Free Across The Tracks by Xyla Turner Page B

had offered her a position as the Assistant Principal, but Lisa told him she would think about that. She was not sure she could do what needed to be done while an entity that paid her bills would try to censor her yet again. She looked around towards a few other programs and community organizations to see if they were hiring, but so far she had not found a thing.
    Her dad told her to just take some time off from work and school and then get back into the swing of things. He was just happy to have her back. When Lisa was at school, she would talk with her father and Josh every week. Their excuse for these consistent phone calls was to assure she was alive. They also kept her updated on people, the neighborhood, and weird Philly things, like Temple buying up all the houses and renting to students who liked to have 3 AM keg parties. That was just crazy. Josh had told her that some white guy stopped by a few times looking for her. He thought the guy was a bill collector, so Josh just kept saying that she didn’t live there anymore. Josh said he seemed persistent because he would come on the weekends a couple of times too. He didn’t get a name, but she knew who it was – Rich.
    After they had slept together, Lisa sent her acceptance letter to the University of Maryland, packed her bags, found an apartment near campus and moved within the week. She could not bear the thought of having to face him afterward. She could not endure the rejection of him dismissing her or acting like nothing happened, or trying to keep her a secret. She would not do it, so she removed herself from it entirely. It was not just Rich that solidified that decision, it was all the changes. Danny, her job, her next steps. Lisa felt it was time to do something new, so she did. She changed her phone number, blocked her email accounts and left no forwarding address. The only people who knew where she was located, included her immediate family, friends, The NSPPF board and the Daily News . Lisa felt it was a little cloak and dagger, but it was better that way.
    The lease for the renter that occupied Lisa’s portion of the townhouse, she shared with Josh, had ended a month ago, so she now had a place to stay. She wanted to get her own townhouse but wanted to talk to Josh about that first. Lisa met up with her old friends, Jessica, and Michelle for lunch on Wednesday. They caught her up on all the gossip of everyone who was anyone. Apparently, Danny had moved to California and was dating a white girl. Michelle seemed upset about this, but Jessica and Lisa thought it was hilarious. That turned into an interesting conversation about interracial dating and how Michelle would never date a white guy because she didn’t believe in mixing races. Jessica grabbed Michelle’s long naturally straight hair and told her that was the dumbest thing she had ever heard come out of her mouth because she was apparently mixed with something. She pointed to Lisa’s head and said, “Those are naps and yours is what?”
    At that comment, all the women laughed – it was absurd she was so adamant about not dating someone from another race when she was clearly mixed with something. Her father was not in her life, but her mom either was not telling the truth or believed the lie herself. Michelle could pass for a tanned white girl, an Indian or Hispanic. Lisa thought there was something there and maybe one day, she would share.
    That conversation turned into Jessica admitting she dated a white guy but didn’t sleep with him. All the women gushed over the news, then Lisa admitted to sleeping with a white man, but never dating him. Michelle spits her water out on the floor and Jessica was holding her heart.
    “What?” Lisa looked at them shocked.
    “What did they do to you in Maryland?” Michelle gasped.
    “Oh my God, nothing. This didn’t even happen in Maryland, this was in Philly.” She raised her eyebrows at both of them, lifted her lemonade, then extended it towards with a