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“Ma.”
Ada was quiet on the other end of the line. She heard the impending tears in her youngest daughter’s voice and had an idea why. In an attempt to change the subject, she asked, “Why didn’t you bring the baby to church today?”
“Mama,” Yancey repeated forcefully.
Ada sighed. She didn’t want to talk about Justin. Her youngest daughter was the type to shed tears over the smallest things, and talking about Justin was sure to bring on a barrage of tears. Sometimes Ada wondered how Yancey had made it through her young life with her sensitive soul and fragile emotions. “What happened?”
“He knows,” was the simple reply. The line became quiet and Ada knew her daughter was crying.
“Yancey… I don’t want to be mean because I know you’re hurting right now. But he’s probably hurting, too. I told you hiding the truth wasn’t a good thing to do. I've told you more than once. I just hate you found out the hard way. When you’re feeling up to it, I want you to tell me what happened. Right now, you’ve got to calm down a little because I don't like to talk to you like this. Later, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Yancey wiped her face free of tears and hung up the phone. It rang almost immediately after she replaced the cradle. “Hello?”
“How come you didn’t call me back yesterday?” her sister demanded in salutation.
“Angie!" Yancey tried to inject strength into her voice. "Girl--let’s just say I got caught up in some mess last night. What’s up?”
“Some mess? With Justin?” Angie asked.
Yancey was surprised that her sister knew. I guess news travels fast, she thought. “Yeah, with Justin. Did my mama tell you about him coming to my house yesterday and trying to act a fool? I still don’t know how that boy found out where I live.”
Angie was quiet, then said, “Sweetie… I’m the one who told him where to find you.”
“What?! Why would you do that? You have no idea--“
“No idea about what, Kiki? Whatever it is can't be more important than the fact that I have a two-and-a-half-year-old nephew who has never seen his father a day in his life and wouldn’t know his father if Justin walked up to him on the street. Two-and-a-half years is two-and-a-half years too long. Period.” Angie was steadfast in her belief and Yancey knew that her older sister was right. But did Angie know what it was like to see her ex-lover in the face of her child every day, to be reminded daily that the man she had loved with everything in her heart had made plans for his life that didn’t include her?
“I won’t argue with you, Angie. But why now, after all this time?” Yancey wanted to know.
“I never told you, but Justin and I talk sometimes, and more recently, his voice had begun to take on something of a despondent tone. I couldn’t help but feel really bad for him. After all, he and I were almost in-laws, “Angie laughed. “I was trying to bring something back to his life, something I could tell he missed. I could hear it whenever he whispered your name, sometimes too afraid to say it aloud. It’s like if he was too loud, the memory of your spirit would be completely taken from his body. Then where would he be?”
Yancey rolled her eyes. Angie was too far gone on this aspiring writer’s tip. “Um, right. So how did where I live come up?”
“Well, he mentioned that he was going to be in Memphis for a minute. I told him that you had returned from school permanently and that he should stop by. I didn't do it to make life harder for you. I was doing it for EJ.”
Yancey pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. Fair enough, she conceded silently. “I wish you had told me first. I wasn’t prepared to let him know so soon after he showed up. And they haven’t officially met yet. I told him last night after I put EJ to bed. Justin… he, um, didn’t take it so well. He walked out on me; I haven’t seen him since.”
“Sweetie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it would happen like that.”
“You couldn’t have. It’s not your fault. I realize that I shouldn’t have kept EJ from him at all, let alone as long as I did. Shame it took something like Justin falling out with me to make me realize it. But it’s happened and I take full responsibility.”
“You sound so grown! I’m proud of you, Kiki.”
Yancey laughed. “I know. I’m proud of me, too. I want to thank you, though, for making it high time that I come clean.”
“No problem. Hey, I gotta go. I just called to see how things were going since I knew he was going to be arriving in town yesterday. I tried to warn you, but you never answer your cell phone.”
“Yeah, well, it’s too late for all that now. I’ll catch you later. Tell Ennis and your babies I said hey." Yancey was about to hang up when she remembered a question she wanted to ask. "Wait, Angie! Hey, why didn't you ever tell Justin about the baby during one of your little talks?"
There was silence, then Angie said softly, "It wasn't my place to tell him all that."
The two sisters said their goodbyes and disconnected. Yancey sat back on her couch. She was surprised that she wasn’t more upset at Angie since she now knew that Angie was partially responsible for Justin showing up and disrupting her prolonged false sense of security. But like she’d told her sister, Yancey really felt that it was time she come clean to Justin about the child they’d conceived.
Yancey looked down the hallway of her apartment at the door of EJ’s room. She sighed. “I’m sorry. I'm sorry for keeping him from you for so long. It wasn’t fair to you, and it wasn't fair to him. Tomorrow, we’re gonna see if you can meet your daddy.”
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A/N: Kiki is from Yancey's middle name, Kiana.
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