Thirty-Two
THIRTY-TWO
Holland
M y mother opened the door and froze.
“Hi, Ma.”
My words were a switch, shifting her emotions from dejected to overjoyed.
“Holland!” she cried, throwing her arms around my neck and knocking me back.
She was wrong for what she’d done, but I couldn’t remember when I didn’t feel the fullness of her love while growing up in her home. I still daydreamed about what life would have been like had I lived with Aunt Goldie. They had both loved me.
“Holland?” Patience was suddenly behind Ma. “What are you doing here?” she asked, taking me in her arms when Ma finally let go. She pulled me inside the house and plopped on the living room’s worn sectional.
“I had to meet the movers and turn in my keys. Now that the renovations are done, I wanted to get my furniture to New York so I could finish decorating. We just drove here from Charleston.”
“We?” Patience said, letting nothing slip by.
“Noble came with me.”
“Who’s Noble?” Ma asked.
“Her boyfriend ,” Patience said, the way one kid teased another.
I was still getting used to calling him that. Noble and I had been inseparable since he’d showed up at my door the night of his father’s health scare.
“Where is he?” Ma asked.
“I needed to do this alone.”
Ma’s gaze shifted uncomfortably. “How about some chai?”
“Sure.”
“In here,” she said, walking into the kitchen.
Patience nodded her head in that direction. “Go on, sis. This is long overdue.”
I hadn’t been in that kitchen since July. It was the end of November. From the table, I watched Ma make the tea. She placed two cups on the table and sat directly across from me. The aromatic scent curled up with the steam. How many times had I sat at this table with Ma, discussing things over tea? As a kid, we sipped on sweet tea. In high school, we switched to hot tea. I fell in love with vanilla chai.
At that table, she had given me the you’re-perfect-just-like-you-are talk when I bloomed late and the boys teased me. And again later, when I was uncomfortable with my large boobs when no other parts of me had filled out. She was the one who told me that men loved through actions, not words. I understood that clearly now.
Ma hadn’t taken her eyes off me. She watched as I scanned the changes, noting the new curtains over the kitchen sink.
“I’m so sorry, Holl—”
“I forgive you.”
Ma dropped her head. Her shoulders shook as she cried. I reached across the table and placed my hand over hers.
“And thank you for giving me my father back.”
She lifted her head, curling her lips from a frown to a smile. She wiped her face with a napkin from the wood-block holder. “You sure?”
“The DNA test results said…” I put on my Maury voice. “He is the father!”
Ma put one hand on her heart and laughed. The sound was freeing, making the rest of the tension in the room dissipate.
“We talk every week. I had Thanksgiving dinner with them, met his wife and daughters—my sisters.”
“Were they nice to you?” she asked.
“Yeah. They want to get to know me and asked if I could come by on Christmas. I told them I’d let them know.” I paused. “So much happened in such a short time, you know?”
“Let them know the favorite-sister slot is already taken.” Patience stood at the entrance to the kitchen, arms folded, just as pretty as she could be, with ginger-colored braids, a crop top, and sweats. I laughed. She curled her fingers together, making a heart, and folded her arms back across her chest.
I waved her in. Patience poured hot water in a mug and sat, dunking a tea bag.
“What about the other test results?” Patience said, blowing into her cup to cool the tea.
“What other results?” Ma asked.
“Since my mother,” I said, distinguishing between Ma and Yona, “grandmother and aunt all died from breast cancer, I told my doctor. She was especially concerned because my mother died so young. She connected me with doctors in New York so I could do genetic testing there.”
“And?” Patience said sharply. Both Ma and she seemed to hold their breath.
“And…the brCA mutation gene was detected.”
Ma blew out a breathy “My Lord!”
“Holland!” Patience’s hand flew to her mouth.
“But!” I held my hands up. “I don’t have cancer.”
Ma sighed. Patience’s head fell back. She closed her eyes and dropped her hunched shoulders. I’d come to terms with this reality, like all the other discoveries over the past few months.
“For preventative measures, I’ll have to get mammograms and ultrasounds every six months, as opposed to annually like most people. Knowing is the best defense.”
“Whew,” Ma said. “You’re right. It’s half the battle.”
“Wait!” Patience tilted her head. “Where’s Noble?” She got up from the table. “I know you didn’t have him sitting in the car all this time.”
“He dropped me off. He’s checking into our hotel.”
“We got plenty of room,” Ma said.
“Ma!” Patience’s tone was incredulous. “And where is Noble supposed to sleep?” There wasn’t enough space in Ma’s two-bedroom ranch house. “We ain’t got bunk beds no more, and I am not sleeping on that couch!”
All three of us laughed.
Amy burst through the front door. “I can’t believe you crossed the county line without letting me know you were here!”
“Amy.” Glad to see her face in person, I got up to hug her. “How did you know—” I stopped midsentence and looked at Patience. She averted her eyes and shrugged. “Guilty!”
“Noble and I were going to come by.”
“Noble is here too?”
“Yeah.”
“And how’s…” Amy swirled her finger around the room. “ Everything .” She stretched the word conspicuously.
“Everything is fine,” I said, smiling at Mama.
Patience walked over and put her arms around Amy and me. “We’re all one big happy family again.”