CITY OF CHAMPIONS
A GATEWAY TO LOVE NOVEL
CHLOE T. BARLOW
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Sneak Peek of Book 3: A Steel Town
Connecting with Chloe
Dedication and Acknowledgements
Soundtrack
About Chloe T. Barlow
Copyright
PROLOGUE
"Baby girl."
"Yes, Daddy?" Jenna asked, looking up at her father's face. She forced herself to smile at him as big as she could — a grin so wide it made her ears hurt.
She knew he was sad — had been for a long time now. Her biggest smile always made him happier. Yet it didn't work this time. He didn't pick her up and swing her around. He didn't tell her he loved her.
No — instead, he put his hand out to her and said, "I need you to come with me."
There were tears in his light blue eyes. That was the only feature they clearly shared, because every other part of her was all her momma's.
"Why, Daddy?"
He paused and swallowed roughly and Jenna swung her legs underneath her chair as the rush of fear hit her.
"Because, it's time to say good-bye."
His hand hovered near hers, waiting for her to take it. She loved holding her daddy's hand, it was always so big and rough, just like the footballs that were scattered everywhere around their yard at home. Yet, as much as she wanted to reach for him, Jenna didn't budge.
She felt her smile curl into itself, twisting into a nasty frown. Her stomach turned over so many times she thought she may get sick, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find her words.
"Jenna?"
"I don't want to, Daddy," she finally whispered, looking down at her lap.
He crouched down in front of her and stroked her hair with one hand, while the other rested on his knee, clutched into a tight ball.
"I know," he said to her softly, his voice cracking around the words.
Jenna kept looking down, focusing on the gray linoleum floor beneath them. Maybe if she never looked up again she wouldn't have to stand up and say good-bye. Maybe everything would go back to the way it had been before.
She swallowed around the fist squeezing at her throat and picked at the golden hair of the dolly her mother had given her on her birthday the last spring. That had been right before she'd gotten so tired all the time — back when everyone was still happy and Jenna got to be at home with both her momma and daddy every day.
But then her momma started to feel really poorly until she couldn't get out of bed at all. The days became a blur of doctor visits and grown-ups talking in hushed, worried tones.
One person after another would stop by the house with a casserole or fried chicken. Sometimes they had a new toy for Jenna, but she never wanted to play with them. She would rather sit in the corner quietly holding her dolly until everyone went away again.
Momma and Daddy had just looked so scared all the time, and people kept coming by with sad words and tears. Then one day Daddy had said they all needed to go to Atlanta to be with Grandma, so Momma could go to the big hospital for a long time.
It was almost Christmas and her mother was worse than she'd ever been. Daddy said Momma had gotten a bug. It had made her really sick because she was so weak already. Jenna was starting to get worried they'd never get to go back home.
"Daddy, I want to stay here," Jenna said. She thought maybe if she could hold onto the perfect little doll from her mother and never look up, then maybe the bad dream would end and everything would be better.
It seemed like their whole world had been bad since Momma had gotten sick. Even though Jenna was still little, she understood life might never be okay for them — not ever again.
"Jenna," her father whispered again, sliding his hand to her chin and tilting Jenna's face up to look into his eyes, "we need to go."
"No, Daddy, I won't do it," she said, shaking her face out of his hand.
"Baby girl, please," he pleaded gently, smoothing out the skirt of her brand-new fancy, crinkly dress that Grandma had made her wear.
She just kept whispering, "No, Daddy, no, Daddy," over and over again, as the perfectly curled ringlets her grandma had painstakingly forced her hair into were hitting her wet cheeks with each increasingly violent turn of her head. The stiff lace of the dress — along with the multiple Band-Aids Grandma had used to cover Jenna's always-skinned knees — made sitting in her plastic chair uncomfortable. Even so, Jenna wouldn't move from her seat.
She knew her grandma could hear her — almost feeling the heat of her disapproving glare through the back of her head — and it made Jenna nervous for a moment.
Grandma probably thought she was being rude enough to warrant a switch across her rear end. Even though she'd never actually followed through on this repeated threat, the words always made Jenna behave, just the same. Even so, no matter how scared that woman made her, she couldn't get up — her body was glued to its spot.
All she could do was look down again and whisper, "I don't want to say good-bye, Daddy. I'm not ready."
She wanted to stay seated in an ugly chair in that enormous Atlanta hospital with her favorite dolly. If she were just patient enough, Momma would get better. Then they would all go home and they could spend Christmas together. As long as they didn't give up, then they wouldn't ever have to say good-bye to her.
Jenna felt her father's large, warm hands wipe away the hot tears that wouldn't stop streaming from her eyes, until he finally turned up her face to make her look at him again.
"I don't want to say good-bye, either, baby girl, but your momma asked us to, and you know I can't ever say no to her. Will you please come with me so I can be strong enough to do it? I need you to be there with me, Jenna."
"You do?" she asked through sniffles, confusion filling her brain. "But you don't need anyone, Daddy."
"Everybody needs someone, baby girl, and your mother and I need you."
She looked up into her daddy's watery blue eyes and felt her spine stiffen. Wiping the backs of her hands roughly across her tearstained cheeks, she breathed deeply and slid from her chair. She stood to her fullest height — already impressive for a girl that was only six-years-old — and held her head up proudly.
Jenna knew she could be a big girl — if even for just a couple of hours.
Her father put out his hand to her again, and this time, she slid her much smaller one into his.
"I'll help you, Daddy."
"Of course you will, baby girl. I knew you would."
They began walking together, but Jenna stopped short and turned to Auntie Cheryl, her mother's best friend. Even though she wasn't a blood relative, to Jenna she'd always been family. She looked so sad, too, with tears streaming down her pretty, dark cocoa skin as she leaned against the wall, watching them.
Jenna wanted so badly to make her feel better, but her hands were full. She looked down at her pretty, blonde dolly, with its soft smile and happy face. As much as she wanted to hold her little doll, she knew there was no time for playing anymore, not with so much else for her to do. So
Jenna placed her doll down on her now empty seat and held her hand up to Cheryl, so they could see her mother together.
"Auntie Cheryl, will you please come with us, too?"
"Are you sure, honey?"
"Mm-hmm. Momma needs you. We need you, too. Don't we, Daddy?"
"We sure do."
Jenna didn't move her hand until Cheryl took it into hers and held it tightly.
"So now we go and say good-bye?" Jenna asked Cheryl softly. Cheryl nodded, choking back a harsh cry.
"That's right, honey, you know your momma hates to wait, right?" Cheryl asked, with a squeeze of Jenna's hand. "Kevin, are you ready?"
"I'll never be ready, Cheryl, so might as well just go," he answered, his eyes rimmed in red and swollen.
And with that, the three of them walked slowly down the cold hall. None of them spoke, there were only the sounds of their breaths and Jenna's brand-new dress crunching against her skin while her fancy shoes slid and squeaked on the linoleum floor.
Momma's hospital room wasn't far, but it felt like years that they’d walked. Jenna knew with each of those little steps, she was growing ever that much older.
Despite all her bravado of only moments before, Jenna hung back slightly as Cheryl quietly opened the door to Jenna's mother's now all too familiar sterile hospital room.
Jenna hated everything about this room — the whole hospital really. Every part of it was so gray and depressing, and always stunk like a drawer full of Band-Aids and Lysol. It was nothing like home, where everything smelled like sunshine, grass, and Momma's White Shoulders perfume.
Just the sight of her mother in this ugly place made Jenna's palms sweaty and her legs feel weak. Today was no different — it was actually even worse, if that were possible.
The curtains were drawn open so that a sliver of wan December sun could peek through. It didn't brighten the room, instead, it made it feel that much more empty — hopeless. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim light and finally see her mother, whose frail body was almost lost in the stiff sheets and coarse blanket of her narrow bed.
Cheryl released Jenna's hand and walked to the side of the bed so she could fuss with the pillows and blanket. Auntie Cheryl always seemed to be moving things and Jenna was grateful for the distraction as she stared at her hands moving quickly across the bedding, until Momma swatted at her and released a soft laugh. No matter how dismal a day seemed, that bubbling laugh always made Jenna feel better, giving her the strength to move her legs again and walk farther into the room.
"Cheryl, I know you like to always be doing something, but I think you've fluffed my pillows enough for one day. Just relax, sweetie, please, and let's visit for a bit. Maybe water my little Christmas tree? You know that makes me happy."
"Sure thing, Sara," Cheryl choked out, as tears started to appear in her eyes again. She rushed to the bathroom to get water for the tree. Jenna didn't really see why she would go to all that trouble, though. The pathetic little set of twigs was so tiny and really looked like it would die any second. Yet, Jenna was glad it was there, if only because it made her momma happy.
Jenna's mother looked over to her, her eyes hazy with pain and exhaustion but she still managed to twist her pretty face into a smile.
"Hey, baby girl, there you are. Come here, climb on up and sit with me. Can you bring her to me, Kevin, honey?" she asked Jenna's father, who was still clutching Jenna's hand so hard she was worried it would be sore the next day.
"Sure thing, beautiful," he said, with a catch in his throat. He walked slowly across the room until they were at the edge of the small, stiff bed that had been her mother's home for what seemed like an eternity.
Jenna looked up at her daddy and released his hand so that she could grab a hold of the scratchy hospital sheets and crawled up them like a monkey. After she lay down, her mother began to stroke her hair gently.
"It looks like Maw-Maw did your hair, huh?"
"Yes, Momma. She messed around with it forever. I think she burned my neck, too," Jenna pouted out.
"Everyone has things that make them feel better, and that does it for her. I think it's very pretty."
"Thank you, Momma," Jenna whispered.
"You hate it, though, don't you, Jenna?" her mother asked, with that light laugh again.
"Yep," Jenna answered, nodding hard, "I hate it so much, Momma."
"Here, let me pull it back for you. Kevin, hand me a hair tie. Thanks, honey."
Her mother took the elastic band from him and tried to put Jenna's hair in a ponytail but grunted in frustration when her arms were too weak to finish it.
As she fell heavily against her pillows, Jenna couldn't deny that her mother's once tanned skin was now almost entirely gray. Her eyes were sunken deeply into her face, and every time she breathed or coughed it sounded like something had broken inside of her and was shaking and rattling in her chest.
"Damn, Cheryl, I guess I did too much yesterday, can you come in here and help me out?"
"Of course," Cheryl said, leaving the tiny Christmas tree plant to come to the rescue of Jenna's hair. Cheryl's hands were shaking as she looked down at Jenna and her momma, only to start crying again and look away. "Darn it, Sara, are you trying to wreck me?"
"Hey, calm down, honey. It's just a ponytail, it's not the end of the world."
"You know that's not what I mean," she huffed out, dropping her hands.
Momma took Cheryl's hands in her own and said, "It'll be okay, Cheryl. Let's just do what's in front of us and figure it out from there. Right now, all I need is a ponytail and a smile, okay? Besides, you still owe me for driving you to Alabama to meet Ben all those years ago," she teased, releasing Cheryl's hands.
"Sara…" Cheryl said, as she gently pulled Jenna's hair back. Jenna tried to look at her but the movement tugged at her hair too much, and somehow she sensed this was their moment.
"No crying, Cheryl. That's the deal. I've already let you get away with too much of that. Come on, fix my baby's hair and remind me of that trip… Please, just give me that, okay?" Jenna's mother looked into her friend’s eyes intensely, even as her head rested heavily on the pillow. She only had a slight dusting of fuzzy hair on her head and her body was very weak. It hurt Jenna somewhere inside to look at her.
"Okay, of course, Sara. Um, we-ell, you drove, and it was after finals, and you stuck your left foot out of the car window, because you're so crazy." Cheryl stopped for a moment and wiped her eyes.
Seeing that everyone was so upset, Daddy came over and put a comforting hand on Cheryl's shoulder. He then let her go to put one arm around Momma and the other around Jenna. She felt as though she were wrapped in a warm, safe cocoon and she wanted desperately not to let it get away from her.
Cheryl took a deep breath before continuing to speak, "And I took pictures of you, and you made me laugh the whole way, and… Oh God, Sara, I can't do this…"
"There, now doesn't Jenna look pretty, and so much more comfortable — wouldn't you say, Cheryl?"
"Yes, she's so beautiful, just like her momma. Sara, please…"
"Kevin, Cheryl, can you let me and Jenna visit for a minute? Just us? Tell Maw-Maw I need a moment, too. Okay? I know she wants to come by right now, but Jenna and I have to talk about something." She looked away sharply and breathed in so hard that Jenna curled up closer. "It's okay, baby girl. I just had a long day. It's all gonna be okay. I promise."
"Of course, honey," Cheryl said, through tears. It was ugly, the way Cheryl was sniffling and snorting, but to Jenna, it was the most beautiful and comforting thing in the world — to know Momma's friend was just as heartbroken as she and Daddy were.
"Cheryl, there you go again, you better go get some water so you don't dehydrate yourself."
"Yes, Sara, you tough cookie. Come on, Kevin, I think I need some Jell-O."
Cheryl started to walk toward the door, wiping her face with one hand, while gesturing for Daddy to leave with other. Yet, Daddy wouldn't leave Momma's beds
ide.
"Sara, I don't want to leave you," Daddy said with a gravelly voice.
"Kevin, it'll be all right. I'll be here when you get back. Please, I need this, okay? I love you."
"Okay. I love you both…so much."
He leaned forward to kiss Momma's lips and then Jenna's forehead, before following Cheryl out of the room.
When they were gone, Jenna placed her hand on her mother's chest, feeling its ragged rise and fall, hoping somehow that the press of her cool flesh could make her mother better. She wanted to reach into her body and take away the sickness. She wanted to be able to make the world better for her mother — to heal her.
Maybe it would take them all back to that place in time when they were happy. She hated herself for not being able to make everything the way it had been before.
What did I do wrong? she wondered, suddenly feeling like such a failure as fat tears slid down her cheeks.
Jenna's mother looked into her eyes and grabbed her hand from her chest. Even as thin and papery as it had become, Jenna still loved the feeling of that perfect, soft hand.
"It's okay, baby girl. I need you to breathe, and to know this isn't your fault."
"But it's not fair, Momma!"
"That's because this is life, and sometimes life is so unfair. You will drive yourself nuts trying to make life be fair. Instead, you just have to take from life what it's willing to give you, and accept the things it takes away from you. Because I love you so much, baby girl, but life is being a real bastard right now."
"Momma, you said a bad word."
"I know. And you better not ever say that word, I'll know if you do." Her mother tried to laugh but started to cough and shake and Jenna held her so tightly until she couldn't fight it anymore. She just let go, crying into her mother's thin, cotton gown until it felt like her whole world had shaken and fallen apart.
"Oh no, baby, don't do that. That's not what this is about. I don't want you to be sad. I want you to be strong. We don't have too much longer. I have so much I want to tell you, to show you, to teach you. But that all takes time…and time is the one thing I can't give you. So I need to try to capture a lifetime's worth of love and lessons for you in this little moment."
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