There Will Come a Time Read Free

eyes as quiet stoicism.
    If I feel anything, most of the time it’s anger. Chris tried to get me to cry in his office, but all I could think about was how his widow’s peak came to such a sharp point in the middle of his forehead. It looked like a perfect arrow to direct my fist.
    I hope Hanna doesn’t start crying now. I don’t think I can take it.
    Changing the subject, I ask, “Remember the first time we stayed up all night on this bench?” Though as soon as I say it, I kind of wish I could take it back.
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œEighth grade.” The year I got into the school for the arts. The year Hanna and I almost kissed.
    â€œDad moved out.”
    I nod, waiting for it to hit.
    â€œYou tried to kiss me.” She says softly. She’s looking at her toes. Her nails are some dark color.
    â€œI gave you a consolation hug. You were the one who turned your face as I bent down. In fact, I could say you tried to kiss me .”
    She laughs. “Oh man, that was embarrassing.”
    â€œYes, I was embarrassed for you,” I tease.
    â€œShut up,” she says.
    I push us faster on the swing, suddenly a little embarrassed for bringing it up.
    I wasn’t embarrassed that night. I was confused. It was late and Hanna sent me a text about her dad and asked if I could come over. Normally she would have texted Grace, but Grace was in Long Beach visiting our mom. I wasn’t interested in spending two weeks with Mom and her new husband. Grace said I was being stubborn, for not wanting to go, but I didn’t care. In my opinion, Mom made her choice years ago when she left. I didn’t see the need to facilitate the façade, but Grace, well, she was the more forgiving one of us.
    So I ran over to Hanna’s and she was waiting for me in the backyard on the bench. She looked so small and scared sittingthere. She was crying. I sat next to her and listened to her talk about her parents, about how she couldn’t imagine life without her dad in the house.
    My parents split up when Grace and I were seven. Mom left on a Friday after her nurse’s shift at the hospital. I remember because we had plans to go camping that weekend, and Dad made Grace and me stay at Tita Christie’s instead. We didn’t understand what had happened. I still don’t. All I know is that she left us.
    Mom gave Dad full custody and eventually met this guy Will and moved about an hour away. Dad married Jenny a couple years after the divorce. The funny thing is that they both fell for someone white, not that I have anything against white people. They probably figured they’d tried marrying a Filipino first, and since that had been a mess, why not?
    I could relate to Hanna’s drama of screwed-up families. Most of the time our piecemeal family was cool. We did get Jenny out of the deal. When she first met us, Jenny brought me a CD of my favorite bass music and Grace some fancy colored pens. We liked her right away. At least I did. She knew about Edgar Meyer, an amazing bassist, and that gave her instant points. Later I found out that Dad had given Jenny the tip. Grace took a little longer to win over because I think she was still holding out for Mom to come home.
    Sometimes it sucked. Mom and I still weren’t on the bestof terms. But I always had Grace. I never had to go through it alone, not like Hanna. She was the only kid. She had all the pressure of dealing with the hurt and her parents on her own.
    Hanna had a huge tear running down her face. I wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay. No, I wanted to make everything okay for her. I reached out and wiped her cheek. I had never touched her that way.
    â€œYou’ll be okay,” I said, looking into her eyes, which were swollen around the lids, but still glossy and beautiful. She looked into mine and I wanted to kiss her. She wanted me to, because she moved a little closer and her eyes started to close. I knew what I