I looked around, embarrassed, wondering if anyone else was watching me the way Kyra was.
“What’s the matter with you? You want to talk about it?”
“No, I don’t want to talk about it. But since you want to talk about something, what was the matter with you? You were going around toting your Bible, banging on doors, standing in front of shopping centers, preaching hellfire to anyone who would listen.”
“Bitch, please. You’re taking shit all out of proportion.”
“Ask Marva. I kid you not. You don’t recall any of that? Look at you now. One minute you’re calling me a bitch, the next you’re preaching to me from the good book.”
Kyra thought about it for a minute and then said, “I do, but not to that extreme. Having been in a coma, I know my head is a little fucked up. I probably do a lot of shit that I don’t understand why I’m doing it.”
“Isn’t that scary?” I asked her.
“Scary? Yeah, it’s scary. But I guess it is even scarier watching me do that shit.”
“Very. I started to commit you to an institution.”
“You what?” She looked at me with squinted eyes and a wrinkled brow.
“You heard me. I was getting ready to put your ass away.”
“That’s fucked up, Tasha. I wouldn’t do you like that.” She shook her head, looking at me with disappointment. I started to say something, but before I could, we heard keys and laughter.
“Macklin!” the guard yelled out. I still couldn’t believe that Trae was in custody. Thank God we had money. Benny was able to get him moved from the county jail to a private holding facility in Santa Barbara. The only thing I didn’t like was the two-hour drive there and the two-hour drive back. That was too much driving for me. Especially taking the kids. They were talking about a speedy trial, but Benny was fighting hard and was trying to make sure it didn’t get that far.
“Come on, trick,” I said to Kyra. She wanted to come with me so she could talk to Trae. Ever since she seemed to be back to her old self, she was saying that she needed to talk to him.
We went through the usual searching procedures and then were led into the visiting area, which was outside. The weather was simply beautiful. Trae was standing there waiting for us, wearing a pair of jeans and a white tee. This was definitely a country club. I promised myself I would be strong and not break down and act like a spoiled brat.
“Babeee,” I cooed as I pulled him in for my hug. I missed him so much.
“I miss you,” he whispered.
“I miss you more.”
“Everybody all right? The kids? Marva?”
“Waiting on you to walk through the front door. How about you?”
“Missing y’all.” He hugged me tighter.
“I feel so bad that you’re in here.”
“Hey, stop that. You promised me, remember? We’re in this together. You felt that you had to do what you had to do, so did I, and now we have to deal with it. Am I right?”
I nodded, but my heart wasn’t in it. I wanted my husband and king home where he could rule his castle. But that was looking like it wasn’t going to happen.
KYRA
This wasn’t a jail. It was a country club. We were seated right behind the tennis court. The grounds were neatly manicured, they had the grills going, a playground for the children. Hell, I was ready to kick off my sandals and take me a nice stroll.
I had to laugh when Tasha told me how weird I was acting. I laughed on the outside, but on the inside, I was crying. It was embarrassing and frightening. What if it happened again? What if when I was having one of my episodes and something happened to me? It was scary, because I didn’t even remember being in front of the supermarket with my Bible or going from door to door preaching. And preaching what? What the fuck? I didn’t want to tell my doctor; hell, she might commit me her damn self. I couldn’t take the meds that she prescribed because of the baby. It was the baby, Aisha, and Rick who made me smile on the inside.
My attention went back to Trae and Tasha standing there hugging. Talking about a couple determined to weather the storm? No, fuck that, those two would survive a tsunami. I was convinced.