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Nova

I’d been home for four days and every day I woke up and reminded myself that this was real.

Hearing Leah’s voice coming from downstairs was another pleasant reminder that I wasn’t dreaming.

I hadn’t even seen her face that day and already I felt better.

Knowing she was there was all it took to calm me in a way that no one or nothing else could.

Leah always had that effect on me. If Leah said everything was okay, then I instantly knew that everything was okay.

“Hey.” Leah stuck her head inside the room. “Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

Leah held up two white bags. “I got something for you.” She waved the bags like they were pom-poms, then pulled out smaller bags of hair. “Remember I used to braid your hair all the time during basketball season. And every single summer.” Leah shook her head.

When Mama realized that Leah knew how to braid hair, she put Leah in charge of my hair while Mama still braided Leah’s hair.

At first, Leah hated that job, but over time, it became our special time.

Mama always left us alone, and we figured it was because she didn’t want Leah to ask her to help.

Whatever the reason, we took advantage of our uninterrupted sister time.

“I do remember that.” I couldn’t stop smiling. “Are you going to braid my hair?” I asked, pointing to my head that was still covered in the scarf Mama gave me at the hospital.

“If you’d like me to. I figured it would give us something to do today.” Leah sat next to me on the bed.

“I would love that.” There was nothing more I wanted to do than spend time with Leah while she did something to this head of mine.

Maybe then I’d start to feel like a real person again.

I was so excited about Leah doing my hair that I wasn’t even that mad with Mama anymore.

“But wait, it’s Thursday, aren’t you supposed to be at work? ”

“Yeah, but I cleared my schedule today and tomorrow so I can spend more time with you.”

I clapped because the excitement of seeing Leah today and tomorrow made my whole day.

Leah washed and blow-dried my hair. When we walked into the kitchen, Mama was sitting at the table with her laptop.

“I’m ordering groceries. Is there anything special you want?” Mama asked me.

“You’re ordering groceries online?” Leah and I both asked. Our words were the same, but the questions were very different. Leah had more emphasis on you , and I had more emphasis on online .

Mama addressed Leah’s question first. It was probably easier to explain than mine.

“I’m saving a lot of money ordering my groceries online. I just hate I have to drive to Baton Rouge to get them. Jim needs to get with the time and start letting us order online from his store.”

“Mr. Jim’s mom-and-pop store will never go online. Mr. Jim is stuck in his ways, and I can’t say it’s a bad thing. Besides, who’s going to bag the groceries and bring them to the cars? Mr. Jim can’t keep workers longer than a day.”

“I can’t believe Mr. Jim is still alive.”

Mama and Leah laughed, but I was serious. Mr. Jim was old when I was in high school.

“Jim just celebrated his eighty-ninth birthday. I don’t know why he won’t go home and let those children run that store.” Mama shook her head and went back to her laptop.

“Can someone tell me how you get groceries online?” I leaned down and looked at the computer screen.

“I’ll explain it to you while I do your hair. You wanna go on the back porch?” Leah nodded in the direction of the porch.

Leah’s hands worked through my hair, bringing back a familiar feeling of comfort that I desperately needed.

While she braided, she filled me in on online grocery orders.

I couldn’t believe Mama trusted anyone to pick out her groceries.

She never trusted Daddy, Leah, or me to do it.

She used to say we didn’t know how to pick fresh vegetables.

“Oh, trust me, she’s not ordering any fruits or vegetables. Probably no meat either. She’ll find a way to get to Mr. Jim’s for that,” Leah said when I told her how surprised I was.

“Every few minutes I learn about something new. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up with all these changes. It’s too much.”

“I know it’s a lot, but you’ll learn everything you need to know over time.

” Leah leaned over and kissed my cheek. “How about this? I’ll fill you in on some of the bigger news stories that’ve happened since you’ve been gone.

But not the bad news. You’ll have plenty of time to hear about that.

” Leah stood beside me and pulled her phone from her jeans pocket.

She swiped her finger over her phone and stared at the screen.

“Okay, let me see.” Leah tapped on her screen again.

“My mind isn’t as good as it used to be. Let’s go to Google.”

Leah said she was only sharing good news, but the Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake Super Bowl scandal sounded like pretty bad news to me. I loved Janet Jackson.

“A Black president? You should’ve started with that news. How did we get a Black president?” I had so many questions. “Was he Black like us or Black like ... What’s her name? We graduated together. Remember, she used to always have to prove to people that she was really Black?”

“Sharon. I don’t remember her last name.”

“That’s right. Sharon.”

Sharon’s mom was white, and her dad was Black, but she didn’t get an ounce of his color. She looked like both of her parents could’ve been white.

“Was he Black like her?” I asked again.

“No, he was Black like us.” Leah turned her phone around and showed me a picture of our former president.

My mouth flew open. I couldn’t believe it. I would’ve loved to have been a part of that. I could only imagine how proud Mama and Daddy felt. “Wait, was Daddy alive when we had a Black president?”

“Yes, he was, and you would’ve sworn that Obama was his son the way he was acting. All he kept saying was he never thought he’d see the day when Americans would vote in a Black president.”

My eyes watered. I wasn’t sure if I was sad or proud like Daddy was. I think I was a little of both. “I wish I could’ve been there.”

“I wish you could’ve been there, too, but trust me, the world is constantly changing. I’m sure we’ll have more history-making events to experience. Besides, you coming back to us is better news than a Black president.”

Leah finished my braids, and we went to the hall bathroom so I could see her work. I couldn’t stop looking at them. “I don’t know how to thank you,” I spoke to Leah, but my eyes were still on me.

“You being here is all the thanks I need.” Leah stood behind me and leaned her head on my back. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

We both decided to leave the bathroom before we started bawling. I’d cried so much lately that it was starting to give me the heebie-jeebies too. We stepped into the hallway and heard Mama talking to someone on the front porch. Leah went to the door while I stood by the stairs.

She looked back at me. “It’s Lance.”

I rushed to the door, but didn’t go through it. “Lance.” Saying his name brought back all the good memories. But they didn’t last long because I immediately thought of the bad. How I’d hurt him and the argument Quinton and I had that night about him.

“Nova.” Lance walked closer to the door. He looked down at the handle. “May I come in?”

I nodded.

“Oh my God, Nova, it’s so good to see you.”

“It is?” I said between heavy breaths. “I thought you’d hate me.”

“Hate you? I could never hate you.”

I wanted to hug Lance. I wanted to tell him how sorry I was, but I didn’t do any of that.

Instead, I ran away. Not out of fear, but out of guilt.

He may not have hated me, but for years I hated him.

Hated that he’d called me. Hated that I called him back.

And hated that he was the reason Quinton and I fought.