The sky exhales, sweeping leaves up over my toes. I spin, arms wide open, draped in a gown with the glow of a hundred fireflies knit together. Laughing, spinning, dizzy, I collapse; fill my hands with leaves to toss as a whoosh of air whips them up like mini tornadoes.

Then, all of a sudden, he’s there. Kent. Taking my hands into each of his and staring at me with those chocolate eyes, he whispers: “Old things are passing away.” I stare dumbfounded. “Old things are passing away,” he repeats with a smile. Then we’re on the daycare playground. I lean against a towering tree watching my class take turns on the sliding board. Across the field, he turns a jump rope for some of the older girls playing double dutch.The girls’ laughter mingles with his, its melody floating in a breath of wind. Just as it reaches my ears, his eyes turn toward me and our gazes intertwine. Then everything else fades away…

Someone pounded against my bedroom door. My eyes flew open and then squeezed shut again to block out the sunlight breaking through pale blue sheers. “Hey, Tori! Are you planning on going to work today?”

I yanked a pillow from underneath me and covered my head in a vain attempt to block the aggravating sound. But Daddy persisted. With a frustrated sigh, I tossed the pillow onto the floor, rolled over and looked at the clock. “Oh, no!”

Springing up, I dashed across the room to fling open the top dresser drawer.

“Tori!”

“Alright, alright! I’ll be ready in a minute!”

I yanked out the first top I laid hands on, a sleeveless white tee, and tossed it onto the bed.

“Well, you’d better hurry. Danielle called and said she’ll be here to pick you up in ten minutes. Barbara’s going with me to the A.A. meeting so we’ll be home from work late.”

“Okay,” I mumbled from the adjacent bathroom as I vigorously moved a toothbrush back and forth across my teeth. If there was anything I hated, it was being late. How had I managed to sleep so long? And wasn’t I dreaming about something? Spitting toothpaste into the sink, I shook my head. It didn’t matter. I didn’t have time to think about it. If I wasn’t ready by the time Danielle got here, she’d sit outside and honk her horn until I was or she awakened the entire neighborhood.

As if on cue, I heard the screech of Danielle’s tires in the driveway and her horn blaring.

Almost tripping over my feet running, I yelled out “I’m coming!” peeking around the living room window’s curtain so that all of Primrose Drive wouldn’t see me in my underwear.

Danielle poked her head out of the car window. “What’s with you today? Usually you’re sittin’ out her on the porch sippin’ your Coke waitin’ on me.”

“I know, I know. I’m on my way.” Closing the curtain, I narrowly escaped a collision with a fern in my sprint back to the bedroom. Throwing on the T-shirt, a flowing white cotton skirt, and my red flip-flops, I was on my way back out the door when it occurred to me that I hadn’t done anything with my hair.

Looking in the bathroom mirror, I thanked God that I hadn’tleft with my hair the way it looked. Grabbing some Hot Six oil, I worked it and a comb through my dark, frizzy curls. Then yanking them up into a tight ponytail, I frowned at my reflection. With my hair off my face, my cheeks looked chipmunkish. And did I see a pimple on my forehead? Normally, I wasn’t concerned with how I looked when I went to work, but today my usual ponytail just didn’t seem quite right. Snatching it down, I let my hair fall loose. Slicking down the sides with gel and a damp brush, I turned up my nose at the Jackson Five reject ‘fro. But no sooner than I’d put my  fingers in it to pull it back up, Danielle leaned impatiently on her horn. I grabbed my purse and hurried out the front door.

“Girl, what happened to that grandma ponytail you drive me crazy with every day? Let me find out!”she exclaimed with laughter as soon as I got into the car.

I shrugged. “Didn’t have time to do anything with it.”

“Well, maybe you should run late every day.” Giving me another once over she asked: “And what’s with the skirt? Never seen you wear that before.”

“Found it in the back of my closet. Thought it might be cooler than my jeans. No biggie.”

Danielle laughed, spinning tires out of the drive. “Mmmhmm. Or maybe you just tryin’ to impress somebody…”

“So anyway, how was the date?” I asked eager to change the subject.

She glanced at me rolling her eyes. “The date was a disaster.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Well, Eric got my hopes up; took me to this nice restaurant. Girl, he was smellin’ good and dressed to impress!”

“That doesn’t sound too bad to me,” I said, clinging to the door handle.

“Oh, I haven’t gotten there yet. We ate and had a nice conversation. I even considered giving him some.”

“On your first date?”

“Well, it was the first time we went out, but we’ve been talking for awhile. Anyway, the check came and girl-”

“Danielle, that car is stopped in front of you!” I hollered.

“Tori, how long you been ridin’ with me? I see him.” She slammed on brakes, jolting our heads forward then back against the seats. The stopped car made a right into a gas station, scarcely completing its turn before Danielle pressed her foot down on the accelerator again. Trees and street signs blurred past my window. “Anyway,” she continued without missing a beat, “when the check came, he tried to play dumb. Like he accidentally left his wallet at home.” She snorted. “So I had to pay the bill. Eighty-five dollars! That was my hair money, so you know I was heated!”

“You are a trip.” My mind was still on the close call a few moments ago, but I managed a laugh. “Seems like your night was almost as bad as mine.”

“What happened to you?”

“Drama with my father. Usually I let what he says go in one ear and out the other, but last night I just couldn’t take it. He was on my case about school. And Dante.”

“Well, I’m sorry your dad was on your back, but he has a point about that thug Dante. He’s no good.”

“I can’t believe you’d agree with him! You’re supposed to be my best friend.”

Danielle pulled into a space in the daycare parking lot and shut off the engine. “And that’s exactly why I’m telling you that you need to drop that zero and get yourself a hero. Like Superman.”

“Will you stop it with that?” I got out of the car and slammed the door. Turning my back with arms crossed over my chest, I stubbornly declared: “I’m in love with Dante and no matter what you or my father thinks we’re gonna be together.”

She got out and slammed her door, looking at me with a severe expression I’d never seen before. “Tori, I’ve gone out with a lot of different men and been hurt more times than I care to remember, so I know what I’m talking about. Don’t be a fool.”

“I’m not. I just-”

But Danielle refused to listen to me defend Dante anymore. “Before he went to jail, he treated you like trash,” she said. “Did he ever say he loved you?No. He hardly spent any time with you and when he did, it wasn’t nothin’ more than booty calls after dark. Now all of a sudden, he’s locked up and it’s all about you. Please.”

I stared across the parking lot at the rows of temporary classrooms, each decorated in a different color and situated in a V shape behind the church. The elderly janitor, Mr. Proctor, pushed a large gray garbage can up the walk. “Maybe now he realizes what he had and he wants to make it better.”

“No, what he realizes is that you’re a doormat who’ll believe anything he says.”

Her words shocked me speechless. After the fight last night with Daddy, here I was in another one with my best friend.

(from Secret of a Butterfly, ch.2, pp.22-26)

Yesterday, our heroine, Tori, was presented with a new opportunity for love. Her best friend, Danielle, has nicknamed him “Superman” because his name is Kent Clarke. Although this new opportunity is interesting, Tori has determined she will stick with her old flame Dante even though it’s apparent she may be out of fluid in her lighter. No matter how painful the past, doesn’t it feel easier to walk in, like worn-out shoes that seem comfortable yet provide no support for our feet? Until tomorrow….