EXCERPT 2:
“Mrs. O,
can I talk with you for a moment?” she asked, hesitantly stepping into the
kitchen.
“Sure,”
Olivia said, washing a knife in the sink. She had just prepared a fruit salad
for a late night snack. She set the knife back into its place in the knife
block on the marble countertop. Grabbing the bowl of fruit, she took two black
glass bowls out of the overhead cabinets and walked to the table.
“Come on
and have a snack,” she offered, placing the bowl before Nikki.
“I wanna
thank you for all that you’ve been doing for me. I haven’t told my mom about
the episode at the reception yet,” she stated somberly.
“How
come?” Olivia asked, ladling fruit from the large mixing bowl into the bowl in
front of Nikki.
“Thanks,”
Nikki grabbed her spoon and speared a pear and twirled it around in the fruit
juice at the bottom of the bowl. “Well, as you can probably guess, my mom and
sister don’t really like my husband.”
“I’m sure
they don’t dislike him, Nikki. They probably just do not like what he puts you
through. That would have to be tough on any family.”
“I know,
but it makes it hard for me to go and talk to them. I feel like they’re judging
me every time I do, and the only thing they can say is, leave him.” She popped
the pear into her mouth. Staring off into space, she thought of the last
conversation she had with her mother about Carlos, which didn’t go over well.
“Have you
shared with them how it makes you feel when they do that?” Olivia asked.
“Uh-uh,”
Nikki replied, swallowing the last of her pear, “it don’t matter. They won’t
listen, anyhow.”
“I see. I
think you want them to just hear you out and keep their opinions to themselves,
support you, right?”
“Well,
that would be nice. But anyway, like I said, I wanna thank you for being here
for me. But my time is up now,” Nikki stated as she stared down into the bottom
of her bowl, refusing to meet Olivia’s eyes.
“What do
you mean, your time is up? You know I told you that you were welcome to stay
for as long as you needed. If you want to get help, I’ll do that; if you want
to move out into your own place, I will help you with that, too. I don’t want
you to feel rushed into anything, or like you have a time limit on you, because
you don’t. I just—”
“No, no,
it’s nothing like that, Mrs. O, it’s just…it’s time for me to go home.”
Olivia
raised one eyebrow and swallowed past the lump in her throat before speaking.
“Home?” she asked in a shocked tone, as if she didn’t know there was such a
place.
“Yes.
Home. I’ve been gone long enough,” Nikki stated, “and Carlos and I talked, and
he thinks we can work this thing out. He’s apologized so many times. And I miss
him, you know?”
“Mm-hmm,”
was all Olivia said. She placed her fork into her bowl and clasped her hands
under her chin.
Nikki
turned away from the look of disappointment that she saw reflected there. She
could take anger, attitude, rejection, and even sorrow. But disappointment, she
could not handle.
“Look,
I’ve been gone from home for a while now. I’ve stayed with Rory a couple of
nights. Then I stayed at my sister’s one night, until I couldn’t take her
pressing me about why I had left home. Then I came here with you. I’ve never
been gone from home this long before. I think he realizes how serious I am.”
Receiving
no response from Olivia, Nikki scooted her chair back from the table. She took
her bowl to the trash receptacle, emptied it, and washed it out. The entire
time she stood at the sink, Olivia sat quietly at the table eating her fruit
salad.
As Nikki
walked to the entrance of the kitchen, Olivia finally spoke up.
“Nekana,”
Olivia called. Nikki stopped in her tracks. No one except her mother called her
by her given name. “You don’t have to bask in it just because it was given to
you.”
“Huh?” Nikki
turned around with a scowl on her face. She had no clue what Olivia was talking
about.
“Your
name. Surely you know it means ‘sorrow.’ But you don’t have to carry that
weight on your shoulders, anymore.” Olivia released a weighted sigh before
going on. “Baby girl, when you turn it over to the Lord, He delivers you and
gives you peace and joy. His word says: ‘And the ransomed of the Lord shall
return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their
heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee
away.’ Nikki, it’s time for you to hold your head up and stand strong. Reclaim
your life. Do what you must do to be the strong, beautiful woman that you are.
Trust in God, and stop fighting this battle you call life. I’ve known you for
five years now, and you’ve been sad every one of them.
“Where is
your joy? Where is your strength? Where is your courage? Stand up for Nekana
Vincent, because no one else is capable of doing it but you. You’ve got Wesley
running around here, trying to protect you. You’ve got Carlos acting a fool and
taking you through hell over his drinking and jealousy. Then you’ve got your
mama and sister trying to dictate every step of your life and placing their
expectations on you. And if you let any one of those people down, you’re scared
you will fail. You’ve already failed, because you’re trying to please too many
people. Stand up for one person…you. Stop being the victim, Nikki. Fight!
Fight! Damnit, fight for your life!” Olivia had come to a stand behind the
table and was hitting the table with her fork with every sentence she said. She
stood trembling with anger.
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