"Kiss me Good-bye."
She held up her arms, and I went to her to hug and kiss her. She held me for a long moment and then smiled at me.
"My purse is on the dresser," she said. "There's a few hundred dollars in it. Take it. You shouldn't travel without money."
I did what she said.
"I'll call you as soon as I get there," I promised.
"Good. Don't forget. I know it will be very exciting for you to take your first big drive and be on a college campus. but I'll be waiting to hear from you."
"I won't forget." I said.
"I told you often that you would be a big Girl soon. Well, soon is here," she said. "yes. Soon is here.'"
I went to my room, got my overnight bag, and stopped by her doorway one more time to say goodbye. She had her eyes closed but opened them and smiled at me. Then I hurried out to the car and just sat there for a moment, still wondering if I should go or not. It wasn't that far, I decided. If I had to come back, I'd come back. I turned the key, started the engine, triggered the garage door open, and backed out. I closed the garage and drove off, feeling like a student pilot doing his or her first solo flight.
Minutes later, I had the radio on and was cruising on the highway. It was truly as if I had crossed over some boundary and matured overnight. Although I was sure they weren't, it seemed to me every driver who passed by gazed at me with surprise and awe, impressed that I. April Taylor, who had turned sixteen just recently, was alone and heading for Memphis. One man passing me smiled at me the way I remembered my daddy smiling at me. He even looked like him, and for a moment I thought maybe the dead slip into the bodies of strangers just so they could experience briefly something significant their loved ones who were left behind were doing. Maybe that really was Daddy.
Or maybe it was only wishful thinking. It had been so long since I had done any of that. Life had become too dark and difficult to permit the entrance of fanciful dreams. Besides. Mama was right. Soon had come. I was older now and had to stop
fantasizing, pretending like a little girl who pulled on wishbones and hoped she got the longer end. Adults don't have time to daydream. I had to deal with co
ld reality just as well as any adult dealt with it. I had to take responsibility for my actions.
I was so nervous when I reached the city limits that even though Celia and Brenda's directions were precise, I made one wrong turn. However. I was able to correct it quickly and pulled up to the dormitory building just a little before eleven. I saw the parking lot and drove in, stopping in an available space. When I turned off the engine. I let out my breath as if I had been holding it in the whole trip. I was here. It was easy. Proud of myself. I scooped up my overnight bag and got out of the car.
The dormitory was a three-story red-brick building with a four-column white portico. I entered a lobby that had a few groups of sofas and chairs, tables, and stands. The floor was a dark brown tile, and there were three good-size chandeliers. The walls were a pale pink with large windows facing the front and sheer white curtains framing them. Four girls were talking and laughing to my right when I entered, One was in a bathrobe, and the others were in jeans and long shirts. The girl in the bathrobe wore a baseball cap. They glanced my way but quickly returned to whatever they were discussing.
To the left was a desk with no one behind it, and directly in front of me was a set of double doors that led into the residence itself. I stood there for a moment, unsure where to go or what to do next. I had Brenda's room number. 207. I had been hoping she and Celia would be waiting for me in the lobby. Imagining it wouldn't be hard to find their room. I continued through the double doors to a pair of elevator doors and pushed the up button.
I heard a girl scream with laughter and saw a tall redhead coming down the hallway toward me, accompanied by another girl in an oversized pair of jeans and overshirt. She was short and buxom. They looked at me as they approached.
"Those elevators are so slow, you're better off taking the stairs, unless you're not supposed to arrive until tomorrow." the redhead said, and gestured toward a door that had 'Stairs" written on it. Her companion laughed again.
Just then, the elevator door opened. I shrugged and stepped into it, pressing the button for the second floor. It did seem to take an unusual amount of time for the doors to close again, and then the elevator jerked and started up in what seemed inches at a time. It stopped. and I was afraid the doors weren't going to open. They finally did, and I stepped into the secondfloor corridor. I was surprised to see a boy standing in a doorway, leaning over a girl in a translucent nightie. She looked at me, but he didn't turn. Instead, he brought his lips closer to hers. When they kissed. I looked away quickly and followed the room numbers down to 207, which was nearly at the end of the corridor.
I knocked and waited.
No one came to the door, so I knocked again.
"Brenda?" I called, Still, no one came to the door.
Where was she? I tried the knob, but the door was locked. "Brenda, are you in there?"
The girl and her boyfriend looked down the hallway at me. Feeling silly standing there. I started back toward the elevator. The boy followed the girl into her room and closed the door. This time. I did take the staircase, and when I reached the first floor. I hurried out to the lobby again, hoping Brenda and Celia had returned from wherever they had gone and were now waiting for me.
Two other girls had joined the four I had first seen. but Brenda and Celia were not there.
"Can I help you?' I heard, and turned to the desk to see a slim woman with dull dark brown hair threaded with white standing behind the desk. She wore what looked like a dark blue uniform that included a jacket and skirt with a lighter blue blouse. The jacket had padded shoulders. Her cheeks were quite pockmarked, and she seemed to have no chin because of how sharply it sloped from her lower lips to her neck. Two untrimmed eyebrows hung over her small, dark gray eyes.
"I'm looking for my sister."
"And does this sister have a name?" she asked, tucking the corners of her lips into her cheeks.
I looked back at the girls, who had stopped talking and were now listening to me.
"Brenda Taylor."