I completed her hair and then rubbed the excess on my hands into my scalp. “That’s cool.”
“What do you think about that?”
“About a man I’ve never met being engaged to someone else I’ve never met?”
She laughed. “About getting remarried.”
“Good for him.” I stopped on my way to the sink and gave her a look. “That’s… nice?”
She waited until I was done washing my hands to continue whatever point she was trying to make. “Thatisnice.”
I made a face. “Well, I’ve been there, done that.”
“Yes, you have,” she relented. “But don’t let one man ruin it for all men.”
“You are the one who told me to not make men my focus!”
“I told you not to makethat manyour focus! I didn’t tell you to give up men altogether.”
I laughed. “Fair.”
“And I told you that when you left that bastard, and you were separated. You were beginning your healing journey. I told you to focus on you.” She waited for me to remove the pillow from behind her back before she continued. “And you did. You picked up the pieces. I’m very proud of you.”
“Thank you.”
“But what are you doingnow?”
Working, I thought as I sat in the chair next to her bed.
“And don’t sayworking,” she added.
“They added eight kids to my class size and—”
She lifted her right hand to point at me. “That’s an excuse, not an answer.”
Her signature call-out caused me to purse my lips. She wasn’t wrong, but itwasa busy school year.
“What do you dofor you?” she asked.
“I’m here. I’m spending time with my favorite person in the world.”
“For a week!” Her brows furrowed. “What are you doing with the rest of your summer?”
Seeing my sweet talk didn’t work, I sighed. “I don’t know yet. The only thing I had on my calendar was to spend this week with you.”
“A few weeks ago, I told you to come up with a plan to make this summer better than last summer. Did you?”
I frowned dramatically. “Not yet.”
She stared at me for a long moment, and I saw a lot of emotion behind her eyes. The longer she held my gaze, the more it triggered my own emotions. Inexplicably, my chin quivered.
“Jazmyn, I want you to listen to me,” my aunt said in a soft yet stern tone. “You have everything you need within you to thrive. You’ve existed for long enough. Now it’s time for you to live. You need to ignite that fire within you.”
It wasn’t just what she said. It was the way she said it and the emotion behind her words. All I could do was nod. If I opened my mouth right then, I would’ve started crying.
“Get a piece of paper and a pen, please,” she instructed.
I got up and walked to the counter where her flowers and photos lined the space. When I’d set up her stuff that morning, I noticed a pen and pad in the corner. I returned with it, and I plopped down in the chair.
