“Yeah.” I sighed. “Just thinking about my girls and dreading getting out in this Channing heat. It’s brutal.”
“It is. I’m having the landscaper come out next week to plant more trees. That’ll offer us all a little relief from the sun, especially our cars. Getting inside your vehicle mid-day is torture.”
“Exactly. That’s why my car is cooling off while I watch from the window,” I agreed.
“But seriously, are you OK?” She stopped wiping the table that she’d been cleaning and closed the gap between us somewhat.
“Are you adjusting well? Do you or the girls need anything? I’m always here to help in any way that I can.”
“It’s a huge adjustment, but it’s going well. The girls are getting acclimated with their new schools. Emorey, my youngest, had never been to school prior to us moving so it’s been somewhat of a challenge for her. She’s never been away from me so much or for so many hours a day.”
“And how are you feeling about it?”
“A little guilty because I enjoy the break. Even though I’m only at work when she’s away, it’s still the break I didn’t know I needed from motherhood.”
“I’m not a mom yet, but I promise I get it. We all need a break sometimes.”
“We do.”
Baisleigh didn’t pry, but she made it a priority to check on every staff member to make sure that we were all taken care of. I appreciated that. I appreciated her.
The Channing sun beamed on me relentlessly as I pulled the shade from my car’s windshield. It was nearing five, and with the girls at my mom’s for a few more hours, I had time for a much-needed nap. Making it to Lyric’s was the only thing on my agenda.
Thank God. I sighed as I got comfortable in my seat, taking in the coolness of the AC. It was one of my favorite aspects of my car. Though it was an older model, the air conditioner performed exceptionally well.
My cell had always automatically connected to Bluetooth when I was close enough to any of the cars I’d had in the last decade, but my 2007 Avalon was a bit different. The USB cord was my only hope, being that there was a technical issue stopping my phone from connecting to the system on its own. When I found the time, I planned to have it checked out or a new stereo installed completely, but the USB cable would do for the time being.
SZA’s “Miles” began to play as soon as the cable was inserted into the charger port of my phone. My journey began shortly after with me pulling out of the parking lot and merging onto the expressway almost immediately after. I still knew the Channing streets well. Since I’d been home, I had yet to need the GPS as long as I knew the area of the location I was headed to.
And why can’t I be like everyone else?
Losin’ my mind, think I look good when I’m really just high.
Scared of my life, can a bitch get by?
Sick of listening to everyone else.
Sick of my pride.
Sick of saying shit just to be nice.
“Ohhhhh,” I sang with SZA, feeling like she had a microscope, peering into my life when she wrote most of her songs.
I wasn’t sure how, but she just got me. She understood. She knew. Or, maybe she was just like me in so many ways that our lives entwined in her song. Whatever the case, the combination of her voice and lyrics were exactly what my heart and soul were always missing.
“Miles runnin’ wild in my head,” I continued along until the short piece ended a few seconds later.
When I arrived at Lyric’s four-bedroom home twenty minutes later, I wasn’t surprised to see her truck in the driveway. Like me, she was a homebody. If we weren’t coming out for work or the girls, we were locked away in our rooms without guilt or shame.
I unlocked the door with one of the three keys that Lyric had given me once the girls and I woke from a much-needed nap the morning we’d made it to Channing. As I stepped inside, I noticed two bags stacked on top of each other beside the door. Lyric hadn’t mentioned going on a trip, but it was obvious that she was going somewhere for at least the next two or three days.
“Lyric,” I called out as I searched the common areas for her.
When I discovered she wasn’t in the kitchen, dining rooms, living room, or theater, I headed for her bedroom. It could only mean that she was buried in her closet or inside of her bathroom. Those were the only two places she could be that she couldn’t hear me calling her name.
Her home was immaculate, and I’d tried my hardest not to let the girls wreck the place. Every time I got onto them, Lyric would get onto me about being so hard on them assuming that they were ruining the place when they were simply being children. She’d even forbade me from picking up after the two of them each time they put something down. Now, I waited until they were sound asleep and done destroying the place before I moved a muscle.
I stepped into her bedroom, admiring the spaciousness and earthy decor as if it was my first time seeing it. The neutral tones made the space feel airy and light. It was the same theme that traveled throughout her home, even in the girls’ room, which she’d totally transformed since we’d arrived. What was once a bland guest suite, she converted into a haven for the girls, completed with bunk beds and large toy chests for each of them.
