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“Options are great things in life,” Mona said.
“Sounds like my mother,” she said.
“Your mother must be a wise woman.”
“She’d tell you she was. Home schooled five kids all over the world.”
“Really?” Mona asked, sitting down. “I need to hear this story.”
Jasmine wished she hadn’t opened her mouth. She wasn’t one to talk about her family much, but there was something about Mona that pulled her in and made her feel comfortable. More comfortable than with her own mother at times.
Maybe it was because Mona seemed to pick up and move with her son and they were sticking together. Andrea Greene stuck by her husband’s side more than her children’s.
“Not much to it. My father is a doctor with Doctors Without Borders. I’ve only lived permanently in America for the past nine years. The minute I turned eighteen I was here going to college and never left again. I’ve seen enough of the world and not the pretty side of it.”
“That is fascinating.”
“Most people think it is,” she said. “As long as they aren’t living it.”
Mona put her hand on Jasmine’s. “I can see your side of it. You were exposed to multiple cultures but not your own. Not when you would have wanted to feel like a normal teenage kid.”
“You get that. My mother didn’t. My father wasn’t around much. He’s a great guy doing wonderful things. Don’t get me wrong.”
“But he wasn’t doing them for his kids,” Mona said.
“No.”
“I might have been guilty of that in my life and I’m trying to change it.”
“I don’t believe that,” she said, picking her wine up. “You’re here with your son.”
“I’m going to assume you know where we are from? Probably did a little research?”
She felt the flush fill her face. “Just a little. I know you were an attorney in Tampa.”
“I’m still an attorney; however, I’m not practicing currently. My ex-husband would tell you I put that before everything else in life though he enjoyed the rewards of it. Bastard.”
She wasn’t expecting Mona to say that. “Good riddance to him then.”
“That a girl. You’re right.”
“I might have some experience in giving that advice,” she said, snatching a nacho off the plate.
“Siblings?” Mona asked.
“Yep. My youngest sister, Ivy. She has trouble keeping a man. And a job. I guess we’ve all suffered some hopping around in life.”
“Can I ask where your siblings are now? I’d like to think you were all close growing up. But you can tell me to mind my own business.”
“I wouldn’t,” she said. “Mark is the oldest and he’s all about his job and he travels with it. He’s currently living in Japan for work. Dahlia is next and she is an accountant. She is in Chicago. Then there is me. Ivy is living in Texas with my grandparents. My father’s parents. She didn’t finish college but is a retail manager. She has the most drama. Chase is the youngest and he’s in college. Wants to take after my father at some point.”
“And your parents?” Mona asked.
“They are currently in Brazil I believe. My mother was a teacher prior to taking off with my father. With the kids gone she is still teaching English to the locals.”
“Commendable,” Mona said.
“That’s my parents for you. Commendable to everyone and everything.”
