Solomon remained quiet, not responding in shock or even pity, just giving her the space to continue. “Thankfully I’m not fired. And from the outside, the meeting I had with my director went better than I expected. But I know I let her down. And let so many others down. I unintentionally made her look bad in front ofpotential clients. That’s why I really need to make this connection work with Blue Horizon.” She sighed. “All of this happened in my effort to make things better, but there seem to be some seasons that, no matter how hard I try, I trip myself up. Literally.”
He paused and positioned her chair so that she could overlook the pond with Hope Springs’ famous blue bridge standing not too far off.
“I think—and only because I could use some of this advice myself in certain areas of my life—I think that you need to focus on taking one step at a time.” He crouched to her level, placing a light hand on her ankle boot. “I guess I’ll say pun intended, but it’s like the illustration that sometimes pastors give, when they bring out a glass container, put the big rocks in first, then the small rocks, and last they pour the sand in.”
“Okay.” Kenya let the picture form in her mind.
Solomon turned his gaze toward the pond, then back at her. “It seems to me that you need to focus on the first step, which is a big thing for you. Which is how you step because you’re in physical therapy.”
Kenya nodded slowly, the picture continuing to form, the glass, with the various sizes of rocks around it and a sandstorm coming. “Continue.”
“The big rock for you is getting your foot better. Believe me. If you don’t give yourself time to rest and let injuries heal, they will haunt you all of your life.” He patted his left knee.
“I sure do know about that,” she whispered.
“So that is what our job is right now. The benefits of our little deal.” He touched her ankle lightly before standing. “As we move toward oursecond date.”
She giggled at the way he said those words, wondering if he knew how his eyebrows moved at the same time.
“We will work on getting the big rock of your foot better. I will focus on the big rock of passing my test, and all the other little rocks and sand will fall into place.”
As he spoke, his words shaped the image in her mind until she saw herself standing not outside the glass but inside it, feet anchored to a rock that filled the bottom. But it wasn’t the one he named. There were priorities she needed to get in line, even deeper than foot level. She shook off that tension, the tug to pull deeper. This pseudo-romantic walk and roll with the doctor just didn’t seem like the time or place.
“Okay, Doctor, back to the beginning. What do I need to know about this vow renewal of yours?”
“My parents’?”
“Yes, silly, what is the first thing I need to know about it for them?”
Solomon grinned. “That is not a large rock for you,Kenya.”
“But it is a significant one for you,Doctor. Why are you trusting me with it and not someone else? Especially considering that I’m not running at full capacity right now.”
“Because I know what you can do.”
“How?” Kenya turned her face away, even as she said the word. So uncharacteristic of her. Where was her grit, her boldness? Why was she letting this doctor fluster her?
“I keep thinking about the reopening of the Hope Springs Community Center that I was invited to. There were so many components to that night—the tour of the facility, the speech from the mayor, and if I remember correctly, a proposal that everyone was talking about afterwards.”
Kenya grinned. “Oh yes, that was fun to put together.”
Solomon continued walking down the path, leading them back to where they started. “I remember you appeared to me like a conductor at an orchestra, making all the chaotic activity flow into creative order. The things that would rattle the rest of us, you took in stride and made it more than a party. When others seemed to be stressed, you looked like you were thriving. You turned that relaunch into an unforgettable community experience.”
Kenya swallowed, holding a hand to her neck, her heartbeata hummingbird under her palm. A box of chocolates, a dozen roses, her favorite filet mignon from Luciano’s couldn’t compare to these words from his mouth. Judging by his brief statement, he had seen her more clearly than anyone had seen her in a long time. She swallowed down the lump that had the audacity to rise in her throat. Any words she thought to say in return wouldn’t come. So she just sat back and let him push her toward the path that would help her find her footing again.
15
LATER THAT AFTERNOON,Solomon could hear his mother shouting from where he stood outside his parents’ front door. “What’s going on now?” He turned the handle. No matter how many times he or his siblings complained, or even if it was five minutes to dinner starting, his parents were going to have the door locked. Never could be too safe, they said. He knocked on the door and waited, shoving his hands into his pockets. Thankfully, the weather was starting to ease a little, the sun not as insistent on frying every skin molecule and dampening every article of clothing with sweat.
His eyes drifted around the yard while he waited. His mother probably hadn’t heard him, she was talking so loudly. They sure had come a long way. Gone were the cement blocks of the housing project they lived in during his youth. Finding safe places to live that were affordable as immigrants wasn’t always the easiest, but his parents were resilient, survivors. And so was he. To see what they had built in just twenty years was a miracle. He owed them more than he could say, but he wasn’t sure if he would go back to those years away at boarding school. They hoped it was worth it. And it was, just not in the ways they wanted.
“Ah-ah, why are you standing out there looking at the sky?” His mother had her lips poked out and a hand on her hip, a patterned wrapper tied around her waist. No one would guess she helpedrun a multimillion-dollar business by the way she dressed when she was in her Alabama home. But this was her type of holiday, getting to be at ease in a place where she could slow down. She found the most comfort in a T-shirt and in her traditional wear. He guessed it made sense considering most of the time, she had to look the part of a distributor of West African–inspired couture. And, of course, if this was a special occasion type of meal, she would be decked out and dinner would be two hours late.
“Come inside before the flies get in.”
He stepped through the door and shook his head when he heard the click behind him. Locked inside now.
“So how is my businessman?” Another thing that never changed. Along with the tantalizing scents wafting from the kitchen, a greeting related to his profession would come. Too bad he wasn’t interested in rejoining their profession. His parents were proud of his supposed efforts. He was thankful for that, but it did set off a twinge in him that they still didn’t want to acknowledge that he was establishing himself in something different.
