“I mean,” Bristol rolls her eyes at herself, “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Have you now?” Ma looks Bristol up and down. “You’re Rhyson’s sister, huh?”
“Um, yes.” Bristol nods, an uncertain smile on her lips at my mother’s thorough vertical inspection. “We’re twins actually.”
“Hmmmm,” Ma says. “I see the resemblance.”
“Yes, well, it’s great to finally meet you.” Bristol glances at me briefly before turning back to Shondra, pouring all her charm into a smile. “Meryl needs to sit down with Grip once he’s done, just for a few minutes. I was thinking there might be a place here on campus where they could do the interview?”
“Sure,” Shondra says. “We can find a spot, easy.”
“And we’ll just need to get some releases signed.” Bristol reaches into her bag and extracts a few forms. “In case we use pictures of any students or places here on campus. Could we scope a few possibilities?”
“We might be in Legit magazine?” Shondra’s eyes light up. “That’s great. We have a few minutes before Grip starts. Let’s go.”
She, Shondra, and Meryl turn to walk off.
“Amir,” I say quickly. “Go with them.”
“It’s okay, Grip.” Bristol looks over her shoulder with a small smile. “We’ll be fine.”
“Bristol, you’re not home.” I check my frustration, conscious of how closely the others watch me, especially my mom. “Things could pop off here without warning. Amir will know what to do if anything goes down.”
“She’ll be fine, Grip,” Shondra reassures me.
“I know she will because Amir’s going.” I tip my head toward him . “You got it?”
“Yeah, I got it,” he says.
“Amir,” Bristol says pointedly, leveling annoyed eyes on me. “That isn’t necessary. Really.”
“Well, Amir works for me, and I told him to go with you.”
A muscle tics in Bristol’s jaw, but she turns without another word and starts walking swiftly toward the exit. Shondra, Meryl, and Amir trade uncertain looks before they take off to catch up.
“Oh, I see you have your emotions well in check,” Ma says sarcastically, watching Bristol leave through the gym door. “No one would ever guess how you feel about that girl.”
“Ma, please.” Chin dropped to chest, I run a hand over my head. “Not today.”
“You need to get over her.” Ma shakes her head. “Just try with Qwest for me, okay?”
“It doesn’t work like that.” I shove my hands into the side pockets of my leather jacket. “I wish it did. I thought it could.”
“Now, when did you say I get to meet Qwest?” She skips over what I’ve said. “You got . . . distracted before.”
“She’ll be here for the release party in a few weeks.”
“I’ll meet her then.” She reaches one hand up to cup my face. “I know you don’t understand, but I get sick and tired of our successful Black men ending up with women who don’t look like us.”
“Ma, I hear you, but you know I’ve dated all over and that’s never been how I chose who I was with.” I place my hand over hers against my face, wishing I could transmit my perspective to her through the touch connecting us. “That’s not everyone and it’s not me.”
She drops her hands and lifts one brow. “You think I made all those sacrifices so you could be a cliché? Some Black man who thinks a white woman is the ultimate symbol of success? Like a nice car or a big house, but with blonde hair?”
“She isn’t blonde, and you know me better than that. You raised me better than that.” I’m losing the grasp on my patience the longer I have to defend my feelings for Bristol, since they won’t be doing me any good anyway. “I didn’t fall for her because she’s white. I fell for her because she’s . . . Bristol.”
“You think it isn’t a factor, but it is.” Mama places her hand over her heart like I’m breaking it. “I was afraid of this. I wanted you to go to that fancy school, but I always knew this could happen, that it could influence you. And here we are.”
“I’ve dated Asian girls, Hispanic girls, black girls, white girls. Why is this such a big deal to you?”