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“Hi, Mom.” I turned and watched my reflection in the mirror. Brown skin. Brown eyes. Nose a little too wide. Lips a little too big. I looked more like my father than my mother, who was a gentle, feminine woman with small proportions.
I used to hate that I didn’t look like my mom growing up. Now, with everything that had happened to Dad, I was glad that I resembled him. It made me feel closer to him, somehow.
“Hi, baby. How was your trip? Are you back yet?”
“No.” I played with a lock of my hair, glad that her voice was calm. That meant Paulina had my back and hadn’t told them. “I’m staying over an extra day. How’s Daddy?”
“Same as yesterday. I talked to the bank again. They said we can’t borrow anymore money.”
The pressures of the past few months tumbled down like tiles from the ceiling and crushed me. Pain brewed in my temple, a headache building to a migraine.
Mom had sent me away on the teachers’ retreat for this very reason. She’d wanted me away from the bleak situation with my dad and our empty bank account.
It had worked.
Maybe a little too well.
The reminder of all that we faced crashed anew, as if I was facing it all for the first time. I’d climbed this hill and fought this battle for weeks, so starting from the beginning again made me want to cry.
“I’m so worried, Angel.” Mom sobbed. “I don’t know what to do.”
“I’ll think of something.”
“No, it’s too much to put on your shoulders. Maybe we should just… take him home. He’s okay with that.”
“We’re not giving up,” I snapped. “I’ll find the money.”
How? I had no idea. My salary could barely pay for one night of Dad’s hospital stay. Mom and I had put the house up to pay for the first round of chemo. We couldn’t afford the second round.
My phone beeped.
I pulled it away and glanced at the name on the screen. “Mom, Paulina’s calling. I need to go.”
“Wait, Angel.”
I paused.
She sighed. “When you get back, let’s talk about this seriously.”
“Dad’s getting treatment, okay? No amount of talking will change that. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I hung up and swiped the screen to answer Paulina’s call. “Hey, girl.”
“Angel, thank you Jesus! You’re alive! You’re alive!”
I cringed as her screeching nearly busted an eardrum. If Paulina was good for one thing, it was being loud.
“I’m here.”
“Girl, you shaved ten years off my life. Everyone was looking all over for you. We even went swimming thinking you might have caught a cramp in the water.”
“Sounds like a solid plan.” I chuckled softly. The conversation with my mom still weighed heavily on my mind, but now that I was focused on Paulina, it didn’t feel as depressing. “Humphries found me.”
“I’m so glad. Give that man a kiss, would you?”
“No thanks.”
“What’s wrong? I thought he fit that perfect churchman you’ve been looking for. Now’s the best time to get to know him a little better. See him in a setting outside of school. Maybe he might grow on you.”
“Don’t you start this too.”
