Read Online What We Learned Along the Way by Nadirah Angail - Free Book Online Page A

him.
    “And you were worried about what to wear,” he
said, taking her hand and twirling her around so he could have a
better look at the outfit. “You’re gorgeous,” he whispered into her
ear as he gave her a big hug. Langston smelled wonderful. She
didn’t want to let him go. Who knows how long she would have hugged
him if he didn’t say “You know I love hugging you, but we have to
get going.”
    Aliya was embarrassed, but his smile put her
back at ease. They held hands as they walked to the car. As they
drove, she thought about what Mariam told her, but she thought it
was too early in the night for serious talk. Instead, she talked
about how excited she had been all day, and how her day was at
work.
    “I’m glad I could add a little excitement to
your day. How long have you been a bartender?” he asked.
    She thought the question was a little random,
but she answered anyway. “Two years.”
    “So you started right out of high
school?”
    “Yep. I knew I could get good money without
doing all those years in college.”
    “You’ve never wanted to do anything else? I
mean career wise,” he asked, keeping his eyes on the road.
    “I’m only 20, you know. I still have a lot of
time to decide what I want to do with my life,” she said angrily.
She hated it when people asked her about her future plans, partly
because she didn’t really have any, but also because it reminded
her of her dad.
    Langston could sense her frustration. He put
his hand on hers. “Sorry if I’m getting too personal. I just want
to know more about you.” Aliya felt bad. People always told her she
had a temper. She didn’t want it to run Langston away.
    “I’m sorry, Langston.”
    “It’s okay,” he said as they pulled up to the
theater. The huge lit sign read “Why I Cry, Starring Linda
Washington and Derrick Lyons.”
    “I heard this play is amazing! How’d you know
I like the theater?”
    “I didn’t know. I just hoped you would,” he
said as he opened the door for her.
    He handed the tickets to the usher, who led
her to center seats in the second row.
    “2nd row, center? These seats are amazing. I
bet they were expensive. I hope you didn’t spend a lot of money on
them.”
    “Not really. I know the director,” he said.
Aliya wanted to say something else, but the lights started to go
down and the play was getting started. By intermission, she was so
engrossed in the play that she had forgotten all about what she
wanted to say. The play was excellent. It was only halfway over and
she had already laughed and cried. She made a quick bathroom run to
freshen up. While she was in the stall, she overheard some women
talking.
    “Girl, did you see that brother in the second
row?” one of the women asked.
    “The one with the gorgeous locs?” the other
asked.
    “Hell yea, the one with the locs,” the first
one answered. “Now, that man is fine.”
    “I know, but did you see little miss thing he
was sitting with? Fake wannabe model,” the second one said in a
jealous sounding voice.
    Aliya was used to woman talking about her for
no good reason, so she wasn’t surprised at what she was hearing. In
high school, she had to deal with jealousy. There was always some
classless girl in her face accusing her of trying to steal her man.
If only those girls knew that in high school, Aliya was already
dating college guys.
    Aliya came out of the stall and politely
squeezed past the two women to get to the sink. She could tell they
didn’t know she was in the stall and could feel their eyes burning
into her back. When she saw what they had on, she wanted to laugh.
Why did the worst dressed people have the most to say about
everyone else? They both wore horrible, blonde wigs that looked
like they had been thrown on their heads. One had on a too-small
gold, pleather dress that was way too low-cut and extremely too
short. The other looked like an extra from a second-rate rap video.
She wore a dingy pair of cut-off shorts and sparkly