by Jamilia Fair
I look up to see her staring at something behind me, so I turn around, only to see another group of paramedics rushing through the doors with what looked like a woman on a gurney. She had dark hair, dark brown skin and was covered in blood.
"Oh, dear God," Janice gasps.
As I look closer, I realize that the woman looks familiar, but I can’t place her face because it is covered in blood, but still, she looks familiar.
"Keisha Ward! Twenty-nine years old, 5’8”, weighing in at one hundred and forty pounds! Gunshot wound to the chest!"
"Keisha!" I take off down the hall after them. "Keisha!"
"Sir—"
"I'm her brother-in-law," I snap as I move to stand beside the gurney. "What the hell happened?"
She stares up at me but doesn't say anything.
"Someone shot her in an attempt to rob a grocery store," one of the paramedics answers my question.
"Is she going to be all right? She has two children who need her." I turn to the man who had spoken first.
"I don't know."
"Jer… Jer…"
I turn back to her. "Shhh, save your energy, Keisha. You're going to need it for when you get better." I cup her cheek. "Melissa and Jake are going to need you."
"Jake. Jake… he's not just… he’s…" She starts coughing up blood.
"Sir, we have to move," the paramedics says.
"No, wait," Keisha says, then reaches out to take my hand. "Jake. He's going to need you. He's… he's going to need his father."
"We have to go," says the paramedic guy before they rush down the hall and through the double doors, leaving me staring after them in complete and utter shock.
He's going to need his father. He's going to need his father. He's going to need his father.
Past
Tabitha
(14)
"What do you mean I'm staying here?" I hiss, glaring up at Jeremiah.
"You're not well enough, yet, to be going anywhere, Tabitha."
I groan. "I've been cooped up in this house for an entire week, Jeremiah. If I don't get out and get some fresh air, I'm going to die."
I watch his face twist up in pain before it disappears. It's been almost a week and a half since I was released from the hospital and since Jeremiah insisted that I move in with him. When he found out that someone had poisoned me, he flipped his lid. I've never seen someone so angry or red in the face before. He looked ready to kill someone, and I'm sure if I had not asked him to stay with me that first night, he would have gone out and done something reckless.
Taking a deep breath, I close the space between us and take his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me. "I know you're worried about me, but I'm fine. Really."
He lowers his forehead to mine. "The last time you said that I almost lost you." He breathes and wraps his fingers around my waist. "I can't risk that again. I won't."
"Then I'll stick to you like glue. Wherever you go, I go, and vice versa."
His eyes drift close. "Don't say that if you don't really mean it."
"But I do mean it, Jer. If having me around, in your sight, puts your mind at ease, then I will stay with you at all times."
He opens his eyes. "Even during my three hour long meetings?"
I nod. "Even through your three hour long meetings."
"What about my late nights at work?"
"Give me a well-written book to read and I'm all set."
His arms circle around me, drawing me closer. "And my trips in and out of the shower."
Smiling, I wrap my arms around his neck. "Well, I did say I'd go wherever you go."
"In that case, why don't you join me for a shower now?" he suggests.
"What about meeting Jake and the caseworker at my mother’s diner?"
Leaning down slightly, he cups the curve of my ass and lifts me off solid ground, wrapping my legs around his waist. "I'll call and have it pushed back an hour."
I shake my head. "Jeremiah, no."
"Why not? I really want you right now."
Cupping his face, I force him to look up at me. "I know, but your son is more important right now. I won't let you push this meeting back just to satisfy your manly needs."
He ducks his face into the nape of my neck and growls. "You can really be a pain in my ass sometimes, you know that?"
I laugh. "Yes, I do. Now put me down and let’s go."
"Damn, you're bossy," he says, grabbing my coat for me.
"Thank you." I slip my arms into my coat and turn to him. "Now, let’s go meet your son."
"I've already met him, Tabitha," he says as I help him into his coat. "Thank you."
He turns to me. "That's true, but this is your first time meeting him as your son."
In all the time that I've known Jeremiah, I've never seen him so anxious before. Well, except for that time he waited outside my house for me. His right leg was shaking like crazy. So, I reach down and place my hand on his thigh and he stiffens.
"Jer, calm down. You're going to give yourself a heart attack."
He turns his head to meet my gaze. "I'm sorry. I'm just nervous about seeing him."
"I know, but everything is going to be fine."
"What if he hates me? What if he blames me for not being around? What if—"
I place a hand over his mouth to shut him up. "What if he loves you? What if he doesn't blame you? What if he just wants his father to hold him after just losing his mother?" I slowly drop my hand. "He will not hate you. He will not blame you. You should give him a little more credit than you are giving him. He's five years old and he and his sister just lost their mother. I think the only thing that will be going through his mind are memories of his mother and what it's going to be like to have a dad."
"How can you be so sure?" he questions. "What if I'm a horrible dad?
"Despite how much of a pain in the ass you can be, you are also very caring and gentle when you want to be. And as far as you being a horrible dad, well, that's not possible." I lift a hand to rest on his cheek. "You're already being a great father."
"How?" his brows furrowed in confusion.
"By being here. You could have told the social worker you didn't want to meet and to give Jake to another family, but you didn't. You chose to step up and be a father to your son." I smile up at him. "And I will always respect you for that. We are going to get through this."
He lifts his hand and cups my cheeks. "When you say things like 'we', I have to touch you to remind myself that you're real. You sometimes seem too good to be real."
"I am definitely real, Jer."
Just then, a woman dressed in black slacks, a red silk blouse and matching flats walks into the diner. Looking at her, she reminds me of an older version of Emma Stone. She's beautiful. My gaze then falls onto the little boy at her side and I couldn't stop my jaw from hitting the table if I wanted to. He looks exactly like Jeremiah. From his dark curls and green eyes, all the way down to his sun-kissed skin. Don’t get me wrong, he looks like Keisha, too, but he has Jeremiah stamped all over him.
“Oh my God." I turn to look at Jeremiah. "He looks exactly like you, Jer."
He turns his head to meet my gaze. "You really think so?"
I nod.
He smiles, then places a quick kiss to my lips before turning his attention back toward his son. "Ms. Johnson, over here." He stands to his feet to wave them over.
Smiling, she reaches down and takes Jake's hand and they cross the diner toward us. "Mr. Keegan, thank you for meeting me," she smiles. "Have a seat, sweetie," she tells Jake.
"Thank you for asking. Ms. Johnson, this is my girlfriend, Tabitha Davenport," he says, introducing us. "Tabitha, this is Angela Johnson."
I stretch my hand out to her. "Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you, Angela. Thank you, again, for setting up this meeting."
She smiles. "It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Tabitha. And it's always a pleasure to bring people together.”
With a smile, I turn my attention back
to Jake. I can't look away from the beautiful little boy and neither can Jeremiah. He looks so much like this man it's scary.
"Hello, Jake," I find myself blurting.
He looks up from the table and meets my gaze, but he doesn't say anything.
"My name is Tabitha. It's nice to meet you." I stretch a hand out to him.
He stares at it for a long moment before slowly lifting his hand from beneath the table and grasping my hand in his tiny one. "Hi."
He sounds so damn cute!
"Wow. You have a hard grip there, little man." I slowly draw my hand back. "You almost broke the bones in my hand."
That got a smile out of him. "I did?" he questions.
I nod and lift my hand for him to see. "You see that right there?" I ask, pointing at an old scar that sat in the middle of my hand. "It's already starting to scar up."
I watch his smile widen as he sits up straight in the booth. "Mommy said I'm strong," he says proudly.
"Mommy was right. You're probably stronger than Captain America."
His eyes widen. "You know Captain America?"
I nod. "Of course, We're like the best of friends. If you want, I could call him and ask him to come over sometime."
"Really?" he all but roars.
"Really." I chuckle. "I just have to make sure he's not busy saving the world."
"Awesome!"
Angela chuckles from beside him. "You're good with him," she says, looking at me.
"She's right. You're a natural," Jeremiah says, staring at me with a smile on his lips.
"I've always been good with children. It's like second nature."
"Do you have any of your own?" Angela questions.
I shake my head. "No, I don't."
"Do the two of you plan on having any?" Angela questions with a smile.
I look to Jeremiah. "Um, Jeremiah and I haven't really—"
"We haven't discussed that yet, but I'm not ruling it out," he says, his gaze never leaving mine.
I tilt my head to the side in a bit of shock. "Well, I think you're going to make an amazing mother one day," Angela says.
I smile. "Thank you."
It wasn't long after that I looked out the window and notice a young girl sitting in a black Kia Optima, staring directly at me. Her arms are folded on top of the window sill, her chin resting on her forearms, and her eyes are glued to my face. She has this blank look on her face that makes me want to know what's going through her mind right now. From where I'm sitting, I can see that she has dark skin, almond-shaped eyes, full lips, a small nose and a heart shaped face. She is beautiful, and she looks like her mother.
"Angela? Who is that young girl sitting in your car?" I don't bother to turn to her for an answer.
"Oh, that's Melissa. She's Jacob's older sister," I hear her say.
"Why is she sitting in the car and not in here?" Jeremiah inquires.
"I'm not sure. I invited her in with us so she could eat something, but she insisted on staying in the car for the duration of this visit," Angela says.
After a moment, I turn to Angela just in time for my mother to place my burger and fries down in front of me. "Thanks, momma." I smile at her, then look to Angela. "Do you mind if I talk to her? Maybe I can get her to come inside or take her something to eat."
"Sure. I hope you have better luck than I did," she says with a sad smile. "Poor girl barely eats anything. She barely even speaks.”
I pick up my burger and fries and push to my feet. "I'll be right back." I walk around Jeremiah, cross the diner and head outside.
Our eyes meet again as I cross the lot towards her. She is no longer resting her chin on her forearms and the look on her face is no longer blank, but a mixture of startled and sad. As I grow closer, I take notice at how insanely alike she and her mother look. Like Jacob is to Jeremiah, Melissa is the exact replica of her mother. It truly is scary.
"Hello." I stop maybe three feet from the car. "I was told that you haven't eaten today and thought I'd bring you out a plate."
Her eyes lock on the plate in my hand. She slowly licks the bottom of her lips for several seconds before they meet my gaze once again. She doesn't say anything. She just sits there staring at me with another blank look on her face.
"I can tell that you're hungry." I step closer to the car. "Please, you should eat."
She looks at me, then at the plate before reaching for it. "Thank you," she says softly.
I smile. "You’re welcome." I fold my arms across my chest and watch her take her first bite of the burger. "My name's Tabitha, by the way."
She doesn't say anything for a moment. Her mouth is full of food. But once she's done chewing, she lifts her head to look at me. "I'm Melissa."
"It's nice to meet you, Melissa." I move in closer until I'm leaning against the car. "I know this may be a stupid question, but how are you holding up?"
Placing her burger back onto the plate, she looks up at me. Her face is hard, but her eyes are filled with unshed tears. "I miss her." Her voice cracks at the end. "I miss her smile, her laugh and I miss hearing her tell Jacob and I she loves us."
I reach into the car and wipe away her fallen tears. "Oh, sweetie, I know."
She shakes her head. "It's not fair. It's not fair that she was taken from us and we have to live without her." She stares up at me and I can see her heart breaking in her eyes. "What are we supposed to do without her?"
Stepping back, I quickly pull open her door. I place her burger and fries onto the dashboard, then pull her into my arms. She quickly wraps her arms around my middle and buries her face into my shirt and I hug her closer. My heart goes out to her and her little brother. Losing a parent at such young ages is never easy. The hardest thing is waking up the very next day thinking it was all just some nightmare, only to be hit with the harsh reality that they are really gone. Forever.
"I know it's hard and that it seems like you will never recover from this, but," I draw back and cup her face, tilting her head back so that I can stare into her brown eyes, "it will get easier, and the pain will become less and less painful. You just have to allow yourself the time to grieve and not push people away."
She tilts her head slightly. "You sound like you know from experience."
"My parents died when I was five. I was at school when it happened and when my aunt and uncle told me."
Her eyes widen. "What happened?"
"A man and woman tried to rob them, but my parents fought back. That angered them and so they shot them both and left them to die."
My chest tightens as I remember that day at school. I can still remember the look on their faces when I walked into the front office. The look on their face told me that something bad had happened and at the age of five, I never would have thought it could have been as bad as it was. I'd thought they were going to tell me I couldn't go to the movies with Mom and Dad. Never did I think they were going to tell me that my parents had been killed and that I would never see them again.
"Did they ever catch them?"
I nod. "Yes, they did."
"How did you deal with it? How did you get through it?"
I smile at her. "My aunt and uncle. They took me in and they cared for me and loved me like I was their own, and in a way, I was. They never made me feel like I didn't belong or like I was this broken child without parents." I caress her cheek with my thumb. "At the age of nine, I started calling them mom and dad and I have ever since."
"You were lucky to have them, to have family willing to take you in." Her head dips slightly.
I lift her head. "Yes, I still am, but that doesn't mean you can't have the same thing."
"My aunt won't take us. Jake will go with Jeremiah." She makes a face when she says his name. "And I will be put into the system until I'm eighteen."
I shake my head. "No, you're not."
"How do you know that?"
Instead of answering her question, I ask another. "How would you feel about staying with your brother, with Jeremiah?
"
I can tell by the look on her face that she isn't fond of Jeremiah. Her lips are curled up and her eyes are a bit narrow and her left brow is disappearing into her hairline as she looks towards the diner.
"Look, I know you don't like him, but I also know that your love for your brother is a lot stronger than your dislike for Jeremiah." I move my hands to rest on her shoulders. "If I can keep you and your brother from being separated, then I'm going to do just that."
She tears her gaze from the diner and looks at me. "Why are you doing this? You don't even know us. So, why are you so willing to help us, to help me?"
I smile at her. "Because I know what it's like to lose someone you love and because I could have easily been you. If my parents had not stepped up and taken me in, I could have been raised by strangers."
She looks down at her hands, then at me again. "So, you're not doing this because you feel sorry for me or because you see me as a charity case?"
I shake my head. "Heavens no. You are not a charity case, Melissa, not to me."
After a moment of silence, she finally speaks. "Will you be there?"
I nod. "Yes. As long as Jeremiah and I are together, but even if we aren't together, I will always be around."
She manages to smile. "All right, I'll stay, but only if you're staying."
I look back at the diner, then her again. "Great. Just let me go and speak with Jeremiah and Angela and get all this straightened out." I lean in and kiss her hair. "I'll be right back. Finish your burgers and fries. Well, not the fries, they're not all that good cold." I quickly turn around and make my way towards the diner.
"Okay," she laughs.
"Great. Sit tight."
Past
Tabitha
(15)
Stepping out onto the porch with a hot cup of tea, the floorboards warm beneath my bare feet, I lean against the railing. The sun is high in the sky and the air's very warm. The smell of trees and acorns, the smell of nature, wrap around me like a warm blanket. It's just so beautiful out here. Red and yellow dahlia flowers sprout amid the wild grass in what I call my Dahlia Flower Bed that's surrounded by large stone rocks.
