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Chapter 31, Part 1
Back to: Chapter 30, Part 14 Next: Chapter 31, Part 2



“Hey,” Ms. Gibson said softly to her grandmother. “I’m going now.”

“Okay,” her grandmother replied, patting the younger woman’s hand softly. “Drive safe. They’re doing construction on Oak Street and will probably have nails and stuff like that laying out on the street.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Those kids are going to be awfully excited, aren’t they?”

“Very. It took me a while to track down those scholarships and grants.”

“I bet they’ll appreciate it.”

“Mm, I hope so.”

_________________________________________


“Mom, I really don’t appreciate having to put up with this,” Ophelia complained.

“What’s wrong now?” her mother asked, setting down the camera.

“I thought it was understood that there wouldn’t be a ton of pictures like there was for prom, for starters.”

“And why shouldn’t I take pictures of you?”

“It’s annoying. Are you trying to do this in case I die some horrible death, and you decide to have pictures of me up at my funeral? Is that it?”

“That’s a pretty morbid thought.”

“I wonder where I got it from… I distinctly remember you saying something about how funny it would be if someone stepped over a banana peel, and while they were laughing about their good luck, fell down an open manhole.”

“Point taken. But, honey, I’ll tell you what… I promise the last time I’ll take a ton of pictures of you is tonight. Graduation night, I’ll take one picture. One.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. Now smile.”

“Fine, I guess I can grit my teeth for the parental paparazzi for a few more minutes.”

__________________________________________


“Mooooom, please leave my hair alone,” Emily whined. “It’s fine. We need to get going.”

“Just let me smooth out that section,” her mother argued.

“It’s fine. Just leave it be. It’s supposed to look like this. We’re going to be late. Do you want us to be late and make fools of ourselves when we show up late?” Emily asked irritably, squirming away.

“You’re right,” her mother sighed. “You are an adult, more or less.”

“More or less?” AJ interjected. “Come on, Mom, she’s more of an adult than I am, that’s for sure.” He lightly nudged his mother. “Now, we need to get going, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” Mrs. Desjardin replied. “It’s just hard for me to think of you two as being adults, essentially. How did you two ever come from me? Just… be careful out there, okay? Drive safely.”

“We will,” AJ responded.

“Oh, I just sounded like a mother just now!”

“You are a mother,” Emily said. “Come on, AJ, let’s get going.”

____________________________________________


“You’re a real disappointment to the family,” Elizabeth Royale said sharply.

“Yeah, I know. You remind me of that every day,” Tiffani replied, peering at her reflection.

“I’ve done nothing but be a good mother to you and your sisters, and this is how you repay me. I swear, Tiffani, you’re going to be the death of me. You’re getting more and more unfeminine by the day. What man will ever want you? How will you ever expect to get married now?”

Tiffani sighed and turned from the mirror, rolling her eyes. “Look,” she said firmly, “I know you planned for me to do the whole domestic thing, but guess what, Mom. Sometimes kids do things other than what their parents plan for them to. And marriage isn’t important to me. If I never get married, it’ll be no skin off of my back. Marriage isn’t necessary for me to be happy. I like who I’ve become. Don’t think of me as being a failure. Think of me as branching out from humble beginnings. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be heading to the award show at the school.”

“Don’t go!” her mother cried out.

“Why?”

“They… they’ll all laugh at you.”

“Yeah, sure, and then they’ll dump pig blood on me, and I’ll end up killing tons of people and setting the school on fire and come back and kill you. Look, Mom, I know I didn’t end up how you wanted, but at least let me live my own life.”

“You’ll be sorry.”

“Funny, I haven’t felt bad about any of the times I’ve done my own thing this year,” Tiffani replied, turning from her mother and striding out the door.

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