I still remember how warm it was, the book I read, what her hair looked like, the feeling I had in my stomach. I always hated waking up in the morning to go to summer school gym, but Saydi always seemed to make it better. The end of the day was always a happy moment. But when the teacher came in and asked if Saydi could go to the office I thought something was wrong.
"Maybe she's in trouble."
"Saydi? No, never." I remember thinking to myself, "What if it's something with her family?" I began to worry, especially when she didn't come back with the teacher. Finally three minutes to go, she walks through the door.
"What was that about?" I asked.
"Oh, they just wanted to tell me that Pastor Barefoot was coming to pick me up."
"Wait, Pastor Barefoot?"
"Yes that's his real name." We laughed. When the bell rang and we walked outside I saw their van. Her mom was in the back wearing dark sunglasses. I waved and smiled, and she did the same. There was something different though. Her smile seemed fake and cold. It sent a worried feeling down my spine but I just shook it off. When I got into the car I still had the picture of her mom stuck in my head.
"So Saydi doesn't need a ride?"
"No, her pastor is picking her up."
"Oh..." I knew my mother, and that meant she had something to say.
"What?"
"Well, when my dad died my pastor picked all of us up and they told us all at the same time."
"Oh, well I'm sure everything is fine." I drifted off into space after that, untill I realized that Saydi's van was still in front of us and we passed her house.
"I wonder where they are going."
"I don't know." I stared to see if I could see inside the van.
"I feel like a stalker." We laughed then watched the van turn onto a different street. When I got home I did what I always do, got lazy. I grabbed a book and moved into the living room where my brothers were learning how to play the drums.
"Mom! Tell them to stop! I'm trying to read!" I tried to say without being rude. I knew that I failed.
"Well you shouldn't have come in her then." I rolled my eyes and continued reading. I heard the phone ring and instantly jumped out of seat and bolted towards the phone. It was a race at my house. I saw Saydi's number printed on screen. "Yes!" I said as I saw my brother's run in.
"Hello?"
I said as if I didn't know who it was. I listened for a reply but I only heard small sobs. The worried animal moved into my stomach and started to dig it's way through the muscle. "My dads dead." I'm not sure what I felt after that. In that five minute period I don't remember much. It was almost as if I was no longer there. Someone else took over my body, in order to protect myself.
"I- it's-" I couldn't think of anything to say, she stayed on the phone crying though.
"It's going to be okay." I finally was able to make a sentence.
"No it's not! He's gone!" Her sentence stung my heart. He was really gone. The man I've known for four years, the man I had seen only the day before was gone. "Do you want me to come over?"
"I don't know if my mom wants anyone to come over right now." I sat on the phone stunned, starring out my window, watching each cars go by.
"I've got to go, I have to call Katie."
"Oh alright." We hung up and once I told my parents I just sat. Not able to think. About five minutes later I got a call from Katie asking me if I could go over to Saydi's. Once I said yes I changed into real clothes and brushed out my hair. My parents were talking to me, telling me what to say, what not to say. I, honestly, wasn't listening. Once Katie came, we headed towards Saydi's house. Her parents told us the same thing my parents did. When I saw Saydi, all I wanted to do was hug her. We walked to the park, to the pet store, then to dairy queen before heading back to her house. I remember even though everybody had already left I stayed till ten. Once the funeral came I had already told everybody that needed to know. Seeing Saydi at the funeral was almost un-real. Her black dressed matched her gloomy eyes. I continued to cry through the ceremony and partially afterward. The rest of the summer was pretty much a blur, everything zooming by like the cars that had passed my house that day.
*Four months later*
The cold wind brushed my face gently as Saydi and I walked through the snow. Wearing only thin jackets we talked about what had happened four years ago. Getting dark and trying to hide from cars in the school parking lot, we came across a blanket of snow that had not been touched. We stopped and starred at the patch. Finally she bent over and started writing into the unbroken snow. "RBY forever"