Anytime Soon (29 page)

“Well, you know what they say about friends, don't you, Carl?” Then
I
tensed up, afraid of what he would say.

“No, sir, what do they say?”

“They say if you aren't a good and respectful friend to my daughter, I will put your head on a platter. You heard that one?”

Wow
.

“Um, no, sir, I haven't.”

“Well, now you have.” He turned to me. “Ny, can you drive Ava home? It's getting late, and she needs to get ready for school tomorrow. Marie and I are gonna stay here a while longer.”

“Of course. I'll just go in and say goodbye to Mom.”

“Okay. I'm gonna go down and get me some coffee. Carl, you take it easy.”

“Um, you, too, sir. Thank you.”

Roscoe had already started walking away.

“I'm going to say goodbye to my mom. Did you want to come in and meet her?”

He nodded and followed me to Mom's room, taking a nervous glance back toward Roscoe. “Don't worry,” I confessed. “He's harmless.”

Mom was talking to Ava and Aunt Marie when we walked in.

“Hey, Anaya!” she called.

“Hey, Mom.” I looked across at Ava. “Roscoe asked me to take you home.”

Ava groaned, but she didn't object. She started gathering her things.

“Hello, young man,” Mom said to Carl.

“I'm sorry,” I said, and introduced everyone.

I wasn't as worried about this group embarrassing me as the others had.

“Carl, it's a pleasure,” Mom said, extending her hand.

“The pleasure is mine, Mrs. Goode. Anaya says so many great things about you.”

“Funny. She's never said a thing about you.” Mom looked at me.

Perhaps I had jumped the gun. I cleared my throat.

Carl seemed a little uncomfortable, and I felt terrible. Although it was horrible to admit, Mom was right. I hadn't mentioned Carl to anyone.

“Hey, Carl!” Sophie called, waving from across the room.

Thank goodness for the distraction.

“Oh, hey, how ya doin'? Sandra, right?”

“No, Sophie. Close, though.”

“Right. Yeah. It's good to see you again.”

“Good to see you, too . . . So, you and Ny are dating now?”

“Sophie!” I snapped.

“What? I'm not asking for intimate details. I just wanna know if y'all dating or not. Good grief!”

Mom and Ava chuckled.

“That's nobody's business but Carl's and Anaya's,” Aunt Marie said, walking over to Carl.

“Hello, Carl, I'm Anaya's Aunt Marie.” She gave him a hug.

“Hi, Aunt Marie.”

“So, Carl,” Mom said, “tell me about yourself. Where do you work?”

“Well, ma'am, I work as an education counselor for at-risk youth in San Francisco. I've always had a passion for working with young people.”

“That's impressive,” Aunt Marie said.

“I'll say,” Mom agreed with a little smile. “Are you from the Bay Area?”

“Yes, ma'am, I am.”

I had never seen Carl look shy before. It was cute.

“And your parents live here, too?”

“My mom's here in the Bay Area. I don't know my dad.”

I figured it was as good a time as any to cut in.

“Okay, Ava,” I said. “Let's go.”

“I'm coming, too,” Sophie said.

We all kissed Mom goodbye.

“It was nice meeting you, ma'am,” Carl said to Mom. “And you, too, ma'am,” he said to Aunt Marie.

“It was very nice meeting you, Carl,” Mom said.

“Very nice,” Aunt Marie added.

Out in the parking lot, Ava and Sophie waited in the car while Carl and I said goodbye.

“Call me when you get in the house,” he said.

“Okay, I will.”

He kissed me on the forehead.

“Everything's gonna be just fine, okay?”

“Okay,” I said.

I hadn't even put on my seatbelt before the interrogation began.

“So, when did you guys hook up?” Sophie asked.

“You aren't fornicating, are you, Anaya?” Ava chimed in.

“Of course, she is! You saw him.”

“Fornication will not get you into the Kingdom of Heaven,” Ava said.

“Neither will nonsense. Shut up, Ava, and let her tell us,”

Sophie urged.

“We just started talking again. And no, I'm not sleeping with him.”

Sophie sighed, and Ava smiled.

“Good for you!” Ava said. “The Bible says, ‘When a man findeth a wife, he findeth a good thing.' It doesn't say anything about sleeping with men for fun,” Ava said defiantly.

“Shut up, Ava,” Sophie and I said in unison.

“If he makes you happy,” Sophie said, “that's all that counts. You deserve to be happy.”

“And you deserve to be put first,” Ava said.

They were both right. Being with Carl felt so different from being with Jeff. No hiding and insecurity. No second place. It felt much less complicated.

SEVENTEEN

B
efore I knew what happened, Carl was a regular at the hospital. He fit right in. Everyone loved him. Even Roscoe started to like him after he found out that Carl was a diehard Lakers fan.

One night, while we sat in the hospital waiting room, Carl walked in, carrying coffee and sunflower seeds.

Gotta love that man.

“Aw, isn't that cute?” Catie teased as Carl gave me a hug. “Mister Coffee and Sunflower Seeds is here.”

“What?” Carl asked with a grin.

“You!” Catie said. “Coming up here every day to take care of my friend. That's cute.”

“Adorable,” Sophie added.

“I do what I can,” he said. “I just want her to be okay.”

“And she will be, as long as she has you,” Catie said. “You got a brother?”

We all laughed.

“I do,” Carl said. “But you don't wanna meet him.”

We laughed again.

“Well, what about an uncle? I don't mind 'em a little bit older.”

“Catie!” Sophie and I shushed in unison.

“What? I'm thinking about the future!”

Carl smiled and looked at me. “How's it going today? Any news?”

“No news, no changes.”

He rubbed my back a little as I sipped my coffee.

“Carl,” Sophie said, “the next time you come up here with only one cup of coffee, you might have a little problem. There are
three
of us.”

“Aw, that's my bad. You want me to go and get you some coffee?”

“No,” she said. “I'm just giving you a hard time.”

“So,” Catie said, “I can't ask about the hookup, but you can solicit coffee?”

“Shut up, Catie!” Sophie said.

“You wanna go in?” I asked Carl.

“Is she awake?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“We'll be back, guys,” I said to Catie and Sophie.

“I'm gonna take off and come back in a little while,” Catie said.

“Okay, see you when you get back.” I hugged her.

When Carl and I went in Mom's room, she looked up and smiled.

“Hey, you two.”

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, Mrs. Goode.”

Carl sat in a chair, and I sat next to Mom on her bed.

“How are you feeling, Mrs. Goode?”

“I'm hanging in there.”

He didn't seem to know what else to say, but he didn't need to say anything, because Mom kept on talking.

“Are you treating my daughter right?”

“Oh, yes, ma'am. Of course. Your daughter's a special girl. I like her a lot.”

“Make sure you do. If you ever decide you don't wanna be with her anymore, you tell her. Don't play games with her, just tell her the truth.”

It was funny how my family had put Carl and me together. Although we had been spending a lot more time together, the majority of that time had been spent at the hospital. We talked on the phone and texted in between hospital visits, but that was about it. When I wasn't at the hospital, I was taking care of the house. My mom would never forgive me if I didn't keep the house up, and I knew Ava and Roscoe wouldn't.

I also tried to keep an eye on Sophie, who hadn't disappeared once since she'd been staying with us. She was looking healthier and seemed to be doing much better. It was truly a burden lifted off of me.

“Oh, definitely. One thing my mom taught me was to be honest. She always said it only makes things worse if you lie.”

“Smart woman,” Mom said, smiling.

I cringed, because she should have been having that conversation with me. I was the one with the problem about honesty.

Mom turned to me as if she had read my thoughts.

“The same thing goes for you, young lady.”

Carl cleared his throat loudly.

“Yes, Mom,” I said.

“See, Carl, she wants a man like her dad, a provider, hardworking, and loyal. If you fall short of that, you may not be able to keep a relationship with her. She's spoiled in a lot of ways, but she's got a good heart. She's a good girl. Don't take that for granted.”

“Never. I respect Anaya. She has a good head on her shoulders, and she knows what she wants. I promise I won't take that for granted, ma'am.”

“And don't ever put your hands on her in anger. If it comes to that, just leave the relationship. Because if you make that mistake, you got a lotta folks who'll come looking for you.”

We all laughed.

After we had left Mom's room, I told Carl, “My family and friends all seem to like you.”

“That's cool. I like them, too.”

“Oh,” I said.

“Oh, what?” he said.

“What do you mean, ‘Oh, what?' There's no
what
after the
oh
,” I said.

“You have an attitude, girl.”

“No, I don't, boy.”

“Seems like it.”

“I'm sorry. I just sense that something's bothering you.”

“You're going through a lot, and I'm your friend. Whatever issue I may or may not have with you can wait. This is about you and your mom right now.”

“Please tell me.”

I grabbed his neck and kissed him. I don't know where that came from, but it was a long, passionate kiss. Finally, he pulled back a little.

“Why was I never good enough for you?” he asked.

“What are you talking about?” I replied, taken aback.

“You know what I'm talking about. We hit it off at first, and I really thought we had potential. Something special. I looked forward to your phone calls. Man, a brotha was trying to come up with new ideas for dates and everything. I was into you and I could swear you felt something for me. But you just stopped calling me back. Then you just stopped calling, period. No rhyme or reason. Just disappeared off the scene.”

I sighed.

“At the time,” I said, “I had things going on, and I couldn't fully commit to a relationship.”

He looked at me without saying anything. I tried to find an explanation in his face, but there was nothing. He was expressionless. But if I looked really hard, I could see hurt in his eyes. After all this time, I wasn't sure what I should tell him, but I figured the truth would be best, so I wouldn't get caught up in my own web of lies.

“Why?” he asked firmly.

“What do you mean, why? I had a lot going on, Carl.”

“Like what?”

“Like life.”

“What else?”

“I was seeing somebody else, okay? Is that what you want to hear?”

“I want to hear the truth,” he said.

“I . . . I wasn't able to tell you the truth at the time.”

“Why couldn't you have told me that? Why did you waste my time? You knew how I felt about you, but you played me.”

“I'm sorry, Carl.”

“When did you have time to see somebody else, anyway? We were together all the time.”

“We were not together all the time. And it's not the quantity of time you spend with somebody, it's the quality.”

Wow. The power of word vomit. That wasn't a nice thing to say.

“Quality,” he repeated dryly. “Okay. Were you in love?”

I had never known him to be so forward.

“No, I wasn't. Do you believe me?”

“I believe you. Up until now, you've never given me any reason not to believe you.”

“I cared about you, and I liked spending time with you. I was going through something, and it wasn't possible for me to devote all my time to you.”

“Because you were spending your time with that lawyer.”

My tongue felt numb. I blinked hard.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing. I merely want you to know that I cared about you for you. I didn't expect anything from you, and I didn't need you to fill in for anybody, either. I wanted to be with you and get to know you a little better. I'm still struggling through school, trying to get it together. I don't know everything, but I cared about you and I put you first. Before everything and everybody. You hurt me, Anaya.”

I put my hand on his cheek.

He smiled generously at my affirmation. “I respect you—mind, body, and soul—and I want to take care of you and make you smile when it hurts. But I also want you to want those things for me.”

“I do,” I said.

“No, you don't.” He remained unconvinced.

I looked him square in the eye. “Why do you always shut me down when I try to tell you how I feel?”

“I don't,” he said.

“You do! I wanna give us a try. A real try this time. I've always liked you, and I see a lot of things in you that I respect. Can you give me a chance to prove to you that I want to try?”

“I guess. I'll give you some time to think about it. I'm also gonna give you a little space. I know I've been crowding you a bit.”

“No, you've been great.”

“Simply trying to be a friend.”

“I appreciate that more than you know.”