Chapter 27 Chanel
Chanel
On a Saturday afternoon, Chanel folded the last of the laundry and put it away. She went in search of her husband and found
him standing at the balcony railing, staring seemingly at nothing. The past six months had been difficult to navigate after
losing Austin, and the family was still trying to pick up the pieces—especially Taylor. She, Kamryn, and even Giselle, to
an extent, had done their best to be there for her. However, Chanel felt Taylor pulling away. Taylor had said more than once
that she didn’t feel like she belonged anymore, despite the entire family rallying around her and letting her know that she
would always be part of them. Mama Yvonne and Papa Aaron did their best to keep the family strong, but all the brothers were
still struggling, Tariq especially. They’d felt the loss even more during Christmas a couple of weeks ago.
She stood there studying Vincent a moment longer before opening the sliding door.
As the youngest, he’d looked up to his brother, and it had been hard to stay strong for him, especially during those times he cried.
Nothing had hurt her heart like hearing his anguish when he broke down in her arms, knowing there wasn’t a thing she could do about it except be there.
Chanel came up behind him, wrapped her arms around him, and rested her cheek on his back. “Hey, baby. You okay?”
Vincent turned in her arms. “I’d like to say yes, but today has been hard.”
“Want to talk about it?” She was blessed that he felt comfortable sharing his feelings with her, particularly since a lot
of men tended to keep their emotions hidden.
“Even though Austin was gone most of the time for over a decade, I never felt like he was gone. But now there’s this emptiness
because I can’t text him just to check on him or find out when he might be coming home. He’s the one who taught me how to
ride a bike and how to perfect my batting stance. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do during the times when I want to contact
him and can’t. And you know what the worst part is?”
“What?” Her heart was breaking for him, and she wished she knew what to do to ease his pain.
“This week I typed a whole text and didn’t remember until I was about to hit the Send button,” he said emotionally.
Chanel didn’t know what to say, so she just held him close. He clung to her, and she felt the trembling in his body. “I love
you so much, and I wish I could take this pain from you.”
“I know, and I love you for it. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through these past months without you. You’ve been my rock.”
“And I always will be. How about I treat you to dinner at my favorite hamburger place?” she asked in an attempt to lift his
mood. “You mentioned wanting a burger a few days ago.”
Vincent smiled for the first time that day. “I say you’re on.” He kissed her softly. “Can you give me a few more minutes?”
“Take all the time you need, and just let me know when you’re ready.” Chanel went back inside and decided to call her sister.
“Hey, sis. What’s up?” Jada said when she answered.
“Hey. Just needed to talk to you for a few minutes.” She told her about feeling helpless and shared a little about the conversation
she’d just had with Vincent. “I don’t know what to do.”
“I wish I had some good advice, Chanel, but I don’t. Just keep being there for him. Time will have to do the rest.”
“I know.” She remembered having the same kind of lost feeling when she realized her parents had checked out. She and Jada
had mourned the loss, and it had taken years for them to go through the grieving process. “I guess I needed to hear it from
somebody else.”
“How’s Taylor?”
“I talked to her briefly yesterday and told her I’d be by sometime this weekend. She’s pretty much keeping to herself.”
“I’d probably be the same way. I only got to meet Austin once, but anybody in a two-hundred-mile radius could see the love
between him and Taylor. Let me know what time you’re thinking of going, and I’ll go with you.”
“Okay.”
“What are you doing for the rest of the day?”
“Vincent and I are going to our favorite burger joint.”
“Aw, man. I haven’t been there in months. Now you’ve got my mouth watering, and I’m going to have to go soon.”
Chanel chuckled. She and Jada had been going there since they were kids, and she hadn’t found another place that served better
hamburgers.
“Ready?”
She glanced over at Vincent. “Yep.” To Jada, she said, “Gotta go, but I’ll text you tomorrow to let you know what time I’m
going.”
“Sounds good. Tell Vincent I said hey.”
“I will.” They said their goodbyes, and Chanel disconnected. “Jada said hi.”
“She doing all right?”
“She’s good. Let me get my purse, and we can go.” When she came back, he had his jacket on and helped with hers. “So did I
mention that you’re driving?”
“I thought you were taking me out.”
“I am. I’m paying.” She came up on tiptoe and kissed him. “You drive so much better than I do.”
“You’re laying it on pretty thick.” Shaking his head, Vincent grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
They were still laughing when they got to the car and when she gave him directions.
“This burger better be good.”
“Oh, it will be. Trust me. I’ve been going there for years. It was Jada’s and my hangout after school and on the weekends. The food hasn’t changed since
then.” She hadn’t been there in a few months, but it was still owned by the same family. Even though the lunch hour had passed
and it wasn’t quite dinner time, the place was still fairly crowded when they got there.
“Maybe we should find a table first.” Vincent scanned the area. “There are two over there.” He pointed.
They snagged one of them. “I already know what I’m getting, but I’ll sit here while you check out the menu.”
He nodded and went over to the counter. A couple of minutes later, he came back. “I’m having the bacon cheeseburger with fries and a chocolate shake.”
Chanel slid out of the booth. “Got it.” She placed their order, then came back to wait.
“This is one of those old burger places. There aren’t too many left.”
“And it’s still owned by the same people, which is good.” She shared some of the fun times she’d spent there with her sister
and friends. Someone called her name. Chanel went to get their food.
Vincent rubbed his hands together. “Let’s try this.” He bit into the burger and chewed, then groaned. “Okay, okay, you were
right. This is good. We’ll have to add this to our rotation.”
“Told you,” she said with a smirk. She barely stifled a moan when she bit into her juicy cheeseburger. “Remember that time
we went to the beach when you put together that surprise picnic?”
He eyed her. “I know you aren’t going to bring that up.”
Giggling, she said, “I can’t help it. You had everything arranged so pretty. The seagulls thought so too.”
He laughed. “I still can’t believe they stole all my hard work. Everything, just gone.”
Chanel burst out laughing. “The look on your face was priceless.” The seagulls had swooped down and stolen the sandwiches,
chips, and cookies he’d brought. “The only thing we had left was lemonade.”
“Yeah, yeah, but it wasn’t as funny as you finding all that sand inside your bra.”
“I still don’t even know how that happened, and it wasn’t funny. Shoot, I was trying to get rid of that sand for days.”
“I know. I tasted it,” Vincent said, throwing her a wink.
Her mouth fell open. “You know what . . .”
He let out another bark of laughter. “I’m just sayin’.” He went back to his food.
They continued to laugh and talk while eating, and she was happy to see the smile on his face, if only for a few moments.
After they finished and were leaving, he said, “Thanks for this. I missed laughing with you.”
“I understand. It’s been a rough few months.” But she’d take as many good moments as she could right now.
“Well, if it isn’t my . . . my no . . . good daughter.”
Chanel froze. She’d been so focused on trying to help her husband, she’d completely forgotten about the possibility of running
into her mother. With the place being less than ten minutes from the house where she’d grown up and her mother’s apartment
even closer, she should have realized there’d be a possibility of seeing her. She slowly turned. “Hello, Mom.”
“Don’t you ‘hello, Mom’ me,” she said, her words slurred. “I’ve been calling you for weeks. So you must be the man she married,”
she said to Vincent. “Did she tell you that she refuses to help her own mother and that she’s poisoned my other daughter against
me?” She let out a bitter chuckle. “Of course not. Ungrateful little bitch.”
“I haven’t poisoned anyone, Mom. You did that yourself.” She choked back the tears threatening to fall. She was so embarrassed
that she wished the ground would open and swallow her up. It was bad enough for her husband to hear her mother’s cutting words,
but now the few people on the walkway had slowed or stopped to listen as well.
Chanel took a moment to study her mother. She’d lost a little more weight since she’d seen her last month, her eyes were red
and glassy, and she reeked of alcohol.
“Well, since you’re here, I need three hundred dollars. You should be able to afford it with the car you’re driving. It’s the least you can do for abandoning me. Your man looks well off. He can give me the money.”
“We don’t have any money to give you,” she said.
Vincent pulled Chanel closer. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Reynolds, I don’t have any money.”
Her mother launched into a cursing fit, and Chanel simply walked away. Her mother followed, continuing her verbal assault.
Shaking, Chanel got into the car and looked straight ahead as the tears she’d held back came in waves. She jumped when her
mother banged on the window, still yelling. Vincent tried to get her to calm down, and she turned her hateful words toward
him. It wasn’t until she heard someone on the street threaten to call the police that she left.
Vincent got in on the driver’s side and reached for her hand. “So that’s your mom.”
“Yeah, and that’s why I’ve never introduced you to her. I’m so embarrassed,” she added quietly, swiping at her face.
“There’s no need to be embarrassed. I’ve always been impressed by you, but I am even more now. It had to be really difficult
growing up in that environment, yet you survived, and you got your sister out.”
“Harder than you will ever know. We tried everything we knew to do to help her, but she doesn’t want help. She only wants
us to finance her habit. And I can’t do that and live with myself.” More tears ran down her cheeks. He leaned over, gently
wiped them away, and turned her face toward his.
“You can only do what you can do, baby. Your mother has to want to get help. Until then, there’s nothing you can do. But there’s
one thing I can promise you. You’ll never be alone again, because you will always have me and my family.”
“I know, and thank you.” Chanel covered the hand still on her cheek with hers. “You know, I’m supposed to be cheering you
up.”
“We’re a team, and we’ll cheer each other up.”
“The best team. I love you, Vincent.”
“And I love you more.”
He drove off but didn’t let go of her hand. Chanel didn’t know what she’d do without him.