Beneath The Waterfall

mama

As soon as I'd gotten home, I made sure to lock the door. Maverick Kingdom hadn't followed after me, thank goodness—I mean, not that I'd expected them to. I was a seventeen-year-old girl who minded her own business and kept her mouth shut, just like everyone else in this town.

Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.

I went to the kitchen with the groceries, washed my hands, and then started breakfast. Mama was still sleeping, I assumed, which was good. I wanted her to wake up and see a nice, homemade meal waiting for her. Not only that, but she needed the rest. She worked every single day except Sundays. Sundays she used to dedicate to Daddy and I suppose the tradition stuck with her. It stuck with both of us.

As a family, we did all sorts of things. We had picnics, walked trails, watched the waterfall on Old River, or we did something as simple as stay home and watch movies with a big bowl of popcorn on our laps. I missed those days with my family so much.

The memories made me remember my dream from last night—the blood surrounding Leon in Gray Waterfall. The dream didn't make any sense, but it felt like he was trying to tell me something important or warn me against something that was much bigger than words.

As I whisked the eggs in a bowl, my vision blurred. I stopped whisking to swipe my eyes with the back of my arm, and as I sniffled, a hand touched my shoulder.

I gasped and swung around, but Mama capped my shoulders, her brown eyes wide and worried as she held me in place. "Hey, hey. It's just me, Sienna. What's wrong, honey?" She looked me all over as I shook my head. Her hands then dropped to my arms. "You're all scratched up. What happened to you?" She ran the pad of her thumb over the scratch on my forehead.

"It's nothing," I lied. "I fell off my bike last night on the way from work. That's all."

She looked into my eyes, narrowing hers as if she knew I was telling half the truth.

I spoke up again, changing the subject to one I knew she wouldn't ignore. "I was thinking about Leon and Daddy."

Her mouth parted and she leaned back a fraction. I looked right at her, and of course my vision had blurred again.

"Oh, baby." She wrapped a hand around the back of my head, pulling my cheek to her chest. "Oh, sweetie. It's okay. I think about them every day. It's perfectly okay to."

I sniffled and hugged her for a little, then pulled away. Nodding, I said, "I'm fine. I just have little flashbacks and some dreams." I waved it off dismissively, stepping back. What I had wasn't exactly a dream. More like a nightmare.

"I have them too." Mama put a hand on her hip and threw one arm on top of her head, looking around the kitchen. My mom was very beautiful, and I wasn't just saying that because we were related or because she and I looked a lot alike.

Her eyes were a rich brown, and I was certain I'd gotten my full lips and light-brown freckles from her. She had wild, bushy hair and hardly ever wore it down because it made her too hot. She had a lot of hair, so I could understand how. While mine only touched just below my shoulder blades and was slightly thinner, hers could touch the middle of her back and was so thick I had to work double to get my fingers through it. Her hair was gorgeous.

There were only six African-American women I knew of that resided in Nantahala. My mother was one of the six, though she was only half black. My father looked more Caucasian so it was easier for him to blend in here, but for Mama, not so much.

It was sometimes embarrassing having a mom who cleaned houses for a lot of my peers' parents for a living. Mama had cleaned a house for Samantha Frasier's family once, and with how kind and talkative my mother is, she told Samantha's family all about how I was and how excited I was for her to have the job.

The next week, some of the kids at school were calling her the "Slave" of the town and apparently I was "Daughter Slave." I came home crying on the third day after I'd had enough and made Mama promise to never talk about me when she cleaned again. It was a mean promise, and I regretted it immensely after I'd calmed down, so much so that I had apologized and told Mama it was fine—that she could talk about me as much as she wanted, to whomever she wanted. She told me she wouldn't anymore because she wanted me to be happy and didn't want to embarrass me again.

"Could it be that you're upset because tomorrow is the anniversary of Leon's tragedy?" she asked quietly.

"Maybe." I dumped the eggs into the hot skillet and it sizzled instantly, then I went right to work, scrambling them up. "Are we visiting the grave today?" I asked without meeting her eyes.

She sighed, then leaned forward to kiss my temple. "Of course we are. Has to be early though. I have two shifts today. First one is at two."

I smiled up at her, when really I wanted to frown. I hated that she worked so much. I couldn't wait until I got a scholarship and then my degree so that I could get a good job—one where she wouldn't have to worry about paying bills.

"Okay, well I made pancakes. As soon as the eggs are done, we can eat."

She grinned. "Do the pancakes have cinnamon in them?"

I smiled over my shoulder and finished up the eggs. "Just the way you like them."

When the eggs were all done, I turned with the skillet, dumping a pile of them onto her plate and then mine. Mama took the pancakes out of the oven, where they were being kept warm, and placed them on the table. After pouring two glasses of milk, we sat and ate.

Mama talked about work and how she'd cleaned this one beautiful home a few minutes outside of Nantahala with a view of the river.
Then she paused, and I knew something was up by the saddened look on her face.

"What would you say if I told you I've been thinking about selling the house and getting us out of Nantahala?" she finally asked after a brief silence.

I stopped eating almost immediately, half-chewing. Her bright brown eyes shimmered from the rays of sunlight pouring through the window. "What makes you want to leave?" I asked after swallowing the bite in my mouth.

"Well, I've been thinking about it for a while now. I feel like after all we've been through here, that we need a fresh start, you know? Plus with that biker gang around, I just don't feel safe here anymore, especially with a daughter. I hear they are getting worse and worse with what they do and the police aren't doing anything about it to put a stop to it." She reached across the table to grab my hand. "I've been saving up, plus I have the money your Nana Kaimana left for your father. We could get an apartment or a condo in the city. I was looking into Charlotte. I could transfer my job with the same company. They have a franchise there too."

"Wow...um...okay." I swallowed hard, placing my fork down. For some reason, my appetite had been lost.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked with a forced smile.

"Nothing it's just so...random. I don't think I've ever heard you talk about leaving. You used to say you loved this town."

"I do love this town, but without your father and Leon, I just...I don't know. I feel like I've had such bad luck here. I don't want that to pass down to you too. You deserve to see more. Do more."

"But this house, Mama. All this land. I mean you can't just sell it. This house has created so many memories for our family."

She thought on that for a moment, lips twisting. "Perhaps I can put it up for rent then. That way it's still ours and we can come back whenever we want to."

Wow. This was all so sudden.

One thing about Mama was that she was very impulsive. If she had a plan, she was going to follow through with it, whether I was ready or not and when I looked at her, saw all the stars and hope filling her eyes, I knew she wanted this. She wanted to leave.

"Can I think about it?" I asked softly. I knew it wasn't my place to choose. After all, she was the one making the most money and paying for the majority of the bills. I only chipped in on the rainy days or for food. Either way, I knew Mama would give me the time and space to think so I could let it digest.

She smiled. "Of course, baby."