CHAPTER ONE

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“Ugh,” Quintessa Edwards groaned, parking her car in front of the Sedgwick Gardens Apartments.

She placed her right hand to her forehead. Since she first got on the road this morning, she kept telling herself that once she picked up Fantasia and got her son to daycare, everything would be okay. Her hand touching her third eye, Quintessa felt the discombobulated state of her physical, mental, and spiritual selves. If she wasn’t bound by her responsibilities, she would have been more than happy to sleep the entire day away. 

Quintessa couldn’t blame anyone, but herself. No one told her to spend her Sunday evening in her living room, drowning her sorrows in countless shots of Captain Morgan. Due to her hangover, she couldn’t even enjoy the sunshine of this beautiful Monday as it hurt her eyes. She prayed that the Tylenol she took before leaving her place would take effect soon.

“God, help me.” Quintessa prayed, throwing her face into her steering wheel as the heavy morning traffic zoomed past her.

“You okay, Mommy.” 

Quintessa let out a slow exhale. For a small instance, the headache was gone. Those three words had brought rejuvenation to her soul. Especially the last word. Mommy. Was she hungover? Hell yes, but she had to be strong. She had to be strong for the three year old in the backseat. 

Quintessa sat up straight. “Mommy’s okay, Skylar.” She turned slightly, reached out, and combed her fingers lovingly through his hair. “Are you ready for daycare?”

Skylar smiled. “Uh-huh,”

“Mommy knows she still owes you a play date with Destiny. How does this weekend sound?”

“Yay!” Skylar cheered.

…That’s when the headache returned. Quintessa kept her smile. Undoing her seatbelt, she kissed Skylar over and over. 

“Girl, you tryna arrange marriages this early?” The voice of Quintessa’s best friend broke the air.

“‘Tasia!” Skylar pointed.

Turning towards the passenger side door, Quintessa saw Fantasia standing there. She held two large Starbucks coffees in her hands.  Quintessa opened the passenger side door for her.

“Girl, you are a lifesaver,” Quintessa said as Fantasia handed her the cup from her left hand. “You have no idea how much I need coffee right now.”

Fantasia watched Quintessa take a long sip, climbing into the car. “Yes, I did. You’re hungover and your chakras are all out of sync.”

Quintessa refastened her seatbelt and without a reply, merged back into traffic. The entire car ride was silent after Fantasia’s accurate observation of Quintessa. Fantasia had even tried to spark up some conversation, but Quintessa wasn’t having it. She wasn’t even trying to really give her best friend the cold shoulder, but Fantasia’s words just hit her wrong. 

When she and Fantasia met, they were both heavy into metaphysics. For the last three years, Quintessa truly hadn’t been. Normally, Fantasia reading her wouldn’t have been a problem. The issue was that Quintessa wasn’t quite ready to face those aspects of herself and to have them randomly thrown in her face this early in the morning was not something that she had prepared for. 

She kept her eyes on the road. She’d talk with Fantasia. She only wasn’t going to talk about adult matters with Skylar in the car. The car was silent except for the sounds of Skylar watching “Bluey” on his tablet. 

Quintessa parked the car in front of Skylar’s daycare center. “Give me the tablet. You can watch it later.”

Skylar immediately obeyed his mother. The little one stared out the window and began trying in vain to get out of his carseat. Quintessa looked out the driver’s side window to see Kourtney McCarthy and her daughter, Destiny standing in front of the building. 

Destiny waved. “Hey Skylar! Hey Skylar Mama!”

Skylar began to thrash around to let loose. “Mommy!”

I’m definitely posting on Facebook about this.  Quintessa laughed to herself, finally unstrapping Skylar. Getting out of the car with Skylar’s bookbag, Quintessa laughed even harder. Once Skylar was free and out of the car, he left his mother where she stood. Kourtney fared no better as Skylar grabbed Destiny by the hand and went into the building without another word. The two mothers eyed each other as both children had gone in without their backpacks. 

Kourtney shook her head. “I think it’s time to make that playdate we talked about a reality. If Destiny hadn’t caught Covid then I would have already called to set it up.”

“It’s okay, Kourtney. I’ve been thinking about it too. How does Saturday at Amenhotep Park sound? The kids will love it.”

“I’ll call you later to set everything up.” Kourtney held up Destiny’s bookbag. “Now, I think both our kids will need these to be set up for a bright future.”

Even before she walked out of the daycare center, Quintessa could feel Fantasia’s gaze upon. It was a gaze filled with compassion and concern. It still didn’t make it a tad unnerving, no matter how attuned with spiritual Quintessa was herself.

“I just didn’t want to talk with Skylar here.” Quintessa climbed into the car. 

“I don’t know why, Quinn.” Fantasia smirked as Quintessa started the ignition. “His intuition manifested at two.”

“He’s still a child.” The car rejoined traffic. “I don’t need him repeating anything I say to anyone else except for the guidance I give him.”

“See! Now, that’s the Quintessa I know. Not the one that called me seven times last night. I wasn’t going to talk to you as a drunken mess, ranting about Darius. How long are you going to keep doing this to yourself, girl.”

“So I’m not allowed to have lower self moments?” Quintessa asked.

“Skylar’s three. We’re going on three years and nine months of a low moment.” Fantasia eyed the Sankofa pendant around Quintessa’s neck. “Does that mean nothing to you?” She pointed to the pendent. “The knowledge from the past that can be used to build a better future. Even when it comes to love, you can go back and get it, Quinn.”

“I’ve got love in my life, Fantasia. I’ve just been on the things that give my life meaning, comfort, and purpose. Especially Skylar.”

“So Skylar is the reason you can’t have more?”

“What if I don’t want more? I have enough, girl.”

“Do you have enough or are you afraid of more?” Fantasia challenged then remembered that she and Quinn had to work together all day. “Look, Quinn, I’m just saying that your life isn’t over because you have Skylar. It doesn’t mean that no man or woman wants you. It doesn’t mean that love is done with you even though you feel like it’s done with you after what happened with Darius. As above, so below, girl. Even the ancestors — even the deities go through what we do.”

Quintessa stopped at a red light, giving Fantasia an incredulous side eye. “Even the deities?”

Fantasia nodded as the light turned green. “Even the deities.”