"Mom, what you are suggesting is absolutely impossible and I wouldn’t consider it ever”, Malia said her mom in a raised voice, seething with anger.
This trip to the supermarket was proving to be more of a bad idea than a interesting one. She should have known her mom would jump at any opportunity to give a full lecture on how becoming a dancer was a bad idea.
“You will listen to me Malia, I am your mother and I only want what’s best for you, which isn’t twirling around in a tutu”, Regina, her mother said.
Turning to face away from her mother, she stared out the window, watching the fast buzzing of cars on the highway. This trip shouldn’t be taking so long, but mother being the eccentric and boisterous one, had made several stops to check up on friends.
“It is not a tutu mom, am not five anymore. I dance hip hop remember”, she said to her mom trying to sound convincing.
“That is even worse Malia, because now I would have to watch you dress half naked, rolling around with irresponsible boys”, Regina replied
“Whatever you say mama”, Malia softly replied to her last comment, tired of arguing with her while she drove. The conversation was far from over because she knew mother would hound her till she gave in to her demands and tore up her application form to the Lithe Dance Academy.
Mother didn’t want to get her hands dirty or feel guilty by doing it. No. She wanted to pressure her into ruining the only thing that bought her peace after father died. That wasn’t happening, no matter how hard she would try to brow beat her into doing it.
The large sign of the supermarket came into view as they turned of the highway and drove slowly into the open spaced parking lot. Malia hurriedly got out of the car before the ignition was turned off, grateful to leave the frigid atmosphere in the car behind and immerse herself in the sea of shoppers inside the mart.
At the moment, she was safe. Mother would be distracted with the price tags on the shelves to even remember their earlier discussion. This gave Malia a little time to calm down and browse her favorite section without those blue piercing eyes boring into the back of her head.
That section was her favorite because Mark worked there. He was a student at the Lithe Academy and worked at the supermarket after school hours to support his parents in paying for both fees. He was nineteen and her senior in high school. In school he barely noticed her, but these little trips here, and their brief conversations were enough to fuel her crushing heart.
Mother would clip a nail if she had an inkling her supposed righteous daughter was flirting around with a boy. You would think she had asked to buy a pack of condoms. It was funny how mother still saw her as little Mally, instead of the beautiful young woman she was gradually growing into.
She was sixteen for Christ sake, having a crush came with the territory.
Malia rounded the corner, approaching the ice cream cubicle with bright neon signs blaring off the exterior to attract customers. There he was, smiling widely as always when he saw her approaching the box. Her heart skipped a beat.
“Hello Mark”, she said, nervously tucking away her hair.
“Hi Malia”, he replied looking around. “Where is she who should not be named?”, he asked referring to mother.
“Probably questioning Mr. Alloy on the hike of the vegetables again”, Malia replied smirking.
The last time that happened, it had not gone down funny for both parties. Remembering mother’s mortified expression when she had glanced at the price tag was epic and unforgettable. The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips at the memory.
“That can’t be good at all. Am sure poor Mr. Alloy would be hiding away in the men’s room just to avoid that confrontation”, Mark replied playfully.
“Mother can be a handful sometimes”, she said.
“Hey, didn’t see you in the school cafeteria today, everything okay?”, he asked from inside the box. The lines of worry appearing on his face slightly marred his beautiful features.
Malia melted to the floor in a puddle when she realized he had actually noticed her absence at lunch today. Wow.. She felt like doing a backflip just to celebrate this moment. Her smile grew wider.
“Had to drop by Mrs. Diane’s class to retake the English test I missed due to my illness”, she told him. “It was fixed for that afternoon and I couldn’t pass on it”, Malia explained.
“Oh! So that’s what happened”, Mark said nodding in understanding. “how was it?”, he asked.
“I did my best”, Malia replied with a shrug. “The results would be out tomorrow, guess we would really know then”, she replied.
“You would crush it am sure”, Mark said.
Wait, “if you were so worried about my absence, why didn’t you reach out to check up on me?”, Malia asked boldly.
He shrugged, “for one I do not have your cell number and second, I wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do you know”, he said shyly, casting his eyes down.
Malia nearly chocked from the gesture because it felt like Mark was into her too. At school, he was not Mr. Popular or Most handsome but his sleek moves brought him a large number of female fans who were way hotter than she was. She bit her tongue to be sure all of this wasn’t a dream.
“Are you asking for my number Mark”, Malia said playfully.
“Yeah, it would be nice to have it since we would be seeing more of each other at the academy”, he replied.
Her face fell at that statement. Shit… Why did he have to bring that up? Now her surly mood was back.
“Did I say something wrong Malia?”, he asked, noticing a change in her countenance.
“It’s not you Mark, Mother disagrees with my intention to enroll with the academy”, she told him. “We argued about it all the down to the store this afternoon”, Malia said.
“I got out as fast as I could the moment we arrived”, she said.
“Damn you must hate me then for dredging it right back up by making that silly comment”, he said.
“Come on Mark, I don’t hate you. There was no way you would have guessed”, she said.
The queue at the stand was small, which gave them enough time to chitchat while she waited to be signaled by her mom.
“She would come around, am sure”, Mark said, trying to appear optimistic. She couldn’t fault him for having understanding parents who would do anything as long as he was happy.
“I highly doubt that, mother still believes I am going to be twirling around in a leotard. There is no way she would see reason with my chosen career path”, Malia said.
“Enough of this talk about parents, do you want some ice cream for the road?”, Mark asked, already pulling out the cup cones.
“Yeah, sure. Chocolate with coconut toppings would do”, she said.
“Coming right up Miss”, he replied, handing her a cup of her favorite cream. A torn piece of paper accompanied the cup. Malia glanced at it and smiled.
“Now you have my number”, he said with a wink and a sly smile.
Mother would roast her ass if she knew she had a guy’s number on her cellphone, but it was a risk she was willing to take.
“Oh shit, incoming”, Mark said pointing behind her with a slight nudge of his head. Malia felt her mother presence before she saw her.
“Malia Anderson Barnes, get over here this minute”, Regina yelled loudly from across the room.
“Here we go again, bye Mark”, Malia said, rolling her eyes at mother’s dramatic tendencies before walking towards her.
“Really mom, was that even necessary?”, she asked, walking past her, seeking an early escape.
“Yes it was, and this conversation isn’t over”, Regina said behind her.
Oh boy, the ride home was going to be turbulent.