“There was a time when I thought about donating the set,” Faye said. “Many times, actually. But there has always been something of me that told me to me keep it. And at this point I’d rather pass it on to my goddaughter.”
“I hope it's a long, long time before it gets passed onto me,” Sabrina said. “I don’t want to be going over your will anytime soon.”
“Oh Bean, stop that,” she said. “Your Aunty Faye is still kicking just fine. I’m sixty-five years old and haven't even had my mid-life crisis yet. It'll be decades before you'll be able to get rid of me.”
“Thanks for bringing it out, Aunty. It really is beautiful.”
Just then the kettle screamed and steam pooled into the air above the stove.
“Oh.” Faye jumped and prepared to stand up.
“I got it,” Sabrina said and stood to retrieve the kettle. She poured the hot water into the tea pot and tossed a couple of tea bags in with it. After a few minutes of letting it steep, Sabrina distributed the tea into two of the cups and carefully handed one to her godmother.
“Thank you, Bean.” Faye nodded her head as she accepted the cup and saucer. “And congratulations about the job.”
She held her glass up, as if to “Cheers” the occasion. Sabrina did the same.
“Thank you, Faye,” Sabrina said. She blew carefully on her tea before taking a sip. “Without your support and advice, I wouldn't have gotten the position.”
“Nonsense,” Faye said, after taking a small sip of tea. “You did it on your own.”
Sabrina didn't say anything. There was no arguing with Faye about subjects like this.
“So I'll bet your parents were happy for you,” Faye said, after a few seconds of pause.
“Yeah,” Sabrina said blankly. “I mean, I think they were. ”
“Oh love, don’t kid yourself now,” Faye scolded. “I know they are.”
“You know how it is, though,” Sabrina said. “I told them, but we were only able to talk for about twenty minutes before they both had to leave for work.”
“Yes. I know how it is.” Faye blew gently at the top of her tea. “But you can’t ever think that it’s because they don’t love and support you.”
“I know. I would never think that. But it’s just…” Sabrina paused to collect herself. “I don’t know. I would have loved to have been able to spend some time with them before I leave tomorrow. Something I can think back to while I’m gone for the next few months. I've never been away and I'm honestly afraid I'm going to get homesick.”
Sabrina directed her gaze to the cup and saucer in her hand, not wanting to meet Faye’s eyes.
“How about this?” Faye said. “How about in all those upcoming moments when you need something to think back to, think about why it is that you wanted the job in the first place. Think about where it's going to lead you. I know you'll miss home and we'll all miss you too. But now is the time when you should focus on where you're going and not where you're from. What you're doing now might just be the thing that gets you and your parents out of this place, which I know is something you've always wanted. Don't let your emotions get in the way of that.”
“You're right,” said Sabrina. “There’s no bigger motivation in the world than how badly I want to get my parents out of here. Out of their trailer, out of this park, out of this life..”
“And that’s what makes you so special,” Faye said. “There’s not a lot of people around here with the gumption to actually do it.”
“But I can’t do any of that without college.”
“One step at a time, love.” Faye’s voice was gentle but affirmative. “One step at a time.”
“I know,” Sabrina said. “And this is the first step.”
“Yes, it is.” Faye nodded and took another sip of tea. She exhaled and brought the cup back down to the saucer in her lap before speaking again. “Listen to me, Bean. You’re a special girl. You were made for bigger and better things that you just can’t find around here. Your parents have worked hard to raise you as best they could, and they instilled a lot of great qualities in you. And you yourself have many tremendous qualities. I saw it from day one. For people like you, the position you started from is not a handicap, but a tool for motivation. You will move on from this place and you will go on to succeed, but don’t forget, it takes time.”
Sabrina nodded as she took it all in. Her godmother had a hypnotic quality, the ability to place everything into its proper perspective. It’d always been that way, so much so that Sabrina now associated Faye’s London-style accent with feelings of familiar comfort. When Faye spoke from her heart, Sabrina heard words laced with the melody of a well-known song.
Faye’s lips smoothed into a warm smile. “You know I’m going to miss you.”
“Oh Aunty, don’t start that.” Sabrina glared at her over her teacup. “I don’t know if I can handle many more goodbyes right now.”
“You can handle a lot. More than you think,” Faye said. “Especially one more goodbye for your Aunty. Besides, you are my goddaughter. And sometimes you feel like my real daughter.”
“Sometimes?” Sabrina said, knowing she’d caught Faye on a slip. They both laughed.
“Not a day has passed where I haven’t thought of you as one of my own,” Faye said. “How about that?”
“Yeah, that’s better.” Sabrina grinned and took another sip of tea.
It was after nine and completely dark when they finally got around to bidding their final farewell. The time had been spent talking about anything and everything besides her new job and the fact that she’d be leaving town in a matter of hours. And they hadn’t talked about Marco either, although Sabrina had bit her tongue several times in order to keep herself from bringing him up.
Sabrina departed and made her way back to her parent's trailer. It was a stroll she had made more times than she could count.
I’ve got to get home and get packed, she thought.
Then out of nowhere, her father’s words flashed into her mind.
We’ll be here when you get back, he’d said to her, during their conversation that morning.
Sure you will, Sabrina thought. But you won’t be stuck here forever. Not if I can help it.
Chapter 4
Marco
Marco sat in the back of the rented Lincoln Town-car. He was quickly realizing that he was far too tall to be sitting in the back seat.
“Valetta, I thought we rented the biggest car we could find,” he said, attempting to stretch his long legs. “I’m cramped back here.”
“This is the biggest car they had,” Valetta said, as she looked up into the rear view mirror and smirked. She brought her gaze back to the road as she pulled the car off of the highway and into a suburb near downtown Memphis. “Unless we wanted to rent a limousine, but then that would have defeated our efforts of trying to remain inconspicuous.”
“Good point,” Marco said. “I’m starting to wonder if that would have been a better option, though. I'm not sure how we're all going to fit.”