Street Love (An Interracial Love Story)

Chapter 51

Tony’s POV

“Can we get ice cream?” Emily asks as we hear the ice cream truck get closer and closer. “It’s really hot.”

It’s the first week of April and it really is hot out.

“Please Tony?” Donny gives me puppy dog eyes. I look at Evie, she just shrugs and looks back down at her phone.

“Sure,” I finally say.

They give each other high fives and flag down the ice cream man. I look at Evie again and she’s still glaring at her phone. I hand Donny and Emily a dollar each then turn to Evie.

“You okay mamas?”

“Yeah.” She finally puts her phone in her pocket. “I’m just waiting for my mom to text me.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah. I just asked her to text me when the mailman comes. College letters come today.”

“Oh! I totally forgot babe.” I reach out and take her hand. “It’s gonna be fine though. You need to stop stressing.”

“Easy for you to say,” Evie laughs. “You already go to the number one culinary school in the nation and you’re at the top of your class.”

“Yeah, well.” I shrug because I don’t know what to say.

“See?” She sticks her tongue at me.

Donny and Emily come running back.

“What’d you guys get?” Tony asks.

“I got an ice cream sandwich.” Donny hold up his ice cream to show us. Emily already has her ice cream in her mouth so she doesn’t respond but instead, holds up the wrapper.

We get to Evie’s house right as he mailman is walking up to her apartment complex. Evie lets go of my hand and goes sprinting towards him. I see him hand her a bundle of mail and she quickly runs back.

“Here Donny,” Evie says, handing some of the mail to him. “Give this to mom.”

Him and Emily go inside while Evie and I stay standing on the sidewalk. She’s just staring at four envelopes in her hand.

“Who are they from?” I finally ask.

“University of California.” She turns through the envelopes. “ California State University.” Another turn. “University of Nevada, Reno. And Georgetown University.”

“I think you should open the UC one last,” I suggest. She simply nods. I take her hand and we sit on a bench not too far from us. Evie starts with the Georgetown envelope.

Her eyes scan the page and mine watch her.

“I got in,” she says softly.

“That’s good babe.” I squeeze her hand.

“I think I’ll open the UN one next.” She does so and she smiles again. “They want me too babe.”

“This is awesome babe.” It really is. But I know that the most important envelope won’t be opened ‘til last. The one that decides if we’ll be able to stay together here in Southern California while we both go to school.

Next comes the CSU envelope. “They want me at both Cal Polys, San Jose and Sonoma.”

I’m actually getting really excited. I don’t want to say it but if she’s been able to get into all these other schools, there’s no way UCLA will turn her down.

“And finally,” she says. “The dreaded UC envelope.” She looks at me and I simply kiss her forehead. After a deep breath, she hands me the envelope. I just look at her.

“Open it,” she says.

“What? Evie no. This is yours.” I try to hand it back to her but she doesn’t accept it. “This is your future, not mine.”

“It’s our future,” she says. Then she holds up her hands. “Plus my hands are shaking so hard. I don’t think I can open it.” 

Her hands really are shaking.

“Are you sure?” I ask her.

“Positive.” She rests her hand on my leg. and her head on my shoulder.

“I’m going to read it outloud, okay?”

“Sure.” Her voice is barely a whisper.

Dear Ms. Johnson,

The University of California educational system would like to thank you for your application. Ranked among the top educational systems in the world, we are pleased when California natives take interest in attending any of our 10 schools.

The following schools have accepted you:

I pause and look at Evie. Her head is no longer on my shoulder but instead she’s sitting up straight with her eyes clenched. After a moment, I continue.

University of California, Davis
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Santa Cruz

That’s it. I flip the paper over hoping to see the University of California, Los Angeles written somewhere but it’s not there. Evie lets out a sob and I look over at her. Tears are flowing down her cheeks and she’s covering her eyes with her hands. I reach over to hug her but she pushes me away. I try again but I get the same reaction. Finally, I rest my hand on her back and I can feel her trembling.

“Babe,” I try to calm her down but she pushes my hand off of her and stands up.

“I can’t believe this.” Her sadness is now anger. “I cannot freakin’ believe this!” She kicks over a trash can. “I worked my butt off to get into that school! Every single day!”

“EVIE!” I finally shout. She just glares at me. I grab her hand and pull her down to the bench. “You need to relax.”

“That’s easy for you to say!!” She tries to grab her hands back but I keep holding them.

“Do you realize that you got into every single school that you applied to except for UCLA? That’s incredible! I’m sure there are kids all over the U.S., hell all over the world, who would kill to be in your position. You need to realize the good things going for you before you start freaking out like that.”

She just lets out a puff of air. I gather all the letters scattered on the floor and look through them. “And you’re getting a full scholarship to any CSU or UC that you choose? Evie, come on.” I look at her and she hangs her head down.

“I wanted to go to UCLA babe.” She wipes at a tear. “You know that that was the only school that mattered.”

“I know Evie but I just want you to look at all the positives. You got into 10 colleges. That’s absolutely amazing. Plus Cal Poly Pomona is exactly two hours from Charleston should you choose to go there.” I smile.

“Yeah.” She breathes. “That’s where I’m going.”

“Evie, I was joking. I want you to go where you want to go most.”

“I’m not leaving you,” she says firmly. “I made that decision when I first met you Antonio.”

I know not to argue with her at this point. “Okay baby.”