What We Learned Along the Way Read Online Free PDF Page A

marriage
speech again.”
    “Oh, no,” Mariam said softly.
    “Then she practically told me I’m too fat to
get married. And she wonders why I eat all the time. Mariam, I’ve
got to find a husband. I think that’s the only thing that will shut
my mother up.”
    “Just be sure not to make a rushed decision.
I don’t want to see you marrying some random man, one of those
desperate old men that will marry anything that appears to be
female,” Mariam warned. They both laughed, thinking about all the
old men they’d seen chasing young women.
    “It’s not that bad yet, but it might get
there. I just don’t know how much more I can take.”
    “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you and Jaime
get an apartment together? That will solve both of your parent
problems,” Mariam said enthusiastically. She was proud of her idea
and had forgotten she was at work. She was getting a little too
comfortable. “Girl, let me get off this phone before I get fired.
I’ll call you when I get off.”
    Malikah barely heard Mariam hang up the
phone. The last thing she remembered was the part about her and
Jaime getting an apartment. Me and Jaime? That would never work.
We’d probably end up killing each other. But after last night, she
did see Jaime in another light, and they did at least have annoying
parents in common. Could it work?
    “He-lllo?” Kalimah said as she walked into
her sister’s room. “What are you doing? I’ve been knocking on the
door for about 5 minutes.” Malikah was surprised to see her sister.
Ever since she had gotten married, she didn’t come by the house
much.
    “Kalimah, what are you doing here? Sorry
about the door. I was on the phone. I didn’t hear you.” She gave
her sister a big hug. “You look great, as usual.” Sometimes,
Malikah couldn’t believe they had come from the same gene pool.
    “Thanks. You too,” Kalimah said, giving her
sister a once-over. “So, what’s been going on? Sorry I missed your
birthday yesterday. Adam had this huge charity banquet to go to. He
said it wouldn’t look right for him to show up without his wife.
You should’ve seen the dress I wore. It was…” Kalimah cut herself
off in mid-sentence. “Look at me talking about myself. I came up
here to hear about your birthday.”
    Malikah let out a loud sigh. “I didn’t do
much,” she said in a drab voice. She paused for a second. “Except
go to the Divas All-Stars Concert!” she screamed. “Kalimah, it was
great. I was so close I could have been a backup dancer. You should
have seen me, girl. I was getting it.” She grabbed her sister’s
hand and started dancing around the room.
    “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, Lika.”
Hearing that nickname took Malikah back to childhood when Kalimah
couldn’t pronounce her name correctly.
    “Where is Adam?”
    “Adam? He had some work to do. I came over by
myself,” Kalimah answered quickly.
    “Adam is one hard working man. I haven’t seen
him since the wedding. You don’t get lonely with him being at work
all the time?” Malikah asked.
    “Oh, not really. I’ve made some friends in
the neighborhood, and he calls me a lot from work. He’s really a
great guy.” For a second, Malikah thought she saw a glimpse of the
same pain she had seen in Jaime eyes.
    No way. She must just be tired.
    “So, what’s married life like?” she asked
with a devious smile. “I want to know everything. Start from the
beginning and talk slow.” Even though Malikah was oldest, she
always felt like the younger one when it came to relationships.
    Kalimah laughed. “It’s nice, really nice, but
it gets tough sometimes. Just make sure when you get married, you
choose the right guy.”
    “When I get married,” Malikah repeated
flatly. “Right, that’ll happen soon,” she said in a sarcastic
voice.
    “It might. You never know. When I met Adam, I
had no idea we’d be married.”
    “Yea, but that’s different. Everyone knew
you’d be married, and everyone knows I