Read Online Everything by Jeri Williams - Free Book Online

no.”
    “Well, we knew that.”
    “Yeah, but I was hoping since I am an adult and all she would at least listen to me before shooting me down.”
    “Well, you get an A for amazingly nice try,” I said as I gave her two thumbs up and a halfhearted smile.
    “Whatever. Your life is gonna suck without me in it every day, heifer,” she said vehemently. “I mean, I’m awesome, so I’ll do fine, but you will wither and die without me.”
    I knew that underneath all that overconfidence, she was just as upset by this sudden move as I was. “You’re my sandbox and always will be,” I said, hugging her. “And you are awesome,” I added, ignoring the “wither and die” crack.
    “And you better not forget it, bitch,” she said haughtily.
    “Oh, I don’t think you’d let me.” I smiled. We could still make this work.
    “I want an Opal update every day. You know I needs my fix,” she rubbed her hands together. “Speaking of which, I know you were there when I called, so what tale do you have for me today?”
    I sat down on her bed and folded my legs underneath me, while Justina laid out sideways on the bed. I began to tell her the fried toad story.
    “Wait, so she actually had it just frying away?” she interrupted.
    “Yup.”
    “What did it smell like?” she asked, making a face.
    “I don’t know, actually. At some point she had actually cooked catfish, so all I smelled was that and I assumed that’s what she was cooking.”
    “ Dios mío . I think I would have blown my chunks right there in the frying pan next to the toad.”
    “Thanks so much for that visual, aguh,” I said as I swallowed back bile for the second time this morning.
    “I’m going to miss vieja loca . She was my daily entertainment in this sleepy-ass town.”
    “I’m glad my aunt could be around for your entertainment pleasure,” I said sarcastically.
    “Honey, she is everyone’s entertainment pleasure as of late,” she stated with a raised eyebrow.  
    “True, but now who’s going to point that out to me?” I smiled at her.
    “Oh, I’ll still point it out. It’ll just be a long-distance point-out.” She held up her cellphone. “These puppies still work two hours away, you know.”
    “Really,” I feigned surprise. “What will they think of next?”
    We laughed. But then Tina stopped and looked at me seriously for a minute. She had propped herself up on her elbows while listening to my Opal story but now was facing me cross-legged on the bed. She took my hand in hers. “Look, I know how you feel about change and you think this will change things with us, but I promise you, Dacey—it won’t. I’m still going to be here for you. Two hours is not that far, and you can always call me and I will be here. You can visit if you need to get away from Opal or your dad and his shit or whatever. My house, wherever I am, is still su casa , okay?”
    That did it. I had held it together this entire time up until she said that. Once I let one tear fall, they all came down. Tina soon joined in, and we just sat there like that and cried.
    “Okay, we need to stop. It’s not like we will never see each other again,” I said, getting up and fetching some tissues from the bathroom.
    “I would cry too if I wasn’t going to see my face every day. It’s understandable,” she said, and then loudly blew her nose into the tissue I handed her.
    “Yeah, didn’t say that.”
    “You were thinking it. You didn’t have to say it.”
    We made our way back downstairs, and her mom hugged me, noticing our red eyes.
    “Girls, this is not the end of the world. It’s only Miami. And Dacey, you’re welcome anytime.”
    “I already told her, Mom,” said Tina, clearly still upset with her.
    “Well, I’m telling her too,” said Mrs. D, smiling at me in a motherly manner.
    I hugged Tina again and left noticing the time. Shit! I was going to be late for class, again.  
    I slid into the back of the classroom again as the professor gave me