She pointed at the door. “You can leave now, Jeffrey. I’m not going with you.”
“Please come home with me.” He’d resorted to begging. “I simply can’t go back there without you.”
“Like I said, I liked you, but I’m not leaving this place,” Emma told him.
Jeffrey’s face looked like he had eaten green persimmons, but he gently closed the door when he left.
“Well, that went well,” she told Coco. “And poor old Jeffrey is still a gentleman, even though he’s been in Mother’s presence so much that he has a little mean streak. He didn’t even slam the door even though I know he was so mad he was humming.”
The cat opened one eye and meowed.
“Don’t take it personal. Jeffrey is just like Mother. Neither of them likes kids or animals.” Emma picked up the phone and called Sophie.
“Hey, girl, how’s it going? Are you all right there by yourself?” Sophie answered.
“Jeffrey just left, and I called Mother,” Emma answered.
“Holy crap!” Sophie gasped. “What happened?”
“I’m fine, and I mean it this time,” Emma said. “I love you, Sophie. You are my best friend, but I’ve just figured out that I can stand on my own two feet. I can make it on my own, so I. Am. Fine. I’m not just saying that this time. She spoke her mind. I spoke mine. I may be poor the rest of my life, but in a lot of ways I’m richer than I’ve ever been.” She told Sophie the rest of what had happened.
“I’m proud of you and so sorry that you can’t have a relationship with her like I have with my mama,” Sophie said. “And I’m so glad you called because I just talked to my lawyer. He had your mother served with papers. We are suing her for what is rightfully yours. I’ll testify for you, and I bet Arty and Filly will, too. And Josh will even come out of the park if we need him to, I just know he will.”
“It wasn’t easy, Sophie, but I feel stronger for having told her about the rape.” Emma’s voice almost broke, but she got it under control. “You told me I was strong and that I can make my own decisions. I leaned on that thought pretty heavy while I was talking to her. Now tell me about the showings. How are they going? Are you going to come home with a million dollars in your pockets?”
“I just might if we have another sale like this when we get to Rome,” Sophie laughed. “This has been an amazing experience, but I’m so ready to be home.”
“I’m so proud of you and for you,” Emma said. “You’re carving out a place in the world. But for now, you should go enjoy being with Teddy. We’ll see you in a few days.”
When the call ended, Emma got out her brushes, paints, and a canvas and carried them to the table behind Filly’s house. Hummingbirds were fluttering around the feeders, their long bills acting like straws to suck up the sweet red water.
She painted in a blue sky and then added some fluffy white clouds. After that, she laid in just enough of the edge of a feeder to catch a little of one of the yellow plastic daisies around the glass.
“And now the bird.” She smiled. “No darkness anywhere today, just a bright picture. Hello, Coco!” she said when the cat walked across the table. “What do you think, girl? Shall we defy all logic here and dress the hummingbird in bright colors? It’s not a purple lizard, but we can give it some extra help.”
Coco gave her a pitiful meow.
“Does that mean you want me to paint it as I see it or as I see the hope of a brighter future?” she asked.
Coco yawned and curled up on the end of the table.
She laid in the general outline of the bird with his wings outstretched. “I feel like I opened up my own wings today, and now I can fly.”
She painted his chest bright red, added a bit of turquoise to his tail and back, and, as a final touch, put just a hint of purple on his bill. With a few strokes, she made him come alive with yellow in his wings, and with the smallest detail brush she had, she wrote the word hope into the lines of his tiny feet and signed the work in the bottom