Free The Ties That Bind by Electa Rome Parks

that Brice and I spent in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina was a godsend. It completely rejuvenated our tense marriage. I mean, it is over a year later and we are still together. Don’t get me wrong. Things didn’t change overnight, but Brice was willing to try, and so was I. That made all the difference in the world. We both realized that there was so much that we didn’t know about each other. After all, we had dated only one month before we tied the knot. I felt like I knew and understood him better after that weekend.
    We arrived back at the base like true honeymooners, with eyes only for each other. The past year has flown by so fast. I’m almost twenty-four years old, but I feel so much older. Being married has made me grow up. I’m still working towards that dream of obtaining my degree, and I’m almost there. Brice is still recruiting all over the place; the Marines are always looking for a few good men.
    Oh, and let’s not forget Christian. He is constantly around our apartment. He drops by whenever he wants to, and that’s fine with me. He eats, showers and sometimes even sleeps over. Christian never did take me up on my offer to find a nice lady for him. From the bits and pieces of conversation that I pick up from him and Brice, he’s still running around being as whorish as ever. Brice is always telling me to mind my own business; Christian is a big boy and can take care of himself. I look at Christian sometimes and see such sadness. I just want him to be happy.
    Yeah, life was good again. We were living our peaceful, routine, married life with only a few episodes of drama tossed in here and there. Nothing major. Just a few disagreements, but with nothing physical besides our lovemaking, which was still going as strong and as sweet as ever.
    One Friday evening I received a phone call from Mama; we usually spoke every Sunday afternoon, and she would catch me up on what was going on back home. So I knew something was wrong the minute I answered the phone and heard her muffled voice.
    “Mama, what’s wrong?” I asked right away.
    “Mia, it’s your uncle Larry,” she said.
    “What is it, Mama?”
    “Baby, he had a massive heart attack about three hours ago, and they don’t know if he is going to make it. Can you and Brice make it home?”
    “Brice is out of town this weekend. Don’t worry. I’ll get there, though.”
    “Okay, baby. Let me give you the number at the hospital. Try to get here as soon as possible. And say a prayer for your uncle.”
    “Bye, Mama. I’ll see you soon.”
    I hung up the phone with the start of fresh tears and immediately called Christian. After telling him of my predicament, he volunteered to drive me to Georgia and make arrangements for Brice to be contacted to meet us there. That way we could leave right away, as soon as we packed some overnight bags. We could get there by early morning.
    Once we had fueled up and hit the interstate, the tears started flowing freely again. I didn’t want to cry in front of Christian, but every time I thought of losing my favorite uncle, I couldn’t contain myself. Uncle Larry reminded me of my daddy so much because they looked alike, but also because he had this easygoing, laid-back manner.
    I could tell that the crying made Christian a bit uncomfortable. He was driving and trying to console me by saying that everything would be okay; Uncle Larry would be fine. He tried to get me to laugh and talk, but I wasn’t up to that. I finally was all cried out, so I curled up over by the passenger door and tried to nap for a while. Christian had turned the radio to some golden oldies station as we drove into Georgia. It was raining most of the way, which made me think of that song “A Rainy Night in Georgia.” We drove in a comfortable silence while the sounds of soft music filled the air with only my occasional sobs.
    I must have finally dozed off because I awoke to find Christian sitting beside me in the car, staring at me