Chapter 61 CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE.
Chapter 61 CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE.
At the door, Brianna pressed the bell and then pushed her hands into her back pockets. Julian watched his woman, took in her unconsciously sexy pose, watched how her arse looked plump and sexy in her jeans and felt the confidence oozing from her... He thought Brianna looked as hot as fuck.
"Shit," Julian muttered when he felt himself stir.
"What?" Brianna turned to look at Julian.
Julian shrugged. "Just lusting after you," he said simply, giving Brianna a heated look.
"What?" Brianna's mouth fell open. "You're crazy, you know..." She trailed off when the door swung open.
"Did you forget your key?" Yolanda Jackson asked without looking up at the person at the door. She was busily counting the money in her purse. "Please leave them on the kitchen counter." She didn't even look at Brianna and Julian when they entered the house and closed the door behind them. "I'll sort it out later." She took out the money.
Brianna stared at her mother. She looked like a dejected old lady, way older than her age of fifty-eight. Her beautiful and regal mother. What happened to her? Brianna gasped at the strong wave of sadness that washed over her. When she felt Julian's touch at her back, she took deep breaths, drawing strength from her man.
"Here you are, Kenneth." Brianna watched as her mother finally raised her eyes to hers. Immediately upon seeing Brianna's face, she froze. The purse and money dropped out of her hand as a cry tore out of her mouth. "Brianna."
Then right before the eyes of Brianna and Julian, Yolanda Jackson began to crumble to the ground in a faint.
"Mama..." Brianna gasped as she rushed forward to catch her mother before she hit the ground.
"Bring her here." Julian placed the purse and money he'd picked off the floor onto the center table and pushed the throw pillows off the couch to make way for Yolanda.
Brianna gently placed her mother on her back and then crouched down beside her, staring down at her with so much concern and sympathy.
"Julian..." Brianna groaned as she watched Julian check Yolanda's pulse.
"She's fine," Julian said as he raised Yolanda's feet onto the armrest. "Just shocked that's all. Can you please get her a glass of juice or something?"
"Sure." Brianna stood up and went to the kitchen. For a moment she just stood on the threshold and stared. Everything was just as she remembered it.
Brianna took a glass, went to the fridge and poured some orange juice. Then she went back to the living room where her mother had started to stir. She gave the juice to Julian and crouched beside Yolanda again. And when she eventually opened her eyes, Brianna smiled down at her with so much relief.
"Mama..." she breathed.
"Oh my god, Brianna." Yolanda swung her feet off the couch and sat up. Then she reached out to wrap her arms around Brianna's shoulder and hugged her. "Oh, my baby." She moaned, rocking Brianna as she would a baby. "Thank you, Father. Oh baby, I'm so sorry." She began to sob. "Forgive me, Brianna." Yolanda wept as she rocked an equally sobbing Brianna. "I'm sorry for failing you as a mother, baby. Please find it in your heart to forgive me." Mother and daughter cried as if they'd been told that someone close to them had died. "Please, please, please. I know I don't deserve it but please." She cried her heart out. "I'm not worthy to be called your mother, I know. I'm so, so sorry, Brianna." It was a heartbreaking scene.
Julian quietly left the room as mother and daughter bawled their eyes out. As much as he knew that letting go that way was good for Brianna, Julian couldn't stand seeing her like that. He went to sit on the porch to give them the needed privacy.
Back in the living area, Brianna eventually quieted down and sat at the feet of her mother. She wrapped her arms around her waist and simply rested her head in her lap. Yolanda's head was against the headrest but her hands cradled Brianna's head. They sat that way for about thirty minutes in utter silence. Until Brianna broke the silence.
"Mama?" she called out softly.
"Yes, Brianna," Yolanda responded in a small voice.
"I'm sorry too," she said.
"No, no honey." Yolanda shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for."
"But I shocked you that day so..."
"Children surprise their parents all the time, Brianna." Yolanda gently caressed Brianna's cheek. "It's the duty of the parent to direct the child on what to do and what not to do. We never gave you any direction. We failed you as parents. No matter how shocked we were, we shouldn't have allowed things to get out of hand. And we definitely shouldn't have done that to you."
"It wasn't you. It was Dad..."
"I'm just as guilty," Yolanda said heatedly. "In fact, I was the worst culprit. No mother should sit back and watch her child get kicked out."
"You were afraid," Brianna whispered.
"Stop making excuses for me, my daughter. When it comes to a child, even fear must not stop a mother from protecting them. I failed you. And I will live with that shame, regret, and self-hatred for the rest of my miserable life. But it will give me some relief if you could forgive me. That's all I ask."
"I forgive you, Mama." Brianna raised her head and looked at her mother with silent tears coursing down her cheeks. "I forgive you."
"Thank you, my daughter." Yolanda began to cry again. "Thank you."
Brianna moved off the floor to sit beside her mother and wrapped her arms around the weeping woman. She felt at peace.
Outside, a delivery van came to park beside the Mercedes Benz. A young boy of about twenty-two got out and went to the back of the van to pick up two shopping bags.
"Hi," he said when he got to where Julian sat on the porch. "Yours?" He gestured towards the Mercedes.
"Err... yep."
"Cool wheels." He grinned. "Mrs. J in there?"
"Yeah. You must be Kenneth." Julian smiled at the boy.
"The one and only."
"I'll take that," Julian said, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. "How much does she owe you?"
"Err... is she okay?" Kenneth asked warily. "I need to see that she's..."
"Come." Julian stood up and went to stand by one of the windows. When Kenneth went to stand beside him, Julian pointed at Yolanda and Brianna. "Can you see her?"
"Yeah. Who's the girl?" Kenneth looked curious. In all the time he'd been doing the old lady's grocery shopping for her, he'd never seen anyone come to the house besides himself.
"That's her daughter."
"Brianna? She said she went away." Kenneth's eyes were wide as he stared at Yolanda and Brianna.
"Well, she came back," Julian chuckled. "So why don't you give them some privacy?"
"Sure, sure." Kenneth nodded. "The bill is fifty-five bucks." Kenneth placed the bags on one of the chairs on the porch.
"So you do this for her every week?" Julian asked.
"Nope. Every month."
If Julian was shocked at the small amount spent on grocery for an entire month, he didn't react at all. He gave Kenneth four hundred dollar bills.
"Keep the change," Julian told the boy.
"Oh dayum, are you serious?" Kenneth looked shocked.
"Yep. Just for being smart enough to make sure she was okay when I told you to leave the groceries with me," Julian smiled.
"Oh, Mrs. J is a real nice lady," Kenneth said. "I like her. Thanks, dude. Tell her I'll come by tomorrow to check up on her."
"I'll do that." Julian waved as the van left the driveway.