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“Chasity, I can’t find my hair dryer. Can you check my closet and see if it’s in there?” Sidra called out.
“Sidra, it’s not in there,” Chasity replied dryly. “I already checked after you asked me the first time.”
“Are you serious?” Sidra yelled, “It has to be in there!”
“Why are you yelling at me?” Chasity objected, frowning.
“I’m sorry, Chaz. I just hate packing. I always feel like I’m forgetting something. It drives me crazy,” Sidra sulked.
“Will you calm down, girl? We’re only going to be gone for a few days,” Alex interjected with a laugh, dropping her book bag. Chasity was giving her a lift home.
“I know that, Alex. I’ve been up since seven this morning; I’m tired and I’m irritated.” Sidra rubbed her hands over her low ponytail. “I need coffee.”
“Oh no, the last thing you need is to be irritated and wired,” Alex pointed out.
“All right, fine,” Sidra sighed, sitting on her bed.
“So what time are we leaving, Chasity?” Alex asked, grabbing a bottle of juice out of Sidra’s mini refrigerator and taking a drink.
“In a few minutes. Is that all you’re taking?” Chasity pointed to Alex’s bag.
Alex shook her head. “I’ve got a duffle bag back at the room.” A grin blossomed on her face when she heard the rap on the door. “Uh oh.”
“Crap,” Sidra moaned as her mother walked into the room, surveying her daughter’s open suitcase and the clothes scattered on the bed.
“Um hmm,” Mrs. Howard laughed and pulled her daughter into a hug. “I knew you wouldn’t be ready, Princess. Finish up and introduce me to your friends.”
“Oh sure. Mama, this is Alex, she’s nice but bossy...and nosey,” Sidra joked. “And this is Miss Chasity, my roommate.”
“Hi, sweetie. Are you a new roommate?” Mrs. Howard asked, puzzled.
“No. I’m the same one that she complained to you about in the beginning of the semester,” Chasity confirmed.
“This is the snobby, ignorant witch?” she asked, looking at Sidra.
“Yep,” Chasity validated, shooting Sidra a side glance.
“Mama,” Sidra exclaimed, mortified.
“Never mind. Give me a hug, sweetie,” Mrs. Howard said with a wave of her hand.
Chasity wasn’t big on hugging people, but she found herself wrapped in Mrs. Howard’s ample arms.
“And as for you, young lady, when I called half an hour ago, you said that you were finished packing.”
“I did?” Sidra stalled.
“Don’t play with me, child. Throw the rest of your things in that suitcase and close it. We have to go. I told your father and your brothers not to eat until we came back. The last thing that I want is a bunch of hungry men in my kitchen.”
“Okay. Chaz and I need to get on the road too, Mrs. Howard,” Alex said, tossing her empty juice bottle in the trash. “Have a safe trip.”
“See you, girl,” Sidra said, hugging Alex and then turning to Chasity, arms stretched out ready for a hug.
“Nope,” Chasity teased, backing away. “You called me a witch.”
“So mean,” Sidra laughed as she shut the door behind her friends.
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“Don’t take forever,” Chasity cautioned. “I want to beat some of that rush hour traffic.”
“I don’t think you’ll really beat it, Chaz. Thanksgiving is tomorrow after all; everybody will be on the road all night,” Alex advised.
“I didn’t ask for your commentary, just hurry up,” Chasity hissed, turning her car off.
“All right, calm down, cranky. I’ll just be a minute,” Alex promised and jumped out of the car. Alex was out of breath by the time she reached the room.
Malajia looked over at Alex, who had just fallen onto the floor the moment she opened the door. “What the hell? Why are you on the floor?”
“My big ass just ran up four flights of steps,” she informed, sitting up. “Next year, I’m gonna make sure I end up in a dorm with an elevator,” she vowed.
“Are you and Chasity about to leave?” Emily asked, looking up from her task of folding her clothes.
“Yeah, she’s downstairs waiting for me,” Alex nodded, grabbing a large green duffle bag off the floor.
“What? She’s not coming up to say goodbye? Ugh, some people,” Malajia scoffed. She picked up her phone and dialed Chasity’s number.
“What?” Chasity answered abruptly.
“Excuse me, but you could at least come up and say goodbye, with your rude ass,” Malajia barked.
“Malajia, don’t you have packing to do?”
“Don’t you worry about what I’m doing,” Malajia snapped.
“You know what—Mark if you don’t get away from my car I’m gonna run you the fuck over!” Chasity shouted.
“Is Mark bothering you?” Malajia asked unnecessarily. Even over the phone, she could still hear him.
“Yes—he’s got his damn face plastered to my window.”
“Well, serves your ass right for not saying goodbye to us,” Malajia teased, then the phone went dead. “Hello? Hello? That bitch hung up on me.”
“I better get down there,” Alex sighed, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “Mel, I’m sorry your little Thanksgiving getaway didn’t work out. Maybe next time.”
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Malajia said sharply.
“Don’t be mad, Malajia,” Emily put in hastily. The Thanksgiving getaway was still a sore spot.
“Well, I am,” Malajia retorted. “Now I have to be home with those freaks the whole time.”
“Look, you ladies take care,” Alex cut in. “See you next week.”
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Alex lugged her duffle bag to Chasity’s Lexus and, sure enough, there was Mark sitting on the hood.
“Boy, what are you doing?”
“Making our friend here mad,” he responded with a laugh. “And I think it’s working.”
Alex shook her head and popped the trunk. Mark slid off the hood and followed her.
“Quit it,” Alex warned when Mark started poking her.
“Oh, stop being so uptight,” Mark laughed.
“Mark—do you want me to punch you? Because I’d be happy to do it.”
“No, I’m good,” he said and ran a hand over his hair. “Do I get a hug?”
Alex looked at him for a second before smiling, wrapping her arms around him none too tight. “Be safe,” she said.
“You too,” Mark said as he let go. Then he knocked on the car window. “Bye sexy!”
“Fuck off!” Chasity shouted.
“I love to see her get mad,” he said with a grin.
“Boy, get on, before David and Josh kill you for making them wait,” Alex urged.
“Please. They’re riding in my father’s car. They can wait a minute.”
“Bye, Mark,” Alex said, getting into the car. “All right Mama, let’s go.”
“It took you long enough,” Chasity sneered.
“Oh hush,” Alex scolded, leaning back in her seat to get settled for the long drive home.
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Sidra’s mother had always had a soft spot for Malajia. When she discovered that her “play daughter” was taking the train home, she wouldn’t hear any arguments. Mrs. Howard and her daughter would drop Malajia at the station and see her safely on board.
“She better be on her way down,” Sidra said as she filed her nails.
“I’m sure she is,” Mrs. Howard added dryly. “No one could take as long as you to pack.”
“Oh, Malajia can,” Sidra protested, pointing her nail file to the steps where Malajia was struggling with a mammoth-sized suitcase. “Wow, that bag must hold enough clothes for a month. No wonder it took her so long.”
“Please don’t fall, please don’t fall,” Malajia muttered to herself, letting out a screech as the bag tumbled down the stairs. “Are you kidding me?” she yelled.
“The poor girl needs help, Sid,” Mrs. Howard suggested, trying not to laugh. When Malajia tripped and fell, she was out of the car in a flash. “Oh sweetie, you okay?”
“No, not really, Mother Howard,” Malajia said as she dusted herself off.
“Are you okay, trippy?” Sidra teased as Malajia shuffled into the backseat.
“Very funny, Sidra. Very funny,” Malajia hissed, giving Sidra’s ponytail a quick yank.
“Mama, did you see what she just did to me?” Sidra demanded.
Mrs. Howard couldn’t help but laugh. She had missed the way that these two interacted. She was glad that they were friends again.
“You girls are so silly,” she finally said, shaking her head with a smile.
