“Throw tantrums. That’s not kind, and we always try to be kind.” Flashes of a memory with Ellynn peeked through to the present, when I had to impress upon my sister the importance of acting completely differently from our parents. She too liked to throw a good tantrum, similar to the ones our mom did when she ran out of drugs.
“Chris won’t let me have a snack.”
“Probably because dinner is almost ready, Cheye. You can’t eat both.”
“Then I won’t eat dinner!” Her voice ended on a yell.
I simply arched a brow and stared her down. When she huffed, I asked the question she knew must be coming. “Was that kind?”
“I don’t have to be kind,” she whined.
“Would your mama say the same thing?” I hated to ask. Her mom was gone. My sister wasn’t here to navigate this or any other storm. But I knew Ellynn’s heart, and no way she wanted her child to act like this.
“Mama’s gone,” she whimpered.
“I know. It hurts.” I patted my heart. “Very much.”
Cheye nodded.
“But don’t you still want to make her happy?”
“Yes.”
“Then please be kind. It would also make me happy, and I’m sure Chris would appreciate it as well. He’s been such a huge help to us, hasn’t he?” Poor man probably needed a walk outdoors.
“He fixed my baby.”
Cheye had a baby doll she slept with that was beyond tattered. “How did he do that?”
“Gave her a dress!” She sat up, tears forgotten and a smile on her face. “He gave her a new dress, fixed her hair, and she looks almost new.”
Had Chris sewn something? I turned to glance at the kitchen, and he gave me a thumbs-up. Guess that meant dinner was salvageable and we could eat.
“Did you thank him?” I asked, once more studying my niece.
Her head bobbed vigorously.
“Good. Now go apologize to him for acting that way and sit so we can eat dinner.”
“O-kay.” A petulant expression covered her face.
Guess she was like me in that department, found apologizing way too difficult to do. But remembering my childhood and all the ways our parents failed me and my sister, well, I wanted to be an adult who could apologize. I could only hope I’d raise the girls in a similar manner.
Twenty-Two
What was worse than attending a wedding with a woman who wasn’t your wife and two kids who were slowly wrapping you around their fingers? Easy, attending a wedding by yourself.
“Come with me to the wedding. It’ll get the girls out of the house. It’ll be nice.”Chris had smiled, hoping Erykah could sense how much he wanted her company.
“I think it’s best if we stay here. We don’t want to bother your friends more than we already have.”
“They could be your friends too,”he’d offered.
“I’m fine with how my life is now.”
That last comment had sunk his stomach faster than an anvil in an ocean. He didn’t know what happened on her night walk the other day, but ever since, she’d been pulling away. Pulling back from their movie sessions, from random texts throughout their day, and from those moments they’d been having that had been laced with more but remained unspoken. Like that almost kiss.
He blew out a breath. In a short while, Chris would watch Tucker and Piper exchange vows, and he had to do so knowing he was truly the fifth wheel in the group. Erykah wasn’t anoption, not with all that was on her plate. If he could accept the fact, maybe the pressure weighing his breaths down would ease.
