Beautiful

by Kiexiza Rodriquez

Tierra lay back on her bed looking up at the ceiling, her body seemed to sink deeper into the overstuffed feather comforter that rested on her bed. It had been two days since her night with Qu and there were a million thoughts running ramped through her mind ever since.

  She was dreading what she was about to do, but knew it had to be done. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and held it before releasing a long restless sigh. Sitting up on her bed, she picked up one of her king sized pillows and picked up the cordless phone off its cradle on her nightstand. Dialing the number to the house she was born and raised in was suddenly the hardest thing she’s ever done.

  “Good morning, God Bless,” her mother’s voice sang, in its usual pleasant tone.

  “Hello Mom, is that you?”

  “Yes it’s me, who else would it be Tierra?” Nicole Rodriquez replied.

  “Hmm, so what’s going on? How is mi Abuela?” she asked about her grandmother.

  There was a long silence.

  “Mom, que pasa? I know it’s been a long time since I’ve called and you’re probably upset about that but…

  “Honey,” Mrs. Rodriquez interrupted, “maybe you better sit down.”

  “What? Why do I need to sit? Mom what’s wrong, is it Abuela?”

  “No baby, your grandma is fine. I was wondering if you heard from Aquarian?”

  Tierra inhaled and closed her eyes. She released silently and recalled Wednesday’s long emotional night. She knew what her mother was about to say, and she was not looking forward to reliving the evening all over again.

  “Mom, stop please. I know what you’re about to say. Qu called me out of the blue on Friday. We talked a bit and made a date to have lunch Wednesday. I asked him about things and before I knew it he told me all about Beautiful.”

  “Aquarian is there? He left here a lil over a week ago, the day after she was buried. He hasn’t called his mother, Beautiful’s mom, or anyone since he left. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you since he left. In case he got in contact with you. I wanted to prepare you, and I guess I was right,” she said not hiding her obvious irritation at her daughter ignoring her calls. Mrs. Skeene who was Qu’s mother, and Rochelle Young who was Beautiful’s mother, were sitting in the dining room. They had been meeting every day, hoping Nicole was able to get in touch with Tierra. But as always, she didn’t take her mother’s calls.

  She thought about all the calls she had religiously turned away. If she hadn’t been so busy avoiding her mother, she could have been prepared for Qu when he showed up. She would have known all he was going through.

  “Tierra, are you there?”

  “He cried all night Mom. He could barely tell me what happened. I asked him about Beautiful and he just cried, barely able to explain what happened. He’s in really bad shape,” her emotions began to build again as she explained.

  “Who’s there with you?” she asked hearing several voices in the background.

  “It’s me Tierra,” Mrs. Skeene announced, as Tierra’s mother handed her the phone. “Thank God, my baby found you young lady. Nicole gave him your new number and address a few days before the accident. I hope you don’t mind. He and Beautiful were going to come and visit you,” she paused, pulling in the air around her slowly. “Tierra how is he?” her concern for her only son evident in her tone. Tierra could hear the emotions in her voice, though there was 800 miles between them.

  “He’s understandably in a lot of pain. But, I don’t understand why he came back here,” she was still puzzled about a deathbed plea by a woman she’d never seen or talked to before. Why would she be so adamant that Qu rekindle their friendship? She didn’t know a woman on earth that would do such a thing. Maybe his mother could shed some light on things, she hoped. “Shouldn’t he be there with you and her family, grieving?”

  “The Lord works in mysterious ways Tierra. You two were inseparable when you were young. God sent him to you now.”

  “He said Beautiful sent him to me,” Tierra corrected, not wanting to give God credit for their reconnection.

  “Baby, whoever said the actual words, it was God’s plan that he be there with you, to get through this. It was Beautiful’s wish that he rebuild his connection with you. He missed you, truth be told. God knows what he needed, and he sent him to you, through her,” she replied, soft-spoken.

  Tierra rolled her eyes, from her end of the phone. Why was everyone trying to slide God into her life? Didn’t they know the two of them were no longer on speaking terms?

  “Tierra?”

  “Yes Ma’am?”

  “Take good care of my only son, Ok? Get him to church. He needs God to get through this. Don’t let him forget that… promise?”

  “Ma’am maybe I’m not the best person to be telling him that,” Tierra protested. There was no way she was stepping foot in a church, not even for Qu. “I mean I haven’t seen the inside of a church in… well since before I left home.”

  “You’re the person,” Mrs. Skeene said in a matter-a-fact tone and gave Mrs. Rodriquez back the phone.

  “Tierra? Call me soon Ok?”

  “Yes, Mama I will,” she promised, replacing the phone on its cradle.

  She grabbed her favorite stuffed Tiger off her bed, a gift from her father on her birthday the year he passed. She held it to her face, screamed into it, and let herself fall back on the bed, arms open wide.

  “Don’t think you’re going to get me into no church!” she said pointing to the ceiling. “I don’t need to go in with him, for him to go. HE needs you, not me!”

  She stood up and headed for the bathroom. She turned on her IPod system, and began to get ready to release her emotions away in her favorite place in the whole wide world.

  Jacuzu Time.

  By any means necessary