He walked over to Demi first and held out his hand. Demi looked at it for a beat and let his ego fall to the wayside before shaking his hand.
“That favor you got with God… We gonna need that right now,” Demi said.
“That’s why I’m here,” Nyair said. He approached Lauren and bent down. “A praying mother got the power of ten men, Lo. Come pray with me. Give it over to me, and I’ma give it to God for you, baby, okay?”
Lauren rocked side to side, crying so hard that she couldn’t breathe. “I can’t,” she whispered.
Nyair went down on one knee and took her hands in his, grasping them as he fell into prayer.
“My Man. It’s me. Yeah, the sinner. Yeah, the one who has failed time and time again, but still Your child. Still Your servant. Heavenly Father, I know You are in control, but I’m in a room full of people that need to witness Your power-”
Charlie looked up at Demi who was standing skeptically, but his eyes glistened as he listened to Nyair fall into the most powerful prayer he had ever heard. Demi wasn’t devout in anything. No religion pulled him out of bed every Sunday or had him praying on his knees multiple times per day, but he did believe in God. Listening to Nyair’s prayer, he believed God could hear him and the resentment and ego that he felt toward Nyair disappeared. It was a humbling experience to have a manfuck your wife and pray over your son’s life. Wasn’t shit Demi could do besides watch. Prayer and God’s grace were the things he wasn’t qualified to give to his family.
The way Lauren wrapped her arms around Nyair mid-prayer told Demi he wasn’t doing enough to cover Charlie. Nyair was a barricade between whatever spiritual elements were waging war against Lauren, and he could see her exaltation in his presence. Nyair held Lauren by the back of the head and pressed her into his chest as Demi watched. He was almost moved to tears. Charlie was already crying, and Day stood head bowed, eyes closed.
The resounding Amen that filled the room sounded like thunder to Demi.
He wondered if anyone else had heard it. All he could say to Nyair was, “Thank you, man.”
“Anytime, G.”
Lauren turned to Day. “I’m sorry about the show tonight. I can’t…”
“It’s being handled, don’t worry about it,” Day said. “This is where you should be. I do have to get up out of here, though. I need to be there for soundcheck, make sure the artists are good. Bro, you ring my line as soon as you hear anything.”
“Take care of that bi’ness, bruh. I’ll call you,” Demi stated. “One of us got to be there.”
Demi retreated to Charlie’s side.
“You okay?” She asked, stroking him as she leaned into him.
“I’m not, Bird. I’m not okay. You got to sing to me.”
“Demi, right here?” She asked.
“Right now,” he confirmed.
“Share my life, take me for whatttt I am, cuz I’ll never changeeee all my colorsss for youuuu.” She almost whispered the words as he pressed his forehead to hers. Her hands to the back of his neck were the only negotiation talking him off theledge. Even her half-hearted attempt to maintain their privacy was melodic. It was the therapy to his crazy.
“He’s gonna be fine,” Charlie whispered. Demi nodded, and when they finally pulled away from one another, Charlie turned to see Lo watching them. There was sadness in Lauren, and Charlie shifted uncomfortably before taking a seat beside Demi.
A police officer and a woman in an ill-fitted suit walked into the room.
“Are you the parents of Demitrius Sky, Jr.?” The woman asked.
Demi and Lauren stood. “We are,” Demi said.
“I’m Gwen Tomlinson with social services. I’d like to speak with you about your home environment and what might have caused your son’s suicide attempt.”
“You think we caused it?” Lauren asked.
“Didn’t we?” Demi countered. He scratched his temple and grimaced. This was the last thing he wanted to be dealing with, but he knew with an incident of this severity, it wouldn’t just go away. He faced the woman. “We went through a divorce. He’s had a lot of change this past year or so. We didn’t know he was struggling as bad as he is.”
“Was there a note left behind?” The officer asked.
“He’s a kid. I don’t even think he thought that far,” Lauren cried. “He just wanted our attention, I think. I don’t know. Do we have to do this right now?”
“Lo, the doctor,” Nyair said as two men in white coats entered the room.
