Page 84 of Leave It to Us
“Whether that be with money or just general support,” Tami said.
Yvonne nodded as the first tear fell. “Exactly. And still love each other just as fiercely,” she said softly and squeezed Lana’s hand.
Chapter 29
YVONNE
Just as they’d been for the past couple of days, a myriad of thoughts had rolled through her mind in the last twenty-four hours, and she’d experienced so many feelings and revelations. And that morning, all Yvonne wanted to do was stay in bed, tucked under the warmth of the sheets and duvet in the bedroom she’d occupied for the past two years. But that hadn’t felt as comfortable as it had before.
She’d tossed and turned until she thought she was going to flip right out of the bed to land on the floor. Since that wasn’t a smart option, she’d finally climbed out of the bed. After noticing it was later than when she usually awakened, she hurried into the bathroom to take her medications. But when she returned, she didn’t lie in that bed again. No, she crossed the room to the desk she’d had pushed against the wall when she was a teenager. Pulling out the chair, she took a seat and leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees.
What was she doing here?
The quick answer was that she’d rushed back to Boston to take care of her mother. Something she’d done before. Something she’d always done. And just like before, Lana and Tami had also come back to take care of their mother. Tami had even offered to spend the night at thehospital so Lana could go home and sleep in her own bed and Yvonne could do the same.
“Are you sure?” Yvonne had asked, her tone as skeptical as she felt when she’d glanced back at the bed to see Freda still asleep.
The doctor had said she would be out of it for quite a while, but they’d wanted to see her anyway.
“Positive,” Tami told her. “She’s probably going to sleep through the rest of the night. So I’ll sit in here a little while longer, and then I’ll head out to the waiting room to bunk there in case something changes. Y’all can come relieve me in the morning.”
Lana had frowned. “But what about your guy out there? Did you forget he was waiting for you?”
“Oh, Gabriel?” Tami had asked, a quick smile covering her face. “He’s not my ... Well, hmm, maybe I guess he is my guy.” Then she shrugged. “Anyway, the way he insisted on coming here with me, I don’t think he’s gonna leave until I do. So we’ll both be fine. You two just go, but keep your phones close in case I need to call you.”
Lana had moved first, leaning over the hospital bed to kiss Mama’s forehead. Then she’d walked over to where Tami stood at the foot of the bed and pulled her into a hug. “I’ll tell Gabriel to go and get you something to eat and drink from one of those machines.”
“Thanks,” Tami said, and then Lana left the room.
Yvonne moved next. She’d been holding Freda’s hand, but now she placed it gently by her mother’s side before doing as Lana had just done—leaning over to kiss her mother’s forehead. “I’ll be back in the morning, Mama,” she whispered.
When she turned to Tami, it was to see her staring down at their mother.
“She looks so frail,” Tami said. “I didn’t realize she looked this way.”
Yvonne moved over to her sister, taking Tami’s hand in hers. “She’s going to be okay,” she said. “You know Mama’s too tough not to pull through this too.”
Tami nodded quickly, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth as she blinked nervously. Yvonne knew she was trying to keep back tears, and she wanted to tell her it was okay to cry. But Tami didn’t need her telling her what to do. She didn’t need her permission to feel whatever she wanted to feel or didn’t want to feel in this moment.
Yvonne leaned in and kissed her sister’s cheek. “Call me if you need anything.”
Tami nodded again and squeezed Yvonne’s hand before she left the hospital.
There’d been no calls throughout the night. Yvonne knew because she’d checked her phone in between the tossing and turning. She started to get up and go to the phone to send Tami a text asking how Freda was doing, but she didn’t move, her mind still wandering.
They had another sister. That had been the most prominent thing on her mind last night. Daddy had fathered another child and had never told them. Grandma Betty hadn’t told them. And neither had Mama, but Yvonne was certain now that Freda had known. That had been the moment when her mother’s attitude had changed about their father, holidays—everything. His infidelity and the forever evidence of it had been living on that island all this time. The island Daddy and Grandma Betty had insisted Yvonne, Lana, and Tami visit every summer. Had they planned to tell them one day during one of those summers? Introduce them to Sallie so all the Butler sisters could be together on the island?
Last night, when they’d been sitting in the waiting room while Freda was in surgery, Tami had pulled out another letter she’d found in Grandma Betty’s box.
This house is big enough for all of them. I wanted it built that way so that when they came back and found each other, they’d have a place to call home. Freda couldn’t understand and I guess I don’t blame her. Daniel madea mistake. Maybe I did too. We make decisions that are best for that moment.
Tami had been right: Grandma Betty had always intended for them to come back to Daufuskie Island, to the summerhouse. Together. She’d known Sallie was there and that either with Grandma Betty’s death or, as it had turned out, Ms.Odessa’s death first, Sallie would learn who her parents really were. Those damn letters that they both seemed to write to whoever would eventually be the one to read them told the story. Yvonne sensed they all regretted it on some level. Not that, as Mr.Cab had said about him and Ms.Odessa, loving Sallie from first sight wasn’t true, because she believed it was. She also believed that at the time those decisions were made, they’d each believed that this was what had to be done. Grandma Betty probably thought she was protecting her son and the family he’d built in the city. But Daniel had told Freda—and in today’s world, that would’ve meant everybody knew about his side-chick baby. The dislike between both baby mamas would ensue, and the fight for child support and weekend visitations would commence in the open. Back then, she supposed it was easier on everybody to do what they’d done—sweep the secret under the rug and go on about their business.
Yvonne didn’t think that had been easier on Freda or Sallie in the long run. Freda had suffered an immeasurable hurt, which she masked with negativity. Sallie had been deceived by people she’d loved and trusted and robbed of a sisterly bond that maybe she’d craved. Yvonne didn’t know, since she’d had her sisters all her life. But lying here this morning, she had to wonder what it would’ve felt like to not have Tami and Lana in her world. To not know that they were part of her and that she could lean on them if she needed to.
With those thoughts, Yvonne stood and went to her phone. She picked it up and made a call and, knowing it was early, apologized assoon as the person on the other end answered: “Good morning, this is Yvonne. I’m sorry for the early call, but I thought we should talk.”
Two hours later, Yvonne walked into her mother’s hospital room. Tami was still there, dressed in the clothes she’d had on last night, and Lana was just taking a seat in a chair close to Freda’s bed.
