“Ugh.” She groaned and covered her face. “I just feel like this is the first time you’ve liked a guy I like and you’re gonna make it weird.”
“I am.” Myra agreed, chin jutted with a smile. “Not sure why you made me make that promise anyway. Before I leave, I’m gonna know all there is to know about our GG.”
Laughing at their shenanigans, I headed to the last two food trucks to get our items. It made me feel validated to know Zoe’s father didn’t like Raymond either. I trusted her when she said things were over between them romantically, but I prayed she wouldn’t allow him to continue to use her professionally if she did decide to leave. The version of her that she was today was lighter, softer, and carefree. If she chose to give that up, hopefully he wouldn’t make her regret it.
“What kind of lemonade do you want, babe?” Zoe asked as I set everything down.
“Strawberry. I’ll come help you grab it.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I shoved my hands in the pockets of my sweats as we headed to the lemonade stand. “How you feeling?”
“Great! I’m so happy they came. Mama said they’ll go back to Memphis once a month so I can visit them there, and they’ll visit me wherever I land.” She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “I’ve gained so much being here in such a small time. I keep telling myself that’s enough for me to take back with me, but I don’t want to go.”
“If you don’t want to go, . . . don’t go. Why do you feel like you have to?”
“My home’s there. My career. This was supposed to be a six-week thing. I done fell in love, got dickmatized, found peace in this slow living, and returned to my baking. What the hell kind of twilight zone is this?”
Her confused expression and low tone made me release a bark of laughter. It was clear she was struggling with what to do, and I didn’t want to laugh and make it worse. Wrapping my arm around her, I reeled in my laughter.
“How about this . . . if you decide to go back, we can try the long-distance thing. I will do whatever you desire, Precious. No pressure though. If you want to be single and focus on your work, I’m okay with that too.”
“Or, I could stay here, bake for the shop, move in with you, and say to hell with that job.”
Not wanting to get too excited, I looked up at the starry sky and smiled. “That could work too.”
20
Zoe
I didn’t think I’d ever want to visit Zina’s grave. As far as I was concerned, her body was here, but her spirit was not. I didn’t want to be reminded of that fact. When I wanted to talk to her, I talked to her. Today, though, I felt the urge to be as near to my sister as possible. It hadn’t even registered in my brain that I was headed to the cemetery until I pulled up.
For a while, I just sat in my car, unsure if I wanted to go to her grave or not. I thought I’d burst into a puddle of anger and tears, but that wasn’t the case. My steps were slow, but eventually, they led me to her tombstone. I stared at the tombstone so long my eyes dried out. Kneeling, I wrapped my arm around it, wishing I could give her a hug.
When I stood upright, I confessed, “I’m not mad at you anymore. Haven’t been for a while. It took some time, but I know why you kept the truth from me. We made all these plans for our life in this small town. We thought Memphis was so big, but we had no idea.” I chuckled as my eyes watered. “I’ve been to bigger cities, Sissy, and I’ve had some fun. But then I lost youand I buried myself in work. Now I’m here and . . . I don’t know. The fun I’m having here, it’s different. The festival, the river, the mountains. The drive-thru movies with a beautiful backdrop of stars. I love the community. How all the stores have real people, not just robots who don’t care about their customers. I’ve gotten so much cool stuff I have a room in GG’s house just for my treasures.”
I covered my mouth as I giggled. “You’re supposed to be here. You’re supposed to be making bomb coffee and serving the community, and I’m supposed to be baking your recipes. We’re supposed to be married and raising our kids together.” Huffing, I wiped my face. “I know you didn’t leave me on purpose. You’d never cause me pain. That’s why you didn’t want me around when you were sick. And as much as I hate that choice, I respect you for it, and I appreciate it. I would’ve died with you if I saw your body turn against you.
“I would’ve been so hurt, so sick. So depressed. I wasn’t strong enough to handle that then. And what I have now, I have the good memories. Not memories of you sick. Said all that to say, . . . thank you. Thank you for protecting me and putting me first, even with everything you were going through. And thank you for waiting on me so we could say goodbye. I love you, Sissy. I thank God you’re finally resting in peace.”
I sat there for a while longer until my alarm went off, letting me know it was time to head out to meet Jessica. I reached out to her, unsure if she’d want to link up and reconnect, but she did. Much too much time had passed since I’d seen my girl, and I was looking forward to an in-person account of how good life and love had been to her.
Laughter erupted from the pits of our bellies as we reminisced. Our time together flew by like we hadn’t allowed eleven years to pass since the last time we talked. I was proud and happy of the life Jessica had curated with her husband, Nathan, and their son, Jordan. Jordan had come after a series of miscarriages, and Jessica wasn’t sure if she’d try again, so she was extra grateful for her rainbow baby. I had an urge to spoil him like a rich auntie as she showed me pictures and videos of him. He was a reminder of the fact that life went on for family and friends whether I was here or not.
“You remember when we dared you to get your tongue pierced,” she said, then cackled.
“Hey, y’all said get it pierced. You didn’t say I had to keep it in. As soon as my mama found out, I took that shit out.”
“Chile, I remember her bursting through the door waking us up out of our sleep. She told you to stick your tongue out, and I damn near peed my pants.”
I laughed so hard tears were threatening to pour from my eyes. “I’m just glad I had the mind to take that shit out. Otherwise, we all were going to get a whupping that night.”
“It was so funny. She could tell it was swollen, but since she couldn’t see the piercing or the hole, she just yelled at us for having a dirty room.”
We fell out in laughter before I called Mama to confess to having gotten my tongue pierced, and she was twice as mad because I was too old for her to punish me anymore.
“How long are you staying, bestie?” Jessica asked with a pout. “I’ve missed you. I don’t want you to leave me yet.”
