Outside of Ebony and Angelique’s West 118th Street apartment, the November sky was gray and cloudy. The rain made slanted streaks across the window. The two women sat on their living room couch. Ebony was knelt over with her feet propped on a small stool. She meticulously painted her toenails with a sparkling gold polish. Angelique sat on the other end of the couch with her laptop propped on her lap. She was busy doing market research for Mandingo Records.
Ebony looked over at her. “Girl, it’s Saturday! Why don’t you give that a rest? You stayed up half the night working on it, and you haven’t looked up from that screen in hours.”
“I have a deadline on Monday, and…”
“What do you think Big Buck is doing right now? I bet you good money that he’s chillin’.”
“That’s why he’s paying me to worry for him. You know I left my job at QMI to do this. And Mona and I are in business now. We can’t afford to work regular hours.”
“I respect what you’re saying and all, but there is such a thing called work-life balance.”
“After Mona and I get paid, I’ll be able to take a whole year’s vacation.”
“So where are we going?” Ebony smiled. “I’ve always wanted to go to Saint-Tropez, mainly because of the name. Saint-Tropez, Saint-Tropez, Saint-Tropez, doesn’t it just roll off of your tongue?”
Angelique smiled.
“But seriously, you most definitely should take a long vacation after you finish up with Mandingo Records. And hopefully, it will be with a sexy ass man who treats you right and fucks you so good that your knees quiver.”
Angelique blushed and giggled. “I don’t think I’ve ever been fucked that good.”
“Girl, you need to get with the program already.”
“You know I’m not going there until I fall in love, and the first step to falling in love is dating someone. Right now, Larry is the only prospect on the horizon. He’s been blowing up my phone since that date we went on last month. I thought he would get the hint by now that I’m not interested.”
“Men don’t do well with hints; you have to be direct. You should just tell the man, ‘I don’t want to go out with you again.’ End of story.”
“I can’t say that. That’s just cruel. The man just got divorced.”
“Well, he’s gonna keep calling until you set him straight.”
“You’re probably right. I don’t know. There’s a small part of me that... I guess I’m not saying I like Larry, but I don’t mind the attention. He even sends me these cute email greeting cards every week. If I tell him to leave me alone, then I won’t have anyone…”
“Are you attracted to Larry?”
“Not really.”
“So why are you wasting the man’s time?”
Angelique glanced at her smart phone ringing on the coffee table. “Grandma” lit up the screen of her cell phone. “Girl, hold that thought. Let me get this.” She answered the call. “Hey, Grandma.”
“Hey, sweetie.” Grandma’s voice wasn’t bubbly like usual.
“Is something wrong?”
“I don’t wanna scare you, but it’s your mother…”
“What is it?”
“There were some complications with the surgery; she got an infection. She’s in ICU, and... Look, I know that you’re really busy, and I know that you two haven’t always gotten along, but if there’s any way you can make it out here, I think it would be for the best.”
“I don’t know Grandma. You know my schedule is–”
“I figured that; I just thought I’d let you know.” She paused. “The medication has her out of it for the most part, but she came to early this morning, and she asked for you by name.”
Tears filled Angelique’s eyes.
“But if you’re busy, I’ll just let her know. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
Angelique sobbed. Ebony stood up and walked over toward her and rubbed her back.
“I’m on my way back to the hospital. I’ll call you later on, alright, sweetie? I love you.”
“I love you too, Grandma.” Angelique hung up the phone.
“What is it?” Ebony asked.
“It’s my mother. Something went wrong with her surgery, and now she’s in ICU.”
“I’m so sorry, girl.” Ebony wrapped her hands around Angelique. As the two of them embraced, Angelique literally cried into Ebony’s shoulder. Through the years, Ebony had always been a source of strength for Angelique.
“This whole thing is just...crazy.” Angelique wiped her eyes. “Grandma said that she asked for me by name.”
“So are you gonna fly out there?”
“As much as I hate that woman, I don’t think I could forgive myself if something terrible happened and I wasn’t there to say goodbye. When I was teenager, I really wanted her to die. But now, I don’t know. I keep hoping that…maybe one day, we could be like a normal mother and daughter.”
“Normal is relative.”
“Ain’t that the truth?” Angelique smiled a little through her tears.