Made To Be Together

Chapter 16: Pain

Candy's POV

Today has just been full of emotion. Jontae had his face buried in my chest, staining my shirt with his tears.

The little time I had with Ms. Janice meant a lot. I didn't think it would affect me this much, but it was. Not only that, but it brought back memories when my mom passed away. I dried my tears. I had to be strong for Jon Jon, Jontae and the girls.

Jontae's head popped up. "Why'd he take her away?" He asked.

"Who?" I asked.

"God!"

I asked him to come with me around the corner. He sat down in the chair in the hall.

"Jon Jon's been making us go to church. The pastor prays for her every Sunday. I prayed for her everyday and he still took her! I don't get it, I thought they said God will answer your prayers? Why didn't he answer mine?"

"Look at me, Jontae." I said quietly and bent down to look in his eyes.

"I can't give you an exact reason why God took your mama away, but I can tell you she's in a better place. All that pain she was feeling is gone."

"That's great and all, and I don't wanna sound selfish, but what about me? What about Jon and the girls? He gave all mama's pain to us!"

"Jontae, I know you're hurting. And your hurt won't last forever. Trust me, I know."

"How do you get it to stop hurting? Am I just supposed to forget she exsisted?"

"No. I will never forget my mom. You make sure you remember all the good things about her. Her smile, her laugh and you cherish it."

I wiped Jontae's eyes with my thumb. He pulled me into a hug. "Thank you Candace."

"Anytime Jontae. If you ever wanna talk, I'm here."

After a minute of just sitting there, Jontae got up.

I followed suit and he said something before we turned the corner.

"You can be my girlfriend. If things don't work out with you and Ronny."

I laughed and nudged him. "Boy, go check on your sisters. I'll go get y'all some snacks."

I went to the vending machines and dug in my purse, looking for dollars.

"Candy," I heard from behind me. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Not now Ronny, I'm not in the mood." I pushed past him, but he pulled me back.

His arms wrapped around my waist, trapping me.

I sighed. "I gotta get back to the girls."

"Just give me one minute."

"Alright, fine. Go."

"You ight?"

I rolled my eyes. "This is how you wanna spend your minute?"

"I'm just making sure you all good. I know this is probably hard for you, with your mom-"

"Yes, I'm fine. Is that all?"