“Who’s fighting?” Thomas glanced around like he was missing something.
“See what I gotta deal with,” Mr. Rogers whispered to a giggling Tyler. “I almost beat his ass in the lunchroom one day, hmmm umm,” he rubbed his gums together. “He forgot what was going on mid-swing. He asked what was happening. I toldhim he was giving me his Jello. That day he saved himself an ass whooping and I got a free Jello.”
“You’re a mean old man.” Tyler shook her head.
“And I have a mean right hook. Bring me the sucker that’s making you hurt and I’ll run his ass over with my chair and punch his no-good ass in the throat,” Mr. Rogers promised.
“What if I’m the one that's no good?” Tyler rebutted, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth.
“Nah.” He backed away from her. “With a voice like that, you’re one of God’s angels and God protect all his angels. You’re hurting now but you’ll have the last laugh, you hear me?”
“I hear you.”
“Good, now go visit yo wacky ass mama. She's another one that’s always trying to fight me.”
“What did you do to my mama?”
“I stole her Jello,” Mr. Rogers admitted, quickly rolling away.
Tyler shook her head as she watched the old man continue to harass everyone he passed. If she hadn’t known it before, she knew it now... Mr. Rogers was definitely the problem child at Brooks.
“How have you been, sweetheart?” Nurse Hawkins asked before Tyler could take off down the hall.
“Umm, I’m living so I can’t complain.”
“Well, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“My mom-” Tyler started to panic.
“No, no, no, nothing like that.” Nurse Hawkins touched Tyler’s shoulder. “I just want to make sure you’re ok. I don’tknow everything, but I hear things. I know what they did to you, what they’re saying about you.”
“It’s fine.”
“It’s not and God don’t like ugly. I want you to keep holding on because God has plans for those who he favors. It might seem like a lot right now, but you’re supposed to shed all that dead skin before you can fully shine.”
“I hear you,” Tyler mumbled. “But holding on is getting harder and sometimes I wonder what it will feel like to let go.”
“Hey, don’t talk like that. When they say He doesn’t give us more than we can bear, it’s true. God will never put you through anything you couldn’t handle. You got this and I want you to know that I’m here for you. I’ve been saving and I have a nice 401K. I’m going to take care of your mother’s housing bill for the next two months.”
“Nurse Hawkins, I can’t ask you to do that.”
“I don’t recall you asking and it’s my money. I’d rather do something meaningful with it besides giving it to my knuckle-headed grandkids. They always want me to invest in one of their Ponzi schemes. It ain’t that many car washes and boutique stores in the world. They should all have one by now and don’t neither one of them have shit to show for it,” she scoffed. “So let me do this, and if you ever need anything, I want you to call me. You are not alone.”
Tyler couldn’t stop the tears if she wanted to. She buried her head in Nurse Hawkins' neck and cried while the older woman rubbed her back. Even in the midst of the storm, God was still protecting her, and Tyler didn’t know why.
“Ah shit, don’t tell me I need to run your toes over for messing with my baby girl,” Mr. Rogers threatened from behindthem. Tyler pulled away from Nurse Hawkins and wiped her eyes.
“Sir, carry yourself on before I stick a broom in your wheels and leave you in the corner,” Nurse Hawkins sassed, placing her hand on her hip.
“If I had my leg I'd-
“Still be talking mess. Go on now.” She waved him off.
“I’m leaving because the movie in the game room is about to start and I want a good view.”
“Yea, yea, yea.”
“I can’t with him,” Tyler snickered.
