Navy’s family filled the rest of the room and spilled into the hallway with aunts, cousins, and people I hadn’t met. Some cried openly and others stood in stunned silence, staring at the bed as though Navy might sit up if enough of them watched her.
Monica had come in with Lulu when Lulu did, and I recognized her before she said anything. She was still interested at a time when I wasn’t trying to belong to anybody. Later, I sold her a house. By then, whatever had been between us was already dead on my end, though Monica had never acted like she completely accepted that. I didn’t know I would meet Navy and didn’t know they were cousins until now.
The second she saw me sitting beside Navy’s bed, her steps slowed. She looked from my hand resting around Navy’s armto my face, then back toward her cousin. “What are you doing here?”
The question came out quiet, but everybody close enough heard it. I didn’t move my hand. “Where else I’m supposed to be?”
Monica frowned. She wore a long cardigan over leggings and had tied her hair up like she’d rushed out without doing much to it. Her eyes were swollen, but there was still something sharp in the way she looked at me. “I didn’t know you and Navy knew each other like that.”
“We do.” I told her. She waited, expecting more and I gave it to her without taking my eyes off Navy. “That’s my girl.”
Tasha looked at me from her chair but didn’t say anything. Lulu stopped praying long enough to study my face. Monica’s mouth parted slightly before she pressed it closed again. “Your girl?” she repeated.
“That’s what I said.”
There wasn’t any reason to explain how Navy and I got there. Not while she was lying unconscious between us. Whatever Monica remembered about me from years ago had nothing to do with who I was to Navy now.
Monica looked at her cousin for a long moment. Some of the attitude left her face, replaced by fresh tears she quickly wiped away. “She didn’t tell me.”
“She had other shit going on.”
“I know that.” She folded her arms, then unfolded them just as quickly. “I’m just saying, she didn’t tell me.”
I finally looked at her. “Would it change anything right now?”
Her eyes held mine for a second before dropping. “No.”
“Then that’s what matters.”
Monica didn’t argue again. She went around the bed and kissed Navy’s forehead, careful not to touch the bandage. Whenshe straightened, her eyes returned to me. “You make sure you take care of my cousin.”
I looked down at Navy’s bruised face. “Ain’t nobody gotta tell me that.” Monica already knew the Lev she got in business mode, wasn’t the Lev she was gone get right now. I had no reason to be professional and talk white collar like Hollywood.
The doctor came back a little after midnight and told everybody Navy would likely remain asleep for several more hours. The anesthesia was still in her system, and they were keeping her heavily medicated because of the extent of her injuries. He suggested the family go home, get some rest, and return in the morning when she might be more alert.
Nobody wanted to move at first. Lulu stayed seated with Navy’s hand in hers as if the suggestion hadn’t been directed toward her. Tasha shook her head before the doctor finished talking. One of Navy’s aunts started gathering purses and jackets while telling everybody they needed to listen, but her own eyes kept drifting back toward the bed.
It took nearly forty minutes to clear the room. Tasha was the hardest one to convince. She stood near Navy’s feet with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders, staring at the shape beneath the sheets where one leg ended differently from the other.
“I should be here when she wakes up,” she said.
“You need to be in bed yourself,” Lulu told her gently. “You come back first thing in the morning.”
Tasha’s lips trembled. “She was coming to check on me.”
“I know, baby.”
“She was getting me food.”
Lulu pulled her into a hug. Tasha held on longer than either of them expected, her face pressed against Lulu’s shoulder while her body shook.
When she finally stepped away, she looked at me. “Let us know if anything changes please.”
“I got you.”
She nodded and bent to kiss Navy’s cheek before allowing one of the cousins to walk her out. Monica lingered near the doorway after everyone else started leaving. She looked like she wanted to say something more, but whatever it was stayed in her thoughts. In the end, she only glanced at Navy again and told Lulu she’d return in the morning. Then the room emptied until it was just me and Lulu. She sat there another half hour before finally standing and smoothing both hands down the front of her dress. Exhaustion had settled into her face, making her look older than she had when she arrived.
“I’m going downstairs to find some coffee,” she said. “You want anything?”
