Francie and Kanisha glared at each other as the fading taillights washed over their faces. Both were wondering how they were going to get out of here—and why this was happening to them.
Kanisha’s eyes searched her surroundings. Darkness, everywhere she looked. There was the moonlight, of course, which at this point was just a distant glow because of the trees that lined the small dirt road. She was in the middle of nowhere. While her concern for her situation was obvious, her mind began to drift to her daughter. Surely Michelle would handle things, she thought, but Kanisha couldn’t get Faith out of her mind. The predicament before her somehow caused her love for her daughter to grow even greater than it had been before, if that was possible.
Francie, on the other hand, wasn’t thinking about anyone but herself. Her mind was racing. She looked down at her shoes, wondering why she’d chosen these particular shoes to wear tonight. If she’d known she was going hiking again, surely she would’ve chosen something more appropriate. Francie took pride on making good wardrobe choices, but this had to be the worst choice to date. Her eyes lifted to the trail ahead, where the red taillights were now mere dots in the far-off distance. Suddenly the dots began to glow; Michelle had braked. Perhaps Michelle was satisfied that she’d made her point and would be coming back for them. But when the lights disappeared to the left, Francie knew Michelle wasn’t coming back. Without saying a word, Francie started down the trail, her heels crunching on the trail.
“I wouldn’t walk in those shoes if I was you,” Kanisha said, following after her.
“You aren’t me.”
“I said if I was!”
“Do me a favor—don’t talk to me.”
“Suit yourself.”
“I will.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
If they weren’t so physically different, one would have to guess these two women were somehow long-lost siblings, catching up on years of much-needed arguing.
“Why are you such a bitch to me?” Kanisha blurted out.
“Because I don’t like people like you,” Francie shot back, snapping more than talking as she struggled with a rocky section of the trail.
“Oh, so you have a problem with black people, is that it?”
“Why is it that you people think if someone has a problem with you, you immediately draw the conclusion that it’s because you’re black? I don’t like you because I don’t like people who use other people, and you are obviously using Michelle!”
“You people? See there, you said it again,” Kanisha said, laughing. “Wow, that’s kind of funny. I didn’t take you for being a racist, but you are white, and you are from Texas.”
“And I didn’t take you for having a victim complex either. Honey, if that’s the case, that’s your problem, not mine.”
“I ain’t got no problem,” Kanisha said defensively.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“When are you going to learn that if you talk like an idiot, people will treat you like an idiot? Didn’t your mother teach you that?”
“No, lady, my mother taught me how to sell drugs. Is that what you want to hear? Does that somehow make you feel superior to me now? Sorry I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Oh wait, that’s right. You married money, which makes you worse off than me. Least I know I come from the ghetto. You aren’t sure where you come from, ain’t that right?” Kanisha quickly moved past her on the trail.
Francie remained silent. She hadn’t expected to hear so much information from Kanisha. She didn’t want to feel sorry for her. “What a nightmare,” Francie muttered under her breath. “I’m sorry,” Francie finally called out. “I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t know? Gee, I thought you knew everything,” Kanisha fired back.
“I never said that.”
Kanisha stopped, turned, and walked right up to Francie. “Well, that’s how people like you make people like me feel. You walk around with your nose in the air. Why, ’cause you got money? You’re just an old lady with expensive shoes she can’t afford.”
Francie was actually trembling. She was afraid of Kanisha right at that moment.
As the silence hung between them, a low grunting sound suddenly emerged from the darkness behind Francie.
“What the hell was that?” Kanisha whispered.
Francie stood frozen in her tracks.
The grunting sound came again, but this time it was closer. Francie wanted her feet to start moving, but when she told her legs to step forward, nothing happened. Kanisha’s mouth was wide open in fear. She too was unable to move.
Suddenly a dark shadow appeared behind Francie. In the dim moonlight bleeding onto the trail, Kanisha saw a huge black bear, grunting and snorting as it scratched the trail beneath its massive claws. It wasn’t happy.
“What is it?” Francie whispered. “Kanisha, what is it?”
Kanisha’s lips moved, but nothing came out.
“Kanisha. What is it?” Francie repeated.
“BEAR!” Kanisha finally blurted out as she spun around and ran in the other direction. Francie didn’t look back as she followed, her high heels barely touching the ground.
Suddenly, Francie went down hard, turning her ankle in the high heels.
Hearing Francie go down with a thud, Kanisha skidded to a halt and spun around. The bear slowed. The massive beast began to stalk Francie, who was too scared to turn and face her assailant. Kanisha’s heart jumped through her chest when she got a good look at the huge animal. “Oh my God, what am I going to do?” she whimpered as the bear moved in even closer. Grunting and huffing, it was a nightmare realized.
With her knees bloody and her legs tangled beneath her, Francie slowly turned her head as the large bear rose onto its hind legs, announcing its superiority with a loud roar. Amidst the fear rushing throughout her body like a raging river, Francie felt sure this was the end. Her vision blurred for a second and the images before her slid into slow motion.
Kanisha screamed for her to get to her feet, but Francie couldn’t hear anything over her own heartbeat. She turned back to the bear and watched it open its mouth. Saliva slid from its jagged teeth like a monster in a horror movie. But this wasn’t a movie. It was real life.
Suddenly, Francie wasn’t afraid anymore. Faced with the situation before her, all she could feel was a sense of peace. Time seemed to slow nearly to a stop.
Out of nowhere, the giant bear suddenly began to flinch, again and again. It landed on all fours and bellowed. Finally snapping back into real time, Francie looked up and saw Kanisha firing rocks at the bear like Cy Young winner Greg Maddux striking out batters. Picking up rocks and throwing in one motion, Kanisha moved closer and closer toward the bear, which finally turned and scampered into the cover of darkness.
Firing a few rocks into the darkness for good measure, Kanisha bent down next to Francie and ripped off her high heels. Kanisha quickly found a large rock and hammered the high heels like a blacksmith shaping a horseshoe. In two lethal strokes, the heels broke off at the base of the sole, transforming the expensive shoes into a pair of flats. Kanisha dropped the rock to the ground.
“Are you okay?” Francie asked her.
“Am I okay?” Kanisha repeated with a shaky laugh as she put Francie’s shoes back on her feet.
“Yes. Are you okay?” Francie asked again.
“I’m cool, but we gotta get moving. That thing’s bound to come back,” Kanisha said, keeping an eye over her shoulder. She finished putting Francie’s shoes on her feet. “There. That oughta be easier.”
“Thank you,” Francie said.
“Can you walk?”
“I think so.”
“Good, because it’s probably the time for us to get outta here as fast as possible,” Kanisha said, helping Francie to her feet. Kanisha turned to start down the trail, but Francie halted briefly and took Kanisha’s hand.
“What’s wrong?” Kanisha asked quickly.
“Thank you.”
Kanisha smiled. “You’d’ve done the same for me.”
“No. I’m embarrassed to say I wouldn’t have,” Francie said with great humility.
“That’s okay. I’m used to taking care of myself.”
“No. It’s not okay. And I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry for being a bitch.”
“Hey, it’s your nature.”
“Yes. I guess it is,” Francie said with a laugh as another moment of recognition passed between them. Kanisha smiled and leaned forward a touch.
“While this little kumbaya moment we have goin’ on here is cool and all, we still got us a bear out there wantin’ to take a bite outta your ass.”
“My ass? What about yours?”
“Girl, I don’t know if you noticed or not, but that bear didn’t seem to like the dark meat.”
For the first time since they met, the two women laughed together. There was a new look between them. Despite what Michelle had said about there being no room for friendship in the group, the look between them was one of a beginning friendship. It was still very different and volatile, but they were now friends nonetheless.
“How’d you learn to do that?” Francie asked.
“Girlfriend, when you spend time on the streets, you learn to adapt quickly or you die. Gotta throw whatever you can get your hands on to keep away the bad guys.”
“No, I mean, the shoes.”
“Same reason. Gotta take what life gives you.”
“I think maybe it’s time we change that. What do you think?” Francie asked.
“Sounds good to me.”
They began to make their way down the trail.
“What should we tell the others about our little adventure?”
“I have an idea about that,” Francie said with a smile.