Chapter 18
I couldn’t believe everything I was hearing, and it seemed Denishia was having a hard time with it as well. I started rubbing her back in circular motions because she looked like she was on the verge of an anxiety attack.
“Your mama didn’t want me even mentioning his name around her or you. I didn’t have a problem with that because I couldn’t stand him. The man flipped the script on her. After you were born, he became someone else. It was like he truly had multiple personalities. It was to the point where I barely believed your mama when she would repeat some of the things he would say to her.”
She slowly shook her head. I reached for Denishia’s hand and felt the tremble go through it. I didn’t know if she was angry or nervous about something. I leaned over to her and said, “Baby, take deep breaths. You’re extremely tense, and I don’t want you to have a panic attack. Take deep breaths.”
She closed her eyes and began doing as I suggested. Her ex was staring at us. I could see him in my peripheral. When I looked at him, he averted his gaze. I started thinking back on the day I checked him for fucking with Denishia, and I remembered him getting in the car with a woman.
“So that was her you got in the car with that day?” I asked.
“Yes. It was her idea for me to take Denishia’s car. She was planning to fuck with it but changed her mind.”
“Where is she? Where has she been staying? Do you know? I need to give this info to the police,” Denishia said.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know.”
“So this bitch is responsible for my mother’s death. What was her reason for talking to my mama?”
“I don’t know. I’m only assuming she talked to your mom. I don’t know that for sure. She just knew too much about her.”
I slowly shook my head. At least she now had a name. That increased the chances of them catching her. She deserved to suffer for what she did to Jamia. There was no reason for her to slice her face up the way she did. None.
Will stood from his seat. “I gotta get out of here.” He glanced at me then brought his attention back to Denishia. “I can tell you’re happy. I’m sorry I wasn’t the man you needed. I wish the two of you the best.”
I nodded at him, and he walked off. Denishia’s grandmother had tears streaming down her face. Denishia went and sat next to her and just held her in her arms, rocking back and forth. That was a hell of a load he dropped on them. Ms. Patsy obviously already had heart issues, but this woman scared her right to her fucking grave.
I hated this for Denishia. Tonight, after dinner, I planned to hold her the entire time. I really wished she could leave with me now. This bullshit would be over soon, if the cops conducted good police work, and we could truly relax in the relationship we were trying to build.
When her grandmother had composed herself, she took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. “I’m sorry, baby. I just hate to be reminded of that time in Patsy’s life and so did she. The things Ray tried to put her through were unforgiveable. I thank God she sent him packing. He didn’t deserve to have a part in raising a precious angel like you anyway. Now that we know who this young lady is, we can be grateful that he didn’t have a hand in who you became.”
She’d shared my sentiments exactly. Denishia kissed her grandmother’s cheek, then stood from her seat and helped her from hers. I stood quickly to assist them. Her grandmother stared into my eyes and said, “Thank you for being here for us, Ezekiel… God makes strong. A mighty prophet of God.”
I gave her a slight smile. I’d known the meaning of my name but never dwelled on exactly what it meant until now. He was using me to make them strong. They were drawing strength from my presence, and I was thankful He chose me to do that.
Once we got outside, I asked, “Would you like us to take you home, or do you feel like you’ll be okay to drive?”
Ms. Julia gave me a soft smile, her eyebrows slightly lifted and scrunched together. “I’ll be fine to drive, baby. Thank you. Take care of my grandbaby. She tries to be strong for me all the time, but I know she’s hurting too.”
She glanced at Denishia as she was talking and gave her hand a squeeze. “I’ll always consider it my job to take care of her, but I’m here for you, too, if you need me, Grandma.”
Denishia smiled at me calling her grandma. Hell, with the way I was feeling, if I had my way, she would soon be my grandma too. Grandma nodded and placed her hand on my cheek in an endearing manner. I smiled at her, then helped her in her car. She wasn’t feeble by any means. My help was more like merely holding her arm while she sat, not because she needed it, but in a gentleman-like manner.
Once I closed the door, she put her window down and said, “Nishia, call me tomorrow once Ezekial hits the road.”
She winked at me and pulled off, causing Denishia to slowly shake her head. “I love that woman, but she better watch herself.”
I chuckled. “You think she tryna take yo’ man, baby?”
“I don’t know, but it seems like my man is slightly smitten already. He may go willingly.”
I laughed loudly, causing her to chuckle. When we got to my vehicle, I pinned her against it and kissed her lips. I pulled away slightly as I grabbed her hands. Staring into her eyes had quickly become my favorite pastime. Despite how she was trying to joke her feelings away, I could still see the torment… the anger and the hurt through her gaze.
Leaning toward her, I kissed her forehead. “Let’s get back so I can give you a foot massage.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “I know what that activity can lead to. Let me check on Jamia before we get back to my house and call Jerzey to check on her as well. She seemed to be triggered the other day. I’m not sure exactly what part of the day triggered her, but I know seeing her sister didn’t help matters.”
“Okay, but what can me massaging your feet lead to?” I asked as I opened the door for her.
“So, you’ll massage my feet, then end up going up my thick ass legs, then end up kneading my ass cheeks. Then within seconds, you’ll be tongue-deep in my pussy, eating all you can handle. So we’re skipping dinner?”
I smirked at her and closed the door, walking around to my side with a smile on my face. She was relaxing in what she was feeling for me, and I loved every bit of that. She wasn’t shy, by any means, about expressing herself. She was only reserved around people she didn’t know. However, I made it my business early on to pull it out of her. When it came to relationships, I was always on the fast track. I knew what I felt in my heart, even as a kid.
Being that I hadn’t had a relationship in a while, I might should try to slow down. That shit ain’t gon’ work. I was too far gone. Besides, Denishia needed me, and I’d be damned if I was going to pretend I didn’t know that.
When I got in the car, she smiled at me. After the news she received tonight, the last thing I was expecting was to see a smile on her face. Maybe it didn’t bother her as much as I thought it did. I reached out to her and gently swiped her cheek with my thumb. “You good with placing a to-go order?”
She fell out laughing, and I couldn’t help but laugh with her. I had to leave tomorrow, and I wanted as much private time with her as possible. Knowing that everything that had happened the past two weeks had all stemmed from a jealous sibling was unbelievable. Denishia’s life had changed permanently, and she would constantly have to deal with the grief of losing her mother. I witnessed my own mother going through the exact thing when her mother died.
Sometimes, grief would just knock her across the head and take her down for an entire day. It seemed it would come out of nowhere, but I knew that something had probably triggered it. It could have been a song, movie, or TV show, or something as simple as a distinct smell. For my mama, it was Clorox. She said my grandmother would always clean up with Clorox. Whenever she smelled it, she would retreat within the corridors of her mind, thinking about happier times with my grandmother.
So, I was prepared to help Denishia through whatever she was feeling, especially knowing that someone else had possibly caused her mother’s sudden demise. As I drove to the hospital, I placed a call to Longhorn Steakhouse and ordered our food to pick up in the next hour then turned into the hospital parking lot.
I wished I had gotten over to Aunt Jocelyn’s house while I was in town, but with all the shit popping off with Denishia, I couldn’t find the time. I’d be sure to call her and let her know that I would drop by next time I was in town.
After parking and assisting her out of the car, we made our way to Jamia’s hospital room. Denishia didn’t want to be here long, and I shared her sentiments. After I left, she could sit up here all day with her. I had become selfish with her time. I wanted it all to myself. No, I needed it all to myself.
When we got to Jamia’s room, she was sitting up in bed, talking to Jerzey. Well, Denishia could kill two birds with one stone. Jamia smiled big when she saw us. That was a damn good sign. Her bandages had been removed, but I could see all the stitches in her face. That shit looked so painful. For her to be sitting here talking and smiling showed just how resilient she was.
“Hey, y’all!” she said.
Denishia smiled slightly. “Hey, girl. How are you feeling?”
“I’m good. I’m flying high. They are about to come clean my face and rebandage me. Blood was seeping through.”
No wonder. She was high on pain meds. That made sense. She smiled at me and said, “Heeeeyyy, Zeeeeeeke.”
I chuckled as I glanced at Denishia and Jerzey. They were trying to stifle their laughter, but they were doing a piss poor job at it. “What’s up, Mia? You need to give me some of that shit they gave you.”
“Shiiiiiid,” she said. “You’d be laying next to me, high as hell.”
I chuckled. Denishia went to her bedside and halfway examined her scars. There were about four lines of stitches in her face. There was a long one across her cheek, one between her eyebrows leading down her nose, another on her forehead, and one on her chin. It was a blessing that woman didn’t slice her neck. Jamia would have bled out at the floral shop.
“Denishia, what you looking at?” Jamia asked sarcastically. “Girl, the doctors already examined me. Go examine your man over there.”
Denishia laughed and said, “Shut up, Jamia.”
When Denishia walked over to me, Jamia said, “Y’all look so good together. I told you what that nigga wasn’t willing to do, somebody else will. Ezekiel was that somebody. You look so happy.”
I pulled Denishia closer to me as Jerzey smiled. Jamia continued rambling. “We gotta get Jerzey together now. She and Mekayla are going to talk tomorrow so she can put that trauma in her past. Then she’ll be able to have and sustain a healthy relationship with a man. She can’t do that as long as her soul is in turmoil.”
Jerzey rolled her eyes. “That medication got her lips loose as fuck.”
I chuckled. “If y’all need me to step out so you can talk, I’ll go to the waiting area.”
“Naw. We can talk tomorrow or the next day. That shit would take me all day to go through. I’m ready to put that shit behind me though. Mekayla is doing so well. I’m so happy for her and how she has grown. She’s a wonderful mother and wife. She was already doing so much better by herself, but when she met Jacob and married into the Henderson family, it seemed she got even better.”
“Hmph. You need to get her to hook you up with one of his fine ass cousins you told me about,” Jamia said.
Jerzey again rolled her eyes and huffed as the nurse came in. Denishia and I laughed quietly at Jerzey’s frustration. She gave us the finger and smiled. Once the nurse set all her stuff down on Jamia’s bed table, she looked up at us and said, “Hello. I’m Farrah, Jamia’s night nurse. How are y’all?”
“We’re good. Thank you. How about you?” Denishia responded.
“Good, thank you.”
The nurse glanced at me with a slight frown, like she was trying to figure out who I was. I got that a lot. My face was familiar to them, but they couldn’t place me. Sometimes, I liked that. I didn’t always feel like being bothered. Then, other times, I didn’t like it, because it made me feel like I needed to be working even harder, focusing on my career every moment of the day.
When she was done bandaging Jamia up, she turned to me and said, “Ezekiel Wheeler! It took me this long to figure out where I knew you from. Lord, have mercy. I loved Unwrapping Your Love .”
I smiled slightly. “Thank you so much.”
I turned to Denishia to see her smiling big. It looked like one of those proud mama smiles. I chuckled and pulled her closer, then kissed her forehead. The nurse smiled. “I was going to ask what brought you to Beaumont but realized that was a dumb question. You’re here because Miss Jamia is here.”
Now she was doing that nervous rambling thing people did when they were starstruck. She took a deep breath and shook her head as I chuckled. After flushing out Jamia’s IV, giving her more meds, and gathering all her things, she smiled at us and left. Denishia turned to me and asked, “Are you ready?”
“Whenever you are, gorgeous.”
I didn’t want to say hell yeah and make her feel some type of way, but I was ready to get to that gushy shit between her legs. This time, I planned for both of us to be extremely satisfied. I wanted to be so satiated in her shit that I didn’t care whether I made my flight or not. If a woman could have me wanting to turn down my bag, she had to be the one. No doubt about it.