Naomi’s eyes shifted to the walker beside the chair. She must’ve been really bad off to even allow something like that in her presence. Welita had always been so proud to be independent and to use her own two feet to get around.
I did this to her. If she had been there, she could have helped Chuy get Welita the best health care so that she would’ve never needed the walker in the first place.
Better yet, if she had stayed with her and never left with Lash, Welita would’ve never had a heart attack. She would still have her home. She’d be watching Pablo and Maria in her own living room in Houston, not in some one-bedroom apartment in an assisted-living home in North Texas.
Naomi took a step closer. Bear’s head jolted up; her ears perked straight up like two furry antennae, and she barked.
“Not now, Bear.” Welita patted Bear’s head. “Wait for the commercial.”
Bear’s brown eyes looked straight at Naomi.
“Can you see me, Girl?” Maybe she could. She recalled Lash saying that sometimes animals could see angels.
Bear sniffed the air and then leapt off Welita’s lap, yapping. She ran in circles around Naomi’s feet, whining, as if she were crying. Her tail wagged so fast, it was a blur.
“Oh my God! You can see me! I missed you too.” She laughed as she reached down to pet her. Her hand went through Bear’s body, and Bear shivered. “I’m sorry, Girl. I wish I could touch you.”
“Ay, Bear! Why are you crying? I’ll let you out during the commer—”
Naomi watched as Welita turned slowly in the direction where she stood. “Who’s there?”
“It’s me, Welita. Can you see me?” Of course she couldn’t. Why should she? Welita was able to see Rebecca, but that was because she had shown herself to Welita. Rebecca was her guardian angel. Naomi wasn’t. “I wish you could see me.”
Welita closed her eyes and reached up for something on her chest. Naomi went over to her and looked down, wondering what she was doing.
Her hand flew up to her mouth, and she sobbed. It was her necklace. Welita was wearing the necklace Naomi’s father had given to her on her graduation night. “Oh Welita, I miss you so much.”
Welita opened her eyes. Looking up, she smiled. “Naomi,” she breathed.
She knows! She knows I’m here. Tears streamed down Naomi’s cheeks.
Naomi knelt in front of the sofa, placing her hands over Welita’s. If only she could feel her touch, feel the strength of her hands, the hands that always guided her when she was lost, the hands that soothed her when she was in pain, the hands that always reached out to her with unconditional love. “Oh, Welita, there’s so much I wish I could tell you. If only...if only...”
The air became a buzz of energy, and she felt a warmth rush through her body. A tingle deep within her started to grow. It began in the pit of her stomach and slowly spread up to her chest, making her heart pound faster. Then her arms and hands began to tingle as if they’d been asleep. The sensation intensified and spread to her legs. It felt like a thousand needles pricking her all over her body.
Then she felt her knees hitting against something hard, and she looked down.
The floor! I can feel the floor!
She felt soft fur rub against her forearms, followed by a wet lick.
She looked down to see Bear licking her arm. She can feel me!
“Mijita!”
Naomi looked up, and Welita’s hands flew out and cupped her face. “I can see you! Mejita, I can see you!” She sobbed.
“Welita!” She threw herself into her arms. She didn’t know how she was able to make herself appear in human form to Welita. She was never shown how to do that. It didn’t matter. For now, she wanted to cherish the moment.
After a few minutes, Naomi pulled back, sniffling and brushing off tears with the back of her hand. She went to the corner of the room where there was a portable table covered in a cheap plastic yellow table cover, and took a chair. Placing it next to Welita, she sat down and scooped up Bear.
“I miss this.” She laughed as Bear went wild licking her face.
Welita reached out and held Naomi’s hand. “I’ve prayed to see you one last time. Thank you, Lord, for answering my prayers. I didn’t think I would ever have a chance. After you left, I didn’t see Rebecca anymore. I sensed her presence once in a while, but she never appeared to me again.”
“Uh, Welita. I wasn’t really sent here.” She squirmed in her seat under Welita’s scrutiny. “I’m supposed to be watching someone else. I’m really not supposed to be here.”
“Naomi!” Welita took out a handkerchief from the pocket of her pale blue housedress and fanned herself. “You were not raised like that. We raised you to be a good girl.”
“I know, Welita. But I just had to see you. Besides, Jeremy said it was okay.”
She stopped fanning. “Who’s Jeremy?”
“He’s an archangel. He’s here with me.”
Welita looked around. “Right now?”
“Not here here. He’s looking over the person I’m supposed to be watching over.”
Welita gave her ‘the look,’ and she shrank back. It was a look that could put the fear of God in full-grown men. Welita may have looked older and frailer, but that look of hers could still scare the crap out of anyone.
“He’s doing your work for you?”
“Just for a while. It’s a favor, really.”
“And Lash? Where is he?”
Her heart lurched at the sound his name. She gazed down, studying Bear’s fur as she brushed her hand over it. “He’s still in Heaven.”
“Look at me.” Welita’s voice was firm. “Tell me what happened.”
Slowly, she lifted her eyes to meet Welita’s. How could she tell her what happened? Welita would be devastated if she knew what Lash had done.
“I-I can’t.”
“You love him?”
“Yes, but it’s more complicated than that.”
“What’s complicated about love?”
She sighed. She wanted so badly to tell her, to take the weight she was feeling off her chest.
“I can’t explain, Welita. It’s just...complicated.”
“Yes, you can explain.” She leaned over and cupped her cheek. “Don’t be afraid.”
Naomi felt Welita’s strength from that simple touch as if she were passing it to her.
She placed Bear on the floor, and taking a deep breath she blurted, “I know how dad died.”
Welita inhaled sharply. “He was hit by that senator woman... Jane Sutherland. She was driving drunk. We all know that.”
“Do you remember when dad was little and was in the plane crash and the girl who survived the crash too?”
“How could I forget? I remember thinking that the angels were looking after God’s children.”
“Well, the little girl who survived was Jane Sutherland.”
“Really?”
“And, well, she wasn’t supposed to survive that accident.” She stopped, unable to continue.
“Naomi, tell me.” Welita reached over and placed a hand over hers. “Tell me.”
She couldn’t hold it in anymore. Tears ran down her face as the words rushed out in one breath. “It was Lash. Lash saved Jane. Oh Welita, he didn’t know this would happen. I know he did it because he cares so much for people, I just know it. But, if he’d just done what he was supposed to do, dad would still be here, and, and...” She took a gulp of air. “...and maybe I would still be here, too. And we’d still be in Houston, and...and Chuy and Lalo wouldn’t have lost their jobs, and there wouldn’t be stupid bulldozers tearing down the neighborhood.”
Welita held out her handkerchief, and Naomi took it, wiping her nose. “And I keep thinking about that over and over in my head: if only Lash hadn’t saved her. And...and then I think I would’ve never met him. And maybe I wouldn’t be as happy as I was when I was with him, but then I wouldn’t be as miserable as I am now. Welita, I’m so confused.”