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She owns nothing. Not even those hand-me-down blues records singing in her eyes.
Essence is all smiles because now her arms are wrapped around Malachi. Essence and Malachi have been together since freshman year. They are the only couple at Richmond High who might actually know what love is. They love like spring.
Essence’s mom is a cracked vase. A woman who used to hold beauty.
Her head falls back and she laughs up to heaven, showing God her smile before the rest of us see it.
There is no bubble wrap to put the frames in, so she takes a black marker, writes FRAGILE on the box. I think maybe that note is not only about what’s in the box, but the girl packing it.
Every morning, I check the tree outside my house. I want to see the process of change, not just the outcome. I want to know what it looks like when tree branches wave good-bye to summer.
How many pleas for school closings does heaven hear?
Devin lives on a dead-end street. Cars accidentally turn onto this block, and the drivers soon realize they can’t get where they want to go. It is a street of mistakes, a disappointment.
“I guess Tasha has a point.” I barely get the words out. “Blood is thicker than water.” Tony turns the engine off. “But you can’t survive without either.”
June. The flowers are breathing again. The sun lingers, and days last and last. I have packed away winter, spring. Pushed their clothes to the back of my closet. But I keep my umbrella out.
