Talaya by AC Arthur

Author:AC Arthur [Arthur, A.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AC Arthur

THREE DAYS LATER

“I want to wear my hair all out, straight down my back,” Imani said, brown eyes bright as she looked up at the woman currently brushing her hair.

A smile spread over Regina’s face as she continued to brush the girl’s spongy black tresses. “Oh, I don’t know if you’re old enough for such a mature style just yet.”

“Other girls in my class wear their hair all out. The white ones and some of the black ones too,” Imani insisted. She was wearing a floral print dress and the natural-colored sandals Talaya had bought for her earlier in the summer. Her legs were crossed at the ankle as she sat on the floor between Regina’s legs.

The same way Talaya used to sit on the floor when her mother combed her hair.

“Well, I’m not their mother,” Regina replied and continued to brush Imani’s hair until she had it all smoothed back. Then she put down the brush and picked up a ponytail holder. Talaya watched from what she thought was the doorway or perhaps it was a window since the scene seemed to be framed in her mind. Regina continued to smooth her hands over Imani’s hair as she pulled the mass together to finally wrap the ponytail holder around it, circling the elastic band several times to ensure its tightness.

Imani frowned momentarily at the last tug of her hair and Regina smiled down at her. “You’re adorable,” she said. “And mommy loves you more than the moon and the stars.”

Talaya’s breath caught on those words, her heart pounded as she heard them repeated over and over in her mind until she finally had to look away.

But when her eyes focused again, it was on her mother once more. Regina was laying on her bed—the bed she’d covered in a soft blue comforter and pillows because she said the color made her think of the clouds and of heaven. Her mother always seemed to be thinking of the sky and all the things in it.

This time, Talaya didn’t stay in the doorway. She walked toward the bed, her steps feeling heavy as if maybe her feet were weighed down by something. There was an eerie scent in the air, something she thought she recognized but couldn’t really pinpoint. Besides, her mind was really focused on her mother. She was lying on her side, her back to Talaya.

“Mama,” she called to her in a soft voice.

In addition to working at the pediatric clinic, her mother made rounds at a world-renowned pediatric hospital which had been ecstatic to have her join them once they moved from Long Island to Houston. Sometimes those shifts at the hospital were in the middle of the night and Regina would come home mid-morning and fall into bed. She’d sleep for hours after that, so Talaya had learned to be quiet if she were in the house during those times. She was a teenager and not a small child at that time, so it wasn’t really a task to let her mother rest without doing anything to disturb her.

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