Page 71 of Royce
“Why she not here?” He had questions and I truly didn’t have the answers.
“Uhm, I think it was a choice her family made. You can ask her when you see her, okay?” He gave me a wild nod before taking off to the front door. I loved that he was more open and excited about waking up. He never cared this much when we were back at home.
I released a deep breath and went to retrieve my phone from the kitchen. I grabbed CJ a quick snack as well. It had been about an hour since he had lunch but since he was a growing child with high metabolism, he always had an appetite.
As I walked back to the front door, Royce and Essence made their way down. She was strapped in her car seat and of course my man looked nothing less than wealthy. We headed out the door together like the little family we’d become. I would’ve never thought this would be my life, especially with how things were going months ago. Royce really knew how to treat a woman, I could give him that.
Once we were in the car and buckled, we were pulling out listening to an artist I fell in love with during recovery. Her name was Roux, and her voice was rich when she sung. It was like miss mamas was serenading your soul or something. I hadn’t heard of her before Royce so I guess you could say he put me on.
Anyway, we cruised through the city where there was little to no traffic. Sage Springs had its days where it could get crowded. For a city to be this big, traffic tended to pile up at the oddest times. It didn’t take us long to get to the facility where his grandmother resided. Petals of Rose let me know this was a building owned by the Atkins and named after her. I thought it was really cute.
I kept quiet as we filed out the car. I could tell by the way Royce moved that coming here was both troubling and fortunate. He still had his grandmother but something about this visit said it might be the last. His eyes carried so much sadness in them. However, I let him stay in his thoughts and stayed close behind him.
Entering the building, we stopped by the front office to greet a woman named Ms. Rachel. She was a ball of sunshine. “Royce, it’s good to see you. Who do you have with you?”
“It’s good to see you as well. This is my wife Klarity, my son CJ, and my daughter Essence. We just came to see Mama Rose. How she doing?” he asked.
All Ms. Rachel could do was offer us a sentimental smile. Her eyes had suddenly got teary, and I knew right then andthere Royce was going to have to say goodbye sooner than later. I hated that for him because regardless of how spoiled and entitled he was, he was the most caring person I knew. He didn’t deserve this heartbreak.
“She’s hanging on as best as she can, but Royce… make the best of this visit. Her vitals hasn’t been good. Go ahead and see her,” she said lowly.
Royce wasted no timing pulling me and the kids along. CJ and I were damn near tripping over our feet trying to keep up with him. We traveled down a hall that held only four rooms, and they were bigger than my old master bedroom. This must’ve been the hall for those with a little change in they pocket.
The door to her room opened and I saw flowers lining the walls. It smelled like pure jasmine in here. The floors were spotless and so were the walls. Nothing about her room said she was unloved. She had a sixty-five-inch television plastered on the wall along with all the latest devices on her dresser as if she could use them. Spoiling her wasn’t a problem.
He immediately went to her and all I could do was turn around and cry silent tears. Mama Rose was as frail as she could be. At first glance you would think she had already passed. My thoughts were scrambled and Royce begging for her to open her eyes made things worse.
“Ma. Open your eyes for me beautiful. I came to see you. Me, my wife, and the kids. Open your eyes for me.” This was the softest I ever heard him speak and it was tearing me in two. “Ma. Hear my voice and open your eyes. There you go. Hey beautiful.”
I dried my face before turning back around. I eased up beside him and intertwined my left hand with his right. CJ had yet to let go of my leg. I understood his hesitation because I was just as cautious. However, I didn’t want my husband to feel like he was alone.
“Hi Mama Rose, it’s nice to finally meet you,” I spoke just as gentle as Royce did.
She looked at me and smiled. Royce said she had dementia, so I was sure she thought I was Iris. I didn’t mind though. I would be whoever she wanted me to be at this time and give her the conversation she deserved.
“Royce, you brought her back. I knew you would do the right thing,” she said barely above a whisper.
My brows dipped for a brief second before I switched up my confused expression to another. Her response threw me off a little bit. If she would assume I was Iris, that definitely wouldn’t have been her reaction to me. Senior had been with Iris for decades. Royce wasn’t even thought about when they became a couple. She didn’t see me as Iris; this woman saw me as someone else.
“Yes, and I brought our son as well as our daughter. This is Cordell and this little princess is Essence,” I replied.
“A little girl, too. I see my son just couldn’t stay away. I told him how good it is to have a son, but a daughter is just as precious. Don’t let nobody run you away again.”
“Mom and Pops separated sometime after I was born for like six months. I don’t know why, and I never asked. All I know is they found their way back and been good ever since. Mama Rose must be remembering that all of a sudden cause Iris ended up staying with her during the break refusing to let Pops in until my mama was ready,” Royce explained.
The thing was, I didn’t need him to do that. I was caught up already. One thing I did know for a fact, was when it came to dementia patients, there was some truth to the things they said. Their memories were scattered, but they knew exactly what they were talking about.
I looked at Royce waiting for him to put the pieces together or at least read between a few lines. He never did. I thought tomyself he couldn’t be that stupid. He was so blinded by emotions that he didn’t see why Iris left Senior. It was obvious he cheated, and Mama Rose knew about it. I wasn’t Iris in her eyes; I was the other woman, and CJ was the son Senior made. The cards were on the table with not one being faced down. It wasn’t my family secrets to engage in, so I got my mouth right on off that and played into Royce’s delusion.
“I’m here to stay as long as he’ll have me,” I responded gently squeezing her hand.
“That’s good to know. Son, have you talked to Ryan lately? I haven’t seen him in a while,” she inquired.
I took a seat on the sofa across the room taking the kids with me. They could have their intimate moment while I scrolled through social media. Essence had dozed off, so I had a moment to myself. CJ was on his iPad minding his business.
My thoughts kept swaying to the kid Senior could possibly have. In Royce’s mind, he was an only child but clearly that wasn’t the case. I thought it was a little messed up how Senior couldn’t be a faithful man to a woman that was all about him. You could see it in Iris eyes that the love she carried for him was undeniably solid as a rock.
I never wanted to group anyone together so like father like son wasn’t ever going to be expressed. Royce plotted and schemed to get me and my kids, so I fully believed he was going to do right by us. From the way he loved us to the way he protected us, him failing wasn’t in our future. That was what sold me on him in the first place. He screamed the love for us off rooftops shamelessly. I put all my trust and faith into this marriage off that alone.
