22. Talitha
Talitha
It had been a few months since our last walk-through of the school. Today, Jose called requesting not only my presence but Law’s as well. After finishing up my last meeting, I met him and Baker out front and was whisked away to the building.
Immediately upon arrival, my stress levels had begun to rise. It took Law a few weeks to come clean about the mold damage and at first, I was pissed that he had kept me in the dark for so long but with everything else I had going on, I understood why he did it.
When the call came through from Jose, I prayed that everything was fixed so I could go ahead and file the application. I had kept in contact with Mr. Pellegrin from the accreditation board and he was patiently waiting on our application to be submitted.
Walking through the building, I took note of all the changes that had been made since the last time I was here, and I had to admit I was impressed. The thing that had me the happiest was the skills lab for the nursing program.
I had ordered dummy patients for the students to work on along with hospital beds. Someone had the entire room set-up like a nursing home facility.
That eased a bit of my anxiety and had my breathing slowing down. “Law, do you see this?” I gushed when I pulled back the curtain and noticed the metal trays filled with needles, syringes, and tubing sets.
“Damn. Whoever did this handled everything for us.” Wrapping his arm around my waist, Law pecked my lips.
I’m sure his excitement came from seeing me so excited because any other day he was laid back and chill. I was so smitten with this man that it didn’t make any sense. The longer I stared, the wider my smile got.
The past few months with him had been fun and very entertaining. We went from getting to know each other to spending damn near every night with each other.
On the days where his business ran over, instead of going home, he stayed at the house. When Mrs. Jessie was able to spend the night with Gema, I would stay with him. Long gone were the days of us sneaking around at the house.
Gema knew what we was up to and she approved. That made me extremely happy. Her and Law got along well, and I couldn’t have been more thankful.
I couldn’t say we were officially in a relationship, but we did couple things and that was enough for me. He made me feel comfortable, so comfortable that I was able to relax and let him initiate sex.
In the beginning, he hesitated until I would give him the okay. Now, the man jumped my ass any time we were alone. We dated regularly and like he said, I was showered with gifts. So many gifts that everyone in the office was questioning who the mystery man was.
Our relationship was still being kept a secret from my staff. For all they knew, the two of us were just working on getting the school off the ground.
Finally tearing my eyes off his handsome face, I looked around the room and smiled. “They really did. I was planning on me, Rossi, and Marsha coming to set this stuff up.”
The dummy patients donned blue and white hospital gowns and everything.
“Well, someone just made your job a little easier. Come on… let’s go to the second floor.”
Ambling out of the room, we got on the elevator and headed up to the restrooms.
“Mr. Harvey, Ms. Talitha.” Jose smiled when he noticed us stepping off the elevator. After greeting him, he escorted us down the hall and into the restrooms. I was scared as hell so instead of fully stepping through the door I peeked in.
“Come in scary. It’s complete.” Law laughed.
“Oh my God, Jose. You really did it.”
“We did it, Ms. Talitha. I had the insulation redone and I replaced the sheet rock. The walls are as good as new.”
“What about the system upstairs?”
“It was fixed and is no longer leaking. The ceiling tile is new too.” He pointed up.
The last time we were here, it was obvious that there was a leak because the tile was stained. Now, it was white and good as new.”
“Okay Jose. Keep it real with me. How much do you have left to do?”
“Really, just some cabinetry. That’s it. You guys should be okay to submit the application.”
“Yes!” I fist pumped the air. “That’s what I like to hear right there. I will get it submitted first thing in the morning. Thank you so much Jose for this! I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
“Yeah. Thank you, my man.” Law reached out and slapped hands with him. “This one was beginning to drive my ass crazy worrying about meeting an unknown deadline.”
“Y’all hired me and my crew to do a job. I’m just happy we could make it happen.”
My mood had transformed immediately. I was on such a high right now. Nothing could bring me down. At least that’s what I thought. As Gema used to say, don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
* * *
Holding my finger up, I told my staff, “Give me just a second.” Swiping my phone off the conference room table, I stood and walked out of the room.
This was the second time Mrs. Jessie had called my phone in the past minute or so, and now alarms were blaring around me.
“Mrs. Jessie?” I rushed out when the call connected. “Is everything okay?”
“Talitha, I need you to get home now!”
Sensing the urgency in her voice, I damn near ran to my office. While gathering my shit, I asked, “Is it Gema? Is she okay?”
“Bertha is okay. But Tali… you gotta get her now. I don’t know how much time we have.”
“I’m on my way,” I assured her.
Rushing out of the building, I ran to my car and hopped in it. The whole drive to my house I was praying that I didn’t have to whoop nobody ass. Mrs. Jessie said Gema was okay, so it had to be one of her children.
One of they asses had popped up and was probably showing out. Today wasn’t the day for this shit. I wasn’t in the fucking mood.
The youth center had received a health code violation, and I was meeting with my team to see how we could address it and fix the problem before the inspector came back out.
Apparently, we had a surprise visit last week when I was with Gema at the doctor and the kitchen staff didn’t have the food stored properly.
I understood mistakes happened but with what I was already working on, I couldn’t afford these types of mistakes. Especially since our feeding program was an intricate part of the youth center.
Because I did the dash to my house, I was able to cut my trip down by ten minutes. When I turned into my subdivision and down my street, I spotted the sheriff’s car parked along the curb of my house and in my driveway sat my mama and her husband’s Mercedes.
What the fuck are they doing here? And with the fucking sheriff? Whipping into my driveway, I cut the engine and hopped out of the car.
The closer to the door I got, the easier it was to make out Gema’s voice. She was arguing with my mama. Pushing the door open, I cocked my head to the side. “Somebody better tell me what the fuck is going on?” I groused. Everyone’s attention snapped to me.
“Thank God, Tali!” Mrs. Jessie huffed. “Please tell this man I’m not abusing Bertha.”
My head rocked back and forth in disbelief. “Abusing? Who said Gema was being abused?”
“Ma’am.” The sheriff stepped toward me. “We got a call about possible elderly abuse.”
“Who the fuck called?” I quizzed.
“I believe the call came from a Jalitha Naples.”
My head snapped in my mama direction and before I could catch myself, I roared, “Bitch you called the cops on Mrs. Jessie? You really sat up there and lied to them folks ‘bout her abusing Gema.”
“When she came to visit last week, she had a bruise on her back,” Joe Lee spoke up.
“And I told this dumb bitch that she slipped in the tub. I took her to the hospital to make sure she was okay. It’s a fucking bruise. We’re using Arnica cream on it!” I raged.
“Calm down, ma’am!”
“Don’t tell me to fucking calm down. You’re standing in my house accusing a nurse that I vetted and hired of abusing my elderly grandmother. Like I’m going to sit by and let that shit happen.”
“I tried to tell 'em Tali,” Gema said.
“Gema, I believe you. I’m not mad at you. This bitch on the other hand.” I turned and pointed at my mama. “You lucky this white man standing right here, that’s the only thing keeping me off your ass.”
“Ma’am… Until we can rule out abuse, we’re gonna have to place her in the care of her next of kin.”
“You ain’t fucking doing a thing without proper paperwork.”
“Oh, you mean this paperwork,” my mama snorted as she passed it over to the sheriff. Once he had them in hand, he passed them over to me. Lowering my eyes, I stared at my mama before skimming over the documents.
“Unfuckingbeliveable!” I chuckled bitterly. “You couldn’t get her to willing agree to move in with you, so you go and do this.” I tossed the papers in her face. Biting down on my bottom lip, I inhaled several times to calm myself down.
If I punched that bitch in her face, I knew for a fact that her ass would press charges on me and that was the last fucking thing Gema needed.
My spiteful ass mammy had filed paperwork with the courts in Douglasville alleging that Gema was being abused and until myself and Mrs. Jessie was cleared, she was given temporary elderly guardianship. Fuck the fact that I was her power of attorney and over her entire estate.
Because the alleged abuse had taken place under my roof, I had no choice but to release Gema into her care. If I went against court orders, I could be thrown in jail.
“Gema, unfortunately… you gotta go with her.”
Shaking her head vehemently, Gema mumbled, “I’on want to Tali.”
“I know baby. But you gotta. At least until this bullshit ass investigation is complete. I’mma reach out to my attorney and see if I can do anything to speed this process up.”
“I told him wasn’t nobody over here putting they hands on me.”
“Mama, you can barely remember what the day is,” my mama asserted.
“Bitch! Don’t lie on my, Grandma. She is very fucking lucid.” Granted Gema had her moments where she couldn’t remember little things but nothing to the magnitude Jalitha was alleging.
“Come on, Mama. We need to get back to the house.”