Where I Wanna Be (4 page)

The sound of the bell signaling lunch was over ended their make out session. Eli reluctantly pulled away and placed his forehead against his girlfriend’s. “I’ll see you after school, okay, Moni?”

“
Okay, Eliodoro.” She smiled.

Eli kissed her again and then grabbed his backpack and headed to class. Simone watched her boyfriend walk away. She bounced in her chair a little. Her
boyfriend
!

****

“
I want you to come over on Sunday and meet my mom,” Eli said over the phone.

“
Your mother?” Simone already knew what that meant. Not only was Eli claiming her but it was serious between them.

“
Yeah, I want you to meet everyone.” Eli twirled the phone cord in the kitchen. “They’re anxious to meet you.”

“
Why do they want to meet me?” Simone inquired.

The real truth was Eli’s brothers weren’t convinced Simone wasn’t an imaginary blow-up doll or another name he called his right hand. “Well, they want to see if you exist,” he admitted.

The question was on the tip of Simone’s tongue and she decided to chance it. “Am I your first girlfriend, Eli?”

“
Shhh…” He quieted her down and looked around his home, hoping no one heard what she said.

“
So I
am
your first girlfriend?” Simone teased.

“
Yes,” Eli hastily said. “Now quiet with that.”

“
It’s okay if I’m your first girlfriend, Eli.” Simone replied back.

“
Oh, yeah? Am I your first boyfriend?” He asked.

“
No,” Simone stated.

“
No? No?” Eli felt jealous of a guy he didn’t even know. “Who was before me?”

“
An old boyfriend back in Houston,” Simone stated.

“
Yeah, do you still talk to that old boyfriend?” He wondered.

“
No, I’m don’t, Jealous Guy.” She teased.

“
I’m not jealous.”

“
Yeah, okay.”

“
I’m not jealous,” Eli brushed off, “I just don’t want to go to jail, that’s all.”

“
Yeah, you’re
not
jealous.” Simone rolled her eyes.

Eli saw his mother come through the front door, carrying some groceries with Tony right behind her. “Listen, I gotta go, Moni. I’ll call you later.”

“
Okay, baby. Bye!” She hung up the phone.

Eli rushed over to his mother and helped her unload the groceries. “
Grazie,
Eliodoro.” Nicola pulled out a dining room chair and sat down. Between her waitressing day job and her janitorial night job, she rarely had time to think. She turned forty just a year prior and she already knew she was getting too old to be doing both jobs. How she wished she was a young and vibrant twenty-year-old woman again. “Can you get dinner tonight, Eli?”

“
Sure, ma.” Eli wondered what he could possibly make. He wasn’t known as the cook between the brothers. “What do you want?”

“
Just something simple. Pick up some pizza from Folliero’s.” Nicola yawned. She pulled out some money and handed it over to her son. “Get a couple of large ones in case your brothers come over.”

“
Got it.” Eli stuffed the money in his pockets.

“
Sit down, sit down.” Nicola instructed to her son, who promptly sat. “I hardly ever talk to you anymore because you’re always off doing stuff with your friends or your new lady friend. Tell me about this girl you’re seeing.”

“
Simone?” Eli asked. “She’s my girlfriend.”

“
Well, I figured that since you two were on the phone so much. I’m glad she’s local because if it was long-distance…” Nicola’s eyes got wide thinking about her potential phone bill. “…tell me more about her. Who are her parents, where she lives, all that stuff.”

“
Well, she’s originally from Houston. Her dad is an aerospace engineer and her mom stays at home. She has an older sister, Alicia.” Eli tried to think of something about Simone. “That’s about it.”

“
Simone doesn’t sound like an Italian name…” Nicola commented.

“
Simone’s her middle name. Her first name is Kaitlyn.”

“
Why doesn’t she go by Kaitlyn?” Nicola inquired. “Kaitlyn’s a nice name.”

“
She prefers to go by Simone.” Eli explained.

“
I don’t understand why she had to do that,” Nicola shrugged, “I mean what’s the purpose of having a first name if you don’t use it?”

“
It’s just a preference, ma.” Eli wondered why he was having a philosophical conversation with his mother on his girlfriend’s name preference. “That’s all.”

“
Kaitlyn Simone?” Nicola repeated. “It doesn’t sound Italian. What’s her last name?”

“
Harris.”

“
Oh, that’s definitely not Italian.” Nicola’s eyes danced upon the revelation. “What is she, Eli?”

Eli let out a heavy sigh. He knew his mother was very traditional but he wasn’t sure how open-minded she was. “She’s Black. Creole.”

“
Cree-what?” Nicola’s nose scrunched up.

“
Cree-oh-lay. It means she’s mixed with a lot of things. She’s Black, Indian, and French,” he explained.

“
Okay.” Nicola nodded signaling she understood. “So when were you planning on telling me that your girlfriend isn’t Italian.”

“
Never,” Eli mumbled with his head down.

“
Eliodoro…” Nicola warned.

Eli looked back up at his mother. “I wasn’t sure if you would like the fact I was dating someone who wasn’t Italian. And I really wasn’t sure if you would like the fact she’s Black.”

“
Well, I’ll be honest with you. I would have preferred that you met a sweet Italian girl just like your mother,” Nicola smiled, “but the heart wants what the heart wants. Remember that.”

Eli’s eyes lit up and he smiled. “So you’re cool with me and Simone?”

“
If you like her and she likes you, I don’t care.” Nicola yawned. “But I have to warn you, Eliodoro, not everyone will like the fact you two are together. The world can be cruel when it wants to be. Expect to get stares and nasty and rude comments from people who aren’t as accepting as you two are.”

“
I can handle that.” Eli shrugged off his mother’s warning. “Nothing anyone can say or do will stop me from being with Simone.”

“
That’s the spirit!” Nicola smiled. “Now that you’re so fired up, go out into the world and bring me back my pizza!”

****

“
So…” Meredith began as she chopped lettuce for the salad. “What’s his name?”

Simone helped her mother in the kitchen, preparing for the evening’s dinner. “Who?”

“
Kaitlyn Simone Harris, do not play with me.” Meredith warned. “I want to know who is this boy who keeps calling the house and why you haven’t brought him home to meet us.”

Simone shrugged as she carefully wrapped potatoes with foil. “I never thought about it.”

“
You never thought about it, huh?” Meredith didn’t believe a word out of her young daughter’s mouth. “Well, now you get to think about it. I want to know everything starting with his name.”

Simone wished her mother would just forget about Eli but it was too late. She was already in front of the firing squad. The only thing missing was a cigarette in her mouth and a blindfold around her eyes. “His name is Eli.”

“
Does this Eli have a last name?”

“
D’Amato.” Simone replied. “Eli D’Amato.”

“
D’Amato?” Meredith repeated. “He doesn’t sound Black.”

“
It’s because he’s Italian.” Simone replied.

“
An Italian boy, huh?” Meredith sliced up some carrots and tossed them in the salad. “I hope he’s not related to any mafia around here.”

“
He’s not a Mafioso, Mother.” Simone defended. “He’s a nice guy.”

“
What do his parents do?”

“
His mother works two jobs. His father left when they were young.” Simone put the potatoes in the oven and set the timer.

“
Uh-huh.” Meredith tossed some red cabbage into the mix. “Does he have any siblings?”

“
Four other brothers. No sisters.” Simone commented.

“
Okay,” Meredith tossed the salad together.

“
Well, I’m done here. If there’s anything else, just let me know. I’m going to start my homework now.” Simone began to leave the kitchen.

“
I think you should stop seeing your friend.” Meredith suggested.

Simone turned around and faced her mother. She hadn’t even met Eli, or given him a chance. “What?”

“
Look, Katydid,” Meredith called her the nickname she had growing up, “I’m sure Eli is a nice boy and his family is nice. But he’s poor, sweetheart. And not only that, he’s not even Black. And you know how we feel about interracial relationships?”

“
Hello, Mother?” Simone pointed to both her and her mother’s light skin. “Our bloodline?”

“
That’s beside the point.” Meredith commented. “He grew up without a father and only his mother around. I’m assuming there was no father figure for him at all. He’s probably just as wild as some of these foolish boys I’ve seen around here.”

“
You’re not being fair!” Simone folded her arms. “You don’t even know Eli and his family and you’re already judging.”

“
I’m judging because I’m well aware of the type.” Meredith quietly replied. “I’m sure if I were to go to his house, I would see it in shambles, unkempt, and with holes in the walls. Speaking of which, I hope you didn’t venture over to his house.”

Simone wanted to go to Eli’s home but whenever she brought up the topic, he always changed it. She didn’t have to figure too hard that he was embarrassed by the current state of his home. “I haven’t, yet.”

“
Yet?” Meredith looked up at her daughter. “That would be a negative.”

“
You can’t stop me from seeing him, Mother.”

“
Oh, yes, I will.” Meredith set her knife down and studied her daughter’s face. “I’m not having you run around being all fast.”