Alliyah
She and Ocean strolled through the clothing store and chattered:
“Okay, so can we talk about you and Colson?”
“No, thank you. I’m fine.”
Alliyah let out an exasperated sigh.
“What’s going on between you?”
“I’m not answering that right now. Try again another time.” Ocean took 3 pairs of similar black jeans and got in the changing booth, leaving Alliyah with a tilted head and furrowed brow.
As the girl waited, she took a look around and found a pair of ripped blue jeans she adored. But then, she looked at the price tag and nervously laughed.
"Oh, hell, no." She said under her breath.
“Hey,” Ocean called from the dressing room. “is it weird I wanna think deep if I wanna go volunteer abroad?”
“I’m not sure how to respond to that.”
“Rayne decided to do it in five seconds. And she thinks I’m weird for needing some days at least.”
“She’s leaving the country!?” Alliyah asked, louder than she expected. A couple side-eyed her.
“I think she’s only planning on staying for a couple of weeks since she’s gotta leave her cats with a neighbor, she doesn’t wanna stay away too long.”
“I think I’d like to go, too.”
“You too?! Women think too fast!”
Alliyah laughed, leaning against the wall, but soon Ocean was out of the fitting room.
“No, but really, I feel like it’d be a grand experience."
"Grand experience? You sound like Blue."
She ignored him and continued:
"Helping others, just for the sake of helping others. We’ve done it before. Didn’t you enjoy it?”
She talked as they moved through the store.
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“Yeah, but it wasn’t in another country. Leaving all our friends here? Coworkers?”
Alliyah rolled her eyes:
“Just for 2 weeks.”
“Fine, then, you go with Rayne!”
“Maybe I will! And you take care of Lamar.” She winked.
She was only half-joking. She knew Lamar was practically a brother for Ocean, and he wouldn’t mind it at all if he actually stayed with him. She wondered if Lamar reminded him of the newborn he gave up for adoption in San Francisco.
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Alliyah cooked a lasagna for dinner. Lamar knew something must’ve been up. It was her ‘buttering up meal’.
“What’s wrong?” He demanded, upon seeing the sizeable portion on his plate already. Despite guessing an important talk was ahead, he couldn’t possibly resist the melted cheese, drowning the black plate.
“Nothing’s wrong. I just want to run something by you.”
They both ate some of the lasagna, while Alliyah searched for ways to lead to the conversation.
“So, you like living here, right?”
“Of course…” He answered, narrowing his eyes, his long lashes almost covering them.
That probably was not the best way to start… Alliyah thought.
“Do you think Arrow, Rusty, and Snow are happy here?”
“Yeah! We give them treats and play with them, and they have each other.”
“Well, you see, some countries, some people and animals, they don’t have what we have. Or what Arrow, Snow, and Rusty have. So… Some adults decide maybe they could go over there and help those in need for a while. Help build houses, schools, help take care of sick people or animals. Are you getting an idea?”
“Yeah…” Lamar slowly nodded.
“That’s called volunteering. Would you be okay if I spent a couple of weeks away doing that?”
“You’d be helping others, so I think so. But would I be here alone?”
“Not alone! You’d be staying across the hall with Miss Heather, and you can always hang out with Ocean and the guys.”
“I say go ahead and help others.”
Alliyah’s heart melted. These little moments with Lamar made her think that maybe she wasn’t doing such a bad job after all.
“Can I share something with you?”
“Of course!” He smiled while chewing.
“I don’t think you realize that… Where your parents and I grew up, it wasn’t like this.” She waved her hands, vaguely pointing around the apartment. “We didn’t have nice things, some people weren’t nice. But we had each other’s backs when one of us was in trouble or needed help, the others would be there. No matter what.”
“Is that why…” Lamar stopped eating and was now pushing the melted cheese and grounded meat around the plate with his fork. “You couldn’t say no to raising me?”
Alliyah’s eyes became watery, but she held the tears in:
“I couldn’t say no to you because your parents were like family to me. You and I, we’re family whether you’re my blood or not.”
The smile on Lamar's face was priceless.
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The scent of the lasagna still graced the air inside the household when Alliyah bit on her thumb's nail, debating with herself on whether making that call was a good idea.
‘Fine, then, you go with Rayne!’ Ocean’s words echoed in her brain.
‘I say go ahead and help others.’ Lamar’s encouragement persisted in her head.