Dark Like Me

25~Friendly Fire

Finally, the weekend. I truly needed a break from what was going on with school.

"Don't worry, dad." I tell my dad as I lean into the car window on his side. "It's not a boy I am meeting." I chuckle at the worried look on his face.

"Then who is it?"

I look out toward the park to make sure my friends aren't there. I look at my dad, "Their names Tyasia and Kinsey. They are great."

"Okay. Do you want me to wait for you?"

"That'd be very embarrassing."

He laughs, "I won't stay. Just let know when to pick you up." He waves his phone.

"I will let you know. I promise." I look back to see Tyasia and Kinsey walking down the concreted path. "That's them." I point and my dad looks.

"Alright. They don't look like they bite."

"Oh, dad." I laugh. "Get outta here."

"Bye then." He leaves the park.

It's not the same park where I went with Andy. I didn't want Andy knowing where I was because I knew she would have had a fit and try to invite herself.

"Hey girls." I greet.

"Sirrah." Kinsey waves.

We hug each other and start walking down the same concreted path Tyasia and Kinsey came from.

"So, what's up?" Tyasia asks pulling a small twig from a random tree.

"Yeah, it sounds urgent. You're not dying are you?" Kinsey asks being dramatic but so serious.

I scrunch my face up and smile, "No, I am not."

"Then what is it?"

I puff, "I know who my birth parents are."

Tyasia and Kinsey stop walking. I stop as well.

"You know who?" Tyasia asks.

I repeat, "I know who my birth parents are. My dad told me about them. Apparently, they were all friends. I'm not going to get into the details. But, my birth mom gave me to an adoption agency all the way in Texas."

"So, that's how you got there?" Kinsey states.

"Right."

We begin walking again, occasionally stopping to look at the stream under the concreted bridge and smell a few flowers.

"Why'd she have you all the way out there if she lives in North Carolina?" Tyasia asks.

"I don't know."

"Was she young at the time?" Kinsey asks.

"No, she's got three other children. So does my birth father." I found myself getting more comfortable with Tyasia and Kinsey than I ever was with Alchemy. It felt good to have friends I can depend on. Oh, yeah...Andy too.

"Did you talk to her?"

i had told them I had both my birth parents' numbers.

"No, i only spoke to my birth dad because i felt like he really wanted me." I admit. "I am a little peeved at what she did."

"Wait," Tyasia stops. Kinsey and myself stop as well. "I think you shouldn't be mad at her just yet."

I arch my brow and turn to Tyasia. "And why not? If you can give me a legit reason why I should not be mad at her. I will try my hardest not to be." I put my hands on my hips and wait for Tyasia's legit reason.

When I am around Tyasia and Kinsey, I feel as though I am coming out of my shell. I feel like this is the girl I am meant to be. Confident with a little sass.

"Because you don't know what she was going through at the time. I mean...your dad did say she did want you. So, maybe if you just talk to her and ask her, she'd tell you."

What Tyasia just said makes a lot of sense. "Yeah." I drop my hands from my hips; defeated.

"I've got to agree with Ty on this one, Sirrah."

"I wouldn't even know how to ask that without making her feel bad or making it sound as though I'm resentful."

We resume our walk.

"Ask just how you asked your dad." Kinsey offers her opinion.

"Straight out," Tyasia adds with a stretch of her arm.

"I may just do that. But, I have been talking to my birth father. He seems cool to me." I smile.

"Do you think he'll be at the trial?" Kinsey asks stopping to pick a flower.

"I didn't tell him about that or the crap I have been going through. So, I doubt it."

"Do you want him to be there?" Tyasia asks.

I crinkle my nose at the thought of him sitting in the courtroom as I try to plead my case. "I don't know. I don't want him to know what I've been going through. I don't want him to feel like I failed."

"You didn't fail." Kinsey says.

"Yeah, the only way you would fail is if you didn't do anything. But, you are doing something for every future student at Angelwood." Tyasia touches my shoulder.

I smile. "Yeah, I guess you guys are right."

"Of course, we're right." Kinsey yells causing the birds that were hiding in the trees and bushes to take flight. "Well, forget yall too!" She shouts to the birds, shaking her fist at them.

Tyasia and I laugh at Kinsey's randomness at the birds.

We turn around and walk back to the entrance of the park. We stop talking about my birth parents and start talking about something else.

I knew Andy wouldn't understand what I am going through with my birth parents. But, I knew Tyasia and Kinsey would understand because they too were adopted.

Lately, I've been thinking about how crazy it was that Tannya was the girl who used to read to me at the orphanage.

She and I talked for a while after school the day she realized I was the little girl she read to. She took a picture out her wallet and handed it to me. The picture was of her and me as little girls. I almost cried.

She explained to me how she was a part of a program that her parents funded. The programs was to help orphans. It was like the Big Brother Big Sister program, but instead of adults mentoring the orphans the highly qualified teens and children would, with the supervision of adults.

Tannya told me the reason why she chose me was that she thought I was cute, funny, and easy to teach.