“Sooo, going into the new year, I want to focus on becoming the most authentic version of myself. Ellie, it really hit me when you told me I don’t know who I am. I wanted to be offended, but you were right. I don’t know who I am, and a large part of that is because I don’t know where I came from. Open your gifts.”
Ellie and Courtney unwrapped the box and revealed a heritage history kit inside.
“What’sthis? Like, one of those ancestral DNA things?” Courtney asked.
“That’s exactly what it is,” Shy stated.“I know my mom is living in Ghana. My grandmother gave me her address, but I’m terrified to go alone. I want y’all to trace your ancestry and take a trip to the Motherland with me to discover our roots. Keep digging,”Shy said.“I got Delta Airlines to sponsor first-class round-trip tickets to Africa. They’re willing to cover four legs of a trip, which means we can visit each country our DNA traces back to. I can get the hotels covered if I cover the trip on social media. We can choose whatever dates we want.”
Ellie was speechless.“Shy, wow. I don’t even know what to say. This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Thank you!”
“I’m in my rebranding era. That’s what wegon’call this next year!” Shy said, fanning her eyes emotionally.“I don’t want to be the shallow friend anymore who cares about what’s on me more than what’s in me. I’m sorry for ever making y’all feel like I thought I was better. I just needed to feel worth something, and I was covering up all of who I am with Chanel.”
“Feel free to slide some of that Chanel over here during your rebranding era,” Ellie joked.
Courtney laughed.“Yeah, I’lltake a bag or two to help you out. We got to be supportive friends; you know?”
The trio laughed, lightening the moment, and Shy shrugged her shoulders.“Okay, that’s it from me.”
“How the hell am I supposed to top that? Ellie, you go next,” Courtney said.
“Nobody’s topping that, Court, no worries. We all lost,” Ellie snickered as she lifted from her seat. She had kept it simple, but she was sure the girls would love it. Spa passes that include five hours of services plus a catered lunch. It wasn’t Africa, but it was something she knew they could all use. Women rarely took the time to cater to themselves and this gift would force them to treat themselves.
“Cash it in whenever you need it,” Ellie said.“Should I do Sloan’s?” Ellie asked.
Courtney nodded.“Yeah, I’llgo last.”
Ellie pulled the bright orange Louis Vuitton boxes from under the tree.
“Big Sloan, never the little one!” Shy exclaimed, laughing as the girls grew giddy from the anticipation of what was inside.
They opened their boxes, and each woman pulled out a brand-new leather handbag from their Winter collection. Each bag fit their personal styles flawlessly. The note read:
A little luxury for my favorite girls. Merry Christmas.
–S
Courtney finally stood and grabbed two presents from underneath the tree and passed them to Ellie and Shy.
“So, for one, I’m not working right now, so don’t hate me that it’s not super expensive. Itain’t fancy, but I think y’all will like it,” she said.“Open it.”
Both girls opened their gifts, and Ellie’s eyes instantly watered.
“Before the Streetlights Come on,” she whispered as she ran her hand over the embossed quote on the front of the leather Bible.“Courtney, it’s perfect.”
“I can hear Mrs. Whitlock clear as day, too,”Shy said.“She taught us to always make sure each other made it home before the streetlights came on. It didn’t matter where we were, or what we were doing, she put it in our heads like clockwork.”
“Remember we used to walk all the way across town to get to one another in the summertime and your mama used to be like,‘If y’all not at somebody’s house safe and sound before the streetlights come on, I’ma put leather to some asses’?”
Ellie laughed as Shy mocked her late mother.“Mama Whitlock was always threatening to whoop somebody else’s kids,” Shy laughed.
“We were all her girls, that’swhy,” Courtney smiled, reminiscing.“Remember when Sloan was dating that boy, and she told her mama she was spending the night at your house, Ellie, when she was really trying to stay the night with a boy?Girllll, she called Sloan little Cricket phone and told her to have her ass home before the streetlights come on or she was going to send Cassidy to bust that boy’sass.”
“She sent his ass too!” Shy cackled.“Cassidy couldn’t wait to beat niggas up over Sloan’s ass! How did you not know they were in love? Do you remember that?”
“I remember,” Ellie sniffled as memories of her mom made her emotional, while making her laugh at the same time.“Making it home at night is a blessing that people forget to count,” Ellie recited by memory, going deeper into the lesson they had been taught.
Before the streetlights came on was a phrase that represented safety. As teen girls, it had represented a curfew. Naturally, as they grew from girls to women, that curfew had been removed. But the habit of checking in and being accountable to their girl tribe had been instilled. The symbolic curfew that had remained urged them to send that text that read: HOME to their group chat. Mrs. Whitlock was no longer around to remind them, but her spirit still governed them through the lessons that had been taught. It was a perfect gift.
Ellie and the girls stood and hugged each other.“You won, Court,” Ellie whispered.“Merry Christmas. You reminded us of our responsibility to one another. I really love y’all.”
