Mr. Tan

Chapter 47: Graduation & Griefe

It was now late Thursday afternoon, my graduation day. The people that I invited were all gathered at the trailer, well some of them. The rest of them settled for meeting us at the Estela Pearson Theater. Any live performance or play was performed there and it was located in downtown Cleveland. Some nasty storms came through with isolated tornadoes early Tuesday morning and now the ceiling in the high school auditorium was leaking big time, right above the stage where our high school graduation was going to be originally taking place. The isolated tornadoes missed Sunnydale Mobile Estate, thank God. I wanted to use all seven of my tickets, so I invited anyone who mattered to me with the help of Earl. Earl and Ava were the first ones I gave tickets to of course. I also invited Adrian and Kelly, Earl contacted his younger sister all the way in Jackson whom I never met. Sheila Rae Tan and her girlfriend flew into town yesterday and they stayed at a 4 star hotel near the Estela Pearson Theater. I also invited Christina. She drove all the way from Jackson and left her kids back at home with their stepfather and his mother. Christina was staying at the same 4 star hotel that was two blocks away from the theater. Sheila and her girlfriend agreed to meet us at the theater. Kelly would be staying with Adrian as usual. It was 4:30 in the afternoon and the graduation wouldn't began until 7:00 but graduating seniors and their guest were urged to show up an hour early so seniors can have class photos taken by a professional photographer. I didn't bother preparing a speech because everything that I wanted say was going to come straight from the heart. Earl banned Ava from going outside to play cause he didn't want her ruining her dress and shoes. The ground was still damp from the rain that pummeled the Mississippi delta region and we saw very little sun, if any. Today was unusually mild for this time of year, in this part of the U.S, 70 degrees for a high and mostly cloudy. Technically, my last day of school was Monday, the day that I cleaned out my locker and returned all my books to the book room. I've been home ever since trying to keep my mind off of the tragedy that had befallen poor Jordan by filling out job applications, and focusing on my future baby, Earl and Ava. Earl was in the middle of turning the 3rd bedroom into a nursery for our future son or daughter. Earl kept the walls of the room the same sea foam green as the other walls in the trailer but only did some touch up painting in areas that needed it the most. With the help of Rhett, Earl was able to purchase a crib, nothing brand new but it was in good condition. It was a beautiful dark wooden crib that he bought from a middle aged couple across town. Earl polished it with varnish until it shinned like a brand new penny and he steam cleaned and sanitized the little white mattress inside the crib. I was only a few weeks pregnant so I wasn't really showing much. I saw the progress that Earl made with the nursery and I damn near cried from joy. 

"It ain't no longer my weight room, baby", he told me. I'm makin' it a nursery. 

Yeah, that's right, my man lifts weights and he used the empty third bedroom as an exercise room. He kept his weights and a treadmill in that bedroom until he started turning it into a nursery a week and a half ago. He moved all of his work out equipment into a basement like area beneath the trailer porch steps. Now, Ava sat on the floor in the living room between my knees as I cornrowed her long, dark, wavy hair. After I cornrowed, I added a wooden bead to the end of each braid. She took a shower an hour ago and I could still smell the peaches & champagne scent from the soap she used. She was in a blue spaghetti strapped sun dress that was decorated with pink and white flowers. The dress wasn't too revealing so Earl gave the okay for Ava to go ahead and wear it. She was barefoot because she was waiting for the blue polish on her toenails to finish drying. I offered to paint her toenails and fingernails blue because she wanted her nails to match her pretty dress. I had on a bright yellow sleeveless blouse and a dark blue denim high waist pencil skirt that came to my knees. I was also barefoot except for the sheer pantyhose I had on. Yesterday, me, Adrian and Kelly all went to get french pedicures and manicures. While we were out yesterday, we got caught up on each other's life details. Kelly graduated from high school earlier this month. No thanks to her mother, she has a secretary job already lined up for her at the board of education of Little Rock headquarters. The guy that she dated for a while broke up but on good terms. He was preparing to move to New York City and he couldn't promise that he'll be able to deal with a long distance relationship. Meanwhile, Adrian and her boyfriend will be celebrating their three year anniversary this Saturday. Adrian's great Aunt Angela was going out on a date herself with an older gentleman who drives limousines for a living. "I'm old, not dead", she would always say. I let my hair grow out a bit, so now I wore it in a short asymmetrical bob in my natural color; brownish-blonde. I wore a light layer of concealer on my face along with mascara, gold eye shadow and clear lip gloss. When Earl emerged from the back of the house, he looked so hot in his short sleeve solid white button down shirt and black dress slacks with shiny dark gray alligator skin shoes. He had on a black leather belt with a big shiny buckle. His face was freshly shaven, so without his 5 o'clock shadow fuzz I could see his chiseled cheekbones and defined chin. Earl smelled of sweet citrus musk.