Where the River Ends

Chapter Three

The smell of fresh waffIes and sizzling bacon tickled my nose and I woke up to the sound of clashing plates and pans and Ma humming in the kitchen. Ma only made waffles on special occasions and I couldn't figure out what today's occasion was. I walked into the kitchen drowsy and confused.

"Oh, there she is! My beautiful baby," Ma became squeamish as she held my shoulders then squeezed my cheeks.

"What's going on Ma? What's all this bustle about?" I said with sleep lingering in my voice.

"Well don't you know sweetie, Mr. Lavar is coming to town and he has a presentation at your school I'm surprised you didn't know." I did know about Mr. Lavar's arrival. He came every year around summer time to tell us about scholarships that could take us out of Merlton and give us a real future. Mr. Lavar was one of those men that were hard to forget. He was very well put together, always wearing a suit which showed his slender, yet muscular build. His dark chocolate skin tone made his teeth sparkle when he smiled and made every girl swoon at the sight of him. But Mr. Lavar's visits weren't only appreciated because of his charms and good looks, his success story was what most would call a miracle; and as much as I hated dressing up every time he came into town, I had to admit his story was amazing to hear.

"Alright now, you eat up those waffles and I'm gonna do something about that hair of yours."

Ma said to me as she pointed at the plate on the table.

"Aw, it's just perfect go on, go look at yourself." She said with a smile spread across her face. She had just finished detangling and brushing my hair. I went into the washroom and looked into the mirror. My kinky, nappy hair had been sleeked into an updo, and my curls sprouted from the top of the bun. It was nice, I usually had my hair cornrowed and it was a good change.

"Now, I layed down a dress on your bed hurry and go put it on. Your gonna look so dashing sweetie." She said with a shriek

"Ma," I said grumpily "You know you don't have to do all that. It's a presentation not a pageant and I don't think there's any scholarships for looking pretty."

"Well there should be, cause you know you'd get that without a doubt honey." I had been told many times that I was beautiful, mostly by elders in the community but I just brushed it off. I mean anything can be beautiful to someone who hasn't seen much. I  did appreciate my deep brown skin tone though, sometimes when the sun was out it was almost like my skin catched the sun rays and I was glowing, like I could be seen from miles and miles away. I put on the dress Ma laid down on my bed. I had a petite frame, most clothes just hung on me, unable to grasp my body. The dress was a washed out green color, with light pink roses all over and had a cinched waist. It looked real good, not anything you'd see in Vogue, but it did the job.

"Alright, now I'm just gonna put a bit of rouge on your cheeks and I'll let you be, alright?" Ma said as she approached me with some blush in her hand.

"Ma no! Its enough, I gotta go I'm gonna be late." I said in a haste as I rushed out the room.

I walked out the front door and saw  Delilah waiting outside. She bursted out laughing when she saw me.

"Stop it, you know Ma makes me dress like this and I can't do nothing about it." I tried to explain myself but Delilah kept on laughing as she slowly clapped her hands.

"I know, I know. She really went all out this time!" She said laughing hysterically. "Wait till Lavar gets a look at you, he's not gonna wanna leave after this!" Delilah's my best friend, has been since we were just babies. She loved to tease anyone and everyone any chance she got, it was annoying but I loved her anyway.

"Oh hush now, we're gonna be late," I said trying to steer the conversation. She put her hand on her mouth and tried to hold in her laughs. I quickly wrapped my arm around hers and we started walking towards school. My stomach began to feel queasy and I started to feel jittery all over at the thought of seeing Mr. Lavar again. We always spoke briefly when we got a chance and I was hoping we would today. I had so many question to ask him, but somehow I always forgot them when I saw him. I wondered how he felt about seeing me and I started to smile so hard I thought my lips were going to fall off.

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