The time for Tonya to fly back home arrived faster than any of them anticipated. None of them knew how long it would be before they would see her again. Chris couldn’t go to the airport with them because he couldn’t miss work, but he made sure he gave Tonya a hug before he walked out the door that morning. A taxi was out of the question, so Sam drove so she could spend every minute with Tonya that she could before she had to board her plane.
They sat on the hard, uncomfortable chairs as they waited for the time for Tonya to go through the security checkpoint. They tried their best to not be emotional. Neither wanted to say goodbye. This time was harder than the last when Tonya moved. Sam was fighting the fear of never seeing her best friend again, but wouldn’t allow herself to voice it.
Tonya and Sam watched other passengers get their luggage and valuables from the revolving belt after they arrived. Some looked ragged and some were greeted by loved ones. They saw a tall man in a tuxedo standing nearby looking confused and holding a sign, obviously waiting to give a ride to someone he had never met.
“I want you to call me the minute you land. You know I’m going to worry about you,” Sam told her.
Nodding, Tonya’s bottom lip was quivering. She wanted to reply but she couldn’t without bursting into tears. They reached for each other and didn’t say another word. Words weren’t needed all the time and right then they both knew how much they meant to each other. They had a bond that would never be broken. Best friends forever. A sister’s bond. Stronger than blood.
“If you need me for anything you call me, okay. I’ll do my best to come down and help you. If I can’t for some reason I’ll always be a phone call away or we can Skype,” Sam told her.
Drying her tears with a tissue Tonya said, “Okay. The same goes for you. You take care of yourself. I need you around for a long time. No more hospitals for you. That’s not a request, either.”
Sam smiled, weakly and replied, “No worries. I’m not too keen on going back into the hospital, either.”
“I don’t want to go,” Tonya whimpered softly.
Sam’s heart yearned to make her best friend feel better. She truly wished that she could, but didn’t know how.
“Oh, honey. If you really don’t want to go then don’t. You can stay with us for a while if you want.”
Tonya lowered her eyes and wiped her nose with her already damp tissue.
“I don’t know. I think I have to go. My uncle will be expecting me back to run the place. Besides, everything I own is down there. I never should have left Connecticut.”
“Don’t feel that way,” Sam told her and squeezed her hand. “You did exactly what you needed to do for you. There was no way of knowing this was going to happen. Don’t get me wrong. I miss you every day, but you don’t want to regret what you believed was right for you.”
“I know,” Tonya sniffed. “I miss you so much.”
“It’s up to you, sweetie. I support you no matter what you decide and I know Chris will too.”
“Thank you.”
Ten minutes went by as if they were two, and finally Tonya reluctantly made her decision.
“I guess I better go back. I don’t want to, but I can’t leave my uncle in a bind this way. I need to get ready for the surgery, too. The doctor said they will try to get as much of the cancer as they can before any treatments.”
“Then yes, you need to go and do that. It’s going to be okay, honey. God will be with you all the way. I will be praying very hard for you.”
“I’m doing my best to have faith.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too. You’ll get through this. God isn’t ready for you yet. He still has plans for you.”
Tonya walked to the security checkpoint and handed the TSA agent her boarding pass and ID for inspection. After collecting her carry-on bags on the other side, Tonya started walking toward her gate. She turned and waved to Sam then disappeared.
Tears slowly flowed as Sam’s heart felt like it was breaking. She gave Tonya all the hope that she could, but she needed to feel it as well. She would be praying for her friend. She would have to have all the faith in the world for her.
***
Tonya placed her two small bags in the compartment over her seat and closed the door. She sat and stared through the thick and blurry window and watched crews loading luggage and various other items onto another plane near hers. She watched a plane taking off into the air and wondered where they were going. She thought about who would be sitting next to her, if anyone, and tried to think about anything but her life at that moment. It hurt too much. It was too frightening. Her dilemma didn’t go away.
The surgery would be Wednesday morning, but she had to be at the hospital Tuesday night. Her doctor said he wanted to make sure she was ready to go very early the next day and already being there and prepped would speed things along easily. He also told her that she would most likely stay one night after the surgery and if everything looked good, she would be able to go home Thursday morning. She didn’t know why she was so scared. Probably because of that powerful word, Cancer. A disease that stole too many from their loved ones every year. A word she didn’t think she would ever have to use for herself. Then again, most people didn’t.
Cancer wasn’t in her family, not that she knew of. Her family was all pretty healthy except for one of her aunts who had diabetes. Other than that, she didn’t know of anything.
Breaking her train of thought a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties stopped next to her section with nothing more than a laptop and made sure he had the correct seat. Once he was satisfied, he sat and politely said “Hello.” Tonya said “Hi” back and that was the end of their conversation. She was content with that. She didn’t feel up to talking to anyone. Even though the flight wouldn’t be a very long one, it would feel that way. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could sleep through it.
The guy next to her placed earbuds in his ears and Tonya could faintly hear his music. She thought about that too, but leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. She thought about what Sam said about God and having faith. Other than going to church with them she hadn’t thought much about God or religion on any level in years. She didn’t think she even owned a Bible. Maybe it was time to rethink how she had been living her life for so long. Not that she had been a wild child or anything, but she knew she was no angel either.
She was very close to the same age as Sam. She graduated from high school with decent grades and immediately knew what she wanted to do with her life. She got a job at a restaurant and became friends with the owner who also owned a catering service. When the owner saw how quickly Tonya picked up on everything she asked her to work the catering business. She fell in love with it right away.
Over the following two years she learned pretty much all there was to learn and decided she wanted to own her own business. She went to school and got a degree in business, got a loan from the bank and six months after graduating she opened her own small establishment called Flavors from the Heart.
It started out a little slower than she hoped but once she started spending money on better advertisement and promoting it through radio announcements, working hard at weddings and sports events, things quickly got better. For some reason that she couldn’t explain over the past year she began to not enjoy it as much. It had become more of a burden than a passion. Possibly, it was not having much time for herself. Not being able to get out and do certain things and not having time to date. She was getting older and had been thinking more and more about having kids. She hadn’t been on a date in two years and missed the attention from a man. She decided to look for a buyer and it hadn’t been hard and at the same time her uncle in Florida asked her to run his restaurant. It felt like things were falling in place for a reason.
Even though it had been hard moving away from her friends, Tonya believed she had made the right decision. She wasn’t so sure any longer. She loved her family in Florida and enjoyed the restaurant business again, but when she found the lump on her breast and went to the doctor, it seemed like everything else was falling apart. She was scared more than ever in her life. Maybe Sam was right. Maybe she did need God.
She fell asleep with those thoughts lingering in her brain. When she woke, she heard the stewardess announce they were approaching their destination and would be landing shortly. She was tired and had so much to do, but when she got back to her apartment she knew what she would do. She would call Sam as promised and take a shower and go to bed. She didn’t want to think or feel. Sleep was all she wanted.
In an hour when she got home she dropped her bags on the floor, leaving them for another task to do later. She plopped down on the couch and called her best friend before forgetting.
“So, you are okay?” Sam asked her.
“I’m tired, but yeah I’m fine. I slept most of the flight so that was good. I did more thinking about everything, but I don’t really want to talk about it right now. Can we talk more later? I want to take a shower and go to bed.”
“Of course, you go ahead, I understand. Thanks for letting me know you got home safely.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll talk to you later.”
She left her phone on the couch and undressed on the way to the bathroom, leaving a trail of her clothes and not caring. Afterward, she fell between the comforting sheets and thick blankets without anything on her clean skin. She was asleep within minutes.