All This Love (Stoneworth Series Book 2) Page 11

Knox resisted the urge to hug Jada. He needed to let go of her in two days.

  He turned to his impromptu guests. “Morning, ladies.”

  “Morning,” from both of them.

  Knox had planned to treat Jada to breakfast at his favorite bistro, but he guessed the menu prices would be too expensive for Mya and Elizabeth. Plus it was pretty far out of the way. Not that he was too cheap to pay for them or bring them back to the motel, but selfishly, he really wanted to spend whatever time he had left with Jada in private. They might feel obligated to sit with them if he paid their tickets.

  “How’s Mickey D’s?” he asked.

  “Perfect for my budget,” Elizabeth agreed readily.

  “Same here,” Mya seconded.

  Pleased that he had anticipated their concerns, Knox didn’t have to go far to find the nearest McDonalds. He parked and opened the doors for the ladies.

  “Oooh! Such a gentleman,” Mya remarked. “I can’t remember the last time a man held the door open for me.”

  “I don’t think it’s ever happened to me.” Elizabeth laughed.

  Jada smiled at him, making the entire morning worthwhile. Being in her presence sent adrenaline pumping through his veins.

  Inside, Elizabeth and Mya ordered and paid for their own food and sat together despite Knox’s offer to cover everyone’s tab and Jada’s offer to make it a breakfast for four.

  “We’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.” Elizabeth winked at them.

  Knox could only hope Jada would see the truth in their words and cancel that one-way ticket to Memphis pronto.

  Once he and Jada were settled and had begun eating, Knox had to ask, “How did you all end up at a motel?”

  Jada rolled her eyes. “Long story short, Elizabeth was giving Mya a tattoo. I was the look-out. One of the haters in the shelter snitched on us and we got kicked out for breaking the rules.”

  “Wait, wait, wait.” Knox chewed quickly and swallowed his scrambled eggs. “First off, how is a homeless person doing tattoos?”

  Jada shrugged. “The same way anyone does tattoos. People want a tattoo. They pay her, she does it.”

  “Yeah, but her tools. How does she sanitize them? And who in their right mind would let somebody tattoo them outside of a licensed facility?” Knox ran down the list of objections.

  Jada slapped her forehead. Then she shook her head and gave him the ‘you-are-so-pitiful’ stare. “Knox. You’re overthinking this. It’s a tattoo, not surgery.”

  Knox fussed, “You think the germs are going to say, ‘Oh, let’s not infect this time. They’re homeless.’ I mean, doesn’t anyone care about their health?”

  “It’s hard to care about your health when you’ve lost all hope, okay? When all you have is today, and tomorrow is a million miles away, you don’t think about stuff like germs and an infection that might happen three days from now.”

  “You do think about germs,” Knox recalled. “You didn’t even want to use the same tools I use on dogs.”

  “I think about germs, but not everybody does.”

  Knox shook his head. “I’m sorry, but it’s just plain crazy to let somebody break your skin with an instrument that hasn’t been properly cleaned.”

  Jada sat up straight, agitation etched in her face. “It’s a free world. People have a right to do whatever they want to do. Just because you wouldn’t do it doesn’t make it wrong for everybody else. You don’t have to judge everything and everybody, you know? You’re not God!”

  “It doesn’t take God to figure out that some things make no sense. That’s why they kicked you all out. You can’t break laws because you feel like it.”

  Jada stuffed a piece of bacon into her mouth. “I’m sure we didn’t actually break any real laws. Just the laws in that building.”

  “True, but—”

  “It’s not like we were killing anybody.” Jada sighed. “You are so…I don’t even know what the word is but you remember that show with the mom and the dad and the two boys? It was on black-and-white TV?”

  “Leave it to Beaver?”

  “Yeah. That’s them. Perfect. Did everything by the book. Dad went to work while Mom walked around the house in dresses and pumps all day.”

  “We have rules for reasons,” Knox stated.

  Jada swallowed her food. “You tell me. What was so terrible about a tattoo between two consenting adults? It’s not like we were killing anybody.”

  “Yes. You were,” Knox disagreed.

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? Explain how.”

  It might be a longshot, but Knox wanted her to understand, so he tried. “That center is probably funded by tax-payer dollars. If people like you and your crew—” he motioned toward Elizabeth and Mya’s table— “roll up in there breaking the law and the program’s managers don’t kick you out, they run the risk of losing their funding. And if they lose their funding, people lose a place to stay. So, yes, you are killing people’s opportunity to have shelter.”

  Jada laughed. “Oh my gosh. You sound like me when I go chasing these crazy thoughts in my head down some horrible rabbit hole.”

  Knox’s ears picked up on something he’d suspected all along. “Is that what goes on in your mind? A constant stream of negative thoughts?”

  She frowned in thought. “I wouldn’t call it negative. It’s reality.”

  “And your reality is negative?”

  “It’s not negative. It’s just life.”

  Knox tried again, hoping to choose the right words. “Has anyone ever told you that you have what you believe for?”

  “Yeah, I heard about that. But bad things happen to good people, too, so it can’t be true.”

  “I believe it is,” he said.

  “Doesn’t surprise me,” Jada snapped back. “I don’t believe in all positive thinking stuff. Sounds like something Oprah would say.”

  “The word of God said it long before Oprah and all her people started saying it, without giving God credit,” Knox corrected her.

  Jada chewed on the last corner of her sausage. “Look. I’m from the hood. We don’t—”

  “Please. Give it a rest,” he stopped her. If he heard those words one more time, he was going to lose his breakfast.

  “It’s who I am.” She raised her voice and beat her chest with a closed fist. “I’m from the poorest part of Memphis, raised by a single mom, got most of my education from the school of hard knocks. My momma struggled raising us, her mother struggled raising her. But we survived, baby.”

  Knox felt his emotions boiling to the surface. “You wear poverty and growing up in bad neighborhoods and being raised without a father like it’s a badge of honor. Well, it’s not. I think it’s sad that your parents didn’t bring you into a loving family and make sure they could take care of your financial needs before they brought you into the world. It’s nothing to be proud of.”

  Jada’s nostrils flared. “Are you saying I should be ashamed?”

  “No! I’m saying you need to celebrate how far you’ve come and try to make things better for the next generation. That’s what my parents did, and their parents, and their parents. It’s time to move forward now, not backward. But you can’t do that so long as your mind is filled with negativity and you keep applying “hood thinking” to everything. It’s time for something new. Time to break that generational pattern. You can’t pour new wine into old wineskins.”

  Somehow, Knox had hoped Jada would ask him more about the wineskins. Then he could show her the scriptures. Perhaps this would be a lovely moment of revelation for Jada. An epiphany that would draw them closer.

  But instead of the glow of a eureka moment covering Jada’s face, her eyes narrowed to slits. She clutched her cup of orange juice. “You’d better be glad I’m saved. Otherwise, I’d throw this juice all over you.”

  Didn’t see that coming. “Whoa. Wait. Why are you mad?”

  “Dude. You can’t be that dense. You just sat up here and talked about my momma like a dog. And you thi
nk I’m going to sit here and take it?”

  “I’m not talking about your momma. But you said it yourself—she learned it from her mother. And probably generations before her, too. But you can make different choices. I mean, look at you. You’ve already got a degree.”

  Jada held up the hand. “Don’t try to clean it up now.”

  Knox sat back in the booth. “Jada, I’m only saying—”

  “Just don’t say anything else to me, okay? It was nice knowing you. I’ll be headin’ on back to my hood and my hoodish ways now.” Jada snatched her purse from the booth and walked toward Elizabeth and Mya.

  Knox gave chase across the restaurant lobby. “Jada. Wait. How can you get mad when you’re the one who’s always using the word hood?”

  She swiveled on her heel, bringing them within inches of each other. “Look. You got your truth. I got mine. We don’t have to agree. We’re not together. I’m headed home in forty-eight hours. It’s not that serious.”

  Despite her words, Knox could see the tears forming in her eyes. She quickly blinked them away.

  “My bag? Is it in your car?”

  “I’m sorry. I was in a rush this morning. I left it at my house.”

  She smiled. “Nice try. Take it to my sister’s house when you get a chance. She’ll mail it to me.”

  Knox’s lungs nearly collapsed. “Jada—”

  “Goodbye. Beaver.”

  “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  Jada turned her back and told Elizabeth and Mya it was time to leave.

  Both Elizabeth and Mya looked up at Knox, who felt his mouth gaping open.

  “Is everything okay?” Mya asked.

  “Yeah. Let’s bounce,” Jada repeated. “I’ll be outside.” She threw her food away, walked out of the building, and stood just outside the doors.

  “I don’t know what you said, but you really messed up,” Elizabeth said.

  Knox put a fist over his mouth and blew out air. “It’s like we’re from two different worlds.”

  “Opposites attract,” Mya chirped as she and Elizabeth rose with their trays.

  Knox considered her words for a moment. The opposites-attract theory might have been true for some things, but when two people couldn’t agree on whether life was half-evil or half-good, that might be too much opposition to overcome.

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure you haven’t done enough damage sitting inside McDonald’s for twenty minutes to kill a relationship,” Elizabeth said. She patted him on the shoulder.

  “We can try to talk some sense into her if you want,” Mya offered.

  Everything in him said he needed to stop Jada from walking out of his life, but he didn’t appreciate her calling him ‘Beaver.’ He’d had about enough of her belittling him for having responsible, godly, loving parents and a stable upbringing.

  “Thanks but no thanks. She’s got a mind of her own,” Knox said.

  Mya smile at him. “I don’t.”

  “Come on! Stop flirting!” Elizabeth grabbed Mya’s arm and drug her to the trash to drop off their trays.

  Mya waved at him.

  He nodded.

  They joined Jada outside and took off in the direction of the motel.

  I guess that’s it.

  Chapter 16

  Now that she was out of Knox’s sight, she could let the tears flow.

  “Jada! Just listen to him!” Elizabeth argued. “He’s not trying to change you. He only wants what’s best for you.”

  “What makes you think he knows what’s best? He’s not God,” Jada said as she continued with long streams of tears and long strides down the street.

  “He might not know everything, but from the looks of his car and his clothes, he knows how to make money, and that’s what matters most when it comes to men,” Mya declared.

  Both Elizabeth and Jada gave Mya the side-eye.

  “I’m serious! Which one of us wouldn’t be in a better position if we had more money?”

  “Money isn’t everything,” Elizabeth said. “But speaking of it, do we have enough for another night at the hotel, or do we need to beg for a second chance? They usually won’t let you back in for a few days after a violation unless the weather’s really bad.”

  “I’ve got enough for one more night. I’m headed to Memphis Monday morning.”

  “I’ve only got five dollars, but I’m gonna need that for something to eat later on,” Mya said.

  They slowed to pull out their cash and count to make sure they had enough for one more night.

  Elizabeth produced the receipt from the previous night to make sure they had an exact amount. “We’re good,” she announced. “Let’s go pay for another night.”

  With Elizabeth leading the way now, they walked for another mile through the busy Dallas streets.

  “I’ve got another idea,” Mya offered. “That guy at the desk was pretty ugly. You think he’d give us a room if I give him a little attention? Then y’all can just pay me five dollars each and keep the rest of your money.”

  “Save that hustle for when you really need it.” Elizabeth turned her down.

  Jada could only imagine how appalled Knox would have been if he’d been privy to Mya’s suggestion as well as Elizabeth’s reply and Jada’s silence. Knox didn’t understand that people did what they had to do in tough spots.

  No, prostituting wasn’t right. Neither were illegal tattoos. Anyone who got caught knew they had a price to pay. You take the good with the bad. That was life. Period. Why can’t he understand that?

  “I gotta use the restroom,” Mya announced. “Let’s go inside.”

  She detoured into a furniture rental shop. Mya approached one of the employees and inquired about the restroom while Elizabeth and Jada took a seat on one of the leather couches.

  “This is more like it,” Elizabeth sing-songed, running her hand along the brown cushion.

  Jada poked out her lips. “It’s nice.” Not nearly as nice as the furniture in Knox’s parents’ guest house, though.

  “Why’d you say it like that?” Elizabeth asked.

  “I don’t know. I mean, it’s nicer than anything I’ve ever had. But I have seen better.”

  “Hmph. If you say so. All I know is, I was on my way to stuff like this, you know? Before I lost my business. One week, I made a thousand dollars, after expenses and everything. I was sitting on top of the world.”

  Jada shared, “What goes up must come down.”

  “That’s probably true when you’re attached to people who pull you down.”

  The large plasma-screen television in front of them turned bright red with the words Breaking News.

  Immediately, Jada recognized the house behind the reporter. “That’s my sister’s house!” The banner under the reporter read: Unidentified person or persons shot and killed at police officer’s residence.

  Jada sprinted to the television set and pressed every button until she saw the volume rise.

  “Neighbors say they heard two shots fired, but police aren’t saying exactly who was shot or why. Of course, it’s always extremely difficult when they’re dealing with one of their own. We’ll have a full report tonight at nine.”

  Sam. “Oh my gosh! I gotta get out of here. I gotta go to the police station.”

  “What’s going on?” Elizabeth asked.

  “My sister. I think her crazy husband killed her.”

  Jada could feel her entire body shaking. Her head was pounding. “I have to give them Sam’s side of the story before Patrick tells his lies. Call 9-1-1.”

  Standing on an elevated block, Knox admired himself in the three-way mirror. He was the last to be measured.

  He had to admit to himself that he was a good-looking man. Good morals. Good job.

  Too good to be with someone who doesn’t know how to appreciate me.

  But his self-talk didn’t line up with his heart. Despite how his ego’s efforts to comfort his heart with prideful commentary. Knox k
new he wasn’t too good for anyone because whatever he had going for him had come from the Lord. He had to keep believing that the Lord had a good woman for him, too. Somewhere out there.

  “You three have got to be the most handsome groomsmen I’ve seen in a long time,” the attendant said as she finished marking Knox’s pants with white chalk.

  “Well, uhrah, what can we say?” Jarvis joked.

  “Say you’ve got some wonderful genes,” she chirped. “I should take pictures of you and put it in my online ads. I’d have customers lined up around the corner!”

  “Well, as the family’s agent, I can make arrangements with you,” West volunteered himself.

  “Man, be quiet,” Knox told his brother. “Family agent. Please.”

  “Hey, I could do it. Y’all give me, say, around about sixty percent and Stoneworth models is a done deal.”

  “How you gon’ get sixty percent and you the ugliest one?” Jarvis took a stab at his brother.

  The attendant, who had to be at least old enough to be their grandmother, joined in with, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

  “Oooh!” erupted amongst the brothers.

  Jarvis twisted his lips to one side. “Aw, we all got jokes now?”

  “I’m only kidding,” the lady recanted. “There’s not an unattractive one of you in the bunch. The groom was here only yesterday. Your parents must be so proud.” She stepped back and looked at them. She put both hands on her hips. “But you three—no wedding rings? Your mother must be worried sick.”

  West pointed at Knox. “He’s the oldest.”

  “Throwing me under the bus, huh, bro?”

  The woman swiped at Knox’s pants leg. “What’s your hold-up?”

  Knox suddenly found himself at the center of an interrogation. He shrugged. “Haven’t found the right one yet.”

  “Hogwash!” She wagged her finger at him.

  Jarvis and West fell into each other laughing. Jarvis yelled, “She said hogwash!”

  Her lecture continued, “Either you’re looking in the wrong place or you’re missing someone who’s right under your nose.” Her face softened. Suddenly hugged Knox’s legs. “And that someone is me.”