Page 46 of Life, Love, and Other Messes

When I was finally deemed old enough to stay home alone, life got better, but it still triggered me to be in that building. I continued in adult choir like a good girl, and did things with the youth group since Jackson never did any of them, but I counted the days until I left for college and would be able to go months at a time without setting foot on the property.

I did indeed make the final edits to my book Wednesday evening while Lisa played hearts across the room, but that just meant I needed a push on my new project. On Friday, I poked my head into Vera’s office after class, happy to see that it was just the two of us. “Hey.”

“Hi, Sam. How’s everything going?”

“Well, thanks. How’s everything for you?”

“Can’t complain. What’s up?”

“This might sound strange,” I said. “But may I interview you?”

Vera squinted at me suspiciously. “What’re you writing about now? You know how to teach school.”

“About running.”

Vera’s expression changed immediately. She had run marathons in three states and ran shorter charity races all the time. She usually had a flyer or two on her door advertising upcoming events around town. “Now you’re talking.”

“I can take you to coffee.”

“You don’t have to buy me anything, girl. You free now?”

That surprised me. “Sure.”

She grabbed her purse. “I know the best place. You want to drive or should I?”

Fifteen minutes later, we were sitting opposite one another in a cute little coffee shop sipping lattes and eating pastries. It was just a stone’s throw from the campus; most of the time was spent getting to my car. “So,” Vera said, leaning forward. “What do you want to know? Don’t you run at the gym?”

I hated running. “Not really. I try from time to time, but it’s not my thing. I’ve got a story going about a more seasoned runner dragging a newbie along.”

Vera laughed. “Girl, I took my sister running for the first time. She went out and bought all this expensive spandex and shit and after ten minutes she fell out and puked on the side of the road.”

“Damn. I bet somebody got some good stuff at Goodwill.”

“Oh no, she ran her first half-marathon last month. She’s got the bug now.”

Vera talked for nearly an hour, and I scribbled in a spiralbound notebook like I used for class in middle school. We talked about why she took up running, her first few memories, how she trained and kept motivated. She told me in beautiful detail what it felt like at mile eighteen of a marathon when her body was ready to quit and she came across a hill. She bragged on the other runners in her Black women’s training group. She told me what she’d said to encourage her sister and how she’d run her sister’s first 5k so slowly it hurt just so the two of them could cross the finish line together. She was so animated she almost sold me on joining her for one of the races posted on her door. Almost but not quite.

After I’d collected all the information I needed and then some, I was about to thank her and suggest we get back to school, but she cocked her chair back. “I forgot to ask you how your date with Maudie went.”

I tried not to make a face. “It was fine, but we’re definitely not compatible.”

“Oh?”

“She’s into cats and tofu and math and that shit.”

Vera nodded. I could see that she wasn’t into those things either. “Not just about the breasts then.”

I kicked her under the table when she grinned. “We didn’t get that far.”

“That’s a shame. That it didn’t go well, not that you didn’t get that far.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I don’t need to be dating.”

Vera studied my face carefully. “Who’re you crushing on?”

I smiled and looked away. “Nobody you know. I should go.”

Vera picked up her phone. “Ah, hell, I have class in ten minutes.”