Silver Currents of Change

Chapter 5

After giving her car several minutes to rest, the old Impala finally rewarded Zarah's persistence. As soon as it started, she mouthed a silent "thank you" to the god of time, and, less than fifteen minutes later, she was pulling up to the front entrance of the Metro West Mall. "Get out, Miss Grouch," she said. "I have to go to school."

"Not before I say I'm sorry." Her passenger smiled. "I've been on your case pretty hard this morning."

"My nerves too. But don't worry. The good news is, I don't pay you any attention."

"But Z. Let's consider all our options. Okay? Finding jobs outside the state once we're done with school is one of our options. We have to at least think about it."

"You're right. It is. So. I'll think about it."

"Now you're just agreeing to get rid of me."

"You're right, I am."

Her friend's smile couldn't hide what was in her eyes. Zarah knew that look, and she knew it meant Vette wasn't quite done.

"You say you want to be a big girl," her roommate said, "but there's a little girl inside you that still wants to stay as close to her mommy as possible."

"I love my mama. So what?" Zarah saw the change. The moment when sadness hijacked her friend's smile.

"I know you do," she said. "I loved mine too. Still do. So, I understand. You love your mom."

"Oh, Vette, I'm sorry. I didn't think,"

"It's okay."

The heartache she saw on her best friend's face had softened a bit with time, but it was still there. It made Zarah miss her dad. She and Yvette shared not just a deep friendship that came from being high school best friends and college roommates. They were also partners in the worst kind of grief, the kind that came from losing a loving parent at a very young age. Yvette's mother died from breast cancer the year before they graduated from high school, and Zarah's father died when she was nine years old, from complications brought on by a congenital heart condition.

"I know you miss her," Zarah said, "but my mama is your mom now, just like your mama wanted. Like my mama wanted too, even before your mom asked."

"I know. And I love Mama Hilda—our mom, but we have to start thinking about our careers. We might have no choice but to leave after we get our graduate degrees."

"I know. And it's not just that I wanna stay close to Mama. Josie's living in Mississippi now, so Mama has her and the kids. She won't be alone or lonely. I don't have to worry about her."

"Then why? Why not just plan on going somewhere exciting that's not so ... Mississippi. A place where we'll find more opportunity. More of a chance we'll make it."

"You know why. I love being close to family, but I also love being surrounded by what's familiar. And I want to see my niece and nephew grow up. I love Josie's kids."

"I want to be here for my dad and for my little brother too. But if we get good job offers after graduate school, I think we should just stay in L.A., or go, say ... to New York or Chicago. We could get jobs and a nice place to live, and even though we'll miss our families, we can stay together until we meet our future husbands."

"Oh. So you're absolutely sure I haven't already met mine."

"Stop it Z. You know as well as I do. That two-timing spoiled brat you keep calling your 'ex-boyfriend' is not going to marry you. No matter how many times you sleep with him, or how much you want him and his Harvard law degree to save you from a life of poverty. He's planning on sleeping with you forever, but, trust me. He's not the one. He'll never marry you."