Chapter Thirty-Five
Thirty-Five
“Thanks for stopping in. You know, Ember, I haven’t seen you or Sage in years. Gosh! You look so much like your mama,” said Mabel, the education specialist. Her face was kind and her smile genuine. She wore thick red glasses that gloriously clashed with her bright blue dress.
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
“Her mom and dad are sore subjects,” Auntie interjected, giving me major side-eye. It was a missed opportunity for me to practice setting some needed boundaries. I was grateful to Auntie for stepping in for me.
“Oh, sorry about that. Well, it’s great to see you. How can I help you today?”
“I want to go to school to become an accountant. I’ve taken a few classes, but with work and rent, school is just too expensive.” I picked at a hangnail on my pinkie.
“Congratulations! We can always use more accountants, what with commerce, the bank, and the casinos. You’d have no issues finding employment. Are you currently enrolled?”
Mabel made it all sound so easy. Nothing about my life had been easy.
“No, I had to drop out to work.”
Mabel nodded her head in sympathy. “Yeah, I talk to so many people every day with the same story. The good news is that all you have to do is enroll and get your transcript from high school and the classes you did take, then fill out this application, and we can process your grant for the fall semester.”
She handed me a two-page application. Just a quick scan revealed I’d need to attach other documentation too, but it was all easy enough.
“That’s it?” I asked, because it seemed too good to be true, and the last time something seemed too good to be true…it was. And now I was here.
“That’s it. You have to make sure you get passing grades to keep the grant, but after your first approval, all you have to do is fill out the renewal application until you finish your program. We want to help our citizens achieve their dreams. The world is hard enough as it is.” Mabel smiled.
“Do you know of anyone hiring in OKC?” I asked, hope bubbling out of me, despite myself.
“You can go to this link. It’s our job board. I know they were hiring tellers at the community bank downtown.” Mabel handed me a card.
Being a bank teller sounded perfect—at least for now. I couldn’t wait to get home and apply.
Now all I had to do was figure out…everything else.
—
Progress was slow going, and it felt like I was in suspended reality. I was taking action to change my life, but at this point it was such a waiting game. Waiting for my transcript, for enrollment to open, for application processing, et cetera, et cetera. But today that all changed. I finally got confirmation that I was officially enrolled back in the community college, and classes started in a few weeks—August 22 couldn’t come fast enough. My grant application had been approved, and it covered the entire tuition cost. I cried when the email from Mabel came in with the grant amount. I had a little left over to pay for any incidentals I’d need…like a new laptop. After using the one at Technix, there was just no way I could go back to the brick I had before. It was old, loud, and slow.
So that was a lot to happen in two weeks. I’d been back to the city a couple times to fill out applications at a few banks, just entry-level teller positions, and that was fine by me. I had two things left on my list of tasks to handle before classes started: finding a cheaper car and reaching out to Danuwoa.
I was sitting in my little SUV for the last time, back in the parking lot where everything started for me—Bobby Dean’s Bowling Alley and Bar.
“You were the nicest thing I ever owned and did me good,” I said as I patted the steering wheel. With my job situation still up in the air, it was better to eliminate all car-related expenses: the payment, insurance, and the gas. I had to cut costs, and it was the smart thing to do, but it hurt. It felt like I was going backward a bit. At seventeen, I really thought I’d have it all together by the time I was twenty-five. If teenage Ember could see me now.
A gray Toyota Camry pulled up next to me. It was the buyer, Peter. I’d listed the SUV for sale on Craigslist two days ago, even saying I’d accept cash and a trade of an older car, and Peter made the only legitimate offer I received. His mother had an unused car sitting around. I picked Bobby Dean’s parking lot in the middle of the day to reduce the chances of getting murdered. Joanna stood outside the front entrance to keep an eye on me.
A man in his forties got out of the driver’s side door. He had sunglasses on but looked like his photo. A little old lady exited the passenger door and came around to the back of my car to wait for me.
This was it.
“Hello,” I said and waved in greeting as I walked around to the back.
“It looks as good as the photos,” Peter said.
“Yeah, I haven’t really been able to drive it much.”
“What’s wrong with it?” the old lady asked me in a husky smoker’s voice.
“Mom,” Peter chastised. “Sorry, she’s getting more blunt in her old age.”
“It’s okay.” I laughed the question off. “Nothing is wrong with it. I’m going back to school and trying to cut costs.”
“Oh, good for you,” Peter’s mother said.
I talked them through all the details about the car, reiterating what I wrote online. My list price was $2,000 higher than what I owed on the car loan because I hoped after negotiation, I could sell it for enough to pay off the loan in its entirety. It would be nice if Peter paid the list price, and I could go buy something with cash.
We all hopped in the car so Peter could test-drive it. After a few blocks, we went back to Bobby Dean’s.
“I’ll take it.”
Thank fuck! Peter’s offer was enticing online, because he mentioned his mother couldn’t drive anymore and had an old sedan that was taking up space in the garage. So I was a bit shocked when he offered only $500 below my asking price and the 2006 Toyota Camry. It had more miles than my old Ford Contour, but Toyotas could run forever.
We shook hands. He gave me a cashier’s check and the keys and title to the Camry and was off. I ran to Joanna, who was diligently still watching over me from the entrance, and nearly knocked her down when I wrapped her in a bear hug.
Creator was really looking out for me. I still had all the administrative stuff to do, like contact the dealership loan provider and the insurance company, but none of that mattered to me. It would get me to school. Would I miss the SUV? Definitely. But now I could afford to stay in the city.
Joanna was jumping up and down. “You’re gonna stay! There was no way I wanted to find a new roommate,” she joked.
“That’s all you care about?” I asked.
“Duh, no stranger on the internet would make me fried corn burritos whenever I ask.”
I rolled my eyes, and she led me inside my old second home.
“Don’t be mad, but I called in some reinforcements to help you with your other problem,” Joanna said, looking out at the bar.
My stomach dropped, fearing the worst. I followed her line of sight, and waiting there were Sage, Tito, and Walela. I wanted to cry.
“Hi,” I said when we approached the bar. “What are you all doing here? Sage, don’t you have to work? And Walela, does Danuwoa know you’re here?”
“I have the afternoon off. Joanna said you’re still sad and we have to come up with a plan to get your boyfriend back,” Sage said.
“I took an Uber to get here. Danuwoa thinks I’m at the mall,” said Walela.
I slapped my forehead. “No more lying to Danuwoa! Walela, I appreciate you wanting to help, but lying is what got me in this mess. We gotta get you home.”
“Shut up,” Tito said, groaning.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked Tito icily.
“Be nice,” Joanna warned in my ear. I shrugged her off.
“Whoa, you’re family. I know I really fucked Sage over, but I’m turning over a new leaf. I don’t want to be that guy anymore.”
“And you think helping me get my boyfriend back is enough?” I deadpanned.
“Well…no. That’s why I’m helping Sage earn money to pay you back, so you get it faster.”
This was the first and last time I would ever say it, but Tito stole my breath. It was so kind and unexpected. He still pissed me off, but that was the first reasonable thing I had ever heard come out of his mouth.
“Plus, I still have his shirt you had me wear. I kind of feel bad about that.” Tito rubbed the back of his neck.
Nothing like Tito unintentionally bringing up another reason why Danuwoa wanted nothing to do with me in the first place.
“Danuwoa is really sad too. He doesn’t really laugh anymore, and he forgot to feed Patches a few times. We are all miserable.”
“Walela, if you knew fully what I did, you wouldn’t be here,” I said with a sigh.
“Danuwoa tells me everything. You lied about work stuff and were blackmailed by Kyle. Danuwoa was really mad when he came home. I’ve never seen him pace so much. You two love each other, and I think you both need to get over yourselves.”
“Shit, no holding back punches. Mad respect,” Joanna said as she laughed at my expense.
“Yeah, I’m well aware there are a number of issues, most of my own creation, that we have to get over. Y’all clearly coordinated this, so did you have a plan in mind?”
“Okay, so picture this,” Sage started. “We arrange an event here that Walela needs to attend in an official capacity. So, Dan’s gotta bring her here, and Tito and I will wait by the door, and once he is in, we will throw a sack over his head and take him to the break room, where you will be waiting. We’ll lock the door from the outside so he can’t get away and is forced to hear you out. Then you can knock on the door three times to let us know you made up, and we will let you out.” He finally stopped for a breath.
“And you agreed to this?” I asked Walela, bewildered. This was crazier than every stunt I’d pulled in the last two months.
“It will be fun, and after you make up, I don’t think he will be too mad,” Walela said as she laughed and pushed her glasses up her nose.
“If we can get him here between three and three fifteen when Bobby Dean is out back having his smoke, then we should really have no issues,” Joanna offered.
“Joanna! Throwing a sack over his head and locking him in a room with me? That’s your big plan?”
“Forced proximity works, I read about it all the time.” She shrugged.
“In romance novels! This is the real world.” How was I the only one seeing a problem with this plan? I could almost hear Danuwoa’s voice now: You don’t call but kidnap me instead? No. This would not do.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Tito said.
“Yeah, it would be fun, and everything would be better after that,” Sage said.
“Look, I really appreciate all the effort you put into this… plan. I don’t even want to get into the criminal undertones this whole idea has, but I can’t do this to Danuwoa. He deserves an honest conversation from me and a chance for me to apologize and prove that I’ve changed. It does mean a lot that I can count on you all to have my back.”
“We love you,” Joanna said.
Their hearts were in the right place, and it did inspire me to come up with a plan of my own.
“Walela, I think I’ll still need your help. If you’re up for it.”
Her smile was answer enough. It was time for Operation Get Danuwoa Colson Back. If he would have me.