“Ummm…” Jazzy ventured, “you arealnurse?”
A quizzical look crossed Kirstie’s mocha brown face. “Ummm...yeah,” she half-mimicked Jazzy.
Jazzy rolled her eyes, “If you say so.” She smacked her lips and gave her attention to her phone again.
Kirstie continued. “I went straight to college after graduating from Lovetown High. I’ve been a nurse for two years now.”
“We graduated from Lovetown, too,” Jazzy said under her breath.
I added the numbers in my head.Graduate at 18, go to college for four years, two years of working.“So you’re twenty-four?”
“Yes,” she answered.
Jazzy abandoned the conversation, but I was intrigued. This girl was younger than me and already had a job. Arealjob. An important job helping people. And if she went to my old high school, she must have been from my neighborhood, too.
I blurted out, “How did you get in college? And how did you pay for it?”
The door to Big’s room swung open wide and my Cousin Glory Jean rushed in. She wore a long, oversized plaid shirt, jeggings, and a pair of Jesus sandals. “Oh Lord, Lord, Lord have mercy.”
The drama begins.
Jazzy and I rose from our seats.
“Cousin Glory—” Jazzy tried to calm her without success.
My cousin dropped her large world map purse on the floor, threw her hands in the air, and pushed past my sister to Big’s side.
“My poor cousin.” Cousin Glory Jean leaned over Big, staring into her face, like she expected Big’s eyes to pop open and revive at the sound of her voice. When that didn’t happen, she barked, “Is she in a coma?”
“No, ma’am,” Kirstie answered, moving toward the machines, which forced Cousin Glory Jean to step out of the space nearest Big and give my grandmother some room to breathe.
I smiled to myself, thinking how clever it was for Kirstie to get Cousin Glory Jean to move out of the way. I wondered if they’d taught Kirstie that maneuver in college.
“She’s sedated,” Kirstie offered. “But in the next several hours, she should be able to communicate with you for a little while.” Kirstie surveyed the machines again and entered another note on the computer.
Poochie arrived, breathless as a result of the trip from the car to Big’s room. Poochie was my second cousin. She was in her late 40’s, not too much older than my mother would have been, but she moved like she was the oldest person in the room due to her large size. “Hey, y’all.” She huffed, wiped the sweat from her brow, then dried her hand on her navy blue broom skirt.
I wrinkled my nose in distaste, not wanting her sweat on me. But I got over myself and offered a hug. “Hey, Poochie.”
Poochie lifted a hand to stop me. “Maybe later. Once I cool down.” She turned left and right. “Is there a chair I can sit in?”
Jazzy pointed to the one she’d been sitting in moments earlier.
“I said a chairIcan sit in. Not you, Miss Skinny Minnie.” Poochie tried to tease, but her eyelids were heavy with embarrassment.
Upon second glance at Poochie’s girth and that chair, I had to agree. She was right. There was no way she could fit more than half her butt in that seat.
Kirstie volunteered, “I can get a more suitable chair for you.” There was no hint of judgment in her voice, which was more than I could say for myself. Maybe college would make me a more empathetic person, too.
“Thank you,” Poochie said, looking down at the floor. Her long locks fell over her face, hiding the “most beautiful eyes we had in the family,” according to Big. Poochie had grayish-green eyes. They’d looked like jewels to me when I was a child.
Kirstie left in search of a chair.
Breathing heavy, Poochie excused herself. “I’m gonna go to the waiting room. I’ll be back.”
That left me, Jazzy, and Cousin Glory Jean alone with Big.
“Now, tell me again how Big just upped and passed out,” my cousin demanded with a hand on her hip.
