Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74123 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74123 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
The clerk held his hands up. “Damn man you ain’t gotta be so serious. I was just fucking with you. I saw shorty a little while ago go up with this baddie with a fat ass. They’re on the fourth floor. Room 401 I think.”
That had to be Amina’s cousin, Candace.
“Are you sure?” Ethan demanded.
“I never forget an ass that fat.”
Ethan tossed the bill on the counter and dashed to the elevator that had a huge out of order sign.
“Fuck this hotel!” he roared before spotting the door to the stairs.
With his heart pounding a tattoo against his chest he took three stairs at a time hoping he’d reach Amina before it was too late.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
The sun shined brightly stinging Amina’s eyes. She raised her had to shield herself from the glare. Once her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the light she took in her surroundings to see she was in a beautiful garden.
Pink rose bushes lined a limestone path that led to a big white gazebo with a flower arch decorating the front of it.
A familiar tune rang out. Someone was humming something she hadn’t heard in a long time. A song she used to hear whenever her grandmother did her house cleaning.
Amina walked toward the gazebo and saw a woman with her back turned to her. She had long, iron gray microlocs that flowed down her back. She wore a caftan that resembled a monarch butterfly.
Amina’s eyes filled with tears. She knew that tune. She knew that hair. She knew that caftan.
“Grandma?” she whispered.
The woman turned around. Her beautiful dark brown face was still etched with laugh lines and the kindness in her dark eyes shined as brightly as ever.
Amina ran to her outstretched arms. “Grandma!” Her body slammed into her grandmother’s and she wrapped her arms tightly around her as she burst into tears.
Her grandmother squeezed her tight and rocked her back and forth. “It’s okay baby. I’m here.” She stroked the back of Amina’s head.
“I miss you so much. Why did you have to get sick and leave me?” Amina cried.
“Aww baby. That’s just the circle of life. Don’t you remember I taught you that we all eventually return to the Earth. My cycle had been completed yours was disrupted abruptly. That’s why you were given a second chance.”
Amina raised her head. “What do you mean, Grandma?”
“Let’s sit down.” Granny took her hands and led Amina to the bench carved inside the gazebo.
Her grandmother looked the same way she did before falling ill. Amina couldn’t stop staring. “Grandma, how are you here? Am I dead?”
Grandma chuckled and gently wiped the tears from Amina’s cheeks. “No, child. You’re in limbo right now. This is a place between life and death and where the dead and living can meet.”
Amina wrapped her arms around her grandmother’s waist. “I want to go wherever you go. I miss you so much.”
“Ah chile, you’re talking nonsense now. You don’t really mean that. You still have a lot of living to do. Besides, that cute Dr. of yours would miss you terribly, wouldn’t he?”
“Ethan!” Amina pulled away abruptly. How could she have forgotten him? He was probably going crazy with worry.
“See? You still have a lot to live for.”
“I do. I love him so much. I think I may have fallen in love with him from the time we first met but I was too muddled in my grief from the loss of you to realize it.”
“That’s understandable. He’s a good man and I know he’ll take good care of you. I’m so proud of you for the growth you’ve shown since your rebirth. Your father is proud of you too.”
“Really? You think so?”
“Oh, I know so. He wanted me to tell you hello and he can’t wait to meet you.”
Amina leaned her head on her grandmother’s shoulder not wanting to move. She missed her grandmother’s scent of fresh baked goods and a hint of the strong liniment she used to rub on her joints.
“Baby, I have something to tell you.”
“What?”
“Your mother passed a long time ago. It’s why she never came back for you. She never really abandoned you, baby.”
Amina froze. “What? But Aunt Sharon used to take joy in telling me that my mother abandoned me and never loved me.”
“Your Aunt Sharon is a miserable old bitch. Your mother was sick from her addiction. She got caught up in her own grief after your father passed away and went down a dark path. She left you with your aunt to get herself clean. She very much wanted to come back for you when she got her act together but fate decided it was her time. She was the victim of a hit and run. Her remains are buried in a plotter’s field owned by the county.”
Amina’s heart plummeted. She’d always told herself that it didn’t matter that her mother had left her because she could barely remember her. But deep down Amina resented her mother for giving up on her so easily. Knowing that wasn’t the case and her mother had suffered all alone filled her with a hollow sadness.