A Mother's Bond

64

Beyoncé  December 6, 2016
I peered at the two girls over the top of my magazine, sliding my shades a little lower so I could see them more clearly. Suddenly the magazine was snatched out of my hand. Before I could protest, Solange smacked me over the head with it.

I rubbed the stinging spot in indignation. "What was that for?"

"Minding someone's business besides your own," she replied smartly as she sat down and tossed the newly rolled up magazine onto my lap.

I folded my arms. "I wasn't doing nothing."

"So, you weren't spying on Nevaeh and Sarayah saying bye to each other?" Solange asked, pointing in their direction.

"Psshh, no." I said, scrunching up my face for a second. "But don't their names sound so cute together. Nevaeh and Sarayah," I sang happily. "Even their nicknames for each other sound cute. Vaeh and Ray."

Solo cut her eyes at me. "Mhm. But you weren't spying on them?"

"No," I replied stubbornly, folding my arms again.

Solange smiled slightly, shaking her head. "Whatever you say, Giselle."

We sat quietly for a few seconds, lost in our own thoughts. Without meaning to, my eyes shifted back to the two girls. Though Sarayah had her back to me, I could easily tell she was upset. Her slumped posture said it all. She wanted Nevaeh to stay.

The weird thing about it is, I asked Nevaeh to stay another couple days, and she said no. But looking at her now, you wouldn't have known that. She had her head down, inadvertently leaning towards Sarayah like she couldn't help it. It was like Sarayah was her own personal magnet.

I had no idea why she was choosing to leave so soon, but regardless, it was clear there was something forming between the two of them.

"Do you think I should talk to Sarayah about Nevaeh?" I mused, shamelessly continuing our conversation.

Solo gave me an incredulous look. "Are you being serious right now? No! I do not think you should talk to Sarayah about Nevaeh. Do you know for certain how she feels about her?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, taking my time to respond. "I–well, I'm not completely sure but–"

"Then what's there to talk about?" Solo asked, cutting me off.

"Solo, you know if we'd seen her acting this way with a boy, she would've already had at least three talks by now. And that's not even counting the three-hour lecture Mama would've given her on the dangers of 'sexual intercourse'."

Solo and I both shuddered, remembering all too clearly the uncomfortableness of our own 'birds and the bees' conversations with our mother.

"It wouldn't have mattered if we'd known how she felt about the boy or not," I continued. "We all would've overstepped, because that's what we do when we care."

Solo weighed my point. "Okay, I get where you're coming from, but I think this is a little different. Sarayah may not be ready to accept her feelings yet. I just don't want you to go in there, guns blazing, asking her all these questions she doesn't know the answers to. I'm not saying you can't talk to her but feel it out first. Wait til she's ready to open up."

I pouted. "But she never opens up to me."

Solo narrowed her eyes. "She talks to you every day. Every. Single. Day."

I sighed. "I know, but not about fun stuff. Not about boys, or girls. Do you think she's always liked her? I know for a fact Nevaeh's always liked Sarayah. I had this talk with her while Sarayah was missing. I didn't think too much about it at the time because obviously I was more worried about finding Sarayah. But when Nevaeh was talking I was like, 'okay, this girl has feelings for my daughter.' And I'm not talking schoolgirl crush. I'm talking deep deep feelings. I just don't know if Sarayah's on that level."