Marquita heard a woman talking to Jon-Jon. She swung around to see who it was and was instantly mortified. The white lady who caused Jon-Jon’s accident was standing next to him while holding onto the arm of some old lady. “What are you doing here?”

  “My mother has an appointment with her doctor. Can I help you with anything?” Alexis asked.

  Marquita shook her head. “We’re good.” Why she said that, she didn’t know. Anyone watching could tell they definitely weren’t good.

  Jon-Jon said, “I’d appreciate it if you can help Marquita get me in the car. My dad helped her before we left home.”

  Marquita turned back to her mother. “Mama, if you can just please get in the backseat. As soon as I drop Jon-Jon off, you’ll be able to get in the front.”

  Gloria pointed toward Jon-Jon. “Why do you even care about him stretching out his legs? He wasn’t the one babysitting Moochie when you first had him. That was me.”

  Her mother was exhausting. Marquita was about to cry. Their arguments often ended in tears and screaming.

  “What’s your mom’s name?” Alexis asked Marquita.

  “Gloria.”

  Alexis walked around to the other side of the car and introduced herself to Gloria. She then said in a calm and soothing voice, “I understand how you feel about this situation, but your daughter is just trying to help John out in his time of need.”

  “She should be helping me,” Gloria complained.

  Alexis nodded. “It looks to me like you did a good job with your daughter because she really cares about helping others. She had to get that from you.”

  Gloria looked over at Marquita. Her lips tightened. “Whatever. Let’s just get going.” Gloria opened the back door, got into the car, and slammed the door.

  Alexis came back around to the front of the car and helped Marquita get Jon-Jon seated.

  Marquita had first been mortified to have Alexis run up on them while her mother was acting like she was fresh out of a straight jacket, but after witnessing how well the woman was able to get Gloria to calm down and get in the car, she was so thankful. “How did you do that?”

  Alexis winked. “One day I’ll tell you my secret.”

  As Alexis walked away with her mother, Marquita got in the car and then backed out of the parking spot. She drove Jon-Jon home as fast as she could, all the while praying that her mother would not show out when they arrived at Jon-Jon’s house. Please Lord, just let her stay calm.

  Chapter 23

  Alexis felt bad for Marquita. When she first met the young lady at the Robinsons’ house, she thought the girl had a smart mouth and was a bit rude. But after seeing Marquita’s mother, Alexis understood exactly why Marquita responded to people in the manner she did. She wished there was some way she could help, but right now her focus was on her own mother.

  Vivian’s doctor’s appointment hadn’t yielded anything positive or negative. She was holding on, and that was good enough for now. Alexis wanted to do something nice for her mother, so she googled the phone number to Coopville Farm. Her uncle Douglas was a farmer, just as his daddy and granddaddy had been. Her mother had gotten into some big fight with her family and had vowed to never return to the farm. Alexis hadn’t seen her uncle since she was twelve.

  “Can I speak with Douglas Cooper, please.”

  “Speaking,” he said.

  Alexis got excited. “I’m so happy to be speaking to you. It’s been a long time.”

  “If you’re calling for peaches, you might not be so happy when I tell you that they were destroyed in the storm. We still have plenty of chickens though.”

  Whenever she called family members for any of her clients, she pretty much got right to the point. So that’s what she did now. “My mother’s name is Vivian Cooper. This is Alexis, Uncle Douglas. I haven’t heard your voice in so long. I’m just happy to have you on the phone.”

  Complete silence.

  “Hello? Uncle Douglas, are you there?”

  “I’m here. You just took me by surprise. I haven’t seen you or my sister in more than twenty years. To be honest, I didn’t think she was alive.”

  “She is.” Alexis didn’t know how much longer, but for now, her mother was alive. “I think it would do her some good to see you. Do you think you can visit her sometime soon?”

  There was a heavy pause, he cleared his throat. “No, not possible. It’s not a good time.”

  “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.” Maybe if she told Douglas why this was so important, he would change his mind. “My mother may not have much longer to live. It would bless her heart to see you again.” She didn’t tell him that her mother had been asking for Grandma Joyce. She didn’t want to shine any further light on her mother’s mental state, neither did she want to say or do anything that might make him back out.

  “I-I don’t know. Vivian and I are like oil and water.”

  “Oh, but she would love to see you.” She gave him her telephone number and address. “Please think about it.” He agreed to think about it and then hung up.

  Alexis put the phone down on the kitchen table and filled a pot of water for the spaghetti noodles she planned to cook for dinner. She opened the refrigerator and took out the hamburger meat, put it in an iron skillet, and started browning it.

  Michael blew into the kitchen with Ella on his heels. “What in the world are you letting your mother tell my children?”

  “It’s no big deal, Daddy,” Ella said. “Granny was just kidding. I didn’t know you’d get so mad, or I wouldn’t have told you.”

  Alexis turned off the fire underneath her meat. “What are you so upset about, Michael?”

  “Why would you let your mother tell my children that school isn’t important because actors don’t need a formal education?”

  Alexis knew that comment out of her mother’s mouth wasn’t going to end well. She thought Ethan would be the snitch because he told everything he knew. But since Ella was the one who spilled the beans, Alexis knew why and she wasn’t happy about it. “Have you been quizzing them about my mother?”

  “You allow them to be in the room with Vivian unsupervised. I have a right to know what she’s filling their heads with.”

  Alexis turned to her daughter. “Ella, do you enjoy spending time with your grandmother?”

  Ella’s head bobbed up and down. “I do, Mommy. Granny is lots of fun.”

  “Can you go sit with her right now so I can finish dinner?”

  “Okay.” Ella bounced her way out of the kitchen.

  Taking several deep breaths, Alexis turned back to her husband. Her eyes shot daggers in his direction.

  “You have no right being mad at me. Your mother is filling our children’s heads with nonsense.”

  “Oh, so now they are our children again. A minute ago, I was only hearing about your children.”

  “Of course they’re our children. But it was irresponsible of you to bring your mother into this house. Ethan and Ella have not been exposed to this kind of stuff, and I don’t want them knowing that there is mental illness on your side of the family.”

  She and Michael rarely argued. She wanted to make sure he was happy because he had done so much for her. But things had changed, and Michael needed to understand that. “She’s not well, Michael.”

  “Then she should be in a hospital.”

  “Michael, please listen to me. The doctors don’t think my mother has much longer to live.” She was practically begging him to understand. To have some compassion.

  But Michael just repeated, “All the more reason for her to be in the hospital.”

  She was done. He would never see things her way. She turned back to the stove and finished her meal while pretending Michael was nowhere in sight. She had no more words for him. They would live together in silence until he apologized for being such a jerk.

  The following morning, Alexis fixed a bowl of oatmeal and then went upstairs to her mother’s room. Each morning, Alexis steeled herself as she opened the door, not knowing if her mother might have passed during the night. Then her heart filled with joy as she caught a glimpse of her mother lounging in bed, watching television or reading.

  “Good morning! How are you feeling?” Alexis would always ask while watching her mother’s reaction, as if she would be able to tell if bleeding inside the head was going on by the way her mother responded.

  “I won’t be running a marathon this morning, but I’m fair for a square.”

  “Mother, I think you missed your calling as a comedian.” Alexis sat the breakfast meal in front of her.

  Vivian laughed. “Maybe I should try some stand-up.”

  “Eat your oatmeal before you go running off to some comedy club.”

  Michael had dropped the kids off at summer camp, so Alexis had several hours free. She sat down in the chair as her mother ate her breakfast and asked, “What would you like to do today?”

  Putting her spoon down, Vivian turned to her daughter. “I’d like to get out of this bed and go for a drive that doesn’t involve a hospital visit.”

  Alexis was about to give her mother all the reasons why they couldn’t leave the house today. Michael’s parents, Susan and Dave Marshall, were arriving to spend the weekend with the kids. She needed to whip up a meal befitting the Marshalls. But they have never liked anything she cooked anyway, so she might as well do take out. “Get dressed, Mom. We’re going for a ride.”

  Thelma and Louise were about to bust out of the house. She would take her mother on an adventure like the ones Vivian used to take her on when she was a kid.

  They drove around Matthews Township with the AC on and the windows down so they could breathe in the air. She and her mother played the Would You Rather and I Spy games. Then they got on I-485 and switched to the license plate game where players have to find a license plate from each state. The player is given a point for each state found. By the time they were taking the exit to get off the highway, Vivian had twenty points to Alexis’s seven. “I guess you won,” Alexis told her mother.

  “Of course, I won. You had to keep your eyes on the road in front of you, but I was able to look all around to find my license plates. It was still a good game.”

  Alexis had never imagined that a road trip with her mother could be as much fun as it was. She was truly enjoying herself with this woman whom she hadn’t understood for most of her life. Alexis pulled off the highway and headed up Carowinds Boulevard.

  Vivian started humming the words to “I’ll Fly Away.”

  Alexis found herself wondering if her grandmother had ever sung a song about living and striving to get through day by day at that church of hers. Alexis would love to hear something different from her mother.

  When Alexis turned onto the road that took them to Carowinds amusement park, Vivian got excited. Alexis smiled to herself as she parked the car and then turned to her mother. “Remember when you used to bring me here so we could watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July?”

  “We would sit in the Purple Rain van and see the best fireworks in Charlotte.” Vivian’s eyes were wide as she glanced around. “Are they doing fireworks today?”

  “No. That was last week.”

  The light in Vivian’s eyes dimmed a bit. “Oh,” was all she said.

  Alexis was second-guessing herself. She thought her mother would like to see a place where they shared a happy memory. Maybe she should have brought her here on Fourth of July instead. So much had been going on that she hadn’t thought to do it last week.

  Alexis glanced at the clock on the car dashboard. She then put a hand on her mother’s shoulder. “You know what, Mom? Let’s go pick up the kids. I have an idea how I can make up for this.”

  Vivian patted her hand. “You don’t owe me anything. It was nice seeing Carowinds again. I don’t need the fireworks.”

  Alexis heard what her mother said, but she also knew this woman. She needed the fireworks. They picked up the kids and went home. Alexis told the kids to change into their swimsuits and meet her out back. She and her mom put on swimsuits as well. Alexis made sandwiches. Then she took out her blender and threw some strawberries, lemons, ice, and a bit of sugar in it and made slushies.

  While the kids were lounging by the pool with their grandmother, Alexis went into the garage and pulled out the leftover fireworks the kids had from last year. It was still daylight, and Alexis wasn’t sure if any of these fireworks would light up after sitting in the garage all year, but she was going to give it a try. She just hoped none of her neighbors felt like calling the police.

  “What do we have here?” Vivian put her slushie down as she sat up, eyes lighting up again as she saw the fireworks box.

  Ethan was downing a sandwich. His eyes got big. “I didn’t know we had fireworks. Why didn’t we light them last week?”

  “Mommy, are you going to light them now or wait until it gets dark?” Ella asked.

  Turning to her mother, Alexis said, “It’s your call, Mom. Now or later?”

  “I’ve waited my whole life for this or that. I don’t care that it’s not dark yet. Let’s do some fireworks.”

  The kids shouted, “Yay!”

  Alexis found three ground spinners, two rockets, and a Roman candle. She lit the ground spinners first. Her mother propped her feet on the lounge chairs and Ella and Ethan jumped back. They all looked in wonder as the spinners turned round and round, releasing sparks in all directions.

  “That was cool!” Ella shouted.

  “Do another one,” Ethan said.

  Alexis took a bottle and lit up the rockets one at a time. Into the sky they flew and then burst into the air, with thunderous noise along with dazzling sparkling effects. Next, Alexis took the Roman candle out of the box and held it in her hand.

  It looked like a long tube with the colors of the red, white, and blue flag draped around it. She lit the string that hung from the bottom and then stretched out her arm toward the sky. And then boom, boom, boom. One by one, colorful balls of light exploded out of the candle and seemed to dance in the sky. The colorful balls of light flashed, exploded, and crackled before they fizzled out. It was a beautiful display.

  Vivian slapped her thigh, then bobbed her head back and forth. With wild eyes she cackled and cackled and cackled. In another time and place, the outburst would have unnerved Alexis. She would have looked around to see who was watching and wondered at the expressions on the faces of onlookers. But not today, because today she recognized the expression on her mother’s face as joy. Vivian was happy and being her authentic self.

  The thought that her mother was able to experience this moment of joy with her brought tears to her eyes. She wiped them away and then bent down and dug into the firework box one more time and pulled out sparklers. “Look, Mom, I found something you can handle.”

  Alexis handed one each to the kids and to the biggest kid of them all, her mother. She lit them and the four of them twirled and twirled around the backyard as the sparklers let off dazzling light.

  They were so happy and so full of light themselves that Alexis forgot all about the fact that Michael’s parents were due to arrive. That is, until Michael opened the patio door and stared at them as if they had committed some cardinal sin. “What in the world is going on out here? Were you the one letting off those fireworks?”

  She, the kids, and her mother had been laughing and smiling while they twirled with the sparklers. Alexis was still smiling as she told Michael. “We were just having fun. The kids missed out on the fireworks last week because it was the furthest thing from my mind. So, we decided to shoot off the few that we had in the garage.”

  With a face full of irritation, Michael said, “The fireworks you just shot off are illegal in North Carolina. That’s why we drive over to South Carolina to do our fireworks every year.”

  How had she forgotten that? “Well, we’re done, so hopefully no one has reported us.”

  Michael stepped out into the yard. He glanced over at Vivian, who was still twirling with the sparkler that had lost its light. That’s when she noticed Susan and Dave Marshall standing in the doorway. Dave had this disapproving frown on his face as he looked at her.

  Michael’s father had this way about him that made her feel like an interloper in her own home. She always felt like she needed to apologize for not being the person they thought their son deserved. She seriously doubted if they ever questioned if Michael deserved her. But she was beginning to wonder if loving a man like Michael was truly worth all that she had given up.

  Chapter 24

  Feeling both nervous and excited for what the day would bring, Trish dressed in a gray pantsuit with a soft pink shirt. Her pumps were two shades darker than her pantsuit. She was looking good and ready to go to war with her son at the arbitrator’s office.

  Dwayne had to go to work, so he could not attend the meeting with them. This may have been for the best, because if that arbitrator even looked like he wasn’t on their side, Dwayne would probably bust a gasket. Their attorney already told them that they needed to be calm, present the facts, and even schmooze a little bit.

  Dwayne was not a schmoozer, but he had been a tremendous help to her as they got ready for the meeting. He had even helped Jon-Jon get dressed.

  Trish thanked him when she entered the living room and saw that Jon-Jon was ready to go.

  “I didn’t do much,” Dwayne confessed. “Jon-Jon is getting stronger. He situated his wheelchair and got himself out of bed this morning.”

  Trish’s eyes lit up. “Jon-Jon, I’m so proud of you.”

  Her son grinned. His expression showed that he was proud of himself as well. “I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time about physical therapy. It has really done wonders. My trainer is teaching me how to be self-sufficient.”

  “Good for you, Jon-Jon.” She didn’t want to make a big deal of it, so she took her keys out of her purse while praying that her joy wouldn’t express itself with tears. “Well, let’s get going.”