Again (Brandy Jeffus)

smooth as silk. "I didn't know I was going to evoke that kind of response. I'm kind of hurt." I hear him chuckle.
    I groan at his joke and grab some toilet paper to wipe my face. "I'm so sorry," I moan.
    Tatum appears beside me and holds out a glass of water. I sip it slowly, while Eli flushes the toilet.
    "How about you girls go home and get some real rest? I'm off tomorrow and can stay overnight with Ms. Cindy," Eli suggests. His brows are furrowed, concern etch on his face. He is still handsome, his features more defined and more mature.
    The offer is appealing. I had been sleeping on the fold out cot and eating too much hospital food. I was averaging a shower every two days and my body is just plain tired.
    "You don't mind Eli?" Tatum asks.
    "No, not at all. Let me run home to change. Is that fine, Ms. Cindy?" Eli is at the doorway of the bathroom looking at Mama.
    "Yes, honey, that's a great idea. Thank you," she answers. I rise and walk to the sink. I splash my face with cold water.
    Eli stands beside me. He places his hand lightly on my shoulder. "You okay now B? I could bring you some medicine from my house," he says quietly. Hearing him use my old nickname calms my nerves. My own body is betraying me. I look away from the mirror and into those beautiful familiar eyes.
    "Yeah, I'm sorry. It's been a long week. My body's just worn down," I reply. I can smell a new car smell on him, mix in with a clean linen scent.
    "You still look good girl," Eli winks and pats my back while my heart quickens. "I'll be back ladies."
    After he leaves I sit beside Mama. With the idea of real sleep on my mind, my eyelids are growing heavy. Embarrassment sweeps over me like a wave. Everything is so odd; Eli here in the room, being the one who rescued Mama, me getting sick with him so close. Way to be cool Jinks .
    "Are you okay, Bonnie?" Mama asks. She reaches for my hand, "It's been a long time since you’ve seen each other, I know. He's grown into a fine fellow though and I really do owe him so much gratitude for staying with me all those hours that night."
    "Oh Mama, I don't doubt he's a good man. It just shocked the hell out of me seeing him after all this time. I'm fine. I'm just worn out. You don't worry about me, okay?"
    Mama smiles and squeezes my hand. When Eli broke up with me, Mama never spoke one negative word against him. This both irritated the hell out of me and comforted me as well. She was Eli’s babysitter when we were in elementary school and that was the real reason we became friends. She loved Eli like a son, and always had. And now I knew she still thought of him in the same way. It’s obvious it means a great deal for him to be the hero in her accident.
    Tatum sits quietly on the windowsill. She looks out the window down into the parking lot and street below, "Well, everything happens for a reason, right? Maybe you and Eli are supposed to make amends.”
    Tatum has always been mad at me for leaving home so abruptly. She partially blamed Eli, but held me mostly accountable.
    I was depressed, lonely and just wanting something different. When I met Mick, I knew he was what I needed. He was the exact opposite of Eli. He was controlling, but in a chivalrous kind of way. He was reckless and wild. And he put himself first and foremost. But he still found something attractive in my forlorn personality and adopted me as his newest girlfriend.
    When he asked me to go on the road with him, I agreed without much hesitation. Tatum was furious. She was a high school junior at that point, and still believed in fairy tales and true love. Eli was still like her brother in her eyes, and I was doing him unjust. Tatum believed Eli’s letter that we would end up together again.
    "That may very well be true, but for now I'd like to stop talking about Elijah Stone. If I'm supposed to make amends, it'll happen on its own time." I rebuke.
    I immediately feel bad for my tone and try to change the subject by asking, "Tatum, when does your leave end?"
    "It ends the week after next. I was granted two weeks," her words are clipped and the awkward tension returns.
    I must have dozed off because all of a sudden Eli is nudging my shoulder. I look up and see that he’s dressed in a concert shirt and jeans. I yawn and stand up. He’s so close to me, it feels foreign and oddly soothing at the same time.
    "Let me call a taxi," Tatum says.
    "Wait, why? Y'all don't have a car here?" Eli asks. Tatum and I shake our heads