I knew she was only being nice. Dewayne had possibly reached out to her from another number, too.
“It’s OK if you’re changing it because of Dewayne, Mom. I’m sorry to put you in all of this.”
“Dewayne and his stupidity doesn’t bother me. I’ve seen his type. They’re just a bunch of wasted energy. Too many people from my past have access to me. I’m ready to change that.”
“Well, that makes sense.”
“Changing yours just has me ready to do the same.”
“OK. We’re going to head out. I’ll text you in a minute or two.”
“Later.” She followed me to the door, still giving the girls all of her love.
Emorey’s schoolwas only fifteen minutes away from Essence’s, which made dropping them off at the same time so much more convenient for me – and my mother. As I pulled up to Einsenberg Smiles, I remembered the bet between Lyric and me. She’d kept me out much later than she was supposed to, which meant that once I did get the girls back next week, she’d be responsible for getting them from school. The thought of having two weeks free of pickups got me excited.
“Come on, Em. It’s your turn,” I cheered, reaching in the back of my car to unbuckle her car seat.
“I ready, Mommy.”
She stood once she’d been unbuckled and climbed in the front so that I wouldn’t have to walk around to her side. I pulled her into my arms and sat her on my hip while I closed the door and locked my car behind me. We caught a parent on her way out and gained access to the building. Otherwise, we would’ve needed a code to enter. Emorey’s class was the fourth on the right, which we headed straight for. I’d clock her in after she was settled.
“Emorey!” Mrs. Einsenberg, the owner and Lyric, Laike, and Luca’s mother, rushed out of her office to greet Emorey.
“Momma E!” she shouted, hands wailing as she reached for her.
Mrs. Einsenberg grabbed her from my arms and the two embraced as if they hadn’t seen each other in weeks. It had only been Friday and Monday. I watched on, shaking my head at their dramatics. The two were inseparable and it was pathetic.
“If you keep babying her, she’ll never get used to her classroom and playing with the others,” I joked, knowing Mrs. Einsenberg didn’t give a damn about any of that.
“Well, maybe she has a right. Children be knowing and not just when it comes to adults. When it comes to other children, too. It might be some bad spirits birthing in thatroom. I wouldn’t want to be there, either. Little toddler demons everywhere she turns.”
“That’s just insane.” I shook my head.
“It could be true, though.”
“I have a new number. I wanted to change the one I have on file.”
“No problem. Just write it down on a piece of paper in my office, and I’ll have Shell to sort it out. Is everything OK?”
“Yes. Just tired of the restricted calls and such,” I told her.
She was aware of my situation, so there was no need to hide anything from her. Lyric had already explained it somewhat, which was one of the reasons Emorey attended her center free of charge. She wanted to help me in any way that she could. Free childcare was more than enough.
“I bet you feel a lot better.”
“I underestimated the power of something as simple as a number change. I feel twenty pounds lighter than I did when I woke up this morning.”
Though my lifted burdens slightly had something to do with one of the men she’d given birth to, it was mostly due to the new number.
Luca. Even the thought of him was enough to get my panties in a bunch.
I wanted to ask how she’d made a human so perfect that it literally hurt to even think about, but I recalled him saying that he would come to see her. I didn’t want to spoil his surprise, but I also wanted to know why no one had warned me. Not Lyric and not Mrs. Einsenberg. I’d been blindsided, and I was still trying to recover.
“I know the feeling. Before I got with my husband all those years ago, I was dating a man that called himself putting his hands on me. Let me tell you, that’s exactly how I met Liam. He stepped in along with a few other patrons at the restaurant wewere eating at. This man literally tossed my food on the floor and snatched me from my seat because I had caught him with another woman.
“All I’d come to do was have myself a salad. I didn’t expect to find my man there with another woman. They hemmed that sucker up and that was the last I saw of him. Liam bought me another salad and ended up having lunch with me. We’ve been inseparable since.”
“Maybe one day my knight will find me.” I chuckled.
