32

A DAY AT DISNEYLAND

Somehow, Ahmed got himself invited to Disneyland. If anyone had asked me, I definitely would have said no, but no one did. Bibi thought it was a good idea because he could go on the rides with me.

But as soon as we walked through the gates and into Disneyland, I didn’t care anymore. It really was a Magic Kingdom.

“My auntie Roxanne takes me lots of special places whenever she’s in town. And she brings me stuff back from places she travels to all the time.”

“Good for you.”

Creature.

For a few minutes or so, Ahmed shushed up. And then, the creature spoke as we strolled down Main Street U.S.A. with Bibi trailing us. “One thing I wanna ask you. How come you got a white girl name instead of a black girl name?”

“You are so stupid. People can be named whatever they want.”

“That so? I ain’t never met no black girl named Violet.”

“Have you met every black girl in the world?” I asked.

“Naw,” he answered.

“So there. Plus, I’m not just black, in case you didn’t know.”

“But you look black.”

“On the outside maybe, but inside my DNA, I’m white, too.”

That seemed to shut him up for a while. Just a while.

“That place where you stay, it’s mostly white, huh?”

“Moon Lake? Mostly.”

Ahmed smirked. “What kinda joke name is that for a city, Moon Lake? You from outer space or somethin’?”

Why do I have to be with this annoying person all day long?

Lucky for me, Bibi must have heard him, because she yanked him by his collar and whispered something in his ear. I don’t know what she said to him, but he got quiet.

Bibi took my hand, and with Ahmed beside us, we headed to Fantasyland.

We stayed at Disneyland until the nighttime fireworks show. My eyes were on the explosions of colored light in the sky when Ahmed asked Bibi, “Auntie Roxanne, remember that time you took me clear to New York City, just me and you?”

“Yep,” she replied.

Ahmed turned to me and sneered. “We sure had a whole buncha fun, huh? Just me and you,” he repeated.

Bibi grinned. “Yep, Ahmed. We sure did.”

New York City, hmm? How many other trips have I missed out on?

• • •

On the drive back to Los Angeles, Bibi seemed tired.

“Thank you for taking me to Disneyland, Bibi. I always wanted to go there,” I told her after we’d dropped off Ahmed and were finally alone.

“You’re welcome, pickle.”

“Pickle?”

“I’m sorry . . . it’s what I used to call your daddy when he was little.”

“Why’d you call him that?”

“That boy loved him some pickles, sour ones, sweet ones . . . didn’t matter.”

“Guess what? So do I,” I told her.

Bibi grinned from ear to ear.

You would have figured that after all of that walking around Disneyland, I would have been so tired that as soon as I climbed into bed I would have conked off to sleep, but I didn’t. Instead, I thought about Bibi and how I liked it best when it was just the two of us, like when we were cooking and listening to Nina Simone records.

Gam and Poppy I had to share, not only with Daisy but with their other grandchildren and my mom and my mom’s sister and brother.

I’d just opened up a book to read when a gentle knock on my door cracked it open. “Are you asleep?” Bibi asked.

“Nope,” I replied.

“Thought I’d give you a kiss good night and tuck you in. You’re not too old for that, are you?”

I sat up in bed. “Not.”

Even though Daisy claimed Bibi as her grandmother, too, and Ahmed seemed to want to own her as well, right then Bibi was all mine. And about that—I was glad.