The Last Lap

Prologue

Prologue

One Year Ago

My family, unlike most in our prominently white and Catholic town, did not celebrate Christmas. As I stood in line to buy a bag of peppermint Hershey's kisses in an ugly Christmas sweater and the gold necklace with the Holy Qur'an my grandmother gave me, I felt like I was betraying all the values they taught me for the past seventeen years. Then again, they were on vacation and I was staying with my aunt who cared more about life back in Bosnia than what I was wearing or where I was going.

"Tetka, I'm going for a walk."

A very long walk indeed.

In the store, I stood behind my best friend Jia, one of the only Korean-Americans that lived in Westbrook, and waited for the line to get shorter. It didn't seem like we were getting any closer to the cashier as the minutes ticked by. The familiar tune of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" streamed out of the speakers and I slowly began to hum along to it without thinking. The multi-colored LED lights lined up on each check out lane and tinsel decorated the small polls that held up the numbers.

The employees wore Christmas-inspired apparel. A young girl, who was maybe a year older than me, sat at our check out lane. She wore a striped sweater with a small name tag that read, "Sylvia" and a small snowman sticker beside it. Her hair was braided and tucked back and her shirt creaseless. Sylvia, like most teenagers, wore the expression that suggested she was ready to cut the throat of the next person even if they asked her the simplest of questions.

"Next."

I looked at her shyly and handed her my store card. She swiped it before she gave it back to me. Jia put her gift for our best friend, Jasmyn, on the conveyor belt next to my bag of pure sugar and started to pull out her wallet. I put my hand over hers before nodding. 

"Don't worry. I got it."

She looked at me with wide eyes, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I assured her. I knew that I could spare a few dollars for some candy even if those were the only dollars I had left saved from my Bajram money.

I handed over my remaining savings and Sylvia just barely put the receipt in the bag. I gave it to Jia so I could open my seasonal chocolates. Occasionally, I bought them in bulk off Amazon but I ran out of it two days ago and I wasn't rich enough to pay for prime shipping. It sucked not being allowed to have a job.

"Merry Christmas. Next customer."

I mumbled, "You too," and popped a minty piece of chocolate into my mouth. As soon as I closed the door of her sedan she blasted her favorite Christmas song, "Last Christmas", covered by one of her favorite Korean Pop bands. On her rearview mirror hung a Buddha symbol and a small South Korean flag.

"Ema, when is your mom going to come home tonight?" Jia asked me.

"I don't know and I don't care. I'm going to see if I can sleep over at Jasmyn's and finally escape from my family for once."

"As Jasmyn would say, don't be a dumb broad. Won't you get in trouble?" She turned the corner to join the lane. Her car was nice. She kept it clean, like the rest of her things with the exception of her closet which was an atomic bomb waiting to happen.

"I mean yeah, but it's not the first or last time."

She sighed. "Okay, do what you want."

"Thanks, Mom." I gave Jia a pat on the shoulder. She flinched before smiling.

"You wish I was your mom," She rolled her eyes.

"I really do sometimes. You don't understand how crazy Bosnians are."