Nervous(72)

After driving over there, I got the shock of my life when Flower opened the Queen Bitch’s door.

“Jonquinette!” She flung her arms around me like she was Dorothy and she’d finally made it back home from the Emerald City. “I’m so happy to see you!”

Flower was a cutie. I can’t deny that, but what the hell was she doing in Atlanta? I decided to take the safe route and play nice with her. If I had really said what was on my mind, I would have scared the little chick.

“Hey, Flower. You’re looking beautiful today and that’s an adorable outfit,” I said, trying to think of what timid-ass Jon would say in a similar situation.

Flower twirled around like she was a runway model. “Thanks, Miss Meredith bought it for me.”

“Miss Meredith, huh?” I was getting a really bad feeling. “I should have known. It looks like something she would pick out.” The outfit did have Meredith written all over it. It was much too fancy for a young child and must have cost a grip, which meant Meredith was trying to kiss up to the little one. “Is Miss Meredith home?”

“Yes, she and Daddy are in the kitchen baking cookies.”

“Stop the madness!” I exclaimed, rolling my eyes to the ceiling and following Flower into the condo.

“Huh?” Flower asked. “What does stop the madness mean?”

“It’s just a saying.” As we got farther into the living room, I noticed several shopping bags from high-end stores strewn about. “Someone went on quite a shopping spree, looks like.”

“Yeah, Miss Meredith said she wanted me to have some city clothes. She thought my clothes were too old.”

Humph, no big surprise! That sounded just like the type of bullshit that would come out of Meredith’s mouth.

I noticed that the Disney Channel was on. “Flower, why don’t you finish watching television while I go into the kitchen and see what Mommy and Daddy are doing?” I cringed when I called them Mommy and Daddy, but I really didn’t have a choice. I was on a fishing expedition and I was just now baiting my hook. After Flower sat down, I said, “Be right back.”

“Okay, Sis,” she said.

That stunned me. She was referring to Jon as her sister already, like they’d known each other for years.

I got to the doorway of the kitchen and almost lost it when I saw the Leave It to Beaver action going on. They both had on aprons. Henry was taking a batch of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven while Meredith was stirring a pitcher of iced tea. Give me a break!

Part of me wanted to turn around and storm out the door but I had to get the real deal. I cleared my throat to get their attention.

“Jonquinette, Precious, we didn’t hear you come in!” Meredith exclaimed.

Precious? She was really tripping.

“Flower let me in,” I said. “Imagine my surprise when she answered the door.”

That’s when Henry chimed in, grinning from ear to ear. “We were just about to call you and invite you over. I went to pick up Flower yesterday and drove her right back.”

“What about school?” I asked.

“Aw, she can miss a couple of days,” Meredith replied. “Henry thought it was important for her to go ahead and meet me.”

I shifted from one leg to another. I was getting more pissed off by the second. “And why is that important? For Flower to meet you, I mean.”

They both eyed each other uneasily. Then Henry said, “Jonquinette, we have so much to tell you.” He held up a cookie. “Have a cookie, straight out the oven. Your momma made them from scratch.”

I didn’t take the cookie. I looked at Meredith instead. “Since when did you start making cookies from scratch?”

“Oh, Jonquinette, please! You remember when I used to bake you fresh sweets all the time when you were a child,” she lied without missing a beat. She never baked shit when Jon was a child.

“Oh yeah,” I said. “And they were delicious.” If she was going to stand there and tell bold-faced lies, I might as well join the party. “So, what is it that you have to tell me?”

First Henry sat down at the kitchen table and then Meredith. I thought I was seeing things when they started holding hands.

“This can’t be!” I said loudly. Then I caught myself. “Okay, I take it that the holding of hands means something momentous.”

Meredith sighed. “Um, yes, it does. Henry and I have been doing a lot of talking these past several days. Making up for lost time, so to speak. This has been a complicated time for all of us but something good has come out of it.”

Henry interrupted her. “What your momma is trying to say is that we’ve decided to make another go at it.”