Reawaken

13.

Lightheadedness meeting my body, I quickly slipped into my house shoes and walked down the steps of the Mayfair hotel to get a glass of water. It was nearing midnight and all was quiet in the hotel other than the stairs that creaked and groaned under my feet, and the ticking of the large grandfather clock in the lobby.

As I rummaged the cupboard for a glass, a voice low and raspy called me from behind, I narrowly managed to keep the glass from shattering at my feet. Whipping around I was met with familiar dark orbs that slowed the thudding of my heart against my ribcage.

"What ya doin' down here like a pest in the night?" his voice echoed off the walls.

"I could be asking ya the same thing." I replied, turning on the faucet and filling my glass, "Don't ya work tonight?"

"A man deserves a night off sometimes." He said simply coming closer to me, "Ya gone answer my question?"

I rolled my eyes, "Can't sleep and I got parched, that answer satisfy ya, Detective Mayfair?"

Air blew out his nose as he gave me a smirk, "Still got a smart mouth," he muttered, "I can't really sleep either, being up all night with Celia."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Is she alright?" I asked, taking a sip of my water.

A small laugh fell from his lips, "Yeah she fine, little girl was up with a flashlight under her blankets reading one of them magazines with the Jackson brothers on it. Threatened her twice to put it away and still had to give that little con artist a nickel to go to sleep."

It was my turn laugh then, which only made Norris' roll his eyes at me.

"From what I hear that apple ain't fall too far from the tree." I told him between laughs. Norris rolled his eyes again but a sheepish grin met his lips, giving me a look I ain't ever seen from him. His expression was unreadable, but even in the dim light of the kitchen I could see something in his eyes was soft, almost vulnerable.

"Ain't seen much of ya in a while." He said, and in his own Norris Mayfair way that was his way of asking me if I was alright.

It was true, since the night Reed dropped me off covered in mud and sludge from the bayou, me and Norris may have only exchanged a couple of words in passing. Things with Norris and I had been strange since he found out about Victor in town. Even with me keeping more to myself and finding out about my kin, Norris's curiosity didn't seem to lead him to not trust me. And I was very grateful for that.

Still, something in me shied away from telling him about the awful I had done, about Dudley and all the things I am still figuring out. Maybe it was because Norris had his own web of lies he had to untangle, or maybe it was something I just couldn't put my finger on.

"I been tryin' to just figure some things out." I told him, "I found out some stuff about my family and now I'm trying to find out about what I want for my own life."

Norris didn't say anything at first, but just gave a knowing look, one that showed me he could definitely understand. I felt Norris's fingers brush against mine as he leaned down a bit to meet my eyes, so close I could see the jagged scars on his cheek and how his tense jaw seemed to relax as he looked at me. Almost suddenly all the air from my lungs got caught in my throat.

"If you ever need someone to talk to ya know ya more than welcome, hear?"

My lashes fluttering, a different kind of lightheadedness meeting me then, I gave a nod as the temperature in my body began to rise. I quickly took a final swig from my glass and brushed past him, but not without him simply saying after me, "Hope you can get some rest."

❃

            Loretta Hines and Daddy fell in love at a small get together at one of his friend's juke joints. Loretta was the tallest girl he had ever seen, calling her his "Amazon Woman" and despite him finding her breathtakingly beautiful, he said he never knew that a bible thumper like her would ever have his nose wide open. Loretta was in the choir at a church Nana attended, and since the spring of '45 she had been trying to get him and Loretta together. I guess Nana had always been someone to try and play matchmaker, since I'm sure Daddy wasn't doing much honest work at this time. But Daddy said in them letters, after seeing Loretta cuttin' a rug in the juke joint, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He said the two quickly fell in love, and had dreams of moving out west to the city to live a glamourous life.