“Gone, woman.”
“Alright, but only because you have company. It was so nice to meet you, Mr. Tiberius.”
“My friends call me Ty. I would like it if you did the same.”
Momma tilted her head and said, “Okay, Ty! I sure will.”
“Good night, Ms. Shima.”
“Good night, Ty.”
Mads and I watched as Ms. Shima slowly made her way to her bedroom.
“I know y’all watching me, but I’m fine,” she said without turning around.
She entered her room and closed the door.
“She is something else,” I remarked.
“Today is a good day, but it’s not the best. She can be feistier than that.”
“Ah, that’s where you get it from.”
“Shut up, Tiberius!”
Madalee slapped my arm.
“Ouch!”
“Whatever. All that muscle. I didn’t hardly hurt you. If anything, I hurt my hand.”
“You hurt your hand? Let me see.”
I gently grabbed her right hand and softly massaged it.
After slowly exhaling, her eyes met mine.
“Is that better?” I whispered.
“Yeah,” she whispered back.
Our eyes remained locked while I continued to massage her hand.
“Mads,” Ms. Shima called out from her room, breaking our trance.
“Ma’am?”
“I can’t find the pap… oh, never mind. Sorry.”
“I guess I need to get this kitchen cleaned up,” Madalee said.
“Okay.”
“I’ll need both my hands to do it.”
“My bad!”
Not realizing I was still holding her hand, I released it.