Colette Nowa

Lifting herself from the bench, Colette dragged her body against the fine air, hoping that the day would pass faster as each step was taken. The day was not windy, but the regrets of friendships had stopped her from moving forward.

Colette inhaled a deep breath. A pesky goose merged after her two legs. Alerted, she picked up her speed and ran off to her mother's old Toyota, still a working engine.

Colette's mother, Maria Nowa, was raised in Queens, New York, bordering the entrance of Long Island. For fifteen years, Maria Nowa worked as a dental assistant in a small office on the south shore. She was a tall brown-eyed woman, a genuine people-pleaser, a hardworking mother, providing many reasons for any man to fall in love with her. Despite these qualities of benevolence, romance had always appeared and disappeared.

Mrs. Nowa banned Colette from seeing her friends, mistrusting everyone from New York City, a minor cause of Colette's crumbling friendships. Most importantly, Colette was banned from seeing Anna Owens, a girl who encouraged the party scene. Recently, Anna had been ignoring Colette's texts and calls, no response in recognition.

In grade school, Anna and Colette had often passed notes behind their teachers' backs, dismissing their systemic rule of behavior. They had been just two goofy girls, reminding themselves that life could be fun, without worrying about the preposterous rules and standards from the people of status. The rules of the monarchies, the classless, the class, and the rules of all beings for it was a distraction. A true life was composed of blissful ephemeral anarchy because innocent laughter demanded a little anarchy.

Normally with an unsettled dispute, both Anna and Colette overlooked their problems to cease any drama. Anna, however, placed herself above everyone, regardless, whether they were her family or friends.

During her past nightly outings, Colette had handled herself well. Somehow, unnecessary trouble had crept into Colette's life, the kind of trouble that a mother could sense. However, Anna was not to blame. Anna was a separate identity with a separate world other than Colette. Prior to Colette's punishment, late-night partying was cherished without a care. When partying with Anna, Colette believed that she was free and alive with a good friend, until Colette had almost died, a hush-hush situation. Anna had left Colette alone, wandering in the city with mild strength. Mrs. Nowa was rightfully furious.

Colette shook her head and unlocked the car. Her mother's voice was ringing in her ear from this morning, "Colette! Before you leave, you have to drive carefully! I don't want to see another ticket in the mail. And, they're putting up more and more speeding cameras, so you better be careful!"

"It was an accident. I was literally in a hurry. I had a quiz that day." Her mother's disappointment was a face that made one feel sympathy that perturbed her.

"You are exactly like your father, Colette. Why don't you ever follow my way?" "Colette! Colette!" She shook her name out of her head, Colette, a victorious label for the French, but she wasn't French. People didn't view her as prim and proper. They spat on her.

Colette's grandparents had moved from a deserted village in Eastern Europe. Again and again, Colette was reminded that she was an imposter. The name reminded her that she was not a Parisian aristocrat, but the exact opposite. Instead, she believed that she represented a tacky form of the forename, a try-hard. From the Western perspective, people would have regarded Colette as an exotic dancer due to her shamelessness, cakey makeup, and black box-dyed hair. Maybe, it was the energies that had influenced it, but Colette knew that she was a heroin.

Even if Colette's ancestors had worked in this old profession, the powerful would've shamed them for the act, considering it to be a common practice of the ethnicity's nature and culture. But, if the woman was one of their own, she would have been glorified as a feminist idol.