“Oh-ho!”
Everyone was cheering and egging her on. She pointed at me; maybe she thought that I had something to do with it. I shrugged and shook my head. I just got the phone call. The whole thing was brought together by her, and I could tell that she was confused as I was when I got the call.
“Guys, settle down.”
Tiana said as she got on the stage.
“Nia, I know that you think we don’t appreciate what you’ve done.” I could see that tears were forming in Nia’s eyes. I felt like a fool as I thought about her antics in the past and the fact that I had dismissed them as being selfish. Foolish pride had stopped us getting together, but it wouldn’t stop us being t
ogether now. I would make sure of that, and as she wrapped her arm around me, I had a feeling that she felt the same way.
“We singles have to stick together!” Tiana yelled, and Marta shouted back, “Speak for yourself!” as she wrapped her small hands around both men's hands. I shook my head at the idea of her being with them both.
“Anyway, I know that we never got along, but I must admit if it wasn’t for you ladies. Then I wouldn’t be the person that I am today.”
She started to cry as she spoke. “My family don’t even talk to me. They don’t even want to know. I came here and made out that I was this big tough, bitch. But damn, when people share the same blood as you, and they turn their back on you; well, you put up this wall.”
“I’ll say,” Nia said as she let go of me and started to walk to the stage.
“This group isn’t just about babysitting or asking for help. It made me realize that being a single mom is damn hard.”
Lena yelled, “No it is fucking hard!”
A few people started to cheer, Tiana took a deep breath and continued, “But Nia started this group, and I thought to myself a bunch of bitches bitching about being alone. But we turned out to be more than that. Remember the time that I couldn’t pick up Dean from school and I called Nia, she had just finished her shift. She took my son, and I was a few hours late picking him up.”
Nia whispered, “More like a day late.”
Tiana took a deep breath, “She didn’t say anything to me. She asked if I was okay because she could see that I was in tears. She knew that I was stressed and you know what she did?”
Someone shouted out, “No.”
“She asked me if I wanted something to eat. I ate and then she told me that I could lie on her bed for a while. I did that, and the only thing she asked me when I woke up was if I was feeling better.”
Nia left me and started to walk towards Tiana.
“I left her house with food in my Tupperware, and my kids were happy that they were in her pokey apartment that night. It’s so small I don’t even know how they fit in there. But she welcomed me with open arms.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as I watched Tiana trying to be nice, maybe in her mind she was just telling the truth as she saw it. But I could tell on others faces that they were kind of shocked about her description of Nia’s apartment.
“But the thing about me is pride. I pretend that I know what I’m doing. But I don’t.”
“Thank goodness for some honesty!” One of the lady’s shouted, and Tiana’s tears turned to a smile.
“What I’m trying to say is, thank you, Nia. I never said it before, and I should have said it a long time ago. So, guys and some new ladies. This group is the best. You want a shoulder to cry on? You fed up and think that you’re doing a bad job? Someone in the group is doing an even worse job. You want to know how to do it better? Someone else in the group is doing a good job and can show you the way. We singles need to stick together.”
She put her hand on Nia’s shoulder, “And if it wasn’t for this lady. None of us would be able to do that.”
There was a roaring, clapping and I could tell that Nia was taken aback, but she had some friends. She had love in the room, and I knew that for once in her life, she would see the good that she’s done in her life. Instead of always worrying about the bad.
Chapter Thirteen
Nia
“That was fucking unreal!” he yelled as everyone left, and Hunter and I were alone in the hall once again.
“I couldn’t believe they did that for me.”
“Well, it seems like you touched some of them.”