Prologue
On a warm night in May, Jelynda, a young, tall, shapely, African-American woman with short locs, took a deep breath before opening the door to Shirate's Coffee and Tea Shoppe. She went into this small, family owned, coffee shop every day. Every time she stepped inside, a sense of calmness would settle over her. This was the hangout that got her through four years of undergraduate studies in a college across the country from where she grew up. Tom, the shop owner poured her a hot chai every day. Zula, his wife of 12 years, always listened to her problems and offered advice. She thought to herself, "correction, had gone to this shop every day." Tonight would be her last visit. She wiped a tear from her left eye and opened the door. The place was packed with graduating seniors from majors across the campus. As she made her away across the room, she spotted her four best friends, sitting at a table in the corner and smiled. Her gaze roamed over Ari, a tall brunette, had just finished her degree in anthropology and women's studies and would be heading off to London for graduate school. She then saw Liz, a petite blonde, was offered an entry level accounting position at a big firm. Her eyes hit Jenn, a chubby Southern firecracker with red-hair, currently streaked with purple, and green highlights, was getting married to the homegrown bad boy she met in a local motorcycle shop, and creating a business plan for the jewelry she made and sold to sorority girls. Lastly, she saw Frank, tall, good-looking and an aspiring actor, was heading to New York for graduate school. As for her? Her car was packed and she would be driving to her destiny the next day.
Ari looked up and called to her, "Hey Lili! Where have you been? We almost gave up on you!" Ari dashed and darted through the crowd to give Jelynda a hug and pull her over to the group. "Hey Dashers" greeted Jelynda and sat down. They all laughed. They had met while waiting in line for their orders and each one had ordered a hot chai with a dash of cinnamon. When the order was called, all five had run up to the counter. Liz said, "I can't believe that was four years, 12 boyfriends and 3 apartments ago." The group stared at her silently. "What? Ari's had 3 boyfriends, I had 4, Jenn had 1 boyfriend, Frank had 2, and Jelynda had 2. That's 12." "Ha! The math major can count," joked Frank. "You forgot I had a couple of girlfriends too." Jenn shot back, "Slut." "Hey, I can't help it if both sexes offer. I'm only human. It's like Zula's donuts. You can't eat just one. You have to sample all the flavors." Jelynda rolled her eyes, "Is that why you offered to be the milk in my chai the day we met?" The group groaned. As the music then got louder, Jenn looked around, "Wow. I can't believe the Shirates were nice enough to throw all of us new grads a party. I heard they do it every year, but I know they haven't had as many customers since Starbucks moved in across the street." Just then a pumping beat came through the speakers and "The Next Episode" by Dr. Dre can be heard. "Hey, that's my song! Let's dance!" They all laughed at Jenn's enthusiasm, stood up and headed to the dance floor.
After what seemed like hours of dancing, Jelynda broke away from the dance floor and stared outside into the dark night. She was feeling melancholy. It was all over. She knew she should feel excited, because a whole new life was going to begin tomorrow in California, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that her life was going to change and not for the better. As her friends trickled back from the dance floor, she gathered glasses of champagne. "I want to make a toast. We've know each other for four years and you have become my best friends, my family really, while I was across the country from my parents and brother. I've loved every single second I've spent with you and cherish everything I've learned from each one of you. Ari, you taught me to stand up for myself. Liz, you taught me how to balance my checkbook. Jenn, you taught me how to say what's on my mind. Frank, you taught me how to dress on a budget and pick up cute guys." The group laughed "Tomorrow, I'm leaving for California, but I'm taking a part of each of you with me. Here's to changing the world!" They rest of the group of friends echoed, "To changing the world!" as they clicked their glasses together.
