Chapter 9
9
B rooklyn
Two Weeks Later
There was nothing easy about Cameron leaving Jackson Island.
Everybody wanted to be the one to take him to the airport early on Tuesday morning—his mom, Carrington, even Will. Everybody wanted a few more moments to suck up his essence. It was me who got the opportunity to do so. I got him to the airport early. I pulled to the curb then we proceeded to try to kiss each other’s lips off. The tears flowing from my eyes didn’t seem to bother him. He didn’t stop kissing me or give me a chance to wipe them away.
“I think twenty-five days is unrealistic, baby.” He had already told me that one billion times.
I chuckled through my tears. “Four months ago, you didn’t even know me.”
“I did know you.”
“You kept forgetting me. You told me that it was nice to meet me on like fifteen different occasions.”
“Cap, baby. You’re exaggerating. Anyway, stop bringing up the past. I know you now.”
“Intimately,” I joked.
He eyed me. “Don’t get fucked in this car.”
“Twenty-five days.”
“But we can talk, text, and video chat, right?”
“Not the first four days, Cameron. Let me get through the prayer retreat. I want to be open to hear from God so I can get clarity.”
“I got your clarity,” he mumbled softly.
“I heard that. Stop it. If it’s meant to be, I’m gonna come back to you.”
He shook his head. “I don’t like playing with old wives’ tales. It’s bullshit.”
“When I come back to you, I want to be whole.”
“You lost both of your parents. You’re never gonna be whole again. If you base coming back to me on that, we might as well call it right now.” He threw up his hands, and my heart sank.
“Not whole like that. Maybe whole wasn’t the right word. I want to come back to you with confidence that my motives are pure.”
“They’re pure. Your heart is too pure for your motives not to be. But you need that. You’ve told me a thousand times. So I’mma let you have it… even though I don’t want to.” He kissed my lips. “Four days. If I don’t hear from you on day five, I’m coming to New Mexico… finding whatever building, tent, wigwam, or teepee you’re in and I’m knocking all of their shit over.”
I laughed from deep down in my stomach. One, because it was funny, but two, because I knew he would do it.
“Penny for your thoughts.” Big Red’s voice was soft as she sat on the bed across from mine in the hotel room in New Mexico.
The church chartered a bus, but Big Red had bristled at the thought of a twenty-hour long bus ride. So, I’d flown from Jackson Island to Londynville where the two of us boarded a plane. We’d been the first ones to arrive and the hotel manager was kind enough to let us check into our room.
“Nothing’s on my mind,” I lied. “Why’d you ask that?”
“Because you look like a woman who’s reminiscing about some… sweet memories.”
I curved her statement while still opening the door for us to discuss my plight. “I’m tired of only having memories of the people I…” I caught myself before I could say the word ‘love’. “I’m tired of only having memories of the people I care about. At some point I want some of these people to stay around, to not… leave me.”
“I know what it’s like to lose your parents,” she empathized. “Not in the same manner that you lost yours… not tragically. That certainly wasn’t fair and I hate that for you. I’m sorry that you don’t have them here to guide you, to love on you or to offer counsel. But your gentleman friend…”
I cut her off with my laughter. “Gentleman friend? You’re so formal, Big Red.”
She gave me a smirk-- her eyes twinkling brightly. “What should I call him, granddaughter? Your boyfriend? Your man?” She wiggled her eyebrows comically. “My future grandson?”
“You play too much. Just call him Cameron.”
“Cameron didn’t leave you, Brookie.”
“But what if he does?” I whispered.
Big Red stood up, crossing the space between us and pulling me into her arms. I was going through my suitcase but the fact that my hands were full didn’t deter her. “Aww, my sweet Brookie baby,” she cooed. “Finally, finally, you’ve given voice to what it’s been all along. All this time you spent dancing around it, running from it, making excuses… Are you finally ready to talk about it?”
“I love him,” I admitted as she released her embrace. “I’ve known him for years, but I’ve only really known him for a few months. Who falls in love this fast? Is that even possible? Maybe I’m just enamored with him. Maybe it’s limerence.”
“It’s not a crime if it’s love. No one can put a time limit on when you can develop feelings of love.”
“He wants me to consider moving to Chicago to be with him.”
She shrugged her slim shoulders. “You were born and raised there. Lived there until you were twenty. It wouldn’t be like what you did with Vince. It would be going home.”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “And my mama’s family is there. I mean, I’m not particularly close to her aunt and uncles or their children but they are there. Still, I really love Jackson Island. I’m happy there. I feel like moving to Chicago would cause me to start visiting Targets again.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I really don’t want to leave Jackson Island. And Cameron says I don’t have to. He says I should stay at his house and be there every time he has a chance to come home.”
“He wants you to live in his house?” Her smile was small, but it still lit up her face.
Mine matched hers in intensity. “He does.”
“Seems like this young man wants you to be around for the future. Doesn’t sound to me like he plans to leave you.”
“Vince didn’t leave me physically. He was there. He just left me emotionally. He checked out of the relationship.”
“Granddaughter, Vince was a dumbass… disrespectfully. You never could see him for who he was, but it was obvious to me that he’s a chaser. He chases things that he thinks will make him look good in the eyes of others. He’s not happy within himself, so he looks for external things to build up his self-esteem. He pulled away from you to find the hussy that his colleagues would give the stamp of approval. He didn’t even pay attention to the fact that she didn’t want him. She just wanted to break up your relationship. Men are so dumb, and they’re egos are so inexplicably huge. It never occurred to him that she was jealous of you and wanted what you had. Since she couldn’t take your platform, she took what she could get… Vince. That girl was plotting on you from the second she hired you.
“Your heart’s pure, Brookie. Sometimes, you don’t see people for who they are. That girl was as cunning and conniving as could be. Her plan all along was to bring drama and she did just that. But she’ll reap what she sowed.”
“You gonna pray one of your famous prayers over her life, Big Red? Like you did Vince?”
She was thoughtful. “Maybe I will. This is a prayer retreat, after all. Regardless of what prayers I pray for others, I have a special petition for you that I’m bringing to the Lord.”
“I hope it includes some clarity on what I’m supposed to do.”
My grandmother watched me as a still, uncomfortable silence fell over our hotel room. Finally her words broke the silence. “No, I’m not gonna pray about that. I don’t waste God’s time, Brooklyn Justine Waverly. You already know exactly what you’re supposed to do regarding your young gentleman friend. Remember the day you moved out of the apartment you shared with Vince? I asked the Lord to give you the wisdom to recognize your Boaz when he showed up and for you to realize that you were called for such a time as this? We’re all waiting on you to stop being such a punk and go get your man. What’re you gonna do?”
Bright and early on the morning of the thirteenth day of my self-imposed sabbatical from Cameron, I knew it was over. I quietly left the bedroom that my grandparents designated for me when I was a lost, grieving young woman. I crossed the hallway, tiptoeing into the bathroom. After making use of the facilities and washing my hands, I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and showered.
I dressed in an orange sundress that featured spaghetti straps and turquoise piping on every edge. It was a dress I had sewn when I was feeling particularly creative. I pulled on the matching cropped sweater that went with it, ankle socks and orange Nike dunks. After wrestling my big curls into a ponytail, I packed my luggage, then sat down at the desk to write my grandparents a letter. I wanted to thank them for everything they had given me and done for me, but I didn’t want to wake them up to do it.
My suitcases were heavy. I couldn’t get them down the stairs silently. They were bumping and thumping all the way down. It seemed like the more quiet I tried to be, the louder I actually was. In the end it didn’t matter anyway. When I made it to the kitchen, where I planned to leave my note on the table, my grandparents were sitting there drinking coffee.
“Well, good morning… bumpy.” My grandfather loved to tease. “You could’ve asked me for help. I would’ve carried your suitcases down.”
Big Red eyed me while pretending to talk to Pop-Pop. “Now, why would she ask you to carry her suitcases down when she was clearly trying to sneak outta here, Jessup?”
“Where you headed, Brooklyn? To spread some love to that little basketball playing boy?” His face screwed up. “Nah, I didn’t like the way that sounded. Cancel that. Where are you headed, baby? Chicago?”
“The Lord woke me up this morning and said as clear as day, ‘it’s time’. Plus, I spent all night dreaming about my daddy holding me. I felt so… secure. He didn’t say anything in the dream. He just held me in a tight hug. I realized that Cameron’s hugs make me feel the same way… the same way as my daddy’s. Secure.”
“So, you’re going to him?” Big Red needed clarity.
“I’m going to him. He was right; twenty-five days is unrealistic.”
“How are you getting there?”
“I was able to book a flight. Carrington’s going to meet me at Midway Airport. She has some business or something to do in Chicago. Our planes land within thirty minutes or so of each other.”
“Well, let me get my car keys so I can get you to the airport.” Pop-Pop finished his coffee in one swig.
“You don’t have to do that, Pop-Pop. I can get an Uber.”
“Nah, I’ll feel better if I do it.”
“I’m going too,” Big Red declared. “We were supposed to have you for ten days. You’re leaving on day three. Not to mention that once you link back up with your lover boy, there’s no telling when we’ll see you next.”
“At their wedding,” Pop-Pop joked.
“At Carrington’s wedding.” I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed, then left the kitchen to get ready to drive me to the airport.
Big Red crossed the kitchen to sweep me up in an embrace. “I’m so proud of you, Brookie. You can’t let fear keep you from going after the things that make life sweet. You’ve suffered so much heartache and trauma, baby. You deserve to live the sweet life.”
I melted into my grandmother.
“I’m so glad we came together, Brooklyn.”
I chuckled. “You’re just saying that because I’m driving.”
The plan I made with Carrington to meet at the airport worked out perfectly. I only had to wait for about forty minutes to spot her disembarking her plane. We hugged, squealed like we hadn’t seen each other in ages, instead of just days, then we hustled over to baggage claim. Once we had our bags and our rental car, I navigated us to the high-rise building that Cameron called home in Chicago.
“I’m an island girl. Chicago intimidates me,” Carrington admitted. “I get all… discombobulated trying to follow the GPS without hitting a pedestrian or a reckless driver. With you here, I can sit back and be a passenger princess, while you deal with the stress of getting us where we need to go.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I made a left-hand turn on to Cicero Avenue so that I could pick up I55. We were headed past downtown and over to the north side of the city where Cameron lived.
Carrington had full access to her brother’s building. Instead of having to circle the block repeatedly, waiting for a spot on the street to open up or utilizing one of the over-priced parking garages, I was allowed to pull the rental car onto the private parking lot connected to his building.
When we got to the bank of elevators, Carrington was in possession of some kind of badge thing that allowed us access to the penthouse. When we got to his door, she entered a code and placed her hand on some super high-tech looking screen. Once her hand was scanned, we heard the locks disengage.
“Wow,” I commented. “It’s weird seeing all of these security measures when he doesn’t even lock the door on the house on Jackson Island.”
Carrington shot me a knowing gaze. “Chicago is not Jackson Island.”
She wasn’t lying.
We stepped into Cameron’s living room. The first thing that came to mind was the theme song of The Jeffersons .
“Damn, Cameron done moved on up, Weezy,” I joked.
Carrington gave me a blank stare. “What?”
“Uhm, we’re moving on up, to the east side… to a de-luxe apartment in the sky,” I sang. “It’s from The Jeffersons .”
“What is The Jeffersons ? A reality show?”
I threw up my hands. “I know it’s an old show but you never watched Nick at Night as a kid? Or BET?”
Before she could answer, a feminine voice hollered out from the back of the apartment. “Cameron told me you were coming.” The voice got closer to us with each word. “I’m just finishing up in the kitchen. I’ll be out of your hair in a minute.”
Carrington and I stood frozen in shock as the pretty, curvy young lady came into view, stepping into the living room.
“Who are you?” Carrington found her voice first.
I was still in shock. It had only been thirteen days. Had he already replaced me? He already had some pretty, curvy heifer living in his house? I stared at the woman, really stared at her. She looked familiar.
“I’m…” she began, before I jumped in.
“You’re Genesis Upton. You’re Christian Upton’s wife.” I was giddy with excitement at realizing that I was standing face-to-face with Genesis Upton. “My father was a huge fan of your husband’s. Christian was his favorite player… behind Michael Jordan, of course.”
“Of course,” she agreed. “It’s nice to meet you.” She gave her attention to Carrington. “You have to be Carrington. You look just like Cameron. I mean, as much as a woman can look like a man.”
“Yeah, I get that all of the time. We definitely favor, but I’m the pretty one.”
“You definitely are.”
“This,” Carrington gestured toward me, “is Brooklyn Waverly. She’s a gown designer and Cameron’s girlfriend.”
“I’m not his girlfriend,” I protested.
Carrington eyed me. “How would you describe your position in his life, Brooklyn?”
Once I was on the spot, I really didn’t like any of the descriptors that I could give myself. “Okay,” I relented, “I’m his girlfriend.”
Genesis chuckled. “I’m his personal chef.”
“Girl, what did you make, because we’re hungry as hell. I just flew in from Jackson Island; that’s where me and Cameron are from. My plane left at six twenty-five this morning. All I had time to get was coffee and a donut. Brooklyn flew in from Londynville, Kentucky. Did you eat, Brook?”
I shook my head. When I decided that Chicago was where I needed to be, food hadn’t even crossed my mind.
Genesis looked at us thoughtfully. “Uh, what I made for him is really, really healthy. I mean, he has to prepare for training camp and the pre-season. It’s just chicken two different ways, some salmon and a huge bowl of green salad. You guys probably wouldn’t want that.”
“Well, if he has groceries, would you fix us something and add it to his bill?”
I gave her a light push. “Carri! You can’t just ask her to make something for us like that. Genesis isn’t the help. She’s a professional chef. She’s your brother’s professional, personal chef.”
Carrington’s eyes widened in embarrassment. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking-- acting like this is a restaurant where I can just order. I’m so sorry, Genesis. Being famished makes me delusional.”
Genesis snickered. “I don’t have another client for about an hour and a half. That’s long enough for me to make… chicken and waffles.”
“God bless you, Genesis!”
We finished cleaning the kitchen and were walking Genesis to the door when it opened. There stood Cameron.
“Hey. You make me something good t—” He stopped talking to Genesis as his eyes landed on me. “Yeah.” The gym bag that was in his hand fell to the floor as he stalked toward me.
Before I could even think to react, I was in his arms. I yelped in surprise when my feet lifted from the floor. “Cameron!”
“Baby,” he chanted softly into my ear. “Baby.”
“You were right; twenty-five days was unrealistic. I honestly couldn’t take another day.”
His lips captured mine in a deep, longing kiss that seemed to go on and on.
I vaguely heard Genesis say her goodbyes with the door closing behind her. I thought I heard Carrington mumble something about the guest room, but I couldn’t swear to it.
“You’re here,” he said once he finally broke the kiss but kept a tight hold on me.
“I’m here. I woke up this morning, and I knew that I’ve been operating out of fear. I don’t want to do that anymore.”
“Good. Where’d you pick up Carrington?”
I giggled. “We met up at the airport. We were both coming to Chicago. I was coming to see and talk to you. I don’t know why she’s here.”
“The baker that’s making her wedding cake is here. I think she came for a final consultation or something.”
“She had to come all the way to Chicago for a cake? There are no good bakers on Jackson Island?”
“Nah. There’s all kinds of good bakers on the island and in Charleston. She saw this place on The Good Eats Channel or something. She wanted these people, so Bryce told her she could have them.”
“I think it’s so sweet when men give the women they love the things that will really make them happy.” I snuggled against his hard chest.
“I think it’s sweet when women do it for the men they love.” He stared down at me, his chocolate brown eyes locked on mine. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I whispered.