10. Spencer
SPENCER
Harmony and I were always in agreement that the most important thing was Mikayla and her comfort.
Because of that, when I got to Jackson Island, South Carolina, I moved into Harmony’s guest room as opposed to moving into a hotel.
I wanted Mikayla to sleep in her own bed and be around her own things while we waited for her mother to be released from the hospital.
“You’re on toast. I’m on bacon and eggs,” I told my daughter when she stepped into the kitchen on Monday morning. “Let’s go. Wash your hands and get the bread into the toaster. I don’t want you to be late for cheer camp.”
“I wanna stay home with Mommy. What if she has to go to the bathroom or needs something to eat? Who’s gonna take care of her?” Mikayla asked me.
“That’s what I’m here for, and your grandmother’s coming by in a few hours. Our job is to make sure your mother’s cool. Your job is to go to camp and be the best cheerleader you can be. Those college scholarships aren’t gonna earn themselves.”
“You’re paying for my college, Daddy.” She made her way to the sink.
“Says who?” I gathered what I needed from the refrigerator to start breakfast.
“You’re rich.”
“And you’re talented. Your talent’s gonna take you to college. Just like mine took me.”
“Uncle Silas said that I don’t have to try that hard. He said that you ran so I could walk.”
“He . . . what? That’s not even how the saying goes. I’mma hurt your uncle Silas.” Leave it to my younger brother to be spouting stupid shit to my kid.
We worked in silence for a little while. Harmony hobbled into the kitchen just as I was plating the food. Her leg brace made her gait both slower and more careful than usual.
“Hey, Mommy.” Mikayla ran over, stopping herself just before plowing into Harmony. She wrapped her arms around her mother.
Harmony had surgery on Friday afternoon.
She was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon.
All she wanted when she got home was a shower, some food, and some sleep.
Her mom, Mrs. Alston, had helped with the shower.
Mikayla and I had helped with the food. This was my first time seeing her since we took her up a tray at about 4:30 p.m. the day before.
“Hey, my baby.” She hugged Mikayla back.
“Good morning. You hungry?” I asked her.
“So hungry, and it smells good, too.”
I fixed her a plate, then the three of us sat down to eat.
After breakfast, it was a mad scramble to find everything Mikayla needed for the day.
I alternated between watching her look for her practice shoes, to helping her look for her practice shoes, to fussing at her that she was going to be late, so forget the practice shoes.
Apparently, things had been so hectic when I picked her up from camp on Friday to take her to the hospital to see her mother, we forgot the practice shoes were in the rental car.
“Daddy,” she said once we were settled in the car and had both calmed down from the practice shoes shenanigans.
“What’s up, Kay Kay?”
“I’m supposed to leave with you on Friday when you go back to Chicago?”
“Yeah.”
“But my mama hurt herself. If I go to Chicago with you, she’s gonna be by herself.”
“Your grandmother will be here with her.”
“But my Nana doesn’t live with her. She won’t be here all the time.” She huffed out a sigh. “My granddaddy is needy,” she complained. “He’s gonna want his wife home with him. He’s not gonna let my Nana be with Mommy the way she needs to, . . . the way I would.”
“Oh, okay. I’m with you. You feel like you need to be here for your mom as she recovers from this injury?”
“Yes,” she said with relief that I understood, like I was dumb or something and there was a chance that I wouldn’t understand. I wanted to laugh. “At least until she’s out of that knee brace. She can’t even really bend her knee.”
She had a point. “I can’t argue with you when you’re making sense. You want to postpone your time with me to take care of your mom. Got it. So . . .”
“So you have to tell her. I know my mama. If I tell her I want to stay, she’s gonna start talking about the parenting plan and about how important it is that both of you all get your time with me.”
“It is important. My schedule during the season is crazy, and I need to make sure that I get my time so I can soak up the essence of Mikayla.”
She pretended to gag.
“But I get how important it is to you to look out for her and be there for her. It’s you and her against the world, just like it’s me and you against the world. I’ll talk to her.”
She bounced up and down in the seat. “Thank you, Daddy! And ask if I can make up the week with you. Instead of staying one week, I’ll stay for two.”
“Nah, I don’t want you to miss that much camp.” As much as I loved spending time with my daughter, I didn’t want to do it at the cost of interrupting her schedule. “We’re getting this week, so maybe we’ll count this week as an extra week.”
“Or . . . when my week in Chicago is up, you can come back with me and stay here for another week. I want to introduce you to my friends. Oh, and you should rent a hotel suite. I wanna sleep in the big bed and order room service.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, okay. I’ll present the plan to your mom.”
She sighed. “Really sell it, Daddy. Don’t be all dry and lackluster. Really sell it. Make her see how it’s the best plan for all of us.”
“I said I’ll talk to her, Mikayla. You gotta trust me. I can be very persuasive.” I pulled into a parking spot outside of the Dorothy G. Jackson Community Center where cheerleading camp was held.
Mikayla unbuckled her seatbelt, then I felt slim arms circle around my neck and hug me. A soft kiss was pressed against my cheek. “Thanks, Daddy. Love you. See you this afternoon.”
“You’re welcome. I love you, too. Have a good day, and stay safe. See you this afternoon.”
Harmony was in the same place I’d left her, the breakfast table, when I got back to the house.
“How’d drop-off go?” she asked.
“Good. We found her practice shoes. They were in the back seat.”
She chuckled. “Good. That girl would lose her head if it wasn’t attached.”
“Ay, she asked me to talk to you.”
“About what?”
“About the fact that she’s supposed to go with me when I leave for Chicago on Friday. She doesn’t want to go. She wants to be here to take care of you.”
Harmony sucked her teeth. “I’m fine. I don’t need her to take care of me.”
I pinned her with a blank stare. “Be so fuckin’ for real, Harmony. Your knee is basically dead.”
“Go to hell, Spence.” She sniggered. “My knee ain’t dead. It’s—”
“Messed up. You’re hobblin’ around here, doin’ your best, and she sees that. She sees her mother hurt. She’s worried.” I exhaled heavily. “I don’t wanna take her.”
She gasped. “What? This is your week.”
“She’s gonna be miserable there with me, while she’s worryin’ about you. I don’t wanna take her.”
“The time has been scheduled. I—I’ve made plans.”
“You’re gonna have to tell that nigga that y’all have to reschedule.”
She clutched pretend pearls. “What makes you think there’s a man?”
I waved her off dismissively. “The last thing I want is a miserable Mikayla. And that’s what she’s gonna be .
. . miserable, if she leaves you here alone.
” I made air-quotes at the word alone. “She’s gonna be distracted and worried.
I don’t wanna do that to her. I think it’s best to let her see you through the worst of this.
Then, as you start to heal, she’ll be more comfortable being away from you.
Just give her one week. You just got home yesterday.
Give her a week. Then, I’ll come back and get her. ”
“Ugh!” She was frustrated.
“Your daughter is a future attorney just like you. She got me to agree to keep her a week, and then come back for a week. She wants me to rent a hotel suite so she can eat room service and sleep in a king-sized bed.”
“She does like to negotiate.”
“She does. And she’s good at it.”
She grinned with pride. “She is. Okay. You’re right. We’ll push her visit to Chicago back by one week. I’ll let my big baby take care of me and help me out.” She shook her head. “I really love that little girl.”
I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face. “Me too.”