The Summer Recall : Chapter 1

 

Latifah

“Please be careful when you go, make sure you help out your cousins with the house chores. Don’t burden them with any problems. If you need anything I am just a phone call away. Don’t do anything you are not comfortable doing”. I stood at the British Airways check-in counter at the airport as my mom went on and on sharing her concerns and dropping words of wisdom. This would be my first time away from home for a long period since we moved back from Ghana to the UK. She was just as nervous as I was. She knew she had to let me go and create new experiences. She had already said goodbye to my twin sister who was off to spend her summer in Canada and she was finding it hard to say goodbye to her other daughter but she couldn’t keep us tied down. We were 20 years old and seeking our independence.  She had to do what she needed to do to let us go. 

 My grandmother, God bless her always felt a young woman didn’t go wandering off and living a single life. You were born to be groomed by your parent to be a wife and a mother. There was no going off having experiences. My mom ended up living a very sheltered life and when marriage came knocking at her door at 24 she saw it as an escape to live her life. My mom never wanted us to miss out on any opportunities that came our way. When I declared that I was off to spend the summer in Atlanta my mom was the first one to help me pack.

When check-in was complete, I knew this is where I had to say goodbye to my mom and head over to the gate. Once I walked away from her I knew that I didn’t have her to protect me from the big scary world. But, I couldn’t let my fear stop me from living out my independence. I gave her a tight hug and walked away without turning back.

 

“I can’t believe I made it to Atlanta,”  I told myself as I found my way to the taxi stand that would take me to my cousins' place,. I had visited Atlanta the year before so I knew how to get around but it was my first time taking a taxi from the airport to my cousins’ place at Lenox Park. It was early morning on a Wednesday and the airport was busy. I lugged my luggage and went to find the taxi rank. As I rode in the back of the taxi, I was so nervous. It felt so real that I was finally in Atlanta. So many thoughts were going through my mind “What will this summer be like? “Will I find  a job to keep me going so I wouldn’t need to ask my parents for money?”  Will Dee and I get along since this is the most time we would spend together? Will I get along with his new girlfriend? Oh right, I forgot to add, Dee moved back to Ghana to go to Uni and whilst he was in school he met this girl called Marsha. I wasn’t exactly excited to meet her because I felt she was going to come between our friendship. Dee assured me that she is super cool. But, a part of me didn’t believe it.

I stayed in my head the whole taxi ride and the taxi driver had to alert me when we got to my cousins' house.  I was really hoping that my summer was going to be memorable and I just couldn’t wait for it to happen.