Picked~A Melanin Tale

28 Better than New

"Nubia, nice to see you," my counselor, Mrs. Salya greets me with a hug.

"Yeah, it's nice to see you as well." I sit on the sofa once we are done hugging each other.

"You look great. How are things?"

"Not so good, to be honest."

The smile disappears from her face, "why ever not?"

"My sisters. My life. I feel as though they've deceived me in a way, I don't think I'll ever be able to trust them again."

"Oh my. What have they done?"

I go into the whole spill about Zakia's false rape call to Zadia having so many abortions. I'm in tears talking about it.

"Sounds rough."

"That's what Tilly said. I can't trust them."

Mrs. Salya sighs, "Nubia, I want you to listen to me, okay?"

I nod knowing she's about to speak some deep shit.

"Your sisters do have their own lives and they had to make it without you being there."

"But, we used to be so close."

"I know this. The truth is people change and things happen which makes people change. While you were gone they changed and so have you. Your sisters had to do things to accommodate their lives. So, did you. I can see where they've deceived you and I can see how the situations have affected you and your emotional well-being. I'm not saying forgive them, I'm saying give it more time. It's only been," she looks at the calendar, "four months." She looks back at me.

"I'm not sure I can. I've tired so hard and nothing is going right."

"It's not going to go right for a while. You are getting into the swing of things still. It's going to be hard. I told you this. You've got to be patient with this and them."

"I can continue to try."

"As for you father, I don't know. I'm sure he has his own reasons as to why he didn't want you to have your sister's number."

"Right."

"Now, Zadia saying what she said. Obviously, she can't even help herself after all she went through."

I nod. That would have been a great come back if I had've thought about it. It would have stung her.

"Even if you stay with Tilly and her parents, try to make it a point to talk to your sisters. Trust me on this, they still need you. Maybe more than you realize right now because you're hurt."

"I really am."

"Give it more time, Nubia. And if things don't improve, then drop them or just gradually stop talking to them. That's not something I would normally recommend, but you need your sanity to stay in tact."

"Okay, I will do so. Thank you, Mrs. Salya." I stand up.

"I'm still here for you if you need me, Nubia." She scribbles her number down on a sheet of paper and hands it to me. I take it and look at it.

"Thank you." I fold it up and pick it in my back pocket and leave.

I get in the car with Tilly.

"How'd it go?" She asks starting up the car.

"It went better than what I thought it would have been."

"What's our next stop?"

"Jafaris'."

We park on the curb in front of my boyfriend's place. I get out of the car.

"Do you need me to stay and wait for you?"