Читать книгу Sweeter Than Honey - Mary B. Morrison - Страница 16

Kneeling beside my sister’s bed, I prayed, “Dear Lord, please bring my sister home soon. She’s been gone too long and I miss her terribly. If Sunny does not find her way home tonight, then, Lord, I ask that you keep her safe from harm. Amen.”

Every night I asked God to bring my sister home. Sunny had been gone for a year, but it felt like a lifetime. Standing by the window, I pulled the trigger on my lighter, setting ablaze the white eucalyptus candlewick.

This was my way of holding on to the hope that Sunny would come back to me. I didn’t keep hope alive. Having hope kept me alive. The only other person I wanted back in my life was my first true love, Anthony James. At twenty-one he owned his house and had lots of money. He told me that his parents died unexpectedly and I felt sorry for him because my mother and father were alive and I couldn’t imagine life without them.

Anthony was an entrepreneur. Drove a Benz. He spoiled me with clothes and my first diamonds. And oh my, could he kiss! His lips all over my body made me feel womanly. Anthony would pick me up around the corner from our home and take me to Foothill High School for my classes, and then he’d pick me up afterward. That was the only time I’d hid my relationship from my family, ’cause Anthony told me not to tell them.

He’d said, “Your parents don’t know you like I do. You’re becoming your own woman. They won’t be happy for us. They’ll try to break us up.”

He was right. I wish I would never have told my parents the truth.

Back then Anthony was twenty-one and I was sixteen, but he made me feel all grown up inside, especially the way he was so patient and excited when he found out I was a virgin. The first time Anthony came inside me, I got pregnant. I was so scared until Anthony said he’d marry me and take care of us. When I told my parents, Daddy flipped out.

Now that I was almost twenty-one, hopefully I could find Anthony and maybe this time Daddy wouldn’t run him away. If I ever saw Anthony again, I’d tell him my daddy was a Christian man and he didn’t make me have an abortion. Our baby, Anthony James Day, was now four years old.

I wondered if someone had gotten my sister pregnant and that’s why she’d left home. Did Sunny have a husband? Or if a man was loving my sister, did he make her feel the way Anthony did me? I wanted Sunny to be happy wherever she was, but I sensed she wasn’t. Whoever she was with, he’d better treat her right or he’d have to deal with me.

Knock, knock. “Summer, you okay in there, baby?” Mama asked, slightly opening the door.

“Yeah, Mama. I’m all right. AJ asleep?”

“Yes, Nana’s baby is sound asleep.”

“Thanks, I miss my sister so much. I know she’ll be home soon.”

Grasping my hand, Mama sat me on the bed, then sat beside me. “Baby, you are identical but your twin sister is not like you. Sunny has always been independent. She’s always done things her way. But the one thing both of you have in common is you’re smart girls and you’re good girls. When Sunny is ready, she’ll come back home. And when she does, we’ll shower her with love and take her to church every Sunday until she leaves again.”

Why couldn’t I have had the courage to go live with Anthony like he wanted me to?

“Mama. Do you think Daddy would let me see Anthony again? He is the father of my son. I mean, I am almost grown and I can’t find any boy or young man to treat me the way Anthony did, not even the boys at church.”

“Sshh. Hush, Summer. Now, you know that man was too old for you then and he’s much older now. Besides, something wasn’t right about his ways. He was impolite. Never came and introduced himself to your father even after you got pregnant. Always stayed outside in that there fancy automobile tootin’ his horn for you. Nobody even knows what he looks like. The Lord will send you somebody. You just gotta be patient, baby.”

Patience didn’t have an expiration date, a due date, or an estimate.

“Mama, I could be old and gray and never have another baby or ever have a husband. Sunny seen him once. He’s nice. She can vouch for me. Mama, please.”

Mama stood smoothing out her robe. “I done spoke my peace, Summer. Don’t wanna hear no more mention of Anthony James less you talkin’ ’bout my grandbaby.”