The Preachers Daughter

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I was startled out of my sleep from a loud banging at the door. I quickly checked Drew's room to make sure he was safe and was relieved to see him in bed drooling on his pillow. I ran as fast as I could to the door, pissed that someone was knocking like the police at three in the morning. I peeked out the small window by the front door but the sun wasn't up and the porch light wasn't providing much. Silently praying that this wasn't someone trying to kill me, I swung the door open and prepared myself to cuss out whoever this was.

"Zoy", Zy'Air said before falling to his knees in front of me and hugging my legs. His clothes were soaked from the rain that was pouring outside. His back moved in a quick rhythm and I could hear his soft sob. I'd never seen Zy'Air like this. There isn't much that can bring him to tears like this, so I knew it was bad.

"Zy'Air, what is it? What's wrong?", I asked him.

"It's my grandmother", he choked out. "She's ... she's gone. She was the only one who would take me in when my mother died. She was the only one who cared about me. And now she's gone."

My heart fell. Not because I had my own personal relationship with his grandmother; I honestly had never met the woman or had as much as a conversation with her. But I knew how much him and Melody cherished that woman. He'd move the earth for her if he could. Zy'Air is usually strong in front of me. I've never seen him this broken.

I grabbed him from under his arms and helped him to his feet. Without saying anything, I pulled him inside the house and guided him to one of the guest rooms on the lower level of the house. I didn't want Drew to wake up and see his father here. It would cause too much confusion and emotions that at three in the morning I don't want to deal with.

I helped him discard his wet clothes and placed them nicely in a pile by the door. I moved some of my father's leftover clothes that were in the master bedroom in one of the dressers in here one day when I decided it was time to rearrange the house how I wanted. I picked out one of my father's t shirts and shorts he'd wear around the house and handed them to Zy'Air. Not sure how but I felt like by his facial expression he knew they belonged to my father. He hesitated to put them on then continued to get dressed. One he was clothed, he fell backwards onto the bed and covered his face with his arm. I could tell he was still crying.

"How did you find out?", I asked, hoping he didn't walk in on her dead body.

He took a deep breath. "Mel went to check on her to give her her morning meds. She could tell she was dead before she was fully in the room. She said she tried calling me but the number she had was disconnected before I got locked up. So ... she called my fuck ass family. By the time she finally figured out how to get ahold of me, everyone was already here and the funeral was planned."

"When is it?"

"Today."

Today? "You mean to tell me they couldn't get ahold of you until today?", I asked him in disbelief.

He shrugged. I crossed my arms across my chest and raised an eyebrow.

"Zy'Air, are you still in the streets?"

"What difference does that make?", he said sounding a little frustrated.

"Your little sister walked in on the most important person in your lives being dead. And she couldn't tell you because you were out in the streets!"

He abruptly got up and stood in front of me. He couldn't even make his appearance seem fierce; that's how broken he was. He wanted me to fear but all I did was feel his pain.

"You don't think I know that, Zoyanna? I didn't come here for you to tell me shit I already know."

"Then why did you come here?"