Hellos and Goodbyes

Pools of sweat glued the snug yellow romper she hated to Joanna Wilson’s caramel skin, a small discomfort for the price of freedom. School began in less than three weeks, and she wanted to spend as much time doing what delighted her most-video games at night with her older brother (when he was willing), tarty Lemonsicles from the truck that stopped on their street in the afternoons, and plump, sweet strawberry halves with her waffles for breakfast. Joanna treasured time spent away from her mother, with her demands to “help out” while she made lunch or folded laundry, to organize her closet or bookshelves again, or do any activity that didn’t involve getting dirty. 

After a quick breakfast of toast, eggs and berries, her mother had said, “Lunch at 12:30, and then you’re staying in to finish your Summer Reading this afternoon. Don’t make me come find you, young lady.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The patio door hissed shut, and Joanna stepped out into the humid, early August morning air. She’d read only halfway through the gloomy tale, and she could live without knowing what happened to the boy and his dogs. But the book report was due on the Friday before Labor Day, and Joanna really didn’t want an unread book and an assignment hanging over her head the first week of school. 

So, she’d make this day count, something to remember when she stared out the window of the classroom in the accelerated section her parents enrolled her in at the end of third grade, without telling her until after Awards Day.

Joanna tramped through the backyard, careful to avoid a tiny clump of weeds that harbored the biggest mosquitos, when a low whistle turned her head and sent her heart racing, a huge grin spread across her face.

Leni toted a cherry red Frisbee under her arm. “Ready for the rematch, JoJo?”

Joanna scampered up to her friend and grabbed her by the waist for a hug. “Are you ready?”

The girls laughed and high fived each other, talked in the shade for a while, and then scattered. Joanna crouched under the shade of her mother’s magnolia tree, with its heavy, earthy sweetness of its blooms that swirled around her. The sharp, crisp tang of the lawn that Danny mowed and the herbs in the garden reminded her that being outside in the heat was only second best to being with a friend she’d made when they were first graders in a new school. 

Leni had arrived from California, or somewhere sunnier than Texas, a quiet olive-skinned girl in a sky blue t-shirt and khaki shorts, a friendly grin spread across her full lips. Joanna watched the new arrival and sidled up to her on the playground. When they realized they lived in the same neighborhood separated by a single block, the girls became nearly inseparable. 

Leni enjoyed all sports, Joanna adored thick mysteries, and they formed a friendship based on secrets and backyard games.

“Catch, JoJo!” Leni twisted her wrist and spun the Frisbee in a tight spiral. Just before it landed at her feet, Joanna stretched her torso and pulled the toy to her chest.

“There you go!” 

“OK, now catch this!” Joanna flung the Frisbee over a low hanging branch of the oak, and Leni dove to her left to snare the bright red disk, like a piece of fruit suspended above the emerald carpet below her.

“Didn’t that hit the grass first?” Joanna swept her gaze over Leni as she pulled on the hem of her shirt. 

“Not on your life, JoJo. Your throw was way too high!”

Joanna stuck out her tongue. “I play to win.”

“OK, let’s race down to the end of the street and back.” Leni folded a leg behind her, her go-to move before a dash in PE class.

Joanna propped her foot on the edge of the raised flower bed. “Gotta lace ‘em up first.”

“Ha!” Leni jogged past a hunched over Joanna toward the front yard, and she rushed to follow. When Joanna stepped on the back of Leni’s shoe, she said, “Trying to trip me up to get a head start, JoJo?”

Joanna shrugged and lowered herself to a runner’s stance and touched the edge of the driveway with a trembling heel. She couldn’t beat Leni in a foot race on her best day, but she didn’t really mind. 

Leni could do anything—beat the fastest boy and girl in their class in the 50 yard, kick a ball over the fence, and scare off the menacing kids who teased Joanna to the point of tears. 

“Call her that one more time, and I’ll beat you ‘til you call out for your mommy.” Leni sneered at Reginald, a redhead in mismatched socks who sat behind Leni one day during lunch.

“But she looks like a roll of—” Reginald shrunk as Leni thrusted the tight coil of her fist upward, just inches from the boy’s face as they moved down the serving line.

Joanna clutched her puke green tray of overcooked broccoli and a cardboard square of fish. A single tear clung to her chubby cheek.

Leni was pulled out of line and relegated to the stage for her meal, but she winked at Joanna before she walked away. They laughed the entire Recess later that day, the last time anyone in their class teased Joanna with the cruel nickname. 

The moniker no longer fit Joanna, along with most of the clothes her mother had bought at the end of last summer, with the walks through the neighborhood and in the park and the inches she’d grown in the last year. Joanna’s lungs burned, and she matched Leni stride for stride, her hair thrown behind her as they reached Joanna’s driveway.

When the girls caught their breath following her narrow victory, Leni said, “My treat today, JoJo.” as she led Joanna over to the white van with its gold lettering, the jingle jangle of the piano tune accompanied by the laughter and shouts of younger kids queuing up behind the girls. 

“What are you getting today? Lemonsicle, or something else?

“I don’t know.” Joanna scanned the list of treats for a new option. “Mama says I’ve had too much sugar this summer. Do they have fruit pops, made with real berries? She says I have to eat healthier now.” 

“You should get what you want.” Leni laid a hand on Joanna’s arm, “A secret between friends.” She winked, and Joanna giggled before she stepped to the curb and ordered her favorite treat. 

The girls trudged up the driveway, their popsicles gripped in their hands. 

Leni shifted her weight on the bumper of the station wagon. “You know you’re the only one who calls me that and doesn’t make fun, Leni.”

“No one’s gonna call you that anymore, this year will be better.”

“They always pick me last, all the time!”

Leni scoffed. “You almost beat me, JoJo. You’re faster and stronger now.” She gave Joanna a playful shoulder bump.

Joanna used her arm to dab her chin. “Do you really think it’ll be better this year?” 

Leni nodded. “Cause we’re 4th graders now. They won’t mess with you, you’ll see.”

“So will you. We’re gonna be as thick as thieves.”

Leni took a tiny bite of her Dreamsicle. “I wish, Joanna.”

“What do you mean? You’re gonna be there with me, just like always.” Joanna let the chunk of tartness linger on her tongue until the icy flavor coated her throat. “Mmm. I wish I’d gotten two!”

Leni held her treat, a rainbow river trickled down her hand, her eyes cast to the pebbled pavement. 

“Do you think we can sit together like last year, if we’re in the same homeroom?” Joanna elbowed her friend. “What’s wrong?”

Leni pulled the crinkled wrapper over the remainder of her treat. “Joanna, I know I should have told you before, but I won’t be there with you.”

“Oh, you’re in Mrs. Swanson’s? Did your parents do that?”

“I’m moving.” Leni’s voice was barely a whisper. 

“What?” Joanna’s eyes widened. “Why? When?”

“Dad got a new job, and we’re moving back to Arizona. In two weeks.”

Joanna ignored the wet sting that pricked her eyes. “When will I see you?”

Leni shrugged. “I doubt we’ll be back, JoJo. Maybe at Christmas, but I don’t know. I promise to write to you every week.”

“It won’t be the same without you here.” Joanna looked down at her untied shoelaces on either side of her sneaker, somehow content to remain apart.

“I’ll miss you, too. But we still have a week to hang out.” Leni walked around the car and tossed the wrapper into the trash bin. “You wanna go to the park?”

“Maybe later.” Joanna stood on shaky legs, and her throat felt dry and tight. “I’m gonna go inside for a while. I’ll see you later, I guess.”

“Wait, JoJo, I th—”

“Thanks, Leni.” Joanna turned as the veil of tears slid down, and she shuffled to the sliding patio door. Inside, she brushed past her mother and the clink of cubes in a tumbler.

“Don’t you want something cold, Joanna?”

She bounded up the stairs and threw open her bedroom door and flopped onto her bed. Her shoulders heaved, and the tears fell unbidden until a quiet tapping startled her.

“Can I come in?” 

When she didn’t answer, Daniel appeared, his frame pressed against the doorway. “Are you OK?”

“Leni is moving away, Danny.”

“I know, I heard Mom and Dad talking about it last night. They wanted to tell you, but I guess they thought you’d rather hear it from Aleena herself.”  

He dragged a desk chair to her bedside and laid a hand on his little sister’s fleshy kneecap. “You’ll be OK, JoJo.” 

“I don’t want her to go, Danny.”

“I know, baby girl. But you’ll make new friends. You’ll see.”

“I don’t want new friends. I want Leni.”

“Lucy will be there.” Danny squeezed her shoulder and brushed her cheek.

“She doesn’t like me, Danny. She still calls me Jelly Roll JoJo.”

“But she’s our cousin, and she does love you, Jo. She’ll hang out with you.”

“I don’t want Lucy, or anyone else. I want Leni!” Joanna’s shouts echoed off the wall. 

Daniel rose and stretched his long legs. “We can play Missile Command later, if you want.” Joanna turned to face the wall. 

She spent the rest of that afternoon in her room, and most of the next week inside the house. Joanna finished her assigned novel and wrote a draft of her book report. Later, she donated several of her oldest books when she had reorganized the shelves in her bedroom, to her mother’s delight. 

When Leni and family backed their station wagon into the street a week later, Joanna waved at Leni, her head hanging out from the backseat window. There were no more tears left. Joanna's sadness and disappointment morphed into a deep appreciation of their time together.

*****************************

“Joanna Wilson?”

She lifted her gaze from the hilltop across campus. Thick snowflakes swirled against the window, and Joanna couldn’t wait to get outside and feel the cold on her face, a reward after a long summer spent working under an unforgiving sun. 

“Present.”

“OK.” Their instructor turned to the open door, her bracelet clattered a greeting to the figure at the threshold. “Come on in!”

The newcomer to AP History wore pink joggers and a gray sweatshirt, and a cap covered her inky, silky ponytail. Joanna tilted her head as the girl took the empty desk beside her.

After class ended, a soft tap on Joanna's shoulder snapped her to attention.

“Joanna? Is it you?”

Her deep brown eyes widened slowly. “Hello, Leni.”

“Hello, JoJo. It's so good to see you again."

"It's good to see you, too." Joanna didn't bother to brush away the splash of fat tears,

She melted into the crushing, familiar embrace and cherished the miracle of a fresh start with an old, good friend.