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“What are you sorry for, Mr. Vesey?”
She paused to look at me.
“I don’t know, but I am…Hey,” I reached for her shoulder.
She yanked away and then burst into tears.
“I’m so sick of people not understanding how hard things really are right now. I just need a break. It seems like when I say I need a break, something else comes to break me. I’m just so tired!” she said between sobs.
Not knowing what to do, I shoved my hands in my pockets and listened.
“My mother is sick. We don’t know exactly what’s wrong with her. Sometimes it appears that she has multiple sclerosis, and other times they say it’s lupus. They’ve even said she had sickle cell, but her blood doesn’t test for it. I was hoping that we would be able to get in to see this specialist, but she got a call that he won’t see her without a hefty down payment – even more than what we anticipated. I’m a freakin’ Kindergarten teacher. I don’t have money like that! Then my stupid ass brother went over to my house after I told him not to and borrowed all the money my mother had left. He knows good, and damn well, he will not give it back! He was supposed to bring her some food today. He got the money but didn’t come back with any food. So, she’s just been hungry all day. I’m just exhausted.”
I handed her some tissue.
“Thank you.”
“May I hug you?”
“No, you probably have cooties,” she said and blew her nose.
“My last cootie check was negative. That was this morning.”
I opened my arms, and she walked into my embrace. We stood for several minutes in agreed silence. She held on tight while I rubbed her back.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I unloaded on you like that,” Madalee said while still in my arms.
“Hell, I understand. We all have a breaking point. My grandmother was sick for a long time, and my mom was her sole caregiver. I moved back here and took this job because I knew my mom needed a caregiver after giving so much of herself to my granny.”
She pulled away from our hug and looked at me.
“Really?”
“Yep, I’d planned on staying in LA, pursuing music, and learning to surf, but family comes first. Although my mom told me not to come home, I knew I had to.”
I grabbed some more Kleenex and handed them to her.
“So, what can I do to help?”
“Nothing…” Madalee answered.
She cleaned her face and continued packing her bag.
“You said she hadn’t eaten.”
“She hasn’t.”
“I was going to ask you if you wanted to grab a bite to eat with me, but since your mom needs to eat, let me cook y’all something.”
“Bye, Tiberius. You can’t cook.”
“My momma said I make the best baked ziti.”
“Moms have to say stuff like that.”
“Then your mother will probably say the same thing.”
“I don’t even like you like that.”
