MOMENTS LATER

Yemi gently wipes Sam's tears away while still sitting on his lap.

"I hate that you saw me crying like a fuckin' baby."

She sucks her teeth. "Stop. You were not crying like a baby. It's okay to let your feelings out, Sam." She pecks his lips softly. "Can I share something with you?"

"Of course."

"It's about my mom."

"If you're thinking about telling me what happened to her because you think it might help, do it because you're ready to share it. Not because you feel obligated."

She cups his face and looks deeply into his eyes. "I love you, and I'm okay with opening up to you about it."

He squints at her and then nods approvingly. She puts her hands over his muscular arms, and looks at them while fidgeting on his skin.

"... My mother was murdered during a night out with her cousins. But before she died, she was in a coma for a couple days. I didn't know she was in a coma, because I was out of town with my boyfriend at the time, and no one called to tell me. When I got back home, I called my mom to see where she was, and Briana answered the phone asking me why I wasn't at the hospital. By the time I got there... she was pronounced dead."

Sam is staring at her sympathetically as she takes a brief moment to collect her thoughts. She finally looks back into his eyes.

"Anyway, umm... I'm telling you this because... I understand why you would be upset at your parents for not telling you about your mom's health. I am very upset with my relatives, for one, not telling me she was in the hospital because of their own selfish reasons... and two, for them knowing who the murderer is, but lying to this day that they don't know."

Yemi starts to choke up. "Every morning I wake up angry that my mother was literally taken from me. She and I were very close. I think if I would've been there to talk to her while she was in a coma that could've helped her wake up. Then on top of that, my boyfriend told me that my emotions were too much for him to handle, so he disappeared."

She shakes her head at the memory. "The two friends I had... they disappeared, too. It hurt me at first, but I can't continue being mad over that. I know that being upset at all of those things are okay, but staying in that bad space isn't. It's self-poisoning, and I know that sounds cliché but it's true. I have to redirect my thoughts to positivity every morning, because if I don't, I would end up at my relatives house and then I'd be in prison. I know my mother wouldn't want that for me."

"Damn. I'm sorry all that shit happened."

"I am, too. But I refuse to let any of those people have power over my mental. And you shouldn't let anyone have power over you either. It's not benefiting you to be down here when, at any moment, your mother can leave this earth. Yes, they should have told you, but are you going to let that stop you from spending as much time as you can with your mother before it's too late?"

Sam furrows his eyebrows as he contemplates her words.

"I know if I had the chance to speak to my mother while she was still breathing, I would have. No matter how upset I was at anyone, I would've still taken that time to talk to her and then deal with the problems later. At that moment, the last memory with my mother was the priority. But I didn't get that. Sam, you get that opportunity, and I need you to understand how important that is."

"... I do," he tells her, genuinely understanding her point of view. "I get it."

She takes a deep breath. "So what's next? What do you wanna do?"

He cracks his knuckles, nervously. "Will you come with me?"

"... If you really need me to go up there with you, I will. But I think it's important for you to go alone, so that your family can see you don't need people to be sent to you every time you go through emotions."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She sighs, warily. "Sam, please don't be mad at me for saying this..."

He shrugs. "Just keep it a buck."

She hesitates at first. "... Sam. Your family treats you like a child. They sent a teenager to come help you get through the emotions of a horrible breakup. Then today, they asked Veronica to come here to help you because you won't listen to anyone else."

He frowns at the mention of Veronica's name.

"Veronica is going through a lot right now, which no one knows about because no one asks her how she's doing. She couldn't be here physically for you like she's been for the past 10 years. So she called me because she knows your family depends on her to help you comprehend life. Just like someone would do for a child."

He tucks in his bottom lip and then looks behind her, thoughtfully.

Yemi furrows her eyebrows, hoping her words weren't harmful. "Did I say too much?"

He looks back at her. "Nah. You said what needed to be said."

She nods in relief. "Do you still want me to go up there with you?"

He thinks about it for a moment. "Go be with V. I'll be alright." He taps her thighs, motioning for her to stand up.

She kisses his cheek before standing up.

"I'll call you an Uber."

"No, it's okay. I got it."

He ignores her and pulls his phone out of his pocket.

"Oh, your phone is off. I called it when I got here."

"Shit, I gotta charge it," he tells her, standing up. "I'll give you the money for the Uber later."

"You don't have to, babe." She wraps her arms around him and hugs him tightly, resting her head on his chest. "I'm proud of you."

He kisses the top of her head before hugging her back. "I'll call you in a couple of hours."

"Okay."

They release their embrace. Sam takes her hand and kisses it before leaving to the elevator. He takes a deep breath before pushing the call button as Yemi watches him.

"Tell your mom how you feel and try not to cuss at anyone."

He smirks before the elevator doors open, and then walks inside.

Yemi looks up towards the ceiling, and says a quick prayer, "Please let him make it in time."

___

Yemi arrives to the hotel and knocks on Veronica's room door.

"Hey Yemi!"

Yemi turns around and sees Veronica approaching her with a rolling suitcase. "How long do you plan on staying here?"

"About a week, but I'm gonna look for a place tomorrow."

They hug before Veronica opens the room door and leads Yemi inside.

"So how's he doing?"

"Well... he finally decided to go up to the room. But let's talk about you, right now. Tell me exactly what you're going through."

Veronica waves her off. "We don't have to talk about me. Did you eat dinner? You wanna go somewhere?"

"I am hungry, but you have to promise me first that we will talk about you during dinner."

Veronica rolls her eyes.

"Stop being stubborn. You said no one asks you how you're doing. Here I am trying to help, and you won't tell me what's on your mind."

"I'm just not used to talking about me, that's all."

"Well, get used to it. 'Cause now, it's time for you to be taken care of."

Veronica chuckles. "You sound like Darrell."

"Oh. So you two are talking now?"

"Hell no. He wants a relationship."

"Okay, so we really need to talk about that. You were so hard on Sam about getting into a relationship, but you don't want that for yourself?"

"It's a long story."

"Okay. Well, let's order in, and you can tell me all about it. I have nothing but time." Yemi plops down on the couch.

Veronica smiles in awe and then goes to hug her. "I love you, Yemi."

"I love you, too, best friend."