Awaken Me

by Farrah Rochon

  She managed to put that unfortunate episode out of her head and concentrate on the task at hand. She also went the rest of the afternoon without seeing her new friendly co-worker. Until it was time to leave the worksite, that is. Brooklyn was walking to her car when he fell instep beside her.

  “You know you can’t do this every day, right?” she asked after several moments skated by without him saying a word.

  “I’m just going to my truck.” He pointed toward the Chevy Silverado parked a couple of spaces ahead of her car. That truck had not been there when she’d parked here this morning. She would have noticed it. Had he moved it during the day?

  They arrived at her car and Reid stopped. Brooklyn turned to face him.

  “So, if you were just going to your truck, why’d you stop?” she asked.

  He pulled his cellphone from his pocket and swiped at the screen. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I only stopped walking so I could check Facebook. It has nothing to do with making sure you get to your car safely.”

  She cocked a hip to the side and folded her arms across her chest. Reid continued to play with his phone.

  After a solid minute had passed, Brooklyn threw her hands in the air. “I give up.”

  “About time,” he said. He slipped the phone in his pocket, reached over and opened her car door. “Damn, you’re stubborn.”

  She belted out a laugh. “Don’t think for a minute that I didn’t know what you were up to. Stick to plumbing, because you suck as an actor,” she said, sliding in behind the wheel.

  He leaned into the car and, with another of those killer grins, said, “And just when I was preparing to give Idris a run for his money.”

  He winked at her. Again. Then closed the car door and continued up the sidewalk toward his truck.

  “Holy shit,” Brooklyn whispered as she watched his perfect ass walk away. She was still trying to recover from that second wink as she pulled away from the curb. She couldn’t remember the last time her heart had raced as much as it had today. Maybe back when she fancied herself a runner and jogged a half mile on the treadmill?

  “Nope. Not even then.”

  As she waited for the traffic light at Carrolton and Bienville, Brooklyn debated whether to make the right turn or keep straight. Just a few blocks away, in the upstairs room at Tubby & Coo’s Mid-City Book Shop, sat a worn leather armchair that cradled her body like a lover’s arms. That chair, that room, that space had become a place of respite for the last few years.

  It was in that room that Brooklyn had found solace after she’d foolishly engaged in an online war with a stupid dude-bro who made the proclamation that women didn’t belong in comics. It was in that room that she’d perfected her newest iteration of Iansan, the mythological African goddess of war and wind, and the inspiration for her latest comic. It was a place she could escape to when the world began to close in on her. She’d needed that escape more in the last four months than a single person should.

  But not today.

  With all the preparations for her new job taking up her weekend, Brooklyn hadn’t visited her parents’ since Thursday evening. She rarely went more than two days without seeing her dad.

  Decision made, she drove past the blue and white bookstore and made a right at Orleans Avenue, heading for the two-story Italianate she’d grown up in over in the Treme neighborhood. Seeing her mom’s minivan in the driveway, Brooklyn parked on the corner and, minutes later, used her key to enter the house.

  “Hello?” she called.

  “In here,” came her dad’s husky voice. She walked into the living room to find him in his recliner, a plastic cannula in his nose, an oxygen generator pumping air into his weakened lungs.

  “Hey, Daddy.” She planted a kiss on his cheek. “Rough breathing day?”

  He wasn’t on oxygen 24/7, thank goodness, but had been instructed by his pulmonologist to use the machine whenever he started to feel out of breath.

  “Just a little,” her dad answered.

  Brooklyn looked around. “Where’s Mama?”

  He pointed to the stairs. “On the Facebook with her sister.”

  She didn’t bother to correct him. No matter how many times she told him it was just Facebook, her dad insisted on adding the the to the social network’s name. She immediately began straightening up the living room, picking up the mail scattered on the coffee table and bringing an empty cup into the kitchen.

  “No food?” she called from the kitchen. “I’m not used to seeing a cold stove in this house.”

  “Felt like Chinese tonight,” he said when she returned to the living room. “Should be here…in a few minutes.” He patted the arm of his recliner. “Come over here. Want to know how things…are going at the new job.”

  “Stop trying to talk,” Brooklyn said. “Your job is to concentrate on pulling air into those lungs.”

  She repositioned the plastic tubing behind her dad’s ears, making sure the cannula fit correctly. He’d stopped slapping her hands away a long time ago, surrendering to the fact that her fussing over him was now a part of his reality.

  She perched on the arm of his chair and gave him a broad rundown of her first couple of days at Holmes Construction, leaving out the catcalling from yesterday and assuring him that her new boss was the stand-up guy her dad remembered him to be back when Alex worked for LeBlanc & Sons.

  She knew he worried about her. Brooklyn was convinced that one of the reasons he’d nearly worked himself to death was because he didn’t want to put her in the position she now found herself in—having to find a job outside of LeBlanc & Sons. He’d hidden his illness until it could no longer be hidden, camouflaging his cough and blaming construction dust for the COPD that now imprisoned his lungs.

  “Do you like the job?” he asked.

  “It’s only my second day, but so far, yes. Holmes Construction is a lot bigger than what I’m used to, but give me a week. I’ll know everything there is to know about how it operates.”

  “That’s because you’re the best at the job.”

  Brooklyn barely managed to hold in her sigh as she thought about that brightly-painted room at Tubby & Coo’s.

  Yes, she was one of the best construction site coordinators out there today. Lucky her.

  * * *

  Frustration building with every second that ticked by, Reid thumped his head against the headrest, willing the stationary cars surrounding him to move. Fifteen minutes ago, the flag guy said it would only be another five minutes. If he’d known there was roadwork being done today he would have stuck to the side streets instead of hopping on the freeway.

  Another couple of minutes passed without an inch of motion.

  “Son of a bitch,” Reid released on an irritated breath.

  If they remained at a standstill much longer he was going to lose his shit. He needed to get to Harrison’s. Now. He didn’t want to give Indina any reason to think he’d blown off the meeting and didn’t care what happened with their mom’s foundation.

  Reid snatched up his phone from the passenger seat and fired off a text to his three siblings.

  Stuck in traffic. Will be there soon.

  A few seconds passed before Harrison replied. Still waiting on Indina and Ezra to get here.

  “Thank God,” Reid said.

  His phone chimed with an incoming text. It was Indina.

  I’m here. Walking up the driveway.

  “Shit,” Reid cursed.

  Don’t start without me. He texted back.

  Yeah, okay. Came Indina’s reply.

  They were definitely going to start without him.

  He tossed the phone on the seat next to him and turned up the radio. The Aria Jordan song that had been playing when Reid first got on the highway was playing yet again.

  “Oh, hell no.” He quickly switched to another station.

  He was a huge Aria fan, and not just because the girl could sing her ass off, but because his record-producer cousin, Toby, had discovered the
R&B singer years ago. Reid was all about supporting family, but he would go insane if he had to hear that song one more time.

  Unable to find anything interesting on the radio, he picked up his phone again and searched for the podcast app. Until about three hours ago, he’d never listened to a podcast in his life. Hell, he didn’t even know they were available on his phone. But earlier today, when he’d helped Brooklyn place an emergency order for more insulation material, she’d been listening to an interview with one of his favorite actors. She explained that it was a popular podcast that apparently everyone in the free world had heard of, except for Reid. Even after they’d completed the order, Reid had hung around the trailer so he could hear the end of the interview.

  Yeah, okay, so maybe there was another reason he liked hanging around the trailer these days. He still wasn’t sure what to make of that, so he’d rather not think about just why he’d come up with a half dozen bullshit reasons to walk into that trailer over these last couple of days.

  He found the podcast app, opened it and stared.

  What the hell?

  There were hundreds of them. How was he supposed to find the one Brooklyn had been listening to?

  He scrolled through the list of top podcasts, but nothing stood out to him. Faced with the choice of the radio, a podcast he wasn’t sure about, or silence, Reid chose silence. Stealing a bit of time to clear his mind was necessary every now and then. The problem, of course, was that his mind didn’t handle silence all that well. His thoughts soon drifted to Holmes Construction’s newest hire and Reid caught himself grinning.

  He immediately felt like a traitor.

  He’d forgotten for a second that he was still bent out of shape over Brooklyn LeBlanc even being a Holmes Construction employee, something that had slipped his mind several times this week. He’d lost count of the times he’d caught himself teasing her and had to remind himself she’d taken a job that rightfully belonged to Donte—a job Reid had promised Donte.

  Sure, she was smart and efficient, well-organized and capable of juggling several tasks at one time. She was also funny and got along with just about everyone on the job site.

  And cute. She was pretty damn cute.

  Not that it mattered. None of that changed the fact that Donte should be the site coordinator. Did he have Brooklyn’s experience? No. But, if given the chance, Reid had no doubt Donte would have grasped the information as quickly as Brooklyn had.

  “Sure he would have.” He snorted.

  It was time he stop telling himself that lie. Brooklyn hadn’t been there a week yet, and it was clear that she could run circles around Donte.

  Reid had been wrong. Alex had been right.

  Damn, it sucked to admit that.

  How could he trust himself to make sound business decisions when he’d gotten this one so patently wrong?

  Thankfully, traffic started to move before Reid could spend any more time questioning his decision-making skills. He’d save that for another day. Less than ten minutes later, he pulled up to his brother’s two-story brick home in the Lakeview neighborhood, just outside of New Orleans. He noticed Ezra’s car parked alongside Indina’s, and cursed.

  He was hoping Ezra had gotten caught up in the construction on I-10. But his always prepared, pragmatic brother probably had the foresight to check the traffic before getting on the road.

  Reid knocked on the front door and, moments later, was greeted by his sister-in-law, Willow.

  “Hey you,” she said, a huge smile gracing her lovely face. “I wondered if you’d make it this time. You missed the last few times we’ve gotten together to discuss the foundation.”

  He had to crouch in order to kiss her cheek. “That’s because I had no idea you all were getting together. No one thought to tell me.”

  “Are you serious?” Irritation flashed across her face as she glanced back toward the kitchen, where he figured his three older siblings were. “I’ll make sure you’re in the know from now on.”

  “That’s why I love you,” Reid said, giving her another peck on the cheek.

  He loved his sister-in-law as if she were flesh and blood—sometimes more than he loved his own flesh and blood. His brothers could be pains in his ass. But Willow? Willow was his boo.

  He’d had a crush on her since middle school, when she and Harrison first started dating. Reid had experienced true heartbreak when he came to the realization that she wouldn’t leave his older brother and wait for him to reach puberty. He’d settled for having her as a sister-in-law. But Willow had always been so much more than just a sister-in-law. She’d been a true friend. Like Alex, Willow recognized that Reid was different from his older siblings. She was an ear when he needed someone to listen without judgment.

  A few months ago, Reid learned that she and Harrison had been having problems in their marriage. Genuine fear raced through him at the thought of his brother and sister-in-law’s relationship being on shaky ground. He couldn’t imagine a life without Willow in it.

  They seemed to be getting along better over the past few weeks. Reid had even walked in on them embracing in the kitchen at his dad’s house as they cleaned up after Sunday dinner. Whatever Harrison had done—because Reid had no doubt it was his fault—it looked as if his brother had made things right.

  He followed Willow into the kitchen where Indina, Harrison and Ezra were all seated at the table in the breakfast area.

  “Look who finally showed up,” Ezra said.

  “I would have thought you’d be surprised to see me here,” Reid said. “If Indina hadn’t sent me that text by mistake on Monday, I wouldn’t have known about this meeting at all. What’s up with leaving me out of the plans?”

  His sister had the decency to look guilty. His brothers, however, didn’t.

  “What do you know about planning a gala?” Harrison asked.

  “As much as you do,” Reid shot back.

  “It’s not a gala,” Willow said. “It’s just a kickoff party. And, yes, Reid should have been included. All three of you should feel ashamed for leaving him out.”

  God, he loved that woman.

  “Fine, I’m sorry,” Indina said. “You’re here now, so take a seat and let’s get started.”

  Reid headed for one of the benches at the breakfast bar, but thought better of it. He wanted a seat at the table. Literally. He refused to be isolated from this process any more than his siblings had already isolated him. Taking the seat next to Ezra’s, he accepted the glass of iced tea Willow immediately placed in front of him and smiled when she rounded the table and eased onto Harrison’s lap.

  Oh, yeah, something had definitely changed here. It wasn’t that long ago these two were barely speaking to each other. Thank God they’d come to their senses. It would be devastating for the entire family if something were to happen to their marriage, especially for his niece and nephew.

  As if his thoughts had conjured them, both Liliana and Athens came strolling into the kitchen.

  “Can I take the car to Amina’s house?” Lily asked.

  “Well, hello to you too,” Indina said.

  “Sorry. Hey y’all,” Lily greeted with an impatient wave. She returned her attention to her parents. “So, can I take the car?”

  “Amina lives ten minutes away. You can walk,” Harrison said.

  Lily rolled her eyes, and Reid suppressed a laugh. He remember what it felt like to have a brand new driver’s license burning a hole in his pocket.

  “Actually, we can use some milk,” Willow said, rising from her perch on Harrison’s lap. She pulled her wallet from the purse on the counter and handed Lily some cash. “Why don’t you run to the store to get some, then you can go to Amina’s.”

  Harrison wore the expression of the defeated. “Make sure you put the milk in the fridge at Amina’s,” he said.

  “Duh, Daddy,” Lily called, already halfway to the door that led to the garage.

  Willow turned to Harrison. “I told you that when it comes to that car we
have to pick our battles.” She went over to the pantry where Athens had been rummaging for the past few minutes. “Now, when she asks to use it tomorrow night to go to the high school football game, we can tell her that she’s used up all her driving time for the week.”

  “Smart woman,” Harrison said. He and his wife shared a grin that sent another dose of relief flowing through Reid’s veins. Those two were going to be okay.

  Her eyes still on her husband, Willow took the Little Debbie’s snack cake out of Athens’s hand and replaced it with an apple. She gave the ten-year-old a look that dared him to say anything. “I’ll be up in a half hour, and that homework had better be done,” she said.

  Athens frowned, but kept his mouth shut. Once his nephew was out of the kitchen, Willow held the snack cake up. “What’s this doing in the house?” she asked Harrison.

  “I thought I’d hidden them well enough,” his brother said.

  “You know what the doctor said.”

  “What did the doctor say?” Reid, Ezra and Indina all screeched at the same time.

  “Calm down,” Harrison said. “It’s nothing serious.”

  “What did the doctor say?” Indina asked again.

  Harrison shrugged. “Just that Athens needs to lose a little weight.”

  “It’s more than just that,” Willow said. “Athens is pre-diabetic. We have to monitor his sugar intake. That means no more junk food.” She went to toss the snack cake in the trash, but Reid stopped her.

  “Throw that over here. I’ll get rid of it for you,” he said. He caught the chocolate cake his sister-in-law tossed his way. “You can bag up the rest of the junk food. I’ll take it with me tonight.”

  Harrison looked at him and mouthed, put the chips in my car.

  No, Reid mouthed back before stuffing half the cake in his mouth.

  Asshole, his brother returned.

  “So, what’s the plan for the kickoff celebration?” Willow asked as she returned to her perch on Harrison’s thigh.

  Indina spread several pictures out across the polished breakfast table.

  “These are a few of the ideas I came up with. I was thinking we could rent one of the ballrooms at the Windsor Court to hold the event. I know it’s a little ritzy, but we want to make a good impression with the kickoff party.” She fished through several of the photographs before finding the one she’d been looking for. “I love how elegant this is. Just look at these centerpieces.”