I pinched her cheek and kissed her lips to settle her nerves.

“It’ll happen. Have faith in it,” I told her.

She paused when she looked at me. I guess she wanted to say something, but she was hesitant. Since I had to finish packing, I ignored it and went back to what I was doing.

“I just want an opportunity to make you happy,” she said to my back. “I mean, I know you have a busy life and everything, but you seem really stressed right now. So if there’s anything that I can do…anything…”

I turned to face her and nodded. She walked over and stood butt naked at the bathroom entrance, pouring her heart out to me before I left.

I teased her and said, “Anything?”

“Yeah, anything.”

I nodded. “Okay. I’ll think about that.”

AS SOON AS I was in my taxi and heading to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, I got on the cell phone to call Danni.

“Where have you been?” she asked me. She didn’t sound irritated. She sounded more concerned.

“Out of batteries,” I answered.

“Your phone doesn’t take batteries.”

“You know what I mean.”

“And you couldn’t call me from your room?”

“I was too busy getting ready to leave. And you know how much hotels charge for their phones. It’s ridiculous.”

“Aren’t they paying for your room?”

“So that means I just run up the phone bill for the hell of it?”

“Calling me is just for the hell of it?”

It was another cat-and-mouse game, but I didn’t plan to sweat it. I planned to have a good day.

I changed the subject and asked, “How is your photo shoot going?”

She had a two-day gig.

“I’m about to get a change of makeup in the next few minutes,” she told me. “But we had to go inside yesterday. It was overcast and then we had some rain. So we’re gonna have to go back outside today.”

“Okay, well, call me later on when you get another break period. I’m on my way to the airport to fly back to Atlanta. When are you getting back in?” I asked her.

“On Monday evening. They want to make sure we have another half-day to get everything they need from me.”

“Okay, well, I’ll see you Monday night then.”

I wanted to keep the conversation short and sweet. I was basically calling just to check in on her.

She asked me, “You wanna pick me up at the airport? I didn’t drive. I didn’t feel like leaving my car over there.”

I figured, Why not?

“Sure, I can do that, just give me the flight number and the time.”

“Okay, I’ll do that first thing tomorrow morning.”

That wasn’t bad at all. I hung up with Danni and felt relieved. Then I thought about calling my mother back. I didn’t get a chance the night before.

When I called her, she was peeved at me as usual about not calling her in a timely manner. As soon as she came on the line, she said, “I’m not asking you for much, Terrance. All I’m asking is for you to recognize and abide by your mother. Is that too much to ask? Because if it is, then I just won’t bother you anymore.”