“I know you will.”
We walk into the kitchen to find Paris dancing around in circles with a cinnamon roll in her hands while Bailey records her and Mom does her best to ignore them both.
As Penelope runs into the fold, I feel confident that family is exactly what I needed today.
My thoughts keep drifting to Dani, wondering how she’s holding up. Is she letting anyone be there for her?
I pull out my phone and send her a text. The only reason I have her new number is because Amerie insisted her wedding party have each other’s contact information.
Before her number changed, the proof of our connection was easy to find. It shone through every text, voice note, and emoji. Now, as I start a brand-new text chain with her, the empty screen serves as a stark reminder of how far we’ve fallen.
Me: Hey I know yesterday was a lot. I’m sure I’m not high on your list of confidants but I’m here if you need to talk
The “Delivered” status beneath my text is the only acknowledgment I receive.
Hours later, I’m in the kitchen making popcorn for everyone while Mom and Bailey make an executive decision on what movie we’ll be watching.
The Pee Pee Girls stroll into the kitchen, arm in arm, only separating to stand on either side of me. Paris locks her arms with me while Penelope rests her head on my chest. The way they move through the world is not like Bailey and me. They function on a different wavelength, more like twins than anything. In the thirty years they’ve been in this world together, they’ve never even lived apart, so they are very much an extension of each other.
“What do you two want?” I ask, eyeing them both.
They look between themselves, telepathically communicating who’s going to start. Paris wins. Or loses, depending on how you look at it.
“Well, we were just talking to Bails about OP’s Family Day at the gallery this weekend.”
“Okay?” I ask, uncertain. Spring Hill has hosted the kids of Our Place many times before. They don’t usually have to butter me up for something beforehand.
“And it got us wondering,” Penelope takes over. “If you had reconsidered our offer?”
I remove myself from the cocoon they tried to build around me. “I already gave you my answer.” Reconsideration was never on the table.
About a year ago, they asked me to come on as a sort-of partner at Our Place. My parents are on the board, but they wanted me to have a bigger role. I flat-out refused.
Chi Chi was my best friend and Our Place meant the world to her, but I don’t deserve to have a hand in that. I haven’t earned my place in her legacy.
I thought I had shut this conversation down the first time they broached it. I didn’t think I’d have to endure the look in their eyes when I shattered their perception of me again.
“We know, we just thought—”
I cut Paris off, not wanting to hear it. “No. The answer is still no.” I hold my fist up to my chest, rubbing small circles there until the ache starts to subside.
“Could you tell us why?” Penelope asks.
The ping of the microwave saves me from having to answer them or myself. I grab the popcorn and pour it into the waiting bowl. “That’s something I’ll have to deal with one day.” Probably the day I meet Chi Chi again. “But you don’t. Leave it alone, okay?”
Unwilling to watch the disappointment flood their faces, I turn my back on them.
Later, when I’ve made it home and fallen into my bed, a text chimes on my phone.
Without even looking, I can feel that it’s her.
Chapter Four
Dani
SPONSORED POST FOR ABLACK WOMAN–OWNED SHOEbrand? Check.
Follow up with the distribution company for Promesa? Check.
