“I bet he had the same look on his face that your mother had when she saw me.”
“Shoot, he looked like he was having an out-of-body experience, the way he kept staring at me.”
“It would be something if you were really sisters,” Erika, the head cheerleader, said.
“I’m not adopted,” Afrika said before Asia had a chance to speak.
“Neither am I,” Asia added, looking at the group that now stared back at her. “It’s a coincidence that we sort of have some of the same features. We’re not twins, not sisters, and we’re not adopted. So cool it.”
Afrika nibbled on her pizza and allowed the others to continue with their conversation. This was the first time that she’d seen Asia become upset over the comparison between the two of them. She knew who she was…she was the daughter of Setrina and Raphael, and that was it.
Lost in her thoughts, Afrika put the pizza down and recalled the text her mother sent her. She pulled out her cell phone and looked at the message again. There was no rhyme or reason to the message. She shut the phone, picked up her pizza, and began to nibble on it again.
“Earth to Nikki,” Asia said, now standing over her with tray in hand. “Girl, you aren’t tripping about all that crazy talk about us being adopted, are you?”
“Hell no,” Afrika said. “I know who I am and who my parents are. After awhile, they’ll be saying that the whole cheerleading squad is sisters since we wear the same makeup and the same hairstyle at all our games.”
“You’re right. After cheer practice, why don’t we go to my house? My brother’s birthday is today and I’m going to drop his gift off. My mom will probably have cake and ice cream. I’d go tomorrow, but since we have a football game and the Ques are giving the party of the year, Trevor won’t see me tomorrow.”
“I can’t believe a week’s gone by already since we went to my mom’s house. I was supposed to remind you to get the present. Sorry, I forgot.”
“Don’t worry about it. My handy-dandy BlackBerry reminded me. So, are you up to going with me?”
“I don’t know. I have a lot of homework to do, Asia.”
“Nikki, this is Friday night. You have all day Sunday to do your homework.”
“Well…
“What’s there to think about? After practice?”
“Okay,” Afrika relented, her mother’s warning sounding an alarm in the pit of her stomach. “Okay.”
5
“Hey, hey, hey. Do it Eagles. Do it Eagles. Do it Eagles. Eagles Do it. Hey, hey, hey. Heeeeey! Go Eagles!!”
“Good practice,” the cheerleading coach announced. The squad that was fifteen strong kicked their legs and clapped their hands. “You all are dismissed.”
Afrika and Asia picked up their gym bags and headed toward Asia’s car. “Nikki, why are you dragging your feet?”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to meet your family.”
“Look, Nikki. We are down to earth. We live life to the fullest and love to have fun.”
“It’s awfully late,” Afrika said, offering another excuse.
“You wouldn’t be saying that if we were going to one of those frat parties. Look, I’ll drive extra slow, if that would make you feel better. I know how you feel about my driving. We have to go to Chapel Hill; so let’s go.”
“We’re not going to a frat party, Asia. Meeting the parents is a whole different matter, but I’ll go.”
“I don’t know what the big deal is; I just want to give Trevor his birthday present.”
“Well, let’s go.”
Asia maneuvered her baby blue Toyota Camry down Fayetteville Street and onto Interstate 40. Several exits later, Asia took the Chapel Hill off-ramp and headed toward the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Darkness made it hard to totally assess the neighborhood Asia had driven into, but from the little Afrika could see, she could tell that it was upscale with manicured lawns. Asia drove up into a long, circular driveway that ran parallel to the wrap-around porch with Boston ferns still hanging from their baskets, although it was mid-September. Light from the interior lit the house from the inside and motion sensor lights flooded the outside.
“We’re here,” Asia announced, jumping out of the car. “Come on, Nikki. Let’s go say ‘Happy Birthday’ to Trevor.”
Afrika slid out of the car and exhaled. Flashbacks of Asia’s father staring at her like she’d been reincarnated and her mother’s messages to be careful of getting too close to Asia’s family made her feel ill-at-ease. She looked at the large, massive