Page 37 of Leave It to Us
He laughed harder. “I guess childcare isn’t your calling, then.”
“It most definitely is not,” she said, and was finally able to at least smile along with him. “It’s the third job I’ve had and lost in two and a half years. My sisters and my mother all believe I’m a habitual failure.”
Why she was telling this guy whom she’d just met yesterday some of her personal business, she had no idea. Perhaps because he’d asked, and because he was still interested in talking to her even after she’d told him she could relate to the woman whose heart he’d broken.
“How old are you?” he asked.
“Twenty-nine,” she replied. “How old are you?”
“I’m thirty.”
She tossed her hands up in the air as if in surrender, and let them fall back into her lap with a loud slap. “See, you’re only a year older than me, and you’ve got your life all together.”
“Nah, I ain’t say all that,” he said. “I’ve got an undergrad degree in criminal justice from Jackson State, and then I came back home to get a law degree from USC Law. Yes, but I partied my way through both those schools and barely passed the bar since I was completely hungover the morning I walked into that room to take the exam. So I’m far from the one who never hits some bumps in the road.”
“‘Bumps.’” She shook her head. “Trypotholesfor me. I go to these interviews and give them my best. They hire me; then I get on the job, and it’s not what I thought it would be. Not what I want to be doing with my life.”
“I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer, from the time I used to watchPerry Masonreruns with my Paw Paw. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my career, and I mostly coasted along until I got there.” He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, and turned his head sohe could look at her. “But once I got there and I sat across the table from my first client, telling them that I would take care of everything, I sobered up real quick. I started out as a public defender, and so I had a man’s freedom in my hands. My focus shifted from ‘This is the job I’ve always dreamed of’ to ‘I can’t mess this up because somebody’s depending on me.’” He sighed.
“Did you win that first case?”
“Nope,” he replied quickly. “It was a DUI, numerous traffic citations, and a driving-while-uninsured charge, and he was found guilty. Luckily, the judge took into account that he was under the influence of medications given during oral surgery he’d had performed that morning and decided not to impose any jail time. He did get a ton of fines, though, and the conviction will remain on his record for at least three years until his probation is completed and he can apply for an expungement.”
He shook his head at what she figured was the memory of that time. “But my point is, that case inspired me and it rejuvenated me. I’ve been working steadily and enjoying every case since then, because like I said, I’d always known this is exactly what I want to do with my life. Maybe you haven’t found exactly what you want to do yet, and that’s why you keep hitting these bumps in the road.”
She let her head fall back on the chair and stared up to the porch ceiling. “Makes sense,” she said. “I guess it also makes sense for me to take my tired bones to bed.”
“Is that your way of kicking me off your porch because I’ve talked too much?”
She turned her head only to look at him again. “Of course not. You’re welcome to sit on this porch for as long as you want. I”—she slapped her palm to her chest—“am going into that house to get into my bed.”
He grinned.
“Yvonne said Deacon’s gonna be here first thing tomorrow morning to start talking about demo work we can get started on before his crew arrives. So I gotta be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for that.”
“What?” he asked.
She did a double take. “What? Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of that saying.”
“Nah, I have. I was asking what you just thought about that had you smiling like that?”
Lifting a hand to her face, she touched her lips; shehadbeen smiling. “Hmph.” She shook her head. “Grandma Betty used to say that to me at night. It would be after I’d been out playing all day. Swimming with Daddy or riding my bike all over the island, looking for anything and nothing. Or following her around the house, nagging her to tell me stories about her travels and all the great people she used to meet. Then we’d have dinner, and after dinner, she’d go into the parlor and play the piano. I never wanted her to stop, always asked for another song even after Lana and Yvonne had gone up to bed and Daddy had gone off to do whatever. I just wanted to keep listening to the music. She’d finally make me go upstairs, and then she’d tuck me in and say, ‘I’ll see you first thing in the mornin’, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.’ I’d get a kiss after that and a long snuggle, because I loved her snuggles.”
He sighed. “That’s a great memory.”
“It is,” she said, and watched him stand.
He came over to her and reached down to take her hands, pulling her up from her chair. “I’ve got business in Savannah for the next couple of days. I’ll be back this weekend, but if you or your sisters need me, just call.”
She nodded. “Will do.”
They stood like that, just holding hands and looking at each other, before he finally sighed. “Well, good night, Tami.”
“Good night, Jeremiah.”
He held her hands a second longer, giving them a little squeeze before he released them, and turned to walk off the porch. She watched him all the way down the walkway to his cart before she turned and went inside the house.
Twenty minutes later, she was freshly showered and dressed in boxer shorts and a tank as she climbed into bed. And just like any other night, she lay on her back—lights out, eyes closed—but didn’t fall asleep. She never went to sleep as soon as she got into bed. Not even when she was bone-tired. Instead, it alaways took at least thirty to forty minutes for her mind to finally calm down enough to welcome sleep.
