* * *
Nydia stared through the windshield listening to the slip-slap of tires on the roadway as Jasmine left Marigny and headed for the CBD. She felt her first financial meeting with her fellow innkeepers had gone well. It would take time to develop preliminary budgets before she requested another meeting. She knew Hannah was frustrated with the slow pace of the renovations in the centuries-old mansion, but Nydia knew once they were completed and the inn was open for business, her angst would dissipate like a drop of water on a heated griddle.
Jasmine gave Nydia a quick glance before returning her eyes to the road in front of the Honda. “I can’t believe you never told me you bowled.”
“It’s been a long time since I last picked up a ball, and I hope I haven’t lost my edge.”
“I’ve tried bowling a few times but gave it up when I always threw gutter balls.”
Nydia stared at the brake lights on the car in front of them when traffic stopped for a red light. “It took me more than six months before I was able to bowl above ninety.”
Jasmine laughed softly. “You know folks on the other teams are going to think you’re a ringer, especially since you’re too young to be a retiree.”
“They can think whatever they want. What they can’t do is show prejudice because of my age.”
“True. I’m glad I’m going to be there to witness their reactions when you show up with Hannah and her cousins.”
Although she hadn’t bowled in years, Nydia knew it was like riding a bike. She was certain once she put on her shoes and held her custom-made ball the skills she’d acquired over the years would resurface.
“Chica, I need your opinion.”
Nydia registered concern in Jasmine’s voice. “Talk to me,mija.”
“Cameron wants to take a week off and drive over to Galveston Island to look at vacation properties.”
“That sounds like a wonderful plan. What’s the problem, Jasmine?”
“We are still living in a hotel while our home is undergoing extensive renovations, and now he wants to go and buy more property.”
Nydia stared at Jasmine as if she’d taken leave of her senses. “Why are you complaining about how he wants to spend his money? Have you forgotten you had one husband who would’ve left you with nothing if you hadn’t asked Hannah for legal advice to hang onto what you’d worked so hard for?”
“I know, but I don’t think we need another house.”
Nydia took a deep breath, held it, and then let out slowly. “Don’t be a fool, Jazz. If the man wants to buy a vacation home on the beach where you both can kick back and relax, then don’t fight with him about it. All of us have been given a second chance,mija,” she continued, this time in a softer, more conciliatory tone. “Hannah lived with a man who’d cheated on her for more years than she could count and she stayed with him because she honored her marriage vows until his cheating ass died. Then, there’s Tonya, who was married to a man who attempted to control her life so much that he didn’t want her to succeed, and her only way of getting away from him with her daughter was to escape like someone on the FBI’s most wanted list. And thanks to you, Tonya, and Hannah preaching to me to get rid of the bum and kick his sorry ass to the curb, I was finally came to my senses to look out for Nydia Stephanie Santiago. You have a good man, Jasmine. A man who loves you and that baby you’re carrying, and I don’t want you to blow it because all of a sudden you woke up to the realization that you’re a strong, independent woman who doesn’t need a man to take care of you or give you what you need.”
Jasmine’s eyelids fluttered. “I know Cameron loves me, and I love him but—”
“This is the last I’m going to have a discussion with you about Cameron,” Nydia said, interrupting her.
“I thought you were my friend, Nydia, so why are you taking his side?”
“I’m not only your friend but your sister,mija.” Nydia combed her fingers through her hair, trying to find the words to say to Jasmine as not to upset her more than she was. “What do you want, Jazz? I mean really want.”
Jasmine turned into the hotel’s parking lot and maneuvered into her reserved spot, and shut off the engine. She stared straight ahead, appearing as if carved out of stone. Only the rising and falling of her chest indicated she was still breathing.
“I want to give birth to a healthy baby,” she said after a noticeable pause.
“And that is all we should be talking about. Not about Cameron buying a beach house, or whether you’ll be able decorate your home here in New Orleans. And while you’re complaining about living in a hotel there are thousands of people who live on the street, sleep under bridges and in alleys every single day in every big city in the country. When did you become such an elitist?”
Jasmine closed her eyes. “Why are you so angry? I know Danny did you wrong, but there’s no need to take it out on me.”
Nydia bit her lip and counted slowly to ten. She had to control her temper or say something that could possibly end her friendship with the one woman she had come to think of as her sister. She’d confided things to Jasmine she hadn’t with some of her family members.
“I am not angry.” She had enunciated each word. “Danny didn’t do anything to me that I didn’t permit him to do. And it was the same with my college instructor. What I refused to do is internalize things where they fester and negatively impact my life. The day I moved in with Tonya was the day I changed. The day my father carried me into the ER because I was in so much pain that I believed I was dying, my life changed completely. And when I woke up after surgery and my mother told me the doctor said I would’ve died if I’d waited one more day because the infection had spread throughout my body. That’s when I was reborn. I don’t give a damn about a man or a job, because they come and go. It’s the same with where I live. There was a time when I believed owning property was the next rung on the ladder of success for a young thirty-something professional woman. Now, the only thing that matters to me is staying healthy. Everything else is irrelevant!”
With wide eyes, Jasmine’s expression mirrored shock and another emotion Nydia could not identify. She didn’t know what she had to do or say to convince her former coworkers that she was not the same person who’d commiserated with them in Hannah’s apartment that warm, sunny May morning. Okay, she’d concede that she did break up and reconcile with Danny a few times, but once she moved and left no forwarding address and blocked his number, Nydia knew she had left her past behind.
“I’m sorry,” Jasmine apologized as tears filled her eyes. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said, sniffling as she struggled not to cry. “I don’t know if it is hormones or that I feel as if my life is spinning out of control. I’m married to a man who I still think of as a stranger, and even though I always wanted a baby I wanted to plan for it.”
