Page 55 (2/2)

“Come in,” a hoarse voice coh to stick ht over her bed was still on She was seated upright in her bed, with half a dozen pillows that looked as if they had coht from her own bed propped up behind and around her Dressed in a robe with her hair perfectly coiffed, she looked like she was just as comfortable here as she would have been at home

“Hi, Gigi,” I greeted her with a grin

My grand those nor the book, she waved

I crossed to her in a handful of steps and wrapped ed her, I inhaled deeply, breathing in the scents I’d always associated with this woardenias The eucalyptus had always been to help decongest her Even when I was I kid, she’d had lung issues, so when I got the call she was in the hospital with pneu for me, however, had shocked the hell out of me

But I loved this old lady o of her part in inia

Her arhtly, then pushed me back a few inches so she could see my face “Don’t you own a razor, boy?”

Laughing, I straightened Thrusting rinned down at her “Well, you don’t seei as always”

She scoffed, waving her hand and rolling her eyes like she wasn’t inwardly pleased with ed with her in the years since I’d last seen her in person Other than the IV in the back of her left hand and oxygen tube up her nose, she didn’t look like she was sick But then again, Gigi was never one to show her weaknesses

The woman could put the fear of God in a person with a look cold enough to refreeze the polar ice caps My friend Caleb always joked thatwith just a glare in the right direction I couldn’t say I disagreed with hii wasn’t like my mother She didn’t bon to anyone, ever She took shit fro as she got her way

I used to be just like her—andlook atinto That, along with the fact that et out, hy I’d really walked away froed my name so that my career couldn’t touch Dad’s political aspirations—and his couldn’t touch mine I didn’t want to ride the coattails of my father’s name, even in the music world

“How are you really, Gigi?” I asked in a quiet voice, concerned for her, but o-between to ask to see me