The Last Lap

Chapter Two

The first thing I did as soon as I stepped in was take off my shoes. First right then left and placed them on the old shoe rack behind the door between my coal black Adidas Superstars and my father's old construction boots. Had my brother been home he would've left his polished black shoes behind and left me no space. Those were the only shoes he wore outside.

"Hello?" My mother called out to me, peeking from the kitchen into the living room, "Ema, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me," I called out to her before walking into the room. On the television was Ceca, a famous Serbian singer that most people in the Balkans idolized. She had a few good songs and occasionally I listened to them but her marriage to the biggest Serbian General was a constant reminder of the difference between us. For many it felt like betrayal to listen to her.

"Where's Jia?" My mom asked me.

"She went home. Where's Semir?"

"Semir left. Bogami, I don't know where."

"How are you going to let him go somewhere without knowing?"

"Just like that, I guess."

"Great," I replied sarcastically. I waved to my aunt and uncle on the couch and kissed them both on the cheek. They were strangers from a foreign land but still greeted me the cultural way they were all taught. They started to interview me.

"Ema, my sweet girl, how was school?" My aunt sipped on her black Turkish coffee. I dipped a sugar cube into my mother's small coffee cup. The small grains melted onto my tongue. It was heaven.

"It was okay. It's the same as it was yesterday, Tetka," I told her. Everyday was the same here. Same people and same actions. I couldn't wait to get out.

"What did you do until now?" my Uncle turned down the television. His hearing was poor but his analyzation skills were not. He spread his legs down the sofa and put a pillow under his head.

"I went to practice and then I went to eat and dzamija," I sat down next to them.

"What is that in your hands?"

I lifted the piece of opened mail that I picked up, "This is something for college. Why is it open?" I frowned at my mother.

My mom looked at me, "I wanted to see what they had to say."

"Mom, this is my mail. Why would you open it? It's my first acceptance and I'm not even the first one to open it," I shot up right off the couch.

"Ema, be quiet. You're acting up in front of our guests," She finally said in English. A pang of guilt and anger flowed through me as my eyes began to turn into Niagara Falls.

"I have to go take a shower. Goodnight," I said before climbing up the stairs.

The fatigue I tried to avoid was catching up to me. I leaped on top of my bed and opened the packet I received from the college my mother was so passionate about. Why did she have to open it? Why didn't she understand the concept of privacy?

I opened the folder labeled with the college name and mascot. It was a deep blue and felt like a treasure chest being opened for the first time. Inside was a letter with the standard congratulations and next step. I'd even been accepted into the honors program and awarded a scholarship. It was only fourteen thousand dollars a year. Tuition was about thirty-thousand.

I sighed and threw the paper on the top of my desk. A collection of clean clothing piled in my arms before entering the jack and jill style bathroom. I entered the separate shower room, starting the water before turning up the music from my phone, trying to drown out the voices outside the door.