5. Legend
Legend
M onday had rolled around again, and I dropped Kayson off.
His mood had improved a little, but not by much.
Ms. Lisa had determined that it wasn’t Josiah who didn’t want to play with Kayson, but rather it was Kayson who was eschewing all the other children, especially Josiah.
She said the only child he would play with was the same little girl I had seen him with a week before, Clover.
I tried asking him what that was all about, but he had gone deadly silent on that topic. I had given him a powerful hug, kissed him, and told him that I would see him next week, before I left. It was always hard leaving him at daycare on Mondays when it was Kali’s turn to get him back.
I loved my little guy so much, and that shit ripped a G’s heart out of his chest. It was hard getting through the weeks when it was Kali’s turn to have him. It only made me that much angrier at her for doing this shit to our family.
Honestly, I was even more hesitant to let him go now that I knew she was engaged to her boss.
That shit pissed me off, and I damn sure didn’t want another nigga over my jit, especially considering that it didn’t have to be that way.
I did nothing to tear my family apart, so it made no sense why I was being brutally punished as though I had.
I grabbed my things out of the car and once again headed for the building. I had a couple of site visits, but they weren’t until later in the afternoon. This morning would be full of budget meetings, so there was little time for me to hide out in my office this morning.
I was surprised when I smelled the sweet floral fragrance of her perfume and heard her shoes clicking confidently over the marble tiles this morning. I pressed the button again to hold it open for her. She wasn’t late this morning. According to my watch, she was actually early for a change.
I had not seen Legacy in the last week since I promised her that her secret was safe with me. My heart skipped a little bit upon realizing that I would see her. I had actually thought about calling her over the last few days since I had her number, but I didn’t want to push her away too soon.
“Good morning,” she greeted when she stepped onto the elevator.
I was surprised to see the smile on her face, but I decided not to remark on it in case it dampened her spirits.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” I quipped, making her lips twitch a little.
She pressed the button for her floor before she turned and faced me full-on. “I wanted to apologize to you for being a bitch ever since I woke up in your hotel room that morning.”
“It’s all water under the bridge,” I commented.
“No, it’s not. It was never okay. I was shocked to see you, and then I made it worse by acting like an ass. Rather than owning my role in the discomfort, I caught an attitude with you and made things worse.”
“Again, it’s okay,” I repeated.
“I just?—”
The elevator jerked and then stopped. I frowned and jabbed the button for another floor.
“Did it just stop?” she asked with wide, panicked eyes.
“Yeah. Looks like,” I answered and tried another button with no result.
“Oh no,” she whispered.
“Damn. I’m going to be late for my meeting.” I pressed the emergency call button, peeped through the doors, and I could see a landing, confirming that we were close to a floor. I gently pressed the “door open” button, but nothing happened.
“What’s going on?” she asked in a strained voice. When I looked at her, I noticed that tears brimmed in the corners of her eyes.
I didn’t like being stuck in an elevator any more than the next person, but I knew that I needed to remain calm for her sake. It was evident in the strain of her voice, her widened eyes, and trembling hands that she was on the verge of a panic attack.
“I pressed the emergency call button. It will alert building maintenance that we need help. I see that we’re close to one of these floors, which is why I pressed the button to open the doors in case we could get out on our own. It didn’t work, so we’ll have to wait.”
“Wait?” Legacy’s voice was tiny, and I prayed that she didn’t have asthma or any illness that would be exacerbated by being in a small space. Hopefully, she wasn’t suffering from claustrophobia, just the dislike of being stuck in an elevator that most people experienced.
“Yes, love. Here, let me take those bags for you,” I stated, removing her purse and laptop bag from her arm. I set the laptop bag on the floor and her purse on top of that, before I took her hands into mine. “Look at me, Legacy.”
She looked into my eyes. “Do you have asthma?”
She shook her head no. “No, I don’t.”
“Do you suffer from anxiety?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Okay, then I need you to breathe with me. We’re going to inhale for four seconds, hold it for seven, and then release for eight. You with me?”
She nodded again.
“Let’s go.” I continued holding her hands and rubbing my thumbs against her soft skin to help calm her. We did those breathing techniques three times before I finally moved to the next exercise.
“I need you to name five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. Are you ready?”
“Taste?” she whispered.
I released her hand, and she gripped mine tightly. “Please.”
“I’m just getting something for you to taste, doll.” I slid my hand from hers again and stuck it into my pocket. When I removed the gum, I waved it in front of her, and she nodded.
“Mkay.”
“Now. Five things you can see, Legacy.”
“You.” She swallowed and allowed her eyes to wander. “The door, elevator buttons, your laptop bag, my purse.”
“Good, honey. Now, four things you can touch.”
She touched my arm, the elevator wall, her hair, and her thigh.
“Three things you can hear, sweetheart,” I coaxed.
She closed her eyes and swallowed. I whispered a silent prayer for God to please get this elevator moving again.
“Your voice, mine, and the air conditioning unit.”
“Good. Good. Two things you can smell.”
“Your cologne and my perfume.”
I unwrapped a portion of the gum. “Open your mouth, love. When you chew this, tell me what you taste.”
She did as I asked, and I slid the unwrapped portion into her mouth before sliding the paper off the rest. Legacy chewed slowly.
“Cinnamon.”
I winked. “Good girl. Just like you. Now relax your muscles one at a time, starting with your forehead and working down to your feet. I’ll press the emergency call button again.”
She did as I asked while I pressed it. Immediately, a voice came back this time.
“We’ve got someone working on it right now. How many people are in there?”
“Two of us.”
“Try to remain calm. We’ll get you out of there shortly.”
“Thank you,” I replied, returning my attention to Legacy. “Let’s play two truths and a lie. I’ll give you three statements about myself, and you’ll need to figure out which is the lie.”
She kept chewing and nodded. I intended to get her to relax until they got us out of here.
“I’m ready.”
“I speak three different sexy languages. I have traveled to seven countries with beautiful women I really enjoyed spending time with. My middle name is Lamar.”
She squinted her eyes as she tried to figure out the lie. “Do any of those languages include English?”
“Yes.”
“When you say you traveled to those countries, did you visit them through a cultural experience somewhere here in America, or did you actually land there and get off a flight, or did you just fly over them?”
“I actually traveled to them, got off, and spent time in them.”
“You did not travel to seven different countries with beautiful women,” she guessed.
I laughed and smacked my chest. “Damn, I’m hurt. You think a man like me can’t have beautiful women around him?”
She giggled. I was glad that she had relaxed. “No, it’s not that. I’m doubting you’ve traveled to seven. That might have been a trick question. So maybe it was six or eight.”
“On a high school trip during my junior year, we traveled to Ireland and the UK, and my history teacher, Ms. Spain, and the French teacher, Ms. Miter, were bad as hell. In my senior year, we went to Belgium and the Netherlands. Ms. Rico headed that trip, and I swore that woman was gon’ be my wife.
I took my beautiful wife to Spain and Portugal for our honeymoon and to Thailand for our second anniversary. ”
She blinked rapidly. “I didn’t know you were married.”
“I’m not,” I replied grimly, trying to pry my teeth apart.
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
“I’m guessing that your middle name isn’t Lamar.”
“It’s not. It’s Mekhi.”
“What languages do you speak?”
“English, Spanish, and French.”
“Was it because of those beautiful women that you learned the language?”
I held my arms out at my sides. “What can I say? I’ve always been a sucker for a beautiful woman.”
The elevator hummed and started moving again.
“Thank God!” she exclaimed, breathing easier as she reached down and grabbed her purse and laptop bag.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’ll be at one hundred when I step off this elevator. I guess I’ll be taking the stairs every day now.”
I laughed as the doors to her floor opened. “Next time, speak to a brother. I hate having to stop the elevators just to get some quality time in,” I teased.
She smiled, winked, and waved goodbye.