Taking Chances by Nina Perez Read Free Book Online Page B

impressed that you’re going to be on Shining Moments ,” my mother said, taking a sip of her wine then setting the glass on the coffee table. “I was afraid my daughter was getting involved with a freeloader.”
     
    “Ma!”
     
    “I’m just saying.”
     
    “It’s okay, Chloe. Your mother is right. I’d given myself another year or two tops before—“
     
    “Before what? Giving up on your dream?” I asked.
     
    Patrick shook his head. “I never looked at it that way. It’s just that I had to be realistic about my future, what I wanted for myself ten years from now. Still trying to make it happen wasn’t it.”
     
    “Very smart.” My mother nodded. “One of the girls I’ve been working with is pregnant for the second time by her thirty-five year old boyfriend. When I asked what he does for a living and if he could help support this family he’d created, she said he was an aspiring rapper. At thirty-five. At some point you have to stop trying to be something and just be something.”
     
    Her story made me think of Crystal and Jermaine. His name hadn’t come up once during dinner and I didn’t think Crystal had told Uncle Troy about him being back in her life. I could just imagine what my mother would say when she found out.
     
    “Okay. I’m going to get ready for bed. I’ll see you two in the morning.”
     
    We watched as my mother made her way down the hallway. A moment later we heard the bathroom door close.
     
    I scooted closer to Patrick on the sofa and placed my head on his shoulder. “I’m going to miss you tonight,” I said, placing my hand on his flat stomach. His body was perfection.
     
    “You can always change your mind, you know.”
     
    I lifted my head and kissed him before saying, “Slow your roll. Things with my mother didn’t go that well. She’s still old fashioned and I’m still her baby girl. Some lines you do not cross with your mama in the house.”
     
    He sighed and then kissed me back. “Fine. But when she’s gone, we’ll have a lot of lost time to make up.”
     
    “I’m looking forward to it.”
     
    ***
     
     
    When I woke the next morning my mother was already in our kitchen making breakfast. She handed me a steaming mug of cinnamon tea and I leaned against the counter to watch her cook. I blew into the mug for a few seconds and then took a sip.  
     
    “Mmm. So good. Thanks.”
     
    “I know what my girl likes.” My mother said, smiling. She was already dressed in black slacks, comfortable shoes, and a cranberry colored turtleneck. Her hair was swept up into a bun.
     
    “You look too nice to hand out food.”
     
    “They’re homeless, Chloe, not blind,” she said, referring to the people she’d be serving Thanksgiving meals to at Uncle Troy’s church later that day.
     
    It was a family holiday tradition, one that started when my mother and Uncle Troy were children and continued on with their own children. Crystal and I used to hate it, but as we got older we appreciated it for what it was. Not everyone was as fortunate as our family and we were taught never to forget that. As I sipped the sweet tea I felt sad that I wouldn’t be there this year. Seeing the look on my face my mother asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
     
    I glanced towards the hallways.
     
    “He’s in the shower,” she said.
     
    “Patrick didn’t tell his family that I’m black and I’m scared. And annoyed, but mostly scared. This is hard enough, meeting his family for the first time. Not knowing that I’m black just adds a whole ‘nother level of unnecessary stress.”
     
    “What’s the worst that can happen, Chloe?”
     
    “How about they hate me on sight?”
     
    “Would that change how you feel about Patrick?”
     
    “Of course not, but—”
 
    “If I’d told you that I didn’t like Patrick because he was white would that stop you from being with him?”
     
    “No, but —”
     
    “You’re making this harder than it needs to be. Don’t