shoulder, I saw D walking toward us. Only she wasn’t alone. There was a tall white woman with her. I stared at her with my mouth hanging open, pointing, with my finger down by my leg, trying to get Neeka’s attention.
“Turn around, Neeka!” I said, trying not to move my lips. I waved and D waved.
Neeka turned around then and saw what I saw.
“You think that’s somebody from the foster care place?” Neeka said.
The woman had curly light-colored hair and D’s same strange green eyes. She was dressed in purple, everything purple—baggy purple pants, too-big purple shirt, black Nikes with a purple stripe. If I’d seen her on the street, I would have thought she was just some freak trying to look fly. But she was with D, so I didn’t know what to think.
D was smiling, her same old crazy half smile, like she’d just been gone away for a day or a week, not for over a month. But I saw her smile and I felt like my whole body was relaxing, like it had been all tense all the time she was gone and now it could just sit itself down.
We hugged and then we looked at each other and then we hugged again. The whole time, the white lady stood there smiling, like she knew us from way back when or something.
“Ma,” D said. “These are my girls.” She said our names and the woman’s smile got bigger.
“Hey y’all,” D said. “This is my moms. We been spending some time together, that’s why you ain’t seen me around for a while.”
Me and Neeka lifted our hands and said something that sounded like Hi. We were too busy being shocked that this white woman was D’s mama to say anything else.
“Okay,” D said slowly. “You can put your eyes back into your heads now.”
“Cool to finally meet you both,” D’s mama said. “Lordy, have I heard some earfuls about you.”
She smiled again. Up close she looked like she’d done some hard living. There were lines around her nose and mouth and her skin looked a bit rough. One of her teeth was a little bit crooked, and when she smiled real wide, I could see that one near the back was missing.
“Where you been?” Neeka said, taking off the headphones. “We don’t even have your phone number. How you gonna be friends with some sisters all this time and disappear without leaving some digits behind?”
“I didn’t know I was gonna turn that corner and not be back for a while,” D said. “You know I’m not like that.”
She looked up at Neeka’s window. Miss Irene had tied some red balloons to her window box.
“Y’all having a party?”
Neeka nodded. “Tash is coming home today. If we’d’a known how to reach you, we would’ve called.”
After a minute she said, “We missed you, D! You can’t be leaving your girls hanging like that!”
D looked at me and Neeka. Then she turned to her mama and said, “I’m gonna walk over there and talk to my girls a minute.”
D’s mama nodded, then checked her watch. “Our bus leaves in two hours, Desiree. We still have to pick up your things.”
“Desiree?” I said. “Your name’s Desiree?”
Neeka looked on like Desiree had grown two new heads.
“That’s my birth name,” she said. “Desiree Johnson. She’s the only one be calling me that.”
We walked a little bit away from Desiree’s mama.
“I thought your last name was Foster,” I said.
D shook her head. “Nah, it’s really Johnson. I just dropped the Johnson and added Foster because I was in foster care so much.”
“We didn’t even know your name,” I said, more to myself than to D.
“You didn’t tell us your mama was white,” Neeka whispered.
“I didn’t think that mattered,” D said. “What difference would it make? You gonna like me less or more because I got a white mama?” She looked at me. “Or because my name wasn’t my name?”
“We would have known you some,” Neeka said. “That’s all. We would have been able to put the D puzzle together a little bit more.”
D smiled.
“I came on this street and
“Turn around, Neeka!” I said, trying not to move my lips. I waved and D waved.
Neeka turned around then and saw what I saw.
“You think that’s somebody from the foster care place?” Neeka said.
The woman had curly light-colored hair and D’s same strange green eyes. She was dressed in purple, everything purple—baggy purple pants, too-big purple shirt, black Nikes with a purple stripe. If I’d seen her on the street, I would have thought she was just some freak trying to look fly. But she was with D, so I didn’t know what to think.
D was smiling, her same old crazy half smile, like she’d just been gone away for a day or a week, not for over a month. But I saw her smile and I felt like my whole body was relaxing, like it had been all tense all the time she was gone and now it could just sit itself down.
We hugged and then we looked at each other and then we hugged again. The whole time, the white lady stood there smiling, like she knew us from way back when or something.
“Ma,” D said. “These are my girls.” She said our names and the woman’s smile got bigger.
“Hey y’all,” D said. “This is my moms. We been spending some time together, that’s why you ain’t seen me around for a while.”
Me and Neeka lifted our hands and said something that sounded like Hi. We were too busy being shocked that this white woman was D’s mama to say anything else.
“Okay,” D said slowly. “You can put your eyes back into your heads now.”
“Cool to finally meet you both,” D’s mama said. “Lordy, have I heard some earfuls about you.”
She smiled again. Up close she looked like she’d done some hard living. There were lines around her nose and mouth and her skin looked a bit rough. One of her teeth was a little bit crooked, and when she smiled real wide, I could see that one near the back was missing.
“Where you been?” Neeka said, taking off the headphones. “We don’t even have your phone number. How you gonna be friends with some sisters all this time and disappear without leaving some digits behind?”
“I didn’t know I was gonna turn that corner and not be back for a while,” D said. “You know I’m not like that.”
She looked up at Neeka’s window. Miss Irene had tied some red balloons to her window box.
“Y’all having a party?”
Neeka nodded. “Tash is coming home today. If we’d’a known how to reach you, we would’ve called.”
After a minute she said, “We missed you, D! You can’t be leaving your girls hanging like that!”
D looked at me and Neeka. Then she turned to her mama and said, “I’m gonna walk over there and talk to my girls a minute.”
D’s mama nodded, then checked her watch. “Our bus leaves in two hours, Desiree. We still have to pick up your things.”
“Desiree?” I said. “Your name’s Desiree?”
Neeka looked on like Desiree had grown two new heads.
“That’s my birth name,” she said. “Desiree Johnson. She’s the only one be calling me that.”
We walked a little bit away from Desiree’s mama.
“I thought your last name was Foster,” I said.
D shook her head. “Nah, it’s really Johnson. I just dropped the Johnson and added Foster because I was in foster care so much.”
“We didn’t even know your name,” I said, more to myself than to D.
“You didn’t tell us your mama was white,” Neeka whispered.
“I didn’t think that mattered,” D said. “What difference would it make? You gonna like me less or more because I got a white mama?” She looked at me. “Or because my name wasn’t my name?”
“We would have known you some,” Neeka said. “That’s all. We would have been able to put the D puzzle together a little bit more.”
D smiled.
“I came on this street and
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