“But Simone didn’t care about any of that. One day she came in, and I was just sitting there playing on my phone while the others were cleaning up the debris from around the area. She walked right over to me and handed me a broom while glaring at me.”
“I still, to this day, don’t know why I took it from her hand or why I felt so drawn to her because of that one action. There I was, even the teachers afraid to put one foot wrong in front of me, and this girl, this poverty-stricken girl who looked like her clothes had been passed down through generations and whose hair could’ve done with a good stylist didn’t care about any of that.”
“But it was her eyes, I think. I’ve always remembered her eyes. There was no guile, no artifice, I was no different to her than anyone else there, and for that, she gained my respect which turned into love the more we got to know each other. I found myself looking forward to being there and even used up some of my weekends to go as well.”
“She and I partnered up for everything after that and kept each other going. She taught me what it means to be ‘real,’ as she was fond of saying, and I shared what I knew about my world with her. She was proud, too proud to accept handouts, but I still went ahead and did what was necessary to give my new friend a hand.”
“Like when she got high scores on the SATs but wouldn’t be able to go away to a good college because even with a scholarship, there were still other expenses she had to take care of. Her mom was always struggling financially, even with two jobs, and Simone was afraid that her younger brothers and sisters would’ve suffered if she’d left home.”
She still sounded so hurt for her friend that even I felt it. This was a side of mom that, even though there were sad connotations beneath the surface of her words, was very warming to me. I felt as if a door had opened just a tiny crack, and my heart was almost too full to bear it.
“I had your grandfather make up a scholarship just for her.”
“The same one he chairs now?”
“The very same. That was started because of her. She was amazing, beautiful, and she would’ve gone places in this world had she not died way too young.”
She didn’t say anything more for the longest while, and I held my breath, almost afraid to hear the rest. I was also wary of her breaking down in tears again. I don’t know why but seeing my mother cry hurt me in places I didn’t know were there. All the resentment and hard feelings were gone for now, and I just wanted her to get through whatever this was and get back to her usual self. That I can deal with, I’ve had years to get used to it. But this, this is almost scaring me.
“I’d snuck out of the dorm. I can’t remember why now. By then, Simone had come to know a little bit about my family and how wealthy we were, but she still didn’t care; it’s just she seemed to take on the same belief as my parents, that I needed to be extra cautious, which is the one thing I hated.” Come again?
“I wanted to be free. I wanted to hang out and enjoy the college experience like everyone else. I was finally away from home on my own for the first time; well, except for those chaperoned field trips to Europe in school, but those don’t count because my guards were always there lingering in the background.”
“That night, I didn’t even know that she’d followed me until she was just there, screaming at the men who…. To make a long story short, Simone was drugged and raped when the men who’d been sent to kidnap me grabbed her instead.”
“She fought them off long enough for me to get away, but had I known….” She put her head in her hands, and I sat there trying to put the pieces together, imagining my stalwart mom as the person she’d described. And my heart ached for Simone, the woman dad had said would’ve been my Godmother had she lived.
I almost didn’t want to hear anymore, but I needed to know. “Did they…did they kill her?”
“Not the way you mean, but they were the cause of her death. They tore her up so badly that she never recovered. It came out later that they were angry at her for foiling their plans. Apparently, they’d been watching me for some time, knew who I was, and wanted a payday. She saw them while she was trailing me, guessed what they were up to, I guess, and got in the way. Their answer was to take it out on her.”