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sad her sister was and
tried to comfort her. “Oh, well he wasn’t that cute anyway, and it
looked like his hairline was receding,” she lied.
    “He was that cute, and his hairline looked
great. Everything about him looked great, including his Barbie
wife,” Malikah said in a depressed voice. Ever since Muhammad
transferred to her high school years ago, she had had a crush on
him. From his first day of class, he was popular. Partly because he
was so handsome and athletic, but mostly because he had such a
great personality. He was so laid back and nice, not at all
arrogant like the other popular kids. It was like he didn’t even
know he was cool. She had always known that a guy like him was way
out of her league, but that didn’t stop her from dreaming. Finding
out he was married crushed her dream. She couldn’t stand to talk or
think about it anymore. She changed the subject. “It’s getting
pretty late. What time is Adam expecting you home?”
    “I’m staying the night,” Kalimah responded
quickly. “Can I sleep in your room?”
    “You’re a newlywed. What are you doing trying
to sleep with me?”
    “No reason. I just miss my family. So, can I
sleep here?” She sounded slightly irritated.
    “Sure, if you want, but you know your room is
still open. Dad never turned it into an office like he said he
would.”
    “I know. I just want to sleep with you,
unless that’s a problem.”
    “Not a problem at all. Strange, but not a
problem.”

Chapter 7- Mariam
    Time passed by quickly, and Mariam still
hadn’t told her friends about her move. She knew the closer she got
to the date, the harder it would be to tell them. She wanted to get
it over with, but she was scared. How would they react? What would
they do without her? What would she do without them? Even though
she was the designated mother of the group, they did as much for
her as she did for them. In different ways, they all helped each
other out, either with advice, a shoulder to cry on, or just
someone to talk to. She never thought she’d see the day when she
moved away from her girls.
    Mariam opened her curtains to let the sun in.
She was a morning person. She loved getting up to go jogging early,
before the sun got too hot and the streets got too busy. She
checked the time. It was almost 8 o’clock. She jumped in the shower
and got dressed. She was meeting Rashad for breakfast. Over the
past few weeks, they had both been busy and hadn’t spent much time
together, so she was really looking forward to having breakfast
with him. As she stood in front of her closet, looking for
something to wear, she heard her phone ring. It was a text message
from Rashad:
Can’t make breakfast, honey. Working the morning
shift. Call you around 1 o’clock.
    “Since when has he ever worked the morning
shift?” she asked herself as she flopped on the bed. Even though
Rashad sounded excited about the move, he had been acting weird
ever since she told him. Maybe he didn’t want to go. Maybe he just
said he did to be nice. Maybe he didn’t want to get married, or
maybe he just didn’t want to marry her. Mariam’s mind was racing
with thoughts about Rashad and his recent behavior. She could feel
herself starting to get a headache, so she tried to think about
something else.
    She didn’t need Rashad to go to breakfast,
and she was still hungry. She got dressed and went ahead with her
plans. Mariam was so used to going to Starr that she was halfway
there before she even realized where she was going. She made the
first U-turn she could. She didn’t want to see him. Once she was
driving in the opposite direction, she didn’t know where she was
going. She drove slowly, looking for a place that looked
interesting. She remembered passing a small Italian restaurant she
had always wanted to try. She thought the purple awning and yellow
flowers out front looked pretty and inviting.
    Mariam wasn’t used to dining alone. It felt
awkward. Even though there were only about five