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  Before long, the limousine deposited the travelers to the Delta gate. They checked in, boarded the plane to the first class section. The plane began its ascent to the friendly skies.

  * * *

  Several hours later, the group exited Atlanta’s Hartfield Airport. The Georgia sun shone so brightly that it assaulted their eyes. Everyone rushed into the waiting limousine, the driver expertly whisking them to the Hilton Hotel.

  The family sat in the leather sofas in the hotel foyer trying to decide whether to have lunch in the hotel dining room after they’d checked in. Nancy begged off, saying the flight had been tiring and she wanted to take a nap. David and Trina passed on lunch also, deciding to tour the Morris Brown campus with Bobo.

  “You know what, Mommy, I think I’ll pass on lunch too,” Melissa murmured. “I’m kind of tired myself. I didn’t get much sleep last night being so excited about the trip and all.”

  Vanessa frowned. “I swear you are all a bunch of party poopers. I guess Moniqa and myself will enjoy lunch together.”

  “Mommy,” Moniqa whined. “I want to go with Uncle David and Aunt Trina. This is as good a time as any, to check out the men at Morris Brown.”

  “There is plenty of time for that. In fact, I insist you have lunch with me. After this weekend, I won’t see you again until Christmas. Surely you can spend a little time with your mother?” Vanessa said with a pained look on her face. Her yellow, linen Calvin Klein pantsuit was slightly wrinkled.

  “Well if put it that way, then sure,” Moniqa quipped, grabbing Vanessa’s hand. “Lunch is on you, I assume.”

  The Ross’s made their exit. Nancy and Melissa walked towards the elevator and Moniqa and Vanessa headed to the restaurant.

  As they rode upward, Nancy remarked, “At least the flight arrived on time. Why didn’t you have lunch with your sister and mother.”

  “I couldn’t take any more of Mommy’s lectures. I’m just ready to begin this phase of my life. Just think, Nana, when I come back, I don’t have to stay at home if I don’t choose to. I’m going to buy a condo on the north side of Chicago. I hate living in Beverly.”

  Nancy smiled. “Well that sounds like a plan. I’m sure things will go well for you at Clark.”

  The elevator stopped on the tenth floor and the women walked to their rooms.

  * * *

  In the dining room, Vanessa was indeed in lecture mood. She and Moniqa munched on shrimp cocktails.

  “I know I’ve said this a million times,” Vanessa said seriously. “Don’t tell the young men that you have money. Hmm, I can’t remember if I told Melissa the same thing. You make sure to remind her.”

  Moniqa rolled her eyes. “Mommy, I’m not stupid. My finances are my own business. My having money is just is a bonus for whomever I choose.”

  “You are down here for an education. I hope you remember that.”

  “Come on now, Mommy, you met Daddy while you were in college and dropped out to marry him. So how important is a degree anyway?” Moniqa speared a shrimp cocktail and popped it into her mouth. “If I had any inclinations to work, I could stay in Chicago and work for the company. Let’s keep it real. My mission here is to land a successful, preferably rich Morehouse man, nothing else. If that happens before graduation, oh well…” Moniqa nonchalantly dipped another shrimp in the cocktail sauce.

  “Hmm… You certainly have your agenda mapped out,” Vanessa said with an amused expression on her face. She sipped her cup of coffee.

  “Mommy, I learned from the best. You and grandmamma.” Moniqa smirked. “I’m just carrying on the family tradition.”

  “Just don’t slip up,” Vanessa warned, frowning. “You don’t want to be saddled with any babies and most of all…”

  “I know,” Moniqa said irritably, a frown marring her face. “Don’t bring shame upon the Adams name. I swear one would think you were the one born an Adams instead of Daddy.”

  “I’m just looking out for your best interests,” Vanessa remarked, leaning forward in her chair. “Where is our meal? I’m starved.”

  * * *

  The family decided to dine out that evening and met at 7:00 pm in the hotel foyer. As they discussed where to eat, Vanessa’s parents and her sister Valerie sauntered through the gold revolving door.

  Bobo pointed when he spied them and said loudly, “Look it’s the grandparents and Aunt Val. I guess college weekend turned into a family reunion of sorts.”

  Hugs and kisses were exchanged.

  “Mommy and Daddy, we were just headed out to dinner. You must join us,” Vanessa gushed. “What are you doing here?” Her eyes twinkled with merriment, as she put her mother’s arm in her own.

  Edward cleared his throat. “It’s not everyday, that grandparents have the honor of all their grandchildren going off to college at the same time.”

  Patricia smiled at Vanessa. “Plus we thought you might feel a little blue with your girls away, Van. So I talked Eddie and Val into coming here to surprise you.”

  “That was nice of you and Dad,” David added. “Why don’t you guys check in? We’ll wait down here until you’re ready and then go to dinner.”

  David Ross, Bobo’s father, owned a successful law practice in Chicago. He and his family resided in the Pill Hill neighborhood. He was tall and wiry, a shade lighter in complexion than his sisters and resembled Patricia. His nose and lips, thin.

  Trina was plump and chocolate-brown in color. She wore her thick hair in a short Afro and had high cheekbones and thick, sensual lips. Trina was not the Ross family’s first choice for David. She didn’t pass the paper bag test even though she was employed as a professor of English at Northwestern University.

  Trina didn’t care for her in-laws, but put up with their shenanigans, since she knew David loved his family unconditionally. She of all the relatives was uncomfortable by Vanessa’s treatment of Melissa, and had voiced her opinion to her husband on many occasions. He’d advised her to stay out of the family squabbles and told her that appearances are not what they seem.

  Before long, the family headed to dinner. They decided to go to a casual restaurant in downtown Atlanta. They returned to the hotel following the meal knowing they needed to get an early start the following morning. First on the agenda the following day, was registering Moniqa at Spelman and Melissa at Clark in the afternoon. Bobo’s registration was on Monday morning.

  * * *

  The telephone rang at 7:00 am Friday morning. Moniqa lay asleep snoring in one of the beds so Melissa answered the call. She trembled with eagerness as she thanked the clerk. Today was the last day that Melissa and Moniqa would sleep in the same dwelling, maybe possibly forever.

  The Adams’ were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as they partook of their morning meal in the hotel restaurant. Vanessa rented a limo for the weekend and it was parked outside the hotel entrance awaiting their arrival.

  Moniqa squealed with satisfaction as they pulled into the Spelman campus. Her face was transformed into a picture of pure bliss. “Let the fun begin,” she mouthed softly.

  A couple of hours later, hot and tired from standing in seemingly endless long lines, the cashier handed Vanessa her platinum American Express card. Moniqa was a now a freshwoman, officially enrolled at the historically black Spelman University.

  Moniqa was impatient to go to Manley Hall, her assigned dormitory. So back to the limo she and Vanessa trekked. Curious stares homed their way, taking in the beautiful, happy younger and older woman and the limousine parked at the curb. Some students and parents wondered if Moniqa was a celebrity.

  In a matter of minutes, the family members were inside Moniqa’s dorm room. The driver entered with suitcases and bags, stacking them neatly against the wall. He tipped his hat to Vanessa and told her that he’d be waiting in the car.

  Moniqa bounced on the bed inside her single suite. “Mommy, we’ll have to hit the mall tomorrow. This room needs a lot of work.” Her eyes narrowed. “But I love it.”

  “You’re right
about that,” Vanessa acquiesced as her eyes swept around the room. “Okay, Melissa, you’re up. Let’s head to Clark.” Her tone dropped a few octaves, implying that Spelman was the better of the institutions.

  The weary travelers entered the limousine to repeat the same process at Clark Atlanta University. Before long, they stood in Melissa’s assigned room in Baumstead Hall.

  Moniqa took a look at the room and twitched her nose like a rabbit’s. “A tad bit tacky isn’t it?” she sneered.

  “It’s a means to justify the ends,” Melissa retorted hotly.

  “The room is fine,” Nancy interjected, trying to keep the peace.

  “She should have gotten a single suite like I did,” Moniqa replied disdainfully to her relatives.

  “She’s one up on you, Moni,” Bobo said casually, ruffling her beautifully coiffed mane. “Clark has mens. Know what I mean?” He winked at Melissa.

  “Okay.” Moniqa laughed, throwing her hands up in mock surrender. “You got me there. I know where to come to meet me some mens. Morehouse, here and Morris Brown.”

  The driver deposited Melissa’s bags into her room. She had considerably less luggage than her twin. “How about lunch?” Melissa suggested. “I’m starved.”

  As they turned to leave the room, a pretty, slim, honey-brown- skinned young woman with tiny freckles across the bridge of her nose, and reddish-brown, crinkly shoulder-length hair entered the room. She was breathless, carrying suitcases in each hand with two others strapped across her shoulders. The bags made a loud sound as she dropped them on the floor and looked at Moniqa then Melissa. Then she thrust her hand out toward Moniqa. “My name is Conchita Riveria. You must be my roomie, Melissa.”

  Moniqa looked at her with amusement and shook her head. “No, she’s your roommate,” she replied pointing at Melissa. “I’m her sister Moniqa. I attend Spelman,” she said proudly.

  Connie turned to Melissa. “Oops, I’m sorry. You guys look so much alike. Do you have a bed preference? You got here before I did.”

  “Not really. You go ahead and choose.” Melissa nodded. “This is my mother, Vanessa Adams, my aunt and uncle, David and Trina Ross, my grandparents, Eddie and Pat Ross, and my other grandmother Nancy Adams. You met my sister, and this is my cousin Bobo.”

  Connie’s gaze lingered on Bobo. “Are you going to Clark too?”

  “No, I’m not,” Bobo answered. “I’ll be around though. I’m going to Morris Brown. So you’ll be seeing a lot of me.”

  “I’ll see you later. Unless you’d like to join us for lunch?” Melissa inquired.

  “No. I need to unpack. Are you coming back today?”

  “I’ll be back later. We’re going to lunch and then shopping.” Her eyes rolled when she said the word “shopping”.

  “Have fun. I’ll see you later then. It was nice meeting everyone,” Connie said politely, smiling from one person to the other.

  As the Adams and extended family rode the elevator down to the first floor, Moniqa remarked cattily, “Your roomie looks like she’s mixed to me, a little bit taco sauce with a dash of ground beef.”

  “God, Moni, do you have to talk about everyone, all the time?” Melissa cried out, miffed. “You don’t even know her.” She glared at her sister unkindly.

  “I don’t know about you,” Bobo remarked to Moniqa. “She looked good from where I was standing. That girl is one fine honey.” He nodded his head up and down.

  “Bernard, please remember you’re here for an education,” Trina teased her son. “But she is a striking young woman.”

  “Can we get something to eat now?” Moniqa grumbled. “My stomach is definitely yelling at me.”

  They returned to the limousine and had lunch at a family restaurant not far from the campus.

  By twelve o’clock noon Monday morning, Bobo had completed his registration and had checked into his dorm room. The cousins were set to begin chapter two of their lives.

  Chapter Five

  By the end of fall, the twins and Bobo had adjusted to the rhythm of college life. Melissa, shy by nature, made a few new friends. She and Connie hit it off and a warm bond began developing between the roommates

  Moniqa was in her element being a social butterfly. She’d made many acquaintances and spied a couple of Morehouse men that showed promise. She fell in love with the south and her new surroundings. The only missing piece of an otherwise perfect puzzle was lack of her own personal transportation. Moniqa pleaded with Vanessa to allow her to have a car, to no avail. She’d told Moniqa she’d have to wait until next year.

  Bobo was a frequent visitor at the Clark campus. He visited so often, one would have assumed he was a student. He, like the twins, enjoyed the freedom of being away from home and especially away from the close scrutiny of his doting mother. Being an only child had it plusses and minuses.

  Vanessa called Moniqa every Sunday afternoon and Melissa every two weeks. Nancy reversed Vanessa’s calling trend, calling Melissa weekly and Moniqa twice a month. The women were lonelier without the girls more than they would have thought possible.

  Vanessa felt particularly lost without her favorite daughter. She and Moniqa were more like mother and sister friends than mother and daughter. At times she was guilty of living vicariously through her daughter.

  Sometimes Vanessa acknowledged that life was lonely without Nate. With Moniqa away at school, she had too much time on her hands. Vanessa had given thought to participating more at the company but was too self-centered to act upon it.

  Vanessa sat at her computer in the wood-paneled den of her home and clicked on the send button to forward an email to Moniqa. A glass of chardonnay sat to the left of the monitor. She sighed and powered down her personal computer.

  It seems like yesterday, I arrived in Chicago with a mission in mind like Moniqa. I began my quest for a fine man with money or potential and Nate was the man or so I thought, Vanessa mused.

  With high cheekbones and slightly slanted brown eyes, along with her almond complexion, her features and shape, made Vanessa a striking, still beautiful woman approaching middle age. Her marriage to Nate had been tumultuous at times, leaving her emotionally drained.

  Vanessa had seen Nate as a means to justify the end and had never pretended to feel love or emotions. Patricia had taught her well. Her theory was that the man should always love a woman more than the woman loved the man. Vanessa lived by that rule.

  There were times she wanted badly to drop her guard, let her hair down and love her husband but Vanessa couldn’t let go of the control and power she felt she had over Nate. Eventually, theirs became a marriage in name only. He had the beautiful trophy wife on his arm and she had the financial security she always craved.

  Vanessa arose, yawned and stretched her arms above her head then grabbed the glass of wine in one hand and the half-full bottle in the other. She flipped the light switch off and climbed the stairs to her bedroom.

  If anyone had told her life would be this forlorn, she would not have believed it. Her social life had dried up after Nate’s death. Most of the couples in their social circle had been together since death do us part. They didn’t want to upset the status quo with a rich available woman.

  Vanessa sat in the chaise lounge in her bedroom next to the fireplace and poured the remainder of wine into the glass. As she sipped the liquor, memories of Nate and herself in bygone days swirled into her mind.

  * * *

  “Vanessa,” Valerie shouted at her sister’s retreating back. “Did you get a look at Nathan Adams? Now that’s one fine hunk of a man.” Valerie’s hair billowed gently in the cool Lake Michigan breeze as she caught up with Vanessa and grabbed her arm conspiratorially.

  “I saw him last night and yes, my sister, he definitely caught my attention.” Vanessa smiled, pushing her bangs off her forehead.

  “Rumor has it, he’s majoring in business at Wilson Junior College and owns a company,” Valerie confessed.

  “I did some checking of my own.” Vanessa no
dded at her sister. She glanced at nails, which were in need of a manicure. “He’s not loaded but he’s doing okay financially. I’ve just got to figure out a way to meet him.”

  “That could be a problem, after all Wright College and Northwestern aren’t located close to each other. What are you going to do? Transfer? Let me remind you, Wright is a junior college and they don’t have dorms. Mommy and Daddy aren’t going to let you transfer.”

  “Leave it to me.” Vanessa nodded her head and smiled sagely her sister. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

  “That definitely applies to you,” Val replied shaking her head in amazement at her sister daring spirit. “You’ve always been like the Canadian Mounties. You always get your man. I’ve got a lab class now. I’ll catch you later.” Valerie sped off in the other direction.

  Even though the sisters attended school in Evanston, Vanessa was acquainted with a few coeds who commuted from Chicago. Through the grapevine, she found out Nate would be attending a party at the Blue Note lounge the upcoming weekend.

  * * *

  Vanessa was dressed to the nines in a slinky, form-fitting, navy-blue dress with matching accessories, navy stilettos heels and handbag, dark nylons, and turquoise jewelry.

  Earlier that day she’d begged Valerie to style her hair. The result was a French roll. Tendrils hugged the side of her head. Red lipstick adorned her lips. She, Valerie and a couple of other girls headed to the elevated train station. Vanessa felt optimistic about the evening.

  A few hours later, they arrived at the lounge. Smoke filled the air, music blared loudly. Couples lined the floor, dancing away their aggressions to the sounds of Funkadelic and P Funk. The girls found an empty booth near the bar.

  Hoots of laughter caused Vanessa’s ears to perk up. She gazed over her shoulder and spied Nate. He clutched a glass of whiskey in one hand, his other arm draped casually over the shoulders of a beautiful light-skinned woman, who bore an uncanny resemblance to herself.