Sophia looked at the group and waited as they digested everything she had to say.
“Are there any bad news?” Josephine asked sheepishly
“I’m not a medical expert so I’m gonna try to repeat what the doctor told me. Ah… because of the trauma directly to her head there was an increase of cerebrospinal fluid pressure by the ventricles of her brain—”
“I don’t understand,” Josephine said impatiently.
“Yeah, what does all this mean?” Deedee asked.
Sophia paused and her tears came. She dried her eyes with a tissue before she continued.
“Coco can’t see right now. She’s blind,” she said.
The air seemed to have been swept away with the wail from Deedee’s lips.
“No-o-o…” she moaned as if in pain. She appeared faint.
Eric looked confused. He couldn’t believe what was coming out of Sophia’s mouth.
“Are you sure…are you for sure…?” he asked looking dumbfounded.
“I’m sure I’m repeating exactly what the doctor told me,” Sophia said with her eyebrow raised. “She will pull through, but she’s still a long way off.”
“What are her chances to recover and see again?” Josephine asked.
“I don’t really know, Josephine. But you guys can pray and start visiting her as soon as she comes out of intensive care. They have to run some tests on her to determine exactly what’s going on inside her brain. Her recovery will be up to Coco,” Sophia said.
Deedee was crying and Josephine hugged her. “Coco is tough, she’ll get through this. When the going gets rough, the tough gets going,” Josephine said, trying to sound confident.
“I guess they will contact us…”
“I gave them my cell and office numbers. They’ll call as soon as changes develop and I’ll pass the news on to you guys. There is a question about her mother’s whereabouts.”
“Yeah, we called her at home because the nurse told us to let her know Coco was in the hospital and she had to come down and sign papers,” Deedee said.
“And what happened?” Sophia asked.
“I spoke to her and… don’t know. Maybe she was high or sump’n,” Josephine said. “I called back and the phone was either busy or off the hook.”
“Coco and her mother are still living uptown, right?” Sophia asked.
“Yep, in the same Malcolm X projects,” Josephine said.
“Let’s at least make an attempt to contact her mother in person,” Sophia suggested. “I’ll have to call my office to let them know I’ll be delayed, but I think I can spare the time.”
They walked out the hospital. The news wasn’t all bad, Deedee thought, holding Sophia’s arm. Eric had his arm around his niece. Josephine walked alone for a moment then she held onto Deedee’s arm. The girls and Eric were exhausted but hopes were raised. Sophia led the way to the waiting limousine dialing on her Blackberry.
“Uptown, ah, one hundred and tenth street and Lenox, please,” Sophia said hanging up and they were all seated inside the limousine.
After the short ride, they entered the building and stood in the lobby waiting for the elevator. There were no other residents standing around. Eric, Sophia, Deedee and Josephine stood there pressing buttons on the elevator door for a couple of minutes.
“The elevator is out of order,” someone said going by.
“I should’ve known better. Coco always says it’s never working. Let’s take the stairs,” Josephine said.
“Lead the way,” Eric said, holding Sophia and Deedee.
Josephine went in front and the others followed her to the stairwell.
“The apartment is on the third floor,” she said, climbing the stairs.
“Pew, this place stinks,” Sophia said, holding her nose.
“Watch out for the gigantic rats,” Josephine cautioned.
“Oh please, Josephine is over exaggerating things,” Deedee deadpanned.
“I think she’s right, Dee. I just saw a big one ran back there on the second floor,” Eric said and Sophia shrieked. She wound up in Eric’s arm. Still scared of rats, Eric thought and smiled. Sophia hugged him all the way up the stairs.
On the third floor, Josephine found the door and knocked on it while the others waited. She rang the doorbell and strutted back and forth impatiently. Josephine eyed Eric’s closeness with Sophia and Deedee. She tried not to mind. Josephine comforted herself with the thought of she and Eric being together real soon.
There was no answer. The others were about to give up and get out of the hallway. Josephine had other ideas. She took her heels off and used them to bang loudly on the door.
“C’mon, Jo,” Eric said. “She might not be—”
“Listen, someone’s up.”
The rumblings from inside grew louder. It sounded like the person was dragging their feet in the direction of the door.
“Who da fuck is at my door this early? Its Saturday. Can a tired bitch sleep in? If it’s the Jehovah Witness people, I done took some magazines…”
The door opened and Ms. Harvey stood wide eyed with surprise. Her lips were ashy and dry. Her disheveled appearance was a shock to all. Deedee jumped with surprise at the state of Coco’s mother.
“Ah… I’m sorry, you know ‘em Jehovah’s Witness always banging loud on your door especially on a Saturday.” Ms. Harvey smiled uneasily. She kept fidgeting with her hair. It would take a stylist all day to set it right but Ms. Harvey seemed determined to fix it then and there. “Coco isn’t here. She hanging out with her other friends. You know she got a lot of friends now. I was with some friends at a bar, celebrating her good deeds.”
Ms. Harvey broke down and started crying loudly. Her howling had neighbors opening their doors.
“Y’all better come inside. You don’t know these—”
“Ms. Harvey, we called you earlier this morning,” Josephine said.
“Oh really? Come inside, come inside,” Ms. Harvey said, pulling herself together “I thought it was some prank caller. They’re so rude calling and hanging up all the time. You can’t trust people. I don’t call anyone and hang up. I always leave a damn message. It’s the right thing to do.”
Ms. Harvey drew her red housecoat about her emaciated frame. The visitors were baffled by Ms. Harvery’s behavior.
“Everyone with a cellphone think they can call you from anywhere in the world and you can hear them. I can’t hear them. My phone is in the house. You can call anywhere and somewhere… cellphone... ah… Coco doesn’t have a cellphone so if you want, you’re welcome to wait on her. I’m mad at her. She’ll come creeping in but I got news for her.” Tears began rolling down Ms. Harvey’s cheek. Sophia reached out with a Kleenex. The woman seemed dazed and ignored her.. “Coco isn’t here. She went out with her other friends. They went clubbing… Come in.”
“We know Ms. Harvey,” Sophia said as they stepped inside.
It was dark and dingy inside the apartment. A foul odor of burnt plastic greeted them. The place was reeking of burnt plastic and ammonia. A stale, foul odor emanated throughtout. The visitors held their collective breaths.
“Could we just open the shade a lil’ sump’n, please?” Josephine asked.
“Yes, please open a window,” Sophia requested. “It’s a nice day out.”