Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
I had no doubt.
“I love your house,” Jalissa said, walking over to the kitchen table where Coretta and I were. “It’s so warm. Our house was like this before my mother died and my dad got remarried.”
“I’m sorry about your mom.”
She nodded. “Bailey—that’s my stepmother—doesn’t like stuff in her house, so it’s all very Crate and Barrel in there.”
“Gotcha.”
“Because she’s white, she doesn’t––” She gasped suddenly, and Coretta whacked her on the arm.
“Stop,” Hannah scolded Jalissa, coming to the table and taking a seat beside me, moving her chair so she was closer. “My father doesn’t care if you say your stepmother is white, and he knows he’s white, but whatever. I’m Latina, you’re Latina, and Coretta’s Black. He knows he’s the only white person in the room.”
“I do,” I told Jalissa.
“You’re not mad?”
“No, sweetheart,” I assured her. “Now go on about Bailey.”
“You know that her being white isn’t the problem, right?” Coretta pointed out. “It’s the fact that she’s living east of the Cuyahoga now in Hunting Valley.”
I glanced at Hannah.
“Coretta looked it up, and apparently that area is wealthy.”
“Our house used to be…like this,” Jalissa said, gesturing around as Dobby came trotting up to her. She picked him up and held him, petting him gently. “And oh yeah, no pets.”
“I’m sorry,” I said for the house that time. Poor kid. Lost her mom and her childhood home all in one go. “You didn’t have any pets Bailey made you get rid of, did you?”
“No, our dog, Millie, died right before my mom.”
I needed to bake her some cookies or brownies or something.
“You have the compulsion to bake right now, don’t you?” Hannah teased me.
“Yes, I do.”
Chuckling, she leaned into me, arms wrapping me up, hugging tight.
“My house is not like this either,” Coretta informed me. “Ours is way bigger.”
“So your house is a mansion, then,” Hannah told her.
“Yeah. My dad’s a civil rights lawyer, and my mom runs an investment firm.”
“Wow. Impressive,” I assured her. “I’m sure your home is lovely.”
“It is, lots of room, but the best part is that my grandmother lives with us, and when she cooks, the whole house smells amazing. And you should see her and my mom decorate the shack—that’s what my dad calls our house—for all the holidays.”
We were all laughing over her stories about her father. Apparently, Andrew Davis did not enjoy having to make his way through a sea of plastic tubs just to get from the living room to the garage. He was quoted as saying that “Frodo and Sam had an easier time getting to Mordor.”
“Which we all know is a gross exaggeration,” she told me.
“You’re a big nerd,” Hannah informed her. “And so is your dad.”
“What?” Coretta said, eating another piece of biscotti but not arguing.
“Maybe,” I said, looking over at Jalissa, “Bailey is trying to make a home for your father and worried about not being able to stack up to the memory of your mother, and she’s overcompensating by trying to make everything perfect.”
She was quiet a moment, thinking about that.
“Is your room nice?” Hannah asked her.
“Yeah,” she agreed, nodding. “It’s as big as theirs, with my own bathroom so I don’t have to leave my room to shower or anything.”
“Yeah, everybody has that,” Coretta assured her.
Hannah snorted. “No. Not so much. I share a bathroom with my brother.”
Both girls were horrified.
“Though,” Hannah said, thinking about something, “my brother is not gross like the guys in the dorm, and certainly doesn’t smell like them.”
“That’s what I was gonna tell you before,” Coretta told me, putting her hand on my wrist, which was nice. “Walking into our room is like going through a portal of goodness. It’s all lavender and orange and ylang ylang with just a splash of cedarwood so it’s not too sweet.”
“It sounds lovely.”
“It’s nice in there,” Jalissa agreed. “I got me a diffuser too, and Hannah’s been sharing the essential oils, and we went shopping for the ones I really like.”
Later, after the candles had been poured—Hannah just making one batch, as she didn’t have as many to hand out this year—I announced that I hoped everyone liked pot roast because that’s what we were having. With all the enthusiastic squealing, I was thinking that was good.
When Sam got home, both girls were happy to meet him, Coretta especially staring up at him.
“Hannah,” she said when we were all in the kitchen, “I think you should ask your dad to come to the dorm next week, and the three of us can have lunch on campus.”
Jalissa brightened. “Yeah. Yeah-yeah. That’s a great idea.”
I turned around and looked at all three of them, Hannah with the salad in hand, Coretta with mixed vegetables and Jalissa with the plates. “What’s going on?”
Three people suddenly not talking, looking like spies about to be interrogated. I turned to the person I knew would break.