Yella's Prayers by Nadine C. Keels

Author:Nadine C. Keels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: friendship, coming of age, depression, love story, grief, literary fiction, inspirational fiction, realistic fiction, new adult fiction, own voices
Publisher: Nadine C. Keels

Chapter Fourteen

April

~~~

Anita took off her coat, hanging it on the coat tree in the foyer. She went to the living room and looked over to the couch, where Lamall was lying on his back with his eyes closed, his knees up, and both his hands resting on his stomach. Anita placed her purse on the coffee table on her way over to the couch, and she stood over Lamall.

“Hi, Lamall.”

His eyes opened and gazed up at her. “Hey, Mommy,” he hoarsely murmured.

Anita smiled. “You here by yourself?”

“Yeah. The kids all went to the mall or somewhere.” Lamall’s eyes closed again. “I let The Mark use my car.”

“Oh. Has your father been home yet?”

Lamall swallowed uneasily. “Not that I know.”

Anita’s smile waned. “Something wrong, Lamall?”

“Not really. It’s just…my stomach hurts.”

A sympathetic glow warmed Anita’s face. She lowered herself to one end of the couch, putting one of the decorative pillows in her lap. “Come here, sugar.” Lamall shifted his position on the cushions, letting his head come to rest on the pillow. Anita placed her hand on his fuzzy scalp. “Any nausea?”

“Not…” Lamall swallowed. “Not really.”

“You need me to get you anything?”

Lamall opened his eyes, giving Anita a fragile smile. “Naw, Mommy, that’s all right. I’ll be okay.”

His eyes closed again while Anita reflectively sighed, saying, “You know, I thought you were probably never going to speak to me again, after we had that fight.”

“Aw. That was a drastic thing to think. If anything, I should’ve thought you wouldn’t speak to me again. I said some pretty foul stuff to you.”

“I knew it was only anger talking.”

“Yeah.” Lamall stirred, wincing. “But I wanted to tell you I was sorry.”

“Yes. I wanted to tell you that, too.”

Lamall’s eyes came back open, wandering up to find twinkling, diamond earrings hanging from his mother’s ears. He had never seen them before, but it didn’t take him long to figure out where they had come from. “I guess Dad told you he was sorry about the whole thing a long time ago, though.”

Rather self-consciously, Anita raised her hand, toying with one of the earrings. “He does every time.”

“Yeah.” Lamall turned his head to gaze up at the living room ceiling. “I know.”

Anita stared into his drowsy eyes, her hand leaving her earring. “He hasn’t turned into a horrible person, Lamall. He just makes bad choices sometimes and, well, so do I. I can tell when he’s not himself, and I should know by now when not to nag him too much. But you know he’s not a horrible person. Don’t you remember how things used to be around here?”

Lamall didn’t take his eyes from the ceiling or say a word.

“Sometimes I think back to when you were a baby. I remember how your father would come home and take you from me. He was stingy with you, I thought. Occasionally, we’d even argue over whose turn it was to hold you. He acted that way with all his babies.” Anita laughed in recollection. “We had a lot of fun.

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