Michele. Let me make it up 2 u.â
Michele: âU canât live long enough 2 make it up 2 me.â
Solomon: âU should let me try. Iâm betta than what I showed u. That was a long time ago.â
Michele: âSeems like yesterday 2 me.â
Solomon: âIâm not proud of what I did, Michele. Iâm embarrassed. But I want to make it up 2 u. I canâif u give me the chance.â
Michele: âI donât know of any reason to give u a chance. I donât even believe u want a chance. U just feel guilty.â
Solomon: âI do feel guilty. But thatâs not y I want 2 make it up 2 u.â
He set Michele up to ask him âwhy.â And she knew it. So she didnât.
Michele: âWhatever ur reason, whatâs done is done. I have moved on. And Iâm sure u have 2. I got over u. I got over being dogged by u. Iâm happy with my life w/o u.â
Solomon was disappointed Michele did not take his bait, but not deterred. He decided heâd stay on task, no matter what her responses were.
Solomon: âIâve been happy w/o u 2. But I have not been whole. I felt whole with u, Michele. I did. I didnât know how 2 handle it. I was young and dumbâand scared. But Iâve grown up. I want 2 be more than happy. I want 2 be whole. U can make me whole.â
Michele put the TV on mute. Solomon had gotten to her. She had actually told her cousin the exact same thing, using the same words, about how she felt with Solomon. âI canât say Iâve ever felt whole with a man,â she said to Sonya. âThis relationship, this man, makes me feel whole.â
Of course, that was before Solomon vanished.
But her feelings for him remained; she could not believe all the emotions he conjured up in her were not real. Michele was anidealist, someone who wanted to believe the best in people. So, even in her borderline depression, she held on to what they shared, if only to believe it was possible.
When Gerald came along, she was able to focus her attention and throw all her love and time into her little boy. With the father nowhere to be found, she did not get out of sync. She pressed on.
Michele contemplated so long how to respond to Solomonâs text that he sent her another one. It read:
â???????â
She did not know what to write, so she decided to go with the truth. She was tired of playing coy.
âSolomon, that sounds great. But how do u expect me 2 believe u?â
âJust let me prove it to u,â he wrote back. âI believe in action over words anyway. But I PROMISE u, I will not let u down. I have seen the light.â
Michele: âVery funny.â
Solomon: âIâm not joking. I just wanted u to smile. Iâm very serious about this. I remember everything about our relationship.â
Michele: âOh, now it was a relationship? Back then u didnât want a title. U wouldnât even say u loved me. Now Iâm supposed to believe after all this time that u did?â
Solomon: âI know how it sounds. But I canât do anything but tell u the truth now. And hereâs another truth: I feel closer to u thru ur son.â
He struck another nerve with Michele, a very sensitive nerve. She was consumed with little Gerald. She tended to his every need. And he tended to hers without even knowing it. He was her âmanâ when there was no man around, which was most of the time. She hugged and kissed him not only because she loved him so much, but also because she had so much untapped affection in her.
But her affection had the potential to make him soft. Thatâs why she got him into sports. And thatâs why she was so excited that âCoach Moneyâ had a positive influence on him.
âWell,â Michele texted back, âI was glad he had a male figure n his life.â
Solomon: âWhat happened 2 his father, if u donât mind me asking?â
Michele: âIâd