Page 93 of One Good Reason

The dummy patients donned blue and white hospital gowns and everything.

“Well, someone just made your job a little easier. Come on… let’s go to the second floor.”

Ambling out of the room, we got on the elevator and headed up to the restrooms.

“Mr. Harvey, Ms. Talitha.” Jose smiled when he noticed us stepping off the elevator. After greeting him, he escorted us down the hall and into the restrooms. I was scared as hell so instead of fully stepping through the door I peeked in.

“Come in scary. It’s complete.” Law laughed.

“Oh my God, Jose. You really did it.”

“We did it, Ms. Talitha. I had the insulation redone and I replaced the sheet rock. The walls are as good as new.”

“What about the system upstairs?”

“It was fixed and is no longer leaking. The ceiling tile is new too.” He pointed up.

The last time we were here, it was obvious that there was a leak because the tile was stained. Now, it was white and good as new.”

“Okay Jose. Keep it real with me. How much do you have left to do?”

“Really, just some cabinetry. That’s it. You guys should be okay to submit the application.”

“Yes!” I fist pumped the air. “That’s what I like to hear right there. I will get it submitted first thing in the morning. Thank you so much Jose for this! I don’t know what we would have done without you.”

“Yeah. Thank you, my man.” Law reached out and slapped hands with him. “This one was beginning to drive my ass crazy worrying about meeting an unknown deadline.”

“Y’all hired me and my crew to do a job. I’m just happy we could make it happen.”

My mood had transformed immediately. I was on such a high right now. Nothing could bring me down. At least that’s what I thought. As Gema used to say, don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

Holding my finger up, I told my staff, “Give me just a second.” Swiping my phone off the conference room table, I stood and walked out of the room.

This was the second time Mrs. Jessie had called my phone in the past minute or so, and now alarms were blaring around me.

“Mrs. Jessie?” I rushed out when the call connected. “Is everything okay?”

“Talitha, I need you to get homenow!”

Sensing the urgency in her voice, I damn near ran to my office. While gathering my shit, I asked, “Is it Gema? Is she okay?”

“Bertha is okay. But Tali… you gotta get here now. I don’t know how much time we have.”

“I’m on my way,” I assured her.

Rushing out of the building, I ran to my car and hopped in it. The whole drive to my house I was praying that I didn’t have to whoop nobody ass. Mrs. Jessie said Gema was okay, so it had to be one of her children. One of they asses had popped up and was probably showing out. Today wasn’t the day for this shit. I wasn’t in the fucking mood.

The youth center had received a health code violation, and I was meeting with my team to see how we could address it and fix the problem before the inspector came back out. Apparently, we had a surprise visit last week when I was with Gema at the doctor and the kitchen staff didn’t have the food stored properly.

I understood mistakes happened but with what I was already working on, I couldn’t afford these types of mistakes. Especially since our feeding program was an intricate part of the youth center.

Because I did the dash to my house, I was able to cut my trip down by ten minutes. When I turned into my subdivision and down my street, I spotted the sheriff’s car parked along the curb of my house and in my driveway sat my mama and her husband’s Mercedes.What the fuck are they doing here? And with the fucking sheriff?Whipping into my driveway, I cut the engine and hopped out of the car.

The closer to the door I got, the easier it was to make out Gema’s voice. She was arguing with my mama. Pushing the door open, I cocked my head to the side. “Somebody better tell me what the fuck is going on?” I groused. Everyone’s attention snapped to me.

“Thank God, Tali!” Mrs. Jessie huffed. “Please tell this man I’m not abusing Bertha.”

My head rocked back and forth in disbelief. “Abusing? Who said Gema was being abused?”

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