Part 5: Miami to Providence, and a Taste of Beyond
Eight, ninth, and tenth grade were years of transition from middle school to high school. The years of meeting more people, taking French classes, learning how to drive, and eventually breaking out of the expensive carpooling ordeal. By the time I reached eleventh grade, I had my license and drove to school. Wayne, a friend and classmate who also joined Palmer and lived in the Keys, would take turns driving with me; but somehow he always made it there faster. I would always nap while he drove, and he in turn would finish his physics homework the days he did not drive. Junior year, or eleventh grade, would also be the start into my college path. It was the year when the SAT’s did count, when I had to start thinking about where and what I wanted to do post-high school, who I would ask for letters of recommendation, whether to take AP Art, etc. But amidst taking advanced classes and getting up early to take nationwide exams, my mother was back from her Christmas trip to Colombia and looking more yellow than fresh mustard. The day my mother arrived back to Miami, the day she came walking through the doors of Ciri’s house, there was something clearly wrong. She was sick.
Ciri had never said a word to me or to Cata about my mother’s health condition during the two months stay in Colombia. But on an early school morning, Ciri’s had packed her bags for a very sudden departure. I was heading out to school when she told me that “Mom is a little sick, Angie, but I will bring her back soon.” And I thought “this is some kind of mistake!” My mom called me on the phone every now and then to see how I was doing, and her voice sounded just fine. She could not be so sick to bring tears to Ciri’s eyes! But Ciri left and I had to go on with my day.
The day of their arrival has left an imprint in my life that I wish I only felt many years later. A few seconds before my sixty year old mother would walk through the living room doors, Ciri whispered and said, “Do not cry Angie. Please don’t make her feel uncomfortable. Be strong.”
