Gone And Back Again

Bestu Ni Onee-Chan...

Andrew

I bit my lip, thinking about the bad looks people gave me on the ride to our destination. One girl tried to complement me but ended up making me disgusted when she asked why I was "with" a black girl. Alicia and I have always just been friends, but I've always been rude and forceful about the way people treated her on the interracial subject. Peering over at Alicia who looked so peaceful as she slept on the way to the mall centre. The forceful wind didn't seem to bother her, as she was sound asleep. Her son, however, was enjoying the New Jersey scenery. I thought that a trip home would please Alicia to see her parents after a while. A trip to our old school and to the ice cream shop that we studied at should place a smile on her caramel face. "Andy! Should we wake up Mommy?" Dom yelled over the wind and I shook my head as I pulled into the driveway.

"Let her sleep unitl we get there Dom," I reached over with my right hand and brushed some of her curly hair out of her face. "We're almost there, and she could use the sleep."

Alicia

"Mom! Mom! Mom!" I heard a piercing scream and I immidiately snapped out of my sleep, unbuckled, and hopped out the car, ready to fend my son from life and death and ended up tripping on something and falling on my rump.

"Ouch!" I rubbed my eyes to see that I fell on a patch of grass. Grass? At the mall? I looked up to the house and smiled. Andy helped me up and smiled. I remembered the little lawn knome at my feet, the stone path, these rose bushes from anywhere. Home.

"I thought you'd want to come as you haven't been home in months." Andrew peered down at me and helped me up. Dominic was already by the door with his batman backpack, knocking away little a pestly little woodpecker. "Your mom and Damon are probably excited to see you." There was no answer at the door, so Dominic resorted to the doorbell.

"Dom! Ring the doorbell once and once only! Give grandma a rest!" I chided and smacked his hand as I walked to the door. My mother slowly opened the red door and smiled.

"Alicia." She grabbed me and kissed my forehead. "Oh, we've missed you. Your sister, Crystal is home... And you young man." My mother cupped one oof his cheeks with her hand. "Oh aren't you growing?" My mother was in her late fourties but still looked as if she was in her late twenties. Her chocolate short hair had very few grays that she simply brushed into place. She was often found in a freshly cleaned dress and pearls. A highly respectable and loved woman. I walked into the house and took Dom's bag and grabbed a beer from the fridge.

"I'm going to check out my room." I called out to my family and Dominic trailed after Andy who was going to play in the back. Thinking about my mom made me reflect on myself. As I opened my bedroom door, I bit my lip. I was the band-obsessed girl that thought she never wore enough black. I loved afros and foreign studies. I worked hard, but never amounted much so I wasn't very respectable. Pregnant at the age of 17, I never thought of myself as more than a mother or friend. Slowly, I ran my hand over the photos of Andrew, Corahn, Harry, and myself at the school dance. We were inseperatable. If I was somewhere, they were too. Corahn was in California studying dance and probably getting girls. Andy was close to me in Manhattan but will be moving to Toronto, Canada soon for a job. And Harry... Only God knew where Harry Jameson was. He left abruptly during the middle of the school year in the eleventh grade.

"I thought you were gorgeous that day." I was startled by a voice. Jumping around, I saw Andy looked down at me sympathetically. That's when I felt the tears that were streaming down my face. Quickly, he shut the door and sat me on the bed, rocking me back and forth. "Dom is downstairs, you don't have to be strong right now, let it out." Andy lightly slipped my beer out of my hand and placed it on my nightstand as I frowned. "You're not going to drink it away."

Andy

"Andy?" A small voice opened the door and Dominic walked in and I glanced at Alicia, wondering if the tears disappeared, but she was sound asleep. Dominic got on the bed and kissed his mother's forehead. "Andy?" He whispered. A sound that I could barely hear myself.

"Yeah?" I didn't know how to reply.

"Mommy was crying," I could hear his voice shake but it went away as he felt like he was trying to be strong. "I used to think that crying was weak, but Mommy said that strong cry because they accept their weakness." I bit my lip, nodding as I ruffled his hair. I don't believe that Dom completely understands what his mother told him, but I do believe she put the right words in this little boy's head. "But even so... I don't like seeing Mommy cry. I'd kill whoever made Mommy cry." As Dominic stared me down, I saw fire in his eyes. The same fire that'd ignite in Alicia's during a tournament.

Looking around her room, I noticed all of her boxing trophies. They called her "The Beast" and that's what Alicia was... A beast. Not once did she lose a fight. She didn't believe in losing because she believed in what she saw. Looking at Dominic, he was nearly the exact replica of his father, aside from his closer-to-caramel skin tone. I know that Alicia's noticed their physical characteristics and sees them everyday. Alicia probably's been ready to break down all this time, but couldn't because then it'd hurt her son.

As I got up, I grabbed the beer on the counter and Dominic's hand, leading him out the room. "Come on, Dom, we'll leave for ice cream when she wakes. Let's go watch some cartoons."

Alicia

I couldn't help but notice the dryness of my eyes as I awoke. Looking down at my watch, I yawned. It was two, not too late to get some ice cream. As I walked down the stairs, I looked over the railing to watch Andy and Dominic watching one of my favorite shows, Avatar The Last Airbender. "Your mom used to love this show." Andy smirked at Dom and my son nodded, excitedly. Seeing them together made me think of the relationship that Dominic should have with his father. "She especially loved Zuko for some odd reason."

"Zuko had heart. I loved that." I spoke up as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Mommy!"

Dominic ran straight into my arms with a smile. Who couldn't love his toothy face? I kissed his forehead as I picked him up. "Mom, it is okay if Dominic stays the night tonight? I have some work to catch up to."

"Mom went to get more things for dinner, so it's just me." My younger sister, Crystal, walked out the kitchen. We haven't exactly been on the best terms, so the moment was slightly awkward. "But yeah, Mama would probably let him stay." She wiped her hands on her apron which was covered in powder and walked back into the kitchen. Chris was probably cooking. As usual.

"Domo..." I muttered, walking out, Dominic and Andrew behind me.

"Bestu ni, onee-chan!" She sung back and I rolled my eyes.

What a bother.