Chapter 47
SOPHIA
On the first Sunday of the New Year, Unc picked Sophia up from the farm and drove her back to Forest. Much to Sophia’s surprise, Ma Deary had grunted a simple goodbye, but she hadn’t prohibited Sophia from leaving.
When he pulled up to the stately wrought-iron gates with “West Oak Forest Academy” stenciled in gold, Unc blew a long whistle through his teeth. “Woo-wee, this place is nice. Rusty, girl, you living like them Kennedys,” he teased, and popped his collar.
Sophia smiled. “It’s been a good experience so far,” she said, trying not to think of Patty and the humiliation she’d suffered in that locker room.
Unc slipped from behind the wheel and grabbed her suitcase out of the trunk of the car.
Sophia checked the front seat, making sure she had everything, and then stood beside him in the roundabout.
Side by side, they remained in silence as they watched teary-eyed mothers in shearling, fox, and beaver furs hug teens goodbye before driving away in luxury cars. He handed Sophia her tattered bag.
“Thanks for the ride, Unc. I don’t think Ma Deary would have driven me. She doesn’t seem to have forgiven me for choosing Forest over staying home and helping with the farm.”
“Any time.” He put his hands in his leather coat pockets. “Don’t be so hard on Deary. She’d never wish you any harm.”
Sophia pressed her lips together. Ma Deary was his sister; he’d always see the bright side. Sophia stood waiting for him to get back in the car, but instead, he pulled off his sunglasses and took a step closer.
“That question you asked me back at the house? Where you come from and all?”
Sophia’s eyes brightened. Did Unc know something more?
“Be careful digging up skeletons of the past. I don’t want you getting hurt. Just forget about it and move forward. You’ve got a good opportunity here. Use that energy to focus on your schoolwork. Hear?”
Sophia nodded and then gave him a hug. “Unc, thanks again.”
“See you on your next break.” He walked to the driver’s side of the car. “When is that?”
“April.”
“Until then, be cool.” He waved as he cranked the engine of his Chevy Impala. Then he turned up the volume to “The Girl’s Alright with Me” by the Temptations. People stopped mid-conversation, and all eyes were on Unc as he pulled away from the school.
Sophia watched him go. She knew that he meant well, but she also knew she was going to find her birth mother no matter what it took.
When Sophia reached her dorm room, she found Willa, who was wearing a camel-colored turtleneck and a pair of slim-fit pants tapered at the ankle. Her hair had been cut into a stylish bob, and she squealed when she saw Sophia.
“You look fantastic.” Sophia threw her arms around Willa.
“Thanks.” Willa stepped back. “How was your Christmas break? Did everything work out with your family?”
“Yes, it turned out really well.”
“And your mom?”
Sophia had forgotten that she had told Willa about being afraid to return to the farm. “She was fine. The boys were happy to see me, and my uncle drove me back. Why are you so dressed up?” she asked, changing the subject as she placed her suitcase on her bed with the notion of unpacking.
“Didn’t you hear? There’s a welcome-back social at the Magnolia Clubhouse. Lemonade and cookies, and I think they are even having music. Get changed so we can go.” Willa picked up her blush brush.
Sophia had managed to snag a baby-doll dress when Walter took her by the local church for the annual rummage sale. She slipped that on and, after Willa insisted, applied a little rouge to her cheeks.
When Sophia and Willa walked through the double doors of the Magnolia Clubhouse on campus, kids stood in groups around the punch bowl, and a few swayed in place to the music. Claude and Louis were sitting at a table next to the assortment of refreshments with a deck of playing cards.
“Hey, boys,” Willa sang, sliding into one of the empty seats. “Where’s Max?”
“I haven’t seen him,” Louis said. “Want us to deal you in?”
“Whatcha playing?” Sophia plopped down.
“Gin rummy.”
“Do you know how to play, Sophia?” Willa turned to her.
“Yes.” Despite never having a full deck, she had played the game with her brothers on rainy days back on the farm.
Louis dealt the cards. “Did you hear about Sammy Younge Jr.?”
“Who’s that?” Claude sipped his lemonade.
“A Negro student at Tuskegee Institute. Murdered for using a whites-only restroom at a gas station in Macon, Georgia.”
“That’s terrible,” said Claude, and Sophia could see him visibly shudder. She remembered how the taunts from the white students had upset him at the Old South Ball.
“The man had served in the U.S. Navy. Even lost a kidney while serving, and this is how our country repays his service.” Louis moved cards around in his hand.
“Goodness gracious, Louis. Can we please talk about something more pleasant?” Willa fanned herself.
“Like what?”
“Like what you got for Christmas?” she said, wide-eyed.
“Coal.” He slapped the table and laughed.
“Very funny,” Willa chided, just as Sophia spotted Max waving hello to a few teens as he glided toward their table.
Max wore a lime-green cardigan, slacks, and penny loafers, and his skin and hair glistened like a new copper coin. The sight of him made her fidget with the hem of her dress.
“Hey, what’s shaking?” He slid into the only open seat at the round table, which happened to be right next to Sophia.
“Max.” Willa beamed. “How was your break?”
“I spent most of my time being lazy in front of the tube. What are you playing?”
“Gin rummy,” Claude piped up.
“Deal me in.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t have a good hand.” Louis picked up all the cards from the table and shuffled.
While Willa talked about her time in New York City with her family, and how pretty the Christmas tree looked in Rockefeller Center, Sophia found her knee against Max’s. A sensation pulsed up her thigh as she waited for him to stretch away, but instead he sneaked a glance at her and smiled.
When the social was over, the five of them walked down the path toward the quad.
“I need to stop at the library for a book,” Willa said. “Max, you want to walk with me?”
“I would, but I need to get changed and go shoot around before dinner. I’ve been sitting on my behind for two weeks, and I want to be my best for practice tomorrow.”
Sophia could see disappointment flash across Willa’s face, but she recovered and turned toward the library as the rest of them walked toward the Athletic Center. Then Claude and Louis both decided they were hungry and headed to the cafeteria.
“You want to shoot around?” Max asked Sophia.
“I’m not dressed for it.” She held out her stockinged leg and Mary Janes.
“The locker room should be open. Come on.”
Sophia followed Max into the Athletic Center.
“Come into the boys’ gym once you get changed.”
The girls’ gym floor had been freshly waxed and smelled like turpentine as she passed through to the locker room and changed into her gym shorts and white tee. When she entered the boys’ gym, Max was at the top of the key, shooting.
“Catch my rebounds. I’ll go around the world first, and then I’ll do the same for you.”
“Okay,” she said, planting herself beneath the basket.
Max shot. Swish. She threw him the ball. He dribbled a few steps to the left. Fired. Nothing but net.
“You aren’t shooting like you were sitting around all break. ’Fess up,” she said, chuckling.
“Well, you know me.” He smiled. “I got a game in here and there with a few of my middle school buddies.” Max lifted his arms, shot, and drained it. “What did you do?”
Sophia let the ball drop into her hand, then hurled it at Max. While he shot baskets, she caught him up on riding to D.C. with Willa and then her visit with Mrs. Gathers. Max shot from the right corner, and when Sophia caught the ball, she gripped it with both hands.
“I found out the truth,” she said, and Max stopped moving.
“What?”
Sophia took the ball and dribbled to the top of the key, leaving Max underneath the basket to catch the ball for her.
“I was right. I am one of those Brown Babies who came over from Germany,” she said, shooting the ball and missing. Then she tossed the ball up in the air over and over while she recounted everything that she had learned.
“Unbelievable,” Max said, joining her at the top of the court. “What if we came over at the same time?”
Sophia flopped down on the gymnasium floor, no longer able to hold herself up. “I’ve been wondering about the fire that I’m haunted by. Mrs. Gathers said that I lived at St. Hildegard’s orphanage before I was brought here. She mentioned that there had been a fire a few weeks before we left.”
Max dropped down on the parquet floor beside her.
“You told me that you remember nuns dressed in long habits and that you had been in a fire too,” she said.
“Yeah, what are the chances?” The ball rolled toward Max and he gripped it with both hands. “Us being in the same orphanage in Mannheim, Germany, then meeting here at Forest.”
“That’s like a Hollywood movie.” The ball slipped from his hands as she blurted, “A crazy love story.”
Max turned and looked her in the eyes with such intensity, she could not will herself to turn away.
“You think this is a love story?” His voice came out husky.
Sophia could feel all her blood rush to her face. “Max, you know how Willa feels about you,” she murmured just as he leaned in, with his face so close she could smell the lemon cookies on his breath.
“But what about how I feel about you?”
The eye contact between them was so intense that the gym faded away, and all Sophia knew in the moment was him.
“How’s that?” she whispered.
Max pushed his lips toward hers until there was only a hair between them and breathed on her. “Like this.”
His soft lips pressed against hers, and she melted into him. Then his hand caressed the back of her head as he opened her mouth with the warmth of his tongue. Every cell inside Sophia’s body felt lit up, electric. It was her first kiss. She was kissing Max.
The sound of the gym door sighing open caused Sophia to pull back. When she turned her head, she saw Willa’s reddened face staring back at her.
“Sophia, how could you!” she screeched. Willa stomped her foot and then ran back through the gymnasium doors.
Sophia exhaled all the air she had been holding in. “I better go.”
“No, I made this mess with Willa. I should have told her a long time ago that I didn’t feel the same. It’s my responsibility to make this right.” Max kissed her cheek, then scurried to his feet and jogged after Willa, leaving his cedar scent behind.
Sophia hugged the basketball to her chest and tried to hold on to the feel of Max’s lips against hers, while hoping that her feelings for him hadn’t caused her to lose her only friend.