Chapter 6 – Nalia #2
A few minutes later, Harmony and her husband Harlen appear at the end of the trail leading up to the fields, pulling Ava and Lillian in a wagon and I watch Zuri run up to greet them with Heather in tow.
As Zuri gives hugs to the girls, I get up and tell Gigi that I’ll be back then make my way down the steps to meet them.
Once I reach my sister, I give her a hug and quickly whisper in her ear. “The woman in the dress I’m sitting with is Logan’s mom, and the woman sitting with the man on the bench beneath her is his kids’ mom and her boyfriend.”
“Got it,” she whispers back, then lets me go and wraps her arm around Zuri, who has leaned into her. “Hey, kiddo.”
“Hey.” Zuri smiles at her then reaches up to give Harlen a high five when he holds his hand up.
“Thanks for bringing them,” I tell Harlen, giving him a one-armed hug.
“I figured you might need the backup since your sister has been on one about the guy you’re dating,” he says under his breath, and I sigh.
“Thanks, and I’m not dating him.” I mutter and he grins.
“Can we take the babies over to the grass?” Zuri asks while Heather bounces on her toes at her side.
“Sure, honey,” Harmony says. “Just make sure you keep a close eye on them.”
“We will,” both girls promise, taking the handle for the wagon from Harlen and pulling it through the grass towards a tall fence that cuts off the ball field from a large green space.
“I’ll stay and keep an eye on them,” Harlen tells Harmony leaning down to kiss her.
As he walks off to where the girls are, I lead Harmony up the steps to Gigi and introduce her to everyone then take a seat.
A few minutes later the game starts and about ten minutes after that the Heather and Zuri help Harlen bring the babies up to us and I make more introductions.
“Can Heather and I go get something to drink?” Zuri asks, and Heather continues for her.
“My parents gave me some money, and they are okay with me just going over there by myself.” I look over my shoulder.
From where we are sitting, I can see the area where the vendors are.
It’s not far, and I remember being Zuri’s age and wanting to feel like I was grown enough to go places on my own without an adult.
“Sure, but you two have to stick together.”
“We will,” Zuri tells me, and I pick up my bag and start to search for my wallet.
“I got it.” Harlen passes Zuri a couple twenty-dollar bills from his pocket. “Get whatever you want and if they have any ice pops or ice cream get a couple for the girls.”
“Thanks.” Zuri smiles at him and gets to her feet with Heather, and the two of them head back down the bleachers and stop at Heather’s parents before they walk down the dirt path.
“Thank you,” I tell Harlen, and he waves me off, his attention on both the girls who are using him as a jungle gym and making the people around us laugh because they are so adorable.
I check back to where the girls are just to make sure they are okay and see them in line at one of the food trucks.
“So what team are we cheering for?” Harmony asks, and I know that’s her way of asking what team Logan coaches. I’m honestly shocked she didn’t ask earlier.
“The boys in red,” Gigi tells her then she points out Cooper who is guarding first and Logan, who just happens to have his aviators pointed our direction. “So far this season they are undefeated.”
“That’s awesome,” Harmony says while nudging her shoulder into mine.
I can tell that she is dying to say something about Logan, but thankfully, with his mom and the mother of his children within earshot, she keeps whatever she wants to say to herself.
Though I’m sure I’ll hear it when she gets me alone.
“Nalia,” hearing my name screamed I look to the dirt path and watch Billie running our way.
My stomach instantly bottoms out, her face is pale and she looks scared.
Actually, she looks terrified. Getting to my feet I quickly move past Harmony and Harlen and fumble my way down the steps of the bleachers.
When I get to the bottom, she meets me out of breath.
“What happened?” I wrap my hand around hers; it’s cold despite how hot it is out today.
“Some kid pushed Zuri, and she fell. She hit her head, and it’s bleeding pretty bad. I think she needs to go to the hospital.”
“Where is she?”
“Down by the food trucks.”
“Thanks, honey.” I take off running down the dirt path.
When I reach the area where the vendors are, I see a crowd gathered and push my way through it.
I find Zuri on the ground holding a towel to her face, Heather right next to her.
Nausea crawls up my throat. There is a lot of blood, so much that the once white towel is stained red.
Falling to my knees next to Zuri, I rest my hand on her back, and she turns her head to look at me through her eye that isn’t covered.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers with her eyes filled with tears.
“Don’t apologize.”
“Someone pushed her,” Heather tells me, and I lift my gaze to her, with my muscles tight. “There was a boy from school being a jerk, and she told him that he was being a jerk, and I think him or one of his friends pushed her when we were walking away.”
I have so many questions but now is not the time to ask them, right now I need to figure out how to get her to the hospital since I didn’t drive, and I doubt that Logan even knows what is going on.
“We’ll sort all that out later,” I tell her gently when I notice that her hands are shaking. “Do you want to go find your mom and dad?”
“Yeah,” she whispers.
“Go do that, honey. Zuri will call you when she can,” I tell her, and she looks at Zuri with tears brimming her eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Zuri tells her as Heather’s dad suddenly appears behind her, the moment he places his hand on her shoulder, and she turns to see it’s him she gets to her feet and falls against him crying.
“Let’s get you up,” I tell Zuri, but before I get to my feet, Logan is there, having just run from the field, with Harlen helping me and her off the ground.
“I dropped Ava and Lillian’s ice creams,” she tells Harlen, sounding devastated as she curls against my side.
“That’s okay, sweetheart,” he assures her while looking at me. “Did you check the wound?”
“Not yet.”
“It’s going to need stitches,” a woman says, and I look over at her. “I gave her the towel; the cut looked pretty deep.”
“Thanks,” I whisper to her, and she nods, wringing her hands together.
“Let’s get her to my Jeep,” Logan says, and Harlen lifts Zuri off the ground and carries her towards the parking lot. After he gets Zuri in the back, I get in with her and make sure she’s buckled in then pull her against my side.
“My head hurts.”
“They’ll give you something to help with the pain at the hospital,” I promise, then look out the side window as Billie comes running up with my bag.
“Thank you, honey,” I tell her when she places it over the door and onto the front seat.
“Is she okay?” she asks, worried.
“She will be.” I hold her gaze. “Thank you for coming to get me so quickly.”
“You’re welcome.” Her attention goes to her dad.
“I have Coop, and we’ll get a ride with Mom or Gigi.”
“Thanks, sweetheart,” he tells her, getting in behind the wheel.
“Harmony will call you,” Harlen says, and I nod at him, then wrap my arm tighter around Zuri’s shoulders as Logan backs out of his parking space.
It doesn’t take us long to get to the hospital, and the moment we arrive, the woman at the front desk has us escorted back to a room, and not long after that, the doctor comes in to see us.
When he pulls the blood-soaked towel from Zuri’s face, I force myself not to react to seeing the open wound.
It’s bad, but not as bad as I thought it was, given the amount of blood she lost, but it’s still bad enough that I see a dark bruise beginning to form around it.
After ruling out the possibility of a concussion, he cleans her up and places three stitches above her brow, then tells me that I can give her Motrin for the pain and ice to help with the swelling.
He sends us on our way, making sure to remind me twice to check in with her pediatrician.
When we arrive home twenty minutes later, Logan helps me get her inside, then I leave him in the living room and walk her down the hall to her bedroom.
Taking a seat on the edge of her mattress after helping her change her clothes and get tucked into bed, I smooth her hair off her cheek and tuck it behind her ear.
“Rest, okay.”
“Okay,” she agrees, her eyes drowsy. “Love you, Namalama.”
“I love you, too.” I carefully kiss her forehead, then pull the blanket up around her shoulders.
I want nothing more than to crawl into bed with her, but my phone has been beeping nonstop.
I checked in earlier with my family, but if I don’t start responding to my messages soon, everyone is going to start showing up at my house.
Picking up her dirty clothes, I carry them to the laundry closet across the hall from her room and spray them with stain remover. I leave them to soak, hoping that they can be salvaged, then poke my head back into her room and find her already asleep. Closing her door, I head down the hall.
“She okay?” Logan asks from my couch, startling me when I walk around the corner into my living room.
I don’t know why I expected him to be gone, to have left quietly while I was with Zuri.
Maybe I shouldn’t have, he’s already proven without trying that he’s the kind of guy to jump in when you need him, without you ever having to ask him to help.
“She’s asleep.” I walk towards the couch, you’d think he’d look out of place in his athletic gear, ball cap, and sneakers sitting amongst my frilly pillows and the bright pops of color everywhere, but instead, he looks like he belongs in the space.
“Are Cooper and Billie okay?” I take a seat next to him with my cell phone.
“They’re getting dinner with my mom; she’s going to drop them off at home when they’re done.
” He leans back, rubbing his hands down his face.
“They were supposed to go home with their mom after the game today and spend the weekend with her, but neither of them are comfortable around her man, so they’ve been avoiding her house and her. ”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all good, the situation is still new. Eventually, they’ll settle in; it’s just going to take time.”
“Have her and her boyfriend been together a while?”
“About a year and a half, but he just moved in with her, so that changed the dynamic; now he’s not just a guy who shows up on occasion, he’s the guy living in their space.”
“Big changes like that are hard.”
“Yeah, but I think the biggest issue is they thought their mom and I would get back together, and her moving Aaron in crushed that dream.”
“Oh,” I say lamely. I want to ask if that was a possibility, but it feels like we are entering territory we shouldn’t be in with this conversation.
When my cell phone starts to ring, and Mom appears on the screen he sees it and gets to his feet. “I’m going to take off so you can check in with your family. You have my cell number, if you need anything just call or send me a text.”
“Thanks, and thanks for everything today.” I push up from the couch.
“I’m glad I was there.”
“Me too,” I admit, and his face softens as he looks down at me.
“I’ll talk to you later.”
“Sure.” I walk him to the door and open it up for him.
“Later, Nalia.”
“Later, Logan.” I hold my breath when he reaches out and touches my cheek then with my lungs burning, I watch him walk to his jeep and get in before I close the door and lock it. Only then do I answer the call from my mom.