Letters to Gibran

Chapter 7

Staying true to her words, Nikollette was outside my house right on 7:00am. I ran to the window and answered her raised hands and lips which read, What is taking you so long? I held up five fingers to indicate that I needed 5 minutes. My hair was too unruly to be in a ponytail so I ended up leaving it down. I didn't even have time to fix my bed which I was sure would irritate my mother but desperate times called for desperate measures.

I was debating between wearing a bikini and full piece but quickly went with the purple and white polka dot full piece. It was the conservative option for me. It wasn't that I was ashamed of my body. It was the thought of people staring or gawking at my body which made me decide against the bikini, not that I wouldn't have stood a chance against the half naked population at the beach.

I skipped the steps to at a time, with my small beach bag hitting against my backside. I quickly went into the kitchen to grab a bottle and find my mother. "Mum". I called from the back sliding door. I could hear the washing machine working to clean the average 6 loads a day of laundry. I couldn't even fathom the idea of our entire family producing that many dirty clothes a day but we did.

"Yes, Amira-Rose?" I jumped at the sound of my mother's voice from behind. I wasn't expecting her to be in the house. She was usually up and about outside this early in the morning.

"Nikollette is waiting for me outside. She's taking me to the beach. If that's okay with you?" I asked, realising that this was the first she was hearing about plans to the beach. To be fair, she was out all night, so I didn't have time to give her notice.

Growing up in a wog household, there were precepts that were inherent in our house. If you went out one night, then forget about asking to go out the next two or three days after because it was a no go. The next one, if you gave your parents short notice regarding plans already made then there was a 99 percent chance you'd be making an excuse to get yourself out of these plans because your parents wouldn't approve. I was praying my mother was feeling lenient today. My mother was usually the lenient one while my father on the other hand wouldn't budge. To my siblings, this was completely opposite. My father was usually the lenient one and my mother was adamant on her no to their plans. I blamed it on being the youngest of the family. The struggle was real.

She didn't answer me straight away and watched me like she was seeing me for the first time. It was quite unsettling. "Well?"

That seemed to break her bizarre trance that she was in. She shook her head slightly and for a second I thought she was saying no until I realised it was to wake herself from her moment.

"Of course you can but be home before 7pm. We have to visit your Aunty, she is going over seas". she smiled, ambling towards the kitchen.

I fist bumped the air, beaming like a ray of sunshine as I skipped to Nikollette's car. She jumped at the sound of the passenger door opening.

"You scared me," she whispered, breathlessly.

"Sorry". I said, putting the seatbelt around me.

She glanced over at me as she cranked up her car. "What took you so long?"

"Didn't give my mum enough notice".

She laughed, "Gotta love your family, Ami".

"Mhmmm" I closed my eyes as she pulled away from the curb, catching up on the missed sleep I had because of one boy who was driving me crazy with feelings I didn't know how to suppress.