Nookie (Nookie Series) by Anieshea Dansby Page B

there in less than 15 minutes. Yellow tape surrounded the house, and Joy’s uncle was sitting on the steps. He stood up to hug Joy but she backed away from his grasp and walked around him and into the house.
    Once inside, she went up to her room, glancing at the bloody spot where she had hit her head. She saw the bag she had been packing yesterday where she dropped it. She picked it up and then went to search for her cell phone, finding it in her book bag. She had twenty missed calls. She sat down on the bed to listen to the messages.
    “Joy, it’s Tanya. I just heard ’bout Josh. That’s crazy, right? I was just calling to see how you were handling it and if you needed anything. Hit me back when you get this. One.”
    “Hey, it’s me. I was calling to see what’s up wit’ you. Call my cell because I have a wedding to do later.”
    “Joy, I just got back and I still haven’t heard from you. Call me when you get this.”
    “Joy, I’ve been calling you all yesterday and all today. Let me know what’s up wit’ you. You know, if you’re okay.”
    Joy didn’t listen to the rest of the messages, thinking they were probably all from Kevin. His messages sounded urgent, and that made her feel good. It made her smile. Somebody cared about her.
    She picked her book bag back up and dumped the books out of it, replacing them with some more stuff of hers. She would leave the rest until later. She hoped Kevin wouldn’t mind her staying at his place. He knew she was coming to get her stuff, so maybe he didn’t care. After placing her things at the top of the stairs, she went into her parents’ room.
    The mattress was hanging off the box spring onto the floor. Blankets were strewn everywhere. She shook her head at her mother’s stupidity. She went to her father’s closet to look for his mini filing cabinet she knew he kept all his important papers in. She opened the first drawer, which contained only insurance stuff, medical bills, etc. In the second one she found her birth certificate, social security card and … DNA test results.
    “What?” she said out loud, then read the paper closely.
    Michael David Williams is 99.9% not the father of three year old Joy Williams. Tears began to fall from her eyes. Was this why he didn’t love her? She continued searching until she found the contact information for her dad’s lawyer. She read the name out loud: “Louis Greco”, then grabbed all the papers and left the room, slamming the door behind her. She bumped into Kevin in the hallway.
    “I was just coming to check on you,” he said.
    “Oh, um, I had to get some papers,” she said, still wiping her eyes.
    “I know it’s probably hard for you to be here,” he said, rubbing her back.
    Joy didn’t say anything; she just lifted her hand and showed him the paper. He read the words and then looked up at her, not knowing what to say. He just grabbed her hand and told her it didn’t matter. But that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. The only thing that was running through her mind was that she now knew why the man she thought had been her father never loved her.
    They grabbed her stuff, a bag in each hand, and went downstairs. Curtis was sitting on the sofa like he didn’t have a care in the world. When he saw Joy, he jumped up and walked towards her.
    “Joy, listen, I wanted to say I’m so sorry. I made the arrangements for the funerals. Your grandparents bought the whole family plots before they died. I gave your mother mine, so she could be buried next to your father,” he said, so she couldn’t stop him. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” he continued when she didn’t say anything.
    “Why did my father hate you?”
    “I don’t know if you need to hear this, but what difference does it make? When Barbara and Michael first got married, he caught us together. We were just kissing, but that was bad enough. I was drunk and didn’t know what I was doing. I tried to explain it to him but he wanted