She took a deep breath. “So, I’ve been thinking about applying to U of Charleston for the fall if I can get in. If I go on the research trip, it won’t just be to kick around. It’ll be to check out the school and make a final decision.”
The last word she said real low, ducking her head down in shame like she shouldn’t have been telling me this bullshit news.She shrugged. “I mean, that’s what I’ve been thinking. The weekend will help me figure it out.”
The hell was she talking about? There was no way Naira had been thinking about leaving the island and me and Sekou.
The words rolled around in my head. Naira saidleaving. She meantleaving, leaving.
“You’re screwing with us, right?” There was a piece of me warning to be cool, but it was a teeny-tiny piece. Being cool wasn’t really my style.
“I’m dead serious.”
The burning in my eyes increased, and I bit my lip to hold back the tears and words I knew would get me in trouble.
I knew what this meant. I knew it when I saw Luke with Naira. I knew it when I woke up this morning to my grandma in a weird trance. And now, I knew that I was losing my best friend. That she would leave me behind.
My place would always be here on the Isle, where I would one day take over Nana Ama’s role. Naira had promised she would be right there with me.
Sekou pursed his lips like he was trying to figure out how we got here. That made two of us. It was like Naira was tossing us to the side and didn’t give a damn about it.
I heard myself asking, “Are you, like, for real?”
“The realest,” she said. “Can Charleston really be considered ‘going away’? And if I did want to go farther, why not? Honestly, I think you’re making a bigger deal of this than necessary.”
“The difference,” I said, “is that you’re talking about living there. Like, with mainlanders.”
“For school. I’ll be back some weekends. And on holidays. And for the summer.”
“I just always thought…” I was at a loss for words. What did I think? I hadn’t. I thought the Isle and working on it, living on it, was enough. I didn’t think Naira would want to live like a mainlander. She’d beaway, away. Not commuting like we’d been doing for high school. Not even going to the community college right across the way. But living there.
“You thought everything would stay the same.” She snorted. “Life isn’t like that, Ada. It might be for you. But not so much for me.”
I waited for Sekou to step in, to tap me out like a tag team wrestling duo. But he kept quiet.
“Kinfolk leave all the time. They come and go. Live abroad and return home.” Naira stepped out of the cart, her tone cool as ice.
“But—but… we’re different. This is our home, and we swore we’d stick together. Hold this place down. How can we do that when you’re”—I waved my hands into the void—“out there.”
“Then come with,” she said suddenly, like it was the best idea in the world. “Me, you, and Se away at school.”
I flinched, her words like stabs.
At the same time, Sekou said, “You know Ada can’t just up and leave the Isle whenever she wants.”
Naira turned to him. “Why can’t she?”
It sounded like a dare and an insult to me and my grandmother. She knew Nana’s fear of traveling far distances across the sea and her unwavering belief that crossing the sea always meant one wouldn’t return. That the most Nana would occasionally dois venture the few miles over the waterway to Hilton Head or towns along the coast when she needed to step out. Because of all this, Naira knew I was just as oathbound to the Golden Isle as my grandmother. She knew we had to stay to protect ourselves and the land we owned. I opened myself up to feel. Naira’s vibe was different. Resentful. Fearful. Chilled. Feelings from her that were new to me, and terrifying. Confrontation was her enemy. She was supposed to be the sensible one. Sekou, the playful one. Me, the hothead. We balanced one another out, but now we were out of whack.
“What’s the problem? That I want to see the world?” she scoffed. “It’s not even the world, it’s like a microcosm of the world.” Her thumb and forefinger nearly touched for emphasis. “It’s just Charleston for god’s sake. What’s wrong with going, huh? With knowing what’s out there? With knowingwho’sout there?”
And there it was. The real reason why Naira wanted off our rock. School my ass. This “change of mind” was all about goddamn Luke.
Sekou finally said, “It’s a surprise, Naira, you know? Just the other day you were talking about what we were gonna put on the grill for the Fourth. You and me were looking at online schools just last week. It’s been us three since we could talk, so, I mean, we need a minute. To process all of this.”
Naira said, “Know what I think?”
I didn’t want to know, but Naira was going to enlighten me any damn way.
Sekou whispered, “Don’t do it.”
