Lelani peered at it. “It might be collectible.”
“That reminds me.” Megan put it back in the box, then told Lelani about her mom’s offer to help. “She’s actually into this kind of stuff. And she has books and everything.”
“That’s great. I was wondering about the logistics of all this. I mean do you price every item, or do you just throw it out there and let people tell you how much they want to pay for things?”
“The way my mom used to do it was to clean and price everything. And then she would organize it to look like a store.”
“Will she do that for Kendall?” Lelani looked hopeful.
Megan shook her head. “Unfortunately, she can only spare a couple of days.”
Lelani sighed. “Too bad.”
“But I promised to help Kendall, so I better not back out now.”
“Kendall actually offered to cut me in on the profits if I’d keep helping her.”
“She offered to cut you in?” Megan felt slightly betrayed now.
“I’m sure she’d give you a piece of the action too.” Lelani picked up an old electric coffee pot. “Here, you can have this.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“But, seriously, maybe Kendall should give us something in return for our help.” Lelani brightened. “Like a week or two of free rent?”
“Hey, that sounds good to me,” admitted Megan.
Lelani looked hopeful now. “And that might make up for my week off.”
“What week off?”
“Oh, I stupidly accepted a week off during spring break.”
“Are you going somewhere?”
Lelani shook her head. “That’s just the problem.”
“Then why did you—”
“Mr. Green was being pestered by some girls for time off and he asked me if I wanted spring break and I said yes.”
“I’m sure you could use a break, Lelani.”
“To do what?” Lelani set her glass in the dishwasher. “In fact, that’s what my coworkers asked, and I blurted that I was going home to Maui.”
“Oh, that sounds lovely.”
“Except that I’m not.”
“Oh.”
“I only said that to make them jealous.”
“I’m sure it worked.”
“Yes. It worked on them, but now I’m stuck with a week off, no pay, and no place to go.”
“Why don’t you go home to Maui?”
Lelani’s brow creased. “You know, I’ve actually been thinking about it. And Gil has been encouraging me to go.”
“Why don’t you?” Megan said earnestly. “You’ve said how much you’d like to see Emma. Why not just use that week to go over there. All it would cost you is airfare.”
Lelani nodded without answering.
“Seriously, Lelani. It’s like it’s meant to be. You have the time off. And didn’t you say once that you have an open-ended return fare ticket?”
“To get back there. But then I wouldn’t have the fare to come back here.”
“Oh. Right.”
Lelani’s eyes brightened. “But it would be so good to see Emma.”
“Then do it!” Megan grabbed Lelani by the arm. “Come on, just do it!”
Now Lelani looked directly at Megan. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll do it if you’ll come with me.”
“Me?”
“Yes!” Lelani looked excited now. “You’re such a strong person, Megan. If you would come with me, I think I could handle it.”
“Seriously?”
“Absolutely.”
Megan considered this. Spring break in Maui didn’t sound half bad. And she knew she could afford it. She still had money in her savings from her dad.
“Will you come?” begged Lelani. “Please?”
“I’m not sure.”
“All you’ll need is airfare. We’ll stay at my parents’. They have a separate guesthouse and everything. It’s right on the beach and—”
“Yes!” said Megan eagerly. “I’ll come.”
Lelani threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly. “Thank you! Thank you!” And then Gil was there to pick up Lelani, and Megan was left to wonder at what she’d just agreed to do. Still, Maui in March … how bad could it be?
Six
Lelani
“You seem in good spirits tonight,” said Gil as he helped Lelani into the cab of his pickup.
She just smiled, watching as he hurried back around to the driver’s side and hopped in. Then he turned and looked into her eyes. “I was worried that you’d be mad at me.”
“Why?” She continued to smile.
“Why?” He frowned. “Remember last night? My grandmother?”
Lelani just laughed. “Oh, that’s over and done, Gil. Anna filled me in on what happened afterward, and I think that it’s all for the best. In fact, I’d been trying to come up with a way to lay all my cards on the table. Your grandmother just helped me.”
“If it’s any consolation, my dad and grandpa think you’re wonderful. They loved how you stood up to Abuela and just spoke the truth. Most people in our family are afraid of her.”
“Including you and Anna?”
“Not me. I’ve always been able to wrap my grandmother around my finger. But Anna, well, that’s a different story. Still, I think it helped her to see your boldness. She stood up to all of them after you and Edmond made your getaway.”
“Good for Anna.” Now Lelani frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just hope … well, that I can be that strong when I stand up to my own parents.”
“And is that happening any time soon?”
“Actually …” Lelani told him about her plans to go to Maui for spring break. “And I couldn’t have done it if Megan hadn’t agreed to go too.”
Now Gil looked slightly hurt as he started the engine.
“I needed someone to help me be stronger,” she told him. But she could tell that wasn’t helping. “And I would’ve asked you, Gil,” she said.
“Really?”
“But my parents …” She shook her head. “They’re a little old-fashioned.”
Gil sort of smiled now. “Oh, I wouldn’t know anything about that.”
“No, I figured you wouldn’t.” She sighed. “But it’s going to be hard enough to go back there and figure out this thing with … Emma. But taking my boyfriend—” She stopped herself now.
“It’s okay,” he said eagerly. “You can call me your boyfriend.”
“It’s just that I’ve never done that before.”
He frowned again. “And you don’t want to now?”
“That’s not it.”
“You’re just not as into me as I’m into you?”
“No.” She turned and looked at him as he drove. “No, that’s not it at all.”
There was a long silence as Gil drove toward the city. Lelani bit her lip as she struggled over what it was she wanted to say. And yet it felt like the words were tied into tight little twisted knots and wedged inside of her. Even if she could unleash them, she knew she had no idea how they would come out or what they would even mean.
“Sorry,” he said as he slowed down for a stoplight. “I didn’t mean to pressure you.”
She reached over and laid her hand on his arm. “That’s not it, Gil. It’s just that I still have so many things to figure out. So much baggage. Sometimes it’s hard for me to know how I feel about anything.”
“Including me?”
She took in a deep breath, centering herself, preparing herself to be honest with him. “This is how I feel about you, Gil: You are the best friend I have ever had. And I am continually grateful for your friendship. You mean more to me th
an I thought was even possible.”
“Honestly?” He brightened now.
“Honestly.” That was the truth. And it felt good to speak the truth. If only it was always so easy to know the truth.
Sunday afternoon, the roommates continued trying to sort, clean, and organize all the junk that Kendall had retrieved from the attic. But Kendall, as usual, was dragging her heels.
“I’m tired,” she complained as Lelani brought yet another box to where Kendall had been posted at the kitchen sink. Her job was to wash, dust, or wipe down the objects that seemed worthy of putting in the garage sale. But the piles on the dirty side seemed to be growing more quickly than the piles on the clean side.
“We’re all tired,” Lelani pointed out. “And everyone except you has to go to work tomorrow, Kendall. So don’t complain.”
“Besides, this is your garage sale,” Megan reminded her.
“But it was your idea,” protested Kendall.
“Then maybe I should take a cut from the profits,” Megan threatened. And that seemed to quiet Kendall. At least for the moment.
Megan returned to the garage, and Lelani picked up a wet rag and began washing an old kerosene lamp that was blackened on the inside and covered with dust and grime on the outside. But it had a nice shape to it and, as far as Lelani could see, no cracks. “This lamp is kind of pretty,” she said to Kendall, who was using the sink sprayer to clean an encrusted metal object that Lelani couldn’t even recognize.
“Pretty ugly, you mean?”
“Whatever.” Lelani continued to scrub.
“Maybe if you rub it hard enough a genie will appear,” teased Kendall.
“And I would wish for what?”
“A million dollars.”
“Why settle for just a million?” asked Lelani.
“You’re right. A billion. That should last me awhile.”
Lelani didn’t say anything.
“I know you think I’m stupid.”
“I never said that.”
“But you do.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because you’re so smart. You went to school to be a doctor and it sounds like you could have made it through.” Kendall made a face now. “Except that in a way you were as dumb as me. You got pregnant.”
“So you think getting pregnant is sign of a lesser intellect?”
“Back in high school, I always heard that smart girls didn’t get knocked up.”
“That’s a lovely way of putting it.”
“Okay then, pregnant.”
“What about our mothers? Were they stupid?”
“Not if they found themselves a rich man first. That’s what my mom did. Otherwise, I’m sure my dad wouldn’t have married her.”
“Are you saying your mom got pregnant in order to get your dad to marry her?”
“Oh, they don’t talk about it, but when my parents celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary—years ago—I realized that my oldest sister’s twenty-fifth birthday was only five months away. I was in grade school then, but it didn’t take long for me to figure that one out.”
“And your point is?”
“I don’t know.” Kendall pushed a strand of blond hair away from her face. “I guess I’m just rambling.”
“So how are you feeling?” Lelani began carefully. “About the baby I mean?”
“Besides fat?”
“Yes, besides fat.”
“And besides tired?”
“Yes.” Lelani grew irritated. “I mean how are you feeling in regard to carrying your baby to term?”
“You mean am I still thinking about terminating my pregnancy?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh.”
“I thought I should go in and meet with someone tomorrow.”
“Meet with someone?”
“You know, like Planned Parenthood or one of those places that doesn’t cost much. I don’t have any health insurance and I can’t really ask my parents to help me out with this.”
“Oh.” Lelani took in a deep breath. “And what will you ask about when you go to—wherever it is you decide to go?”
“I don’t know. But I heard they offer counseling.”
“So what will you tell them?”
“That I’m not happy about this. That I’m too young to be a mother. That I don’t like what it’s doing to my body, not to mention my social life.”
Lelani set down the kerosene lamp with a thud.
“Careful there,” warned Kendall. She looked at the lamp. “Hey, that looks really nice. Do you think it might be valuable?”
Lelani considered this. “Well, you didn’t think it was worth much before I cleaned it, did you?”
“Not really.” Kendall picked up the lamp and looked more closely. “But this looks like a different lamp.”
“Some things increase in value when we perceive them as such.”
Kendall frowned and set down the lamp. “Couldn’t you speak in plain English, please?”
Lelani reached over and turned off the water. She handed Kendall a dishtowel and said, “Come here, I want to show you something.” Then she led Kendall to her bedroom and set her down on the comfy rocker.
“Hey, this is more like it,” said Kendall as she sighed and leaned back.
Meanwhile, Lelani turned on her laptop. She Googled “photos of unborn babies” and waited for some Web sites to appear. Then she went to one and searched for a photo of a twelve-week-old baby in the womb. Lelani had seen images like this before, but this photo was so clear, so sweet, that she couldn’t help but gasp. “Oh, my!”
“What?” demanded Kendall. “What are you doing?”
“Have you ever seen photos of unborn babies?”
“Huh?”
Lelani put the computer in Kendall’s lap and pointed to the image. “See those fingers, those toes, that little leg?”
Kendall just nodded.
“That’s what your baby looks like right now.”
“My baby?” Kendall looked puzzled. “Right now?”
“These are photos of babies that are almost exactly the same age as the baby that’s growing inside of you, Kendall. Look at how well formed they are. Isn’t it amazing?”
Kendall was looking. And she did seem amazed. She just stared and stared and, without saying a word, Lelani clicked onto more images. “Aren’t they beautiful?” Lelani said finally.
Kendall just nodded. “They look like tiny people.”
“They are tiny people. They’re babies who are growing and developing and getting ready to be born.”
Kendall didn’t say anything, but she reached down and touched her stomach. “I’ve never seen pictures like that,” she admitted.
Lelani removed the laptop and sat on her bed. “So, do you see why Megan and Anna and I have a hard time when you call it a fetus, or fetal tissue?”
Kendall nodded again. Now she was rocking gently in the chair with both hands on her stomach. “I just never imagined anything like that, Lelani. I remember girls looking at pictures like that in school, like in biology or something, but I was always kind of grossed out by them. I never wanted to look. Like I thought ignorance was bliss, you know?”
“Not exactly.” Lelani sighed. “I’ve always been fascinated by science and things like that.”
“One of those brainy girls.”
“Yeah, one of those brainy girls who got pregnant.”
Kendall smiled. “Yeah, whatever.”
“So, do you still want to talk to someone about having an abortion?”
Kendall just kept rocking now, looking down at her midsection as if trying to see the baby tucked within her. “I don’t know.�
��
“I mean it is your decision,” said Lelani. “And I can’t tell you what to do. But I just think it needs to be an informed decision. You know?”
“Yeah.” Kendall stood slowly now, as if she was very tired. “I guess so.”
“Why don’t you go have a rest?” she suggested.
“Really?”
“Yeah. You’ve worked pretty hard. I think I can finish up the things in the kitchen.”
“Thanks.”
Lelani knew that Kendall was still torn. But maybe those photos would help her to see things differently, the way that lamp, which had looked worthless to Kendall, suddenly appeared valuable when it was clean and shiny. Not so much different from a so-called fetus of unformed tissues compared to a real live baby with delicate fingers and toes.
“Let me guess,” said Megan when she discovered Lelani was working by herself in the kitchen. “Kendall wimped out again?”
“I told her to take a break.” Then Lelani told Megan about the online photos.
“Wow, that was a great idea,” said Megan. “Did it change her mind?”
“Not yet. But I don’t think it hurt anything.”
“I told my mom about going to Maui,” Megan said as the two of them cleaned up the remaining items in the kitchen.
Lelani nodded. A part of her was glad to hear Megan’s enthusiasm. But another part of her wished that she hadn’t invited Megan. That way it would be easier to forget about the whole thing.
“My mom’s travel agent is trying to find me a good deal on airfare. She wanted to know which airlines you fly on.”
“Hawaiian. They used to have a direct flight from Portland to Maui, but I think it’s through Honolulu now. Then you take an interisland flight.”
“So should we book our flights together?” asked Megan eagerly.
“Yes.” Lelani nodded. “Of course.”
“My mom said the sooner we book them, the better the rate will be. How about if I give her agent your phone number?”
“That’s perfect.”
“I’m really looking forward to this,” gushed Megan. “I mean I wasn’t so sure at first, but I realized that was nuts. This is going to be great.” Now Megan’s face clouded over slightly. “Except for one thing.”
Spring Broke Page 6
