Coffee Shop

• 24 •

"Hey!" Jun cheered on his end. "See you're finally home! Took you long enough."

"Yeah, well." I shrugged. "I had things to do."

"Mhm." Jun sat on a chair in his kitchen and shook his head. "That's great, but I don't need the details. I can figure out how it all went."

I couldn't contain my laughter. I tried, I'd grabbed a pillow. But you could hear me, regardless.

"I thought you'd be mad that I got you a phone," I heard Jun's voice, and slowly, I peeked out from under my pillow. "But, I thought this was the one time I could make an executive decision as your brother."

Smiling at Jun, I nodded and said, "I can't argue it. I needed one. And..." I sighed happily. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it, bubbles." Jun's smile slowly faded into a grimace. "But I need to ask you to do one thing for me."

Sitting up on my bed, I nodded, staring into the phone's camera. "Yeah? What's up?"

There was an awkward moment of silence. Jun looked around his apartment, eyeing the ceiling and walls. And I played with my socks because I wasn't sure what to say. He didn't give me a nudge in the right direction, anyway.

Not until he looked back at the screen and said, "Can you call mom?"

Oh, do worlds crumble. That was sort of what happened. My walls cracked. My ceiling caved in. Little screaming voices rose from the floor. "Call mom..." I repeated what Jun said with a breath before I squeezed my eyes shut. "Why do I need to call mom?"

"Because she keeps calling me looking for you."

"But I don't want to talk to mom." I moved off my bed. "I wanted to have a good day."

"And you can, you will, just..." Jun slid his hand over his face. "Just give her a sign of life. Tell her to fuck off if you want to. Just..."

Jun went silent, and I held my breath. Did he give me permission to be a bitch to my mom? I didn't need it, and I also wouldn't do it, but for the first time in a long time, I saw the frustrations of our parents bleed out onto the surface. She's probably blowing up his phone...

"Please." Jun looked at me, pleading with the look in his eyes. "For your brother."

I pursed my lips. I guess it's the least I could do... "You didn't tell them where I was, right?" I asked him, squeezing one eye shut.

"No," Jun laughed. "Still an undisclosed location."

"All right, fine, fine." I took in the deepest breath. "I'll let you know how it goes."

|||

Step one—call mom.

Step two—really call mom.

I didn't dial her at first. I panicked a bit. My first reaction was to take a shower and change my clothes like I was planning to go to her house or something. As though I needed to be prepared, dressed, and ready for the onslaught I'd received. But once my hair was dried, I reminded myself, that it was just a phone call and nothing bad would happen.

As long as she left my brother alone.

So, I made myself comfortable on the floor once I was ready—though I wasn't really ready, anyway. I scrolled to my mother's contact on my phone, then pressed her little icon. It rang twice before she answered, and even then I was hesitant to put the phone next to my ear.

"Mija!" My mother's voice was mixed with anger and relief. "Where have you been?"

"Home." I looked down at the bottom of my pant leg and pulled at it. "Where else would I be?"

"And you couldn't answer your phone?" Oh, here she goes... "I called and called and called y que? Hm? You ignored me? You made me worry about you?"

I looked up at the ceiling, taking in a deep breath.

"Thankfully, your brother was a good child and answered my call—"

My eyes widened. What?

"—And you just couldn't care about your mother's heart. What is it, hm? Have you found a boy? Mario told your father about this Brian and we're worried about you. We—"

I had completely forgotten about accidentally answering Mario's call. And how I called him by mistake, too. But, just like normal Mario fashion, he went and snitched on my parents like the brat he was. Always appearing to be the good guy, the great match for their daughter. It was all crap. And it hurt that my parents believed him over me.

"Mom..." I looked down at my feet again as I sighed.

"Tell me where you are, hm? Or, you know, I'll just have your father find you. He's good at that. Then you can come back home and we can fix all of this. We can—"

"No." Oh my God. I said no. I've never outright said no. "I'm not going home."

"What?" My mother sounded so confused. "And why?"

I took in another deep breath. "Because I'm going to work, mom. I need to leave."

"And what does work have over us? You can just come back home and we'll take care of you. And once you and Mario get married, you can—"

"No," I said again, this time with force. "I'm not going back to you guys. I'm definitely not marrying Mario, or calling him for that matter. I'm fine here, on my own. I don't need you."

"I can't..." My mother couldn't finish her sentence, but I knew she wanted to say I can't believe this.

Well, she needed to believe it. All of it. Pushing myself to a stand, I pressed my phone too close to my ear. "And yes, just so you know, there is a Brian, and he's a good man. He loves me and I love him."

My mother gasped.

"And you know what else? I don't need him to take care of me, because I've managed all on my own. So, you putting this idea in my head that some guy like Mario is going to make me a good wife, you can drop it. I found someone who wants me to be just the way I am and will help me, not expect me to, to...."

I let rage take over. And I had to admit, though I couldn't finish my sentence, it felt good. I had never stood up to my parents; ever. This was exciting. Wait until Jun hears about this.

"You've lost your mind... you're crazy, Khadijah."

"I'm not crazy." I forced my feet into a pair of sneakers and reached for the purse I'd left on the counter. "And my name is Kay."

I thought my mother would yell some more, and fight back again. And I was ready for it. I just... didn't think she'd hang up in the middle of it. Just run away from it all. I couldn't help but laugh a little because it looked like I did get something from her. I ran away when things got tough, too.

This means she'll come back eventually, right?

Looking down at my phone, I scrolled back over to the text messages. I pulled up Jun's name. And quickly, as I moved to walk out of the door, I sent him a, Well, she knows I'm alive. But she may call you again. Just a head's up.

My feet barely reached the stairs when Jun's reply came through. It read, Oh shit, what did you do?

Laughing, I quickly replied, I low-key told her to fuck off.