry for what happened today.” I pulled back and looked her over. “You okay, now?”

  “Yes. I was a good girl and I did what you said. I didn’t eat any of the bad food Mama was trying to give me. I got real shaky and I drank my juice box like you said but it didn’t help. And then I ate a whole bunch of peppermint, but it didn’t help either. My head started hurting and then I think I fell asleep or something because when I woke up, the ambulance people were there.”

  “Slow down, Bree.” She was talking a mile a minute. So Brianna had received a huge dose of insulin and then refused to eat because of what happened last time when she ate the wrong foods. “Daddy is so glad that you kept your promise not to eat bad foods, but when your sugar is dropping, you can eat anything you want, okay?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Ugh, Daddy, make up your mind.”

  Me and the nurse in the room laughed. I held Brianna in my arms again, so glad she was okay. I let her go just as Cassandra walked into the room.

  Brianna’s eyes flew open and a huge grin broke out on her face. “Miss Cassandra, you’re here!” I moved out of the way so Cassandra could hug Brianna.

  She pulled back and looked at Brianna, then smoothed her hair. “Of course I’m here. Where else would I be?”

  “I thought you were mad at Daddy, so I didn’t think you’d want to come see me.”

  Cassandra put a hurt, shocked look on her face. “Now where’d you get such a silly idea?”

  “You acted like you didn’t like Daddy anymore. Like you didn’t want to be his friend.”

  Cassandra’s eyes widened and she looked at me. I shrugged.

  “So you like Daddy again?” Brianna asked the question like her life depended on it.

  Cassandra laughed and pinched Brianna’s cheek. “Yes, chickadee. I never stopped liking your daddy. We just had a little misunderstanding. But we had a good talk today and everything’s fine. Okay?”

  Brianna nodded. “Good. ’Cause that’s important.”

  Cassandra frowned. She looked at me, then looked at Brianna again. “Why is it so important?”

  Brianna looked at me and said, “I’m not allowed to tell you.”

  Cassandra’s frown remained. She looked at me as if to ask, “What is she talking about?”

  All I could do was close my eyes and shake my head. When I opened them and saw Cassandra had bent over to get something out of her purse, I gave Brianna a look that I hoped was as good as my mom’s stern, parental glare.

  “What can’t you tell me, sweetie?” Cassandra asked Brianna.

  As Brianna opened her mouth to answer, a police officer entered the room. “Mr. Wright?”

  I stood. “That’s me.”

  “I’m Officer Bragg. We spoke on the phone about your ex-wife.”

  I didn’t bother to correct him and reached out to shake his hand. “Oh, yes. Good to meet you. The EMTs told me that when you arrived Brianna’s mother left?”

  “That’s what they said. By the time we got into the apartment, only your daughter and the EMTs were there. Based on tonight’s events and what you told us about last weekend, we’ve issued a warrant on Ms. Randall. We’ll let you know when she’s arrested.”

  I led the officer out into the hallway so Brianna didn’t have to hear the rest of the conversation. As much as Shauntae had put her through, I didn’t want Brianna to hear a man in a police uniform talk about taking her mother to jail. The officer droned on about some paperwork that I needed to come down to the police station to file.
I could see Brianna’s mouth moving a mile a minute and I could only imagine what she was telling Cassandra. Officer Bragg finished his instructions and gave me a card. “So, I’ll see you soon?”

  “Yes, thanks for all your help.” I shook his hand and he left.

  When I walked back into the room, Brianna was telling Cassandra the same thing she told me when I first walked into the room. I hoped that was the scope of her conversation. Brianna looked up at me with fear in her eyes. “Is that the man that made Mama run away?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?’

  “When the ambulance people were working on me, Mama looked out the window and saw the bright lights. She said some really bad words and then ran in her bedroom and came out with a bag with clothes stuffed in it. She came back and told me that she had to go away for a very long time because some men were coming to take her away. She said she was sorry for making me sick and that it was best for her to go away so she didn’t ever hurt me no more. She was telling the ambulance guy she had to go because she wasn’t going to jail. And then she ran out the patio door.”

  Both my and Cassandra’s mouths were locked open.

  “She told me good-bye and that maybe someday when I was grown up, she might see me again.” Brianna had a fearful look in her eyes. “Does that mean my mama’s gone?”

  I sat on the side of the bed and took her in my arms. I didn’t say anything, just held her. I looked at Cassandra and she rubbed Brianna’s back while I held her. When I let her go, she looked at me, the question still in her eyes. “Is she, Daddy?”

  “I don’t know, baby girl. Sounds like it.” I had a horrible mix of emotions running through me. On the one hand, I wanted to jump and shout at the prospect of Shauntae being gone and no longer a threat to Brianna in any way. On the other hand, I couldn’t imagine what this would do to Brianna. As horrible as Shauntae was, she was still Brianna’s mother.

  Brianna started to cry. “I don’t got a mama no more.” She sobbed in my arms for a few minutes. All I could do was hold her and curse myself for making such a bad decision that could hurt her so bad. When I let her go, she crawled up into Cassandra’s lap and nestled into her chest. Cassandra held her and stroked her hair, kissing her forehead a couple of times.