“Well, we were, but your mother took sick.”
Just as I’d assumed, something was wrong. There was never a time when either of my parents called just to check on me these days. I knew they loved me, but I also knew showing it wasn’t high up on their list of priorities. They were musicians, and music always came first—even before me.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“They don’t know yet. The doctors are running tests, but I think it’s best if you come home. We need to face whatever this is as a family.”
“I’m not coming home.”
There was a long pause as I made that revelation. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t hear me or if he was still processing what I said. Either way, I wasn’t changing my mind. There had been plenty of times when I faced sickness alone or with my nanny. My mother would be just fine without me there.
“What do you mean, you’re not coming? Your mother needs you here.”
“No, she doesn’t. As long as she has you and music, my mother can live pretty much without anything else, and that includes me. Besides, I have made a life for myself where I am. It’s not fair for you to ask me to drop everything and run to you when I have been begging for the same thing for as long as I can remember.”
“Listen, baby, we are sorry about your birthday. We really are. We both wanted to make it, but we just couldn’t get away. You’re an adult now. You have to understand that.”
“I do understand, and that’s exactly why I am asking you to do the same. Understand that I can’t get away from what I am working on right now. I send my love and prayers to Mama, but that’s the best I can do.”
I hung up the phone without giving him time to respond. It broke my heart for things to be like they were between my parents and me, but enough was enough. The longer I was around Ramel, the more I understood how freely love should be given. There was no way I should have been begging my parents to show up for my birthday, and someone who had known me for less than a month did so without hesitation.
“You good?” Ramel asked from behind me as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him. I didn’trealize he had even come out of his studio. I always teased him about how light he was on his feet, but I was starting to think his ass was a ninja. The number of times he’d snuck up on me without even trying needed to be studied.
“How much of that did you hear?”
“Just enough to want to check on you.”
“I’m okay. I promise.”
“Did he tell you what was wrong with her?”
“He doesn’t know yet. It has to be serious, though, because my mother never gets sick, and the only way she is seeing a doctor is for a yearly checkup, or someone forces her to go. She’s so damn stubborn.”
I shook my head as I thought about how my mother operated as if she were superhuman. She took care of everyone else while they were sick, but rarely took the time to see about her own health. I could guarantee whatever was wrong with her was something that she’d been putting off for years, especially if it was something that she thought would stop her from performing.
My mother lived to be on stage. Before my grandmother passed away, she told me her daughter came out of the womb performing and hadn’t stopped since. If I could talk to her now, I would tell her she didn’t know how right she was.
“It’s okay to miss your parents, Gina. You know that, right? It’s okay to want to go to your mother when she’s sick.”
“You know how many times I’ve been sick, and the only person that rushed to my side was my nanny or doctor?”
“If we did people the way they did us, what type of people would we be? An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.”
“You’re right, but I just don’t know about going back there.”
“And I’m not telling you that you have to. You’re not wrong in this situation. You are entitled to being treated like you matter to everyone that matters to you. But if you want to see your motherand make sure she is okay in person, I just want you to know, that’s okay too. You don’t have to choose between your parents or yourself. Find a way to have both. Just make sure whatever you decide is fair and feels good to you.”
“How do you always know just what to say at exactly the right time?”
“I don’t know.” Ramel shrugged before licking his sexy ass lips. “I’m kind of a genius.”
“And you know what? I believe you.”
Ramel pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead. It wasn’t the first time he’d done either, but this time felt more special, like he was vowing to always have my back, no matter what. That vow was what I needed more than anything else, and I was happy it was coming from him.
Chapter
Fourteen
