A quick update, and a surprise that has encouraged me. My charges are all doing well. Pamela has returned to her usual routine, having told the story of her encounters with Lyle as a great adventure, and carrying no wound from their separation—indeed, she seems calmer, more confident than she was before. Jonathan is as he has ever been. He has seen nothing of Lauren, though I remind him of her every now and again, just to plant a seed that I may later cultivate. Brooke leaves Chicago today with her team—they will be moving on to Los Angeles, which is further away from Morgan than she was, but the increased distance does not trouble her. She has become accustomed to the dynamic between them in their separation, enough that now she can turn her attention to her work. At the same time, she is relieved that this much of the time has passed before they will be reunited.
And while one of my charges plans to leave Chicago, another is getting ready to go there, and she will not go alone.
“Do you want to come with me?” Myrtle asked.
Jaquinn, who was sorting through her notes on her kitchen table, raised a brow and smiled. “Myrtle, you’re going next week.”
Myrtle slumped lower in her chair. “I know.” She had been telling him about her trip to see her brother, and a strange bleak mood had crept over her. The question surprised all three of us, Myrtle, Jaquinn, and myself.
Jaquinn leaned forward, trying—as I was—to determine where the question came from. “Are you nervous about meeting up with your brother?”
“Of course I am.” But that wasn’t the reason Myrtle wanted him there.
“You’ll be fine. This is a good thing, babe. You’ll be glad you did it.”
She pushed some of the papers around without answering.
Sighing, Jaquinn came around the table and took her hand, looking down at her averted face. “What is it?” he asked.
“Speak to him,” I urged her. “He has a right to know what you are feeling.”
Myrtle took a breath. “I just have this weird feeling,” she said, her long fingers walking across the table. “Darron—I want to get to know him again. I miss him, like crazy. But…”
She was silent for a long time. Jaquinn waited.
“It was so ugly, Jack,” she whispered, leaning her head against his stomach. “And not just Mom. We were all horrible people to each other. We were sick and wrong—and I’m scared that will come back.”
Jaquinn wound his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, bending to kiss the top of her head. “It won’t. He’s not asking you to talk to your mom, Myrtle. He just wants to move forward with you.”
“But what if he does?” she asks, looking up at him. There were tears in her eyes, which shook him a little. He wiped them away.
“Then you’ll say no.”
“And what if he gets mad about that?”
“Well, I don’t think he will, but if he does, then you’ll move on.” He cupped her face with his hand. “You don’t need toxic people in your life, Myrtle. You don’t owe them anything.”
She groaned and wrapped her arms around his waist. “This is why I want you to come with me,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt. “I need you to remind me.”
And it was then that I saw the true source of her fear. Myrtle fears that on meeting with her brother, all the fear and pain and hurt of her past would return to torment her again. But Jaquinn has become a representation of her present, a talisman to hold her to the strong, beautiful woman that she is now. His presence steadies her, and she believes that with him next to her, she will be able to face the past and avoid sliding back into who she was then.
I did my best to make this clear to Jaquinn, and he twisted free of Myrtle, digging his phone out of his pocket. She watched quizzically as he dialed and waited for the answer.
“Sandra. Hey, it’s Jaquinn. Remember that favor you owe me? Yeah, girl, time to pay up. Nah, don’t you bitch to me, you promised me. Well, I just need you to cover for me next weekend.” He turned and winked at Myrtle over his shoulder. “All of a sudden I’m headed out of town.”
Gasping, Myrtle surged out of her chair and threw her arms around his shoulders, nearly knocking him over in her excitement. Jaquinn laughed, steadying himself against the wall, and finished his conversation despite Myrtle wrapping her legs around his waist and planting kiss after kiss on his cheek.
“You seriously coming with me?” she asked when she had calmed down.
He looked at her, smiling with the warm contentment of a man who knows himself to be helping the woman he loves. “You want me there, I’m there. Anyway, I’ve never been to Chicago.”
Myrtle seized his face and kissed him hard on the mouth. Then she dropped to the floor and ran for her phone. “I have to call Darron.”
Now Myrtle’s planning is filled with excitement, and she is no longer afraid. I am excited, too, for this trip can only strengthen their bond, and I hope that with Jaquinn there to support her, she can finally come to peace with her past. We will see.