Beautiful

7. Time to face the Music

Time to Face the Music!

Tierra laid back on her bed, and looked up at the ceiling, her body seemed to sink deeper and deeper into the oversized feather comforter that rested atop of her bed. It'd been days since she'd spent that emotional evening with Qu, and there were still a million thoughts running ramped through her mind.

She dreaded what she was about to do, but knew that it had to be done. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and held it before she released a long, restless sigh. Sitting up on her bed, she picked up one of her king-sized pillows and picked up the cordless phone off of its cradle on her nightstand and forced herself to dial the number to the house that she was born and raised in. It was suddenly the hardest thing that she's ever done.

"Good morning, God Bless," her mother's voice sang out in its usual pleasant tone.

"Hello Mom, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, who else would it be Tierra?" Nicole Rodriquez replied, slightly irritated.

"Hmmm, so what's going on? How's Abuela?" she asked, in reference to her grandmother.

There was a long silence.

"Mom, que pasa? I know it's been a long time since I've called and you're probably upset about that, but..."

"Honey..." Mrs. Rodriquez interrupted.

"Maybe you better sit down right now before I go on," her mother cautioned.

"What?!... Why do I need to sit down? Mom what's wrong, is it Abuela?" Tierra asked, her nerves now on edge.

"No baby, your grandma is fine. I was wondering if you've heard from Aquarian lately," she replied.

Tierra inhaled and closed her eyes. She released it silently and recalled Wednesday's long emotional night. She knew what her mother was about to say, and she did not want to relive that evening all over again.

"Mom, please stop okay. I know what you're about to say. Qu called me out of the blue on Friday and we talked a bit. We made a date to have lunch on Wednesday and I asked him about how things were going with him. Before I knew it, he told me all about Beautiful," she let her know.

"Aquarian is there?... He left here a lil' over a week ago, the day after she was buried. He hasn't called his mother, Beautiful's mom, or anyone since he left.

"I've been trying to get in touch with you since he left, just in case he got in contact with you. I wanted to prepare you, and I guess I was right," she replied. Nicole did not hide her obvious aggravation towards her daughter.

Mrs. Skeene, who was Qu's mother, and Rochelle Young, who was Beautiful's mother, were all congregated together inside of the dining room of the Rodriquez home. They'd been meeting every day, in deep prayer, with hopes that Nicole would be able to get in touch with Tierra. Yet as always, she hadn't taken her mother's calls.

Tierra thought about all of the calls she had religiously turned away. If she hadn't been so consumed with avoidance, she could've been prepared for Qu when he'd showed up. She'd have known all that he was going through.

"Tierra, are you there?" her mother asked.

"He cried all night Mom, and he could barely tell me what'd happened. I asked him about Beautiful and he just cried, barely able to explain it. He's in really bad shape right now," she explained, as her emotions began to crescendo again.

"Who's there with you?" she asked, as she swore she heard several voices in the background.

"It's me Tierra," Mrs. Skeene announced, after Nicole handed her the phone.