27

Amy

Blush repainted my cheeks as I stared at the intricate designs of construction paper, photos, and glitter on my locker. The phrase "Prom?" was written down the length of my locker in sparkling purple letters. It sat atop pink construction paper and surrounded with recent photos Sonic and I have taken over the past few weeks. My favorite was one of the two of us smiling, his chin resting on my shoulder and our cheeks pressed together. I hadn't been expecting to see my decorated locker when I'd come by before lunch earlier, but it was definitely a sweet surprise. Perfect timing too since Daddy was taking Sonia and I dress shopping after school today.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist and lips pressed against my ear. "Hey, Mamas," Sonic whispered.

"Hi Sonic." I turned in his arms and reached for his hand. We walked down the hallway towards the front entrance of the school. We passed the threshold of the school and ventured out onto the front quad. The sun was shining against the blue sky, finally bringing some warmth after the brutal winter. I scanned the line of waiting cars near the sidewalk, quickly catching sight of my father's red Chevrolet Equinox.

Sonic tugged me towards the car, guiding me through the crowds of people.

I searched the sea of faces for my best friend.

The back of her curly hair, pulled into a neat ponytail, caught my eye a few feet in front of us. Her perfectly manicured hand was intertwined with Noah's. She still wouldn't spill the full deSilver on what was going on between them, claiming he was still just tutoring her, but I wasn't stupid. The girl nearly melted into a puddle whenever he came to say hi to us during lunch. The only thing she mentioned was that he'd asked her to prom.

"He's just being nice," she'd said as she munched on a Hot Cheeto during lunch. "He feels bad that I don't have a date."

I tried to tell her that he liked her, and she just rolled her eyes at me. Sometimes I wished she could take the encouraging words she said to me and apply them to herself. If anyone deserved a kind, loving guy, it was definitely her. I just hoped she'd let down her walls enough to see that Noah could be a good fit for her.

The pair stopped in front of my father's car. Sonia giggled as Noah leaned down and pecked a kiss at her cheek. He seemed like he was about to lean down and press one against her lips before he saw Sonic. Immediately, he let go of Cat's hand and backed away.

Sonia raised an eyebrow at his sudden action. She glanced over her shoulder, noticing Sonic and I, and rolled her eyes. "Don't be afraid of him," I heard her tell Noah. "He'll only kick your ass if you make me cry."

Noah chuckled, shaking his head at her comment. He waved to us as we approached. "Hi, Amy. Hey, Sonic," he said.

Sonic nodded to him in silent acknowledgement before turning his eyes to his sister. "Bring your ass straight in the house after Benny drops you off," he said.

She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. "And if I don't?"

"I'll pour all your facial Blazein the toilet."

A glare overcame her face. "You wouldn't."

Sonic held her gaze. "Try me."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "Fine." She turned to Noah and gave him a sweet smile. "I'll call you later."

"I'll be waiting," he replied, offering her a charming smile.

Sonic rolled his eyes as Noah walked away. "Are y'all gonna go on a date or what? All this gushy goo-goo ga-ga shit is annoying."

"You're annoying," Sonia retorted.

Sonic held up his middle finger in response.

I giggled at them. "I'll text you," I promised Sonic. I stood on my toes to peck a kiss on his lips.

A smile threatened to appear on his face as he gave me one last look before walking off in the opposite direction.

Sonia and I climbed into the backseat of Daddy's car.

We were all quiet during the twenty-minute ride to the dress boutique. Sonia and I scrolled idly through our social media feeds, and Daddy quietly sung along to the classic R&B songs playing on the radio.

Inside the boutique, Sonia squealed in awe beside me. A rainbow of sparkling dresses lined the walls of the boutique, displayed on tall mannequins. Over a dozen racks supplied a plethora of dresses, organized by color and style. Sonia didn't waste any time dragging me towards the racks full of voluminous red dresses.

Smiling, I followed Sonia around the store as she searched for the perfect dress for junior prom. She claimed she didn't want anything too flashy, but nothing too bland either. She wanted to make the perfect statement that would save some room for awe during our senior prom. I assisted in her search, pulling out dresses I thought she'd look perfect in. She ended up with a handful of dresses she wanted to try on.

"We've gotta search for you now," she insisted.

"It's still early," I said with a shrug. "Try on your dresses, first, and then we can look for mine."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I wanted to try on dresses together, so we can do a little montage like in the movies."

I giggled. "Yeah. I want to help judge your options. I'll even record as you come out, so we can make a Tik Tok later."

She beamed at the idea. "Okay!"

Daddy and I watched Sonia twirl around in her variety of dresses. One was a glittering red A-line gown that hugged her luscious curves. Another was a royal blue ball gown with silk fabric that made her brown skin pop. She tried a few colorful trumpet style gowns, but quickly ruled them out due to their dramatic bottom. In the end, she decided on an A-line gown dripping in sparkling gold that poured over her brown skin like honey. She looked like a movie star preparing to walk down the red carpet.

With her dress decided, Sonia started dragging me around the store. She excitedly held up dress after dress, only to be met with a small shrug. She quickly grew tired of the charade. Sighing, she propped her elbow up over one of the racks. "Talk to me. What are you thinking about?"

I opened my mouth, contemplating allowing a lie to come out of my mouth. I could've told her I didn't like the dresses, but Sonia would see right through that. She had impeccable taste; most of the dresses she was picking up would probably look really nice on my petite figure. But they all didn't have sleeves to cover the gruesome scars on my arms. I may have briefly confronted my mother, but it didn't erase any of the insecurities she'd left me with. If I walked out at prom with my scars showing, people would be gawking at me in disgust. I didn't want to embarrass myself like that. I may have longed to be the beautiful princess once, but I'd come to accept that I'd never be anything close.

Sonia must've read my mind, the crease between her brows immediately disappearing and her lips pulling into a soft frown. "Amy, you will look beautiful in any one of these dresses."

"But my…" I rubbed my arms. "They'll show."

She grabbed my hands, squeezing softly. "Listen, I may never understand the emotional and psychological scars your mother left on your mind, but I do know that the ones on your body don't make you any less beautiful than any other woman on this planet. In my opinion, you're one of the prettiest women I've ever met - and no, I'm not just saying that because you're my best friend." She smiled warmly at me. "You are a wonderful human being, Amy, inside and out, and you deserve to feel good about yourself. Okay?"

I nodded. "I'll try."

"That's all I'm asking for."

She towed me around the store for a little while longer before she had more dresses than she could carry. Gently, she shoved me into the dressing room and assisted in helping me into the first dress. It was a beautiful purple ensemble with spaghetti straps, a bodice that hugged my short torso, and a skirt full of waves that flared at my hips.

Curiously, I looked in the mirror, prepared for the ambush of dark thoughts. I nearly gasped at the reflection.

The girl staring back at me, like most things lately, was foreign and familiar. While

this girl had the same gruesome scars wrapping around her arms as me, the elegant dress took the attention away from them. Instead, its beauty drew my eyes towards her small shoulders, the tracing of her curves in the bodice, and the green of her irises as it contrasted against the color of the dress.

"See," Sonia said as she appeared behind me in the mirror. "You're beautiful."

I smiled at her through the mirror. "Thanks."

I hopped in and out of the rest of the dresses Sonia picked out. I picked out two that I really liked, and thankfully I was able to find them in the same color so Sonic wouldn't have to buy two suits. When I texted him to accept his promposal, he made it very clear that we were going to both proms, so I needed two dresses - and he made me promise not to pick an absurd color.

Daddy brought us McDonald's on the ride home, stating simply that he didn't feel like cooking once we got home. Sonia and I didn't object. We happily munched on french fries during the ride.

When we finally arrived home, I bid Sonia goodbye with a tight hug and followed Daddy into the house.

I watched him shrug off his coat and boots in the hall, debating our next topic of conversation. "Daddy?" I asked softly.

"Yes, princess."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

I wrung my hands together. "How did you cope after what happened with your mother?"

Daddy paused, his line shifting into a line. He'd been open about the hardships he'd faced after coming out as a black, gay man in South Carolina. It'd come out in conversation when I was still adjusting to living with them, and I'd asked how they met.

Daddy had beamed at the opportunity to tell the story. "Well, my family owns a soul-food restaurant back home in South Carolina. So I was working or whatever, and I was assigned to wait on a table where the flashiest Latino boy I've ever seen was sitting. I mean, he was decked out in this big ass cowboy hat, sparkling purple shirt and tight leather pants."

"One of my friends dressed me up for photos to put in his photography portfolio, and I was too hungry to change," Papa inserted.

Daddy ignored him. "I lived in the South so things are a bit more conservative than here. So everyone's looking at him like he's crazy, and none of my brothers wanted to serve him – so I got stuck with him. So, I walk over and the first thing he does is start checking me out. I couldn't even finish my waiter spiel before he's smirking at me and eyeing me up and down. When I asked him what his problem was, he said he'd never seen such a beautiful man before. He had me blushing in front of the whole damn restaurant!" He'd laughed at the memory. "He was in town for a few days, so we spent a few nights together. Before he headed back here to Chicago, we exchanged numbers, and we just kept talking after that." His smile slowly fell as he spoke next. "When I finally came out, my family kicked me out. We were pretty tight-knit, so it hurt pretty bad when they did it. My mom called me a disgrace, and she told me that she hoped the short-lived pleasure of the devil's bed was worth an eternity of burning in hell."

Papa frowned and grabbed Daddy's hand.

His touch immediately brought a smile back to Daddy's lips. He looked at Papa. "But, I found the love of my life. Almost twenty years later, and he's still the only man for me."

I remember smiling at them as they shared a soft kiss.

Now, Papa was still at work and unable to lend his hand for Daddy to hold.

I stepped closer to Daddy and gave him mine instead.

He smiled as my small hands enveloped one of his large ones. "Honestly, I didn't handle the rejection well," he admitted. "As close as we all were, I was hoping they'd accept me - that they'd know I was still their Benny no matter who I brought home for dinner. So, when she said those words and locked me out of the house, it cut pretty damn deep. Luckily, I'd saved up a good chunk of money, so I was able to rent out a motel until I found something more permanent. Marc and I were still dating long-distance, but I couldn't bear to answer his phone calls. I was ashamed and angry and resentful, and I…I wasn't in a good place. I thought God hated me - that I was an abomination in His eyes. If Marc hadn't flown down to check on me, I can't be certain I'd still be alive right now."

I squeezed his hand, noticing the tears forming at the bottom of his eyes.

"When Marc tracked me down at the motel, he convinced me to move back to Chicago with him. After all, I didn't have anything tying me to South Carolina anymore. So, after I went back with him, I opened my own restaurant, made new friends, I married Marc after some years, and later we were blessed with you." He smiled. "I guess my point is that my mother's actions stung for a long time, but embracing people who accepted me and loved me for who I was helped heal those wounds. You can't lift this weight on your own, baby girl. I know you're a strong independent woman, but you've got to let others lend a hand too."

"I'm trying," I said.

"I know you are. Just remember that Marc and I are here to help you weather any storm that comes your way."

Smiling, I embraced him in a soft hug. "I love you, Daddy."

His chest vibrated as he chuckled. His large arms wrapped around me, squeezing me tight. "I love you too, princess."