“I’m not driving back. I’ll be staying up there tonight,” I assured her.
“Okay. Khalil’s dad should be a few minutes away. Then you can take me home, but I’ll need to pick up my other son from his dad before going home.”
“I don’t mind,” I smiled.
Faith nodded, then leaned over and wrapped her arms around me. “Thank you, Elise. Your kindness is what I always admired about you. I might be unapologetically me, but I could learn a thing or two from you. Right now, I want to apologize for my actions at the Fall Festival.”
“Apology accepted under the condition that we stop feuding from this day forward and start from scratch.”
“Deal,” Faith affirmed, and we shook on it.
“I also apologize for hurting your hand that day. I didn’t have to apply that much force.”
“Apology accepted.”
“Y’all are in here hugging and apologizing. Who is she, ma?” Khalil badgered.
“Khalil, this is my sister, Elise. Elise, this is your nephew, Khalil,” Faith bubbled.
“I knew it,” Khalil nodded, leaning back in the seat. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you as well.”
“My mom just told me that she has a brother and sister on her dad’s side. I haven’t met anybody from that side. What team you coach for?”
“Northside,” I informed him.
“That’s what’s up. I go to Wiregrass. We’ll probably run into each other again.”
“Not probably. You will. I want you to also meet your Uncle Essex and his family.”
“I’m down,” Khalil nodded as a Ford F-150 pulled onto the grass in front of us. “There goes my dad right there. Ma, I’ll see you later. I love you. Text me when you get home.” Khalil leaned between the seats and planted a kiss on her cheek.
“I love you too. There goes the tow truck now. I’ll be out of here right behind y’all.”
Khalil went around to the truck, and Faith went to talk to the tow truck driver. I wished I could text Rashawn and tell him all of the craziness that Faith dropped on me, but that wasn’t an option. Begrudgingly, I had to call Essex, the next best thing.
“Wassup sis? How was the tournament? I hate you and Nash both had events today,”Essex greeted me.
“The tournament went great. We actually had three girls take home first place in their weight class. I’ll tell you all about that later. But I ran into Faith at the tournament,”I confessed.
“What the fuck happened now?”
“Nothing. She was actually nice, and she showed me proof that she’s our sister, and her son looks just like us. Mrs. Jean isn’t really her mom; that’s her grandmother. Her bio mom is really her sister Michelle, and dad cheated on mom with her when she was pregnant with us,”I rambled.
“How you know she ain’t lying?”Essex questioned, and I heard the pause and exhale. He was smoking a blunt while I blabbed.
“Faith showed me proof of the child support agreement between Dad and Mrs. Jean. Plus, they took a DNA test. You know I wouldn’t have taken Faith at face value. Please, not with our sorted history. I’m giving her a ride home to Brooksville because her car broke down. I’m staying out there tonight, and she’s coming back to the car. I gotta go, bye.”I tried to rush him off the phone.
“Don’t hang up the phone! I have my own questions for Faith,” Essex announced as Faith slipped back into the truck.
“What questions do you have? I’m an open book, and we have a long drive home,”Faith quipped, pulling her seat belt on.
I barely slept after dropping Faith and Marlon off. Church didn’t start until nine o’clock, but I was up and ready at seven. Essex stayed on the phone with us the entire time as we drove to Brooksville, Faith picked Marlon up from her baby daddy, and I took them home. Afterwards, I went to my parents’ house, but they refused to open the door because they were still angry aboutme backing into their car. That didn’t deter me. We were going to have a conversation about the news Faith dropped on me. I checked into a hotel for the evening, thankful that I always kept a change of clothes in the trunk of my car.
By 8:50, I was pulling into the parking lot of my father’s church, dressed in a simple teal and navy floral midi dress and my navy Keds. The combo wasn’t something I’d usually wear to church, but it would do. I would’ve much rather conversed with my parents at their home, but when I arrived last night they told me to leave or they would call the police about me backing into their car a few weeks back, so I begrudgingly complied.
As usual, the lot was packed. My father’s flock of parishioners was ambling inside. While sitting in my truck, I took a few deep breaths to center myself before stepping out. Essex’s truck pulled into the parking lot, freezing me in my tracks.
