Fallen Woman(35)

I took a deep breath and exhaled before answering his questions. “I was mugged on my way to the bus stop. I gave the kids my phone because Miss Pearl’s not feeling all that great and I wanted them to be able to contact me.”

“How were they going to do that if they had your phone?” I didn’t like his tone at all.

“Call Willum since that’s who I was with.” As soon as I said it, I knew I shouldn’t have.

“You were with Willum when this happened?”

“No, he’d left long before.” Wrong again.

“Left where?”

“Konan’s downtown.”

“I’m sure there must be large pieces of this puzzle you’re leaving out, so how about tell me what took place from the time Willum picked you up.”

I gave him the best recap I could, but the pounding in my head made recalling facts a little difficult, so I tried broad brush strokes.

Jase heard what he wanted to hear. “Willum left you downtown, at a bar, alone, with no phone and no ride home, to take another woman to the symphony he’d invited and paid you to attend with him?”

I closed my eyes and huffed in his general direction. “It wasn’t like that. He asked, and I told him to go. He offered to call me a cab, but I was enjoying drinks and people watching. I told him I’d call you to come get me. He really thought I’d be leaving with you, Jase. Don’t be upset with him.”

“Don’t be upset…are you fucking kidding me right now? He left you, alone, in that dress downtown in a not so hot part of town. He didn’t protect you. He didn’t take care of you because he was too hell bent on getting his dick wet. Fuck that. No. You will not spend any time with him alone again, do you hear me?” His voice was well above a church whisper. I didn't think anyone around us was interested in his rant, so I just nodded, hoping to shut it down.

My best friend was angry, my son was scared, and I’d lost the money I’d planned to give to Miss Pearl. I didn’t even want to think about the hospital bills that would come trickling in after this fiasco. The tears seeped from my eyes and down my face as if they, too, were too tired to run. They crept in slow motion to my jaw before hanging on until the last possible moment. The mattress dipped, and Jase tucked himself into the tiny bed, nestling me in his arms.

He took me home when I was released from the hospital but refused to leave me alone. The kids were at Pearl’s, so he climbed into bed behind me, still in his jersey shorts and T-shirt, and pulled me close to him. My breathing evened out before his did, but just before I fell asleep, I heard him whisper words I wished I felt on my skin every night. “Goodnight, Gia.”

Groggily, I responded, “Goodnight, Jase.”

~~~

The kids came bounding through the door early, or maybe it just felt early because my night had been all kinds of messed up. They had no idea Jase was there, nor in my bed, much less that my face was scraped up and black and blue. All of it scared them to tears. Only Derrick came hopping in and flopped on Jase, begging for his attention and hugs.

With a bed full of babies and the man who didn’t know I loved him, this was perfect—even with the cuts and bruises. While I’d rather not be waking up in The Village, I could wake up next to Jase every day and never regret a moment of anything I’d had to live through to reach him. He’d formed a bond with each of the kids, but he and Derrick were especially tight. I loved seeing them all pal around together. The boys needed a strong man in their life, and Jase seemed to naturally fall into the role. I just wished I knew it was permanent…and I wished he knew everything.

He hopped up and corralled the kids back to the kitchen to make breakfast. I heard Emmy laugh at him. “We don’t eat here, silly. We came to get Mommy for Miss Pearl’s table.”

Seconds later, his face appeared in the doorway, his eyes held something I hadn’t seen before, but I wasn’t able to discern whether it was pity or some other emotion. Whatever it was, I hated it. “You up to going next door or do you want to sleep?”

I desperately wanted to sleep but refused to give up any time I could get with Jase. He’d leave soon, and I wouldn’t see him again until Monday. I wasn’t ready to be alone, so I needed to soak up his presence before he took off. I hobbled over to breakfast next door and found a smorgasbord, a veritable cornucopia of food.

“Jase, son, I’m glad you could make it.” She patted his arm and acted as though she’d extended an invitation—I wondered if her mind had started to go with her lungs.

“Wouldn’t have missed it, Miss Pearl.” He kissed her cheek and earned some more brownie points, but oddly, hadn’t said a word to me about the condition of my face. “How’ve you been feeling? Doing any better?”

It hit me like a ton of bricks. In that moment, I remembered I had lost the money Willium had given me to the thug on the street and had nothing to offer my friend to take her to the doctor. She coughed into her elbow, shielding the rest of us from the germs. It didn’t go unnoticed that each of her fits—as she liked to call them—had become longer and harder to control. When Jase glanced at me, I fought back the tears.

“I’ll tell you the same thing I tell Gianna every time she brings it up. I’m fine. I’m old—when are you two gonna get that through your thick noggins?” Her weathered hand grabbed me by the arm and pulled harder than was comfortable, but I masked the pain, and she tugged Jase into our little huddle. “You two are scarin’ the children. Stop that nonsense. Derrick’s done figured his mama ain’t comin’ back, and I’m all he’s got. No need to scare the bejesus out of him. Hear?” Her southern accent was especially strong when she was lecturing us.