Page 1 of Waiting for Friday Night

One

Halle Parker checked her watch and cringed. “I’ve got to get out of here soon.” She looked up at her lunch companion, cousin, and one of her two best friends, Dr. Imani Kemp.

Imani’s light brown eyes widened, and she pointed to the half-eaten club sandwich in front of Halle. “You just got your food. Why are you leaving already? Please don’t tell me you’re going back up to that school again. It’s summer vacation. If I can make time to eat lunch, then surely you can.”

Halle glanced down at her sandwich then back at Imani. Her cousin was right. Imani worked with the hospital and was one of two OB-GYNs in their small town of Peachtree Cove. Imani was the poster child of busy with all the new patients she’d taken on plus making rounds at the hospital, but she somehow managed to find the time to meet Halle for lunch once a month.

“You know I wouldn’t typically try to get out of here so fast, but I need to go by the school and check a few things before I pick up Shania,” Halle said, grabbing a sweet potato fry off her plate and taking a bite.

Imani arched a brow over bright brown eyes. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore a red fitted T-shirt with black slacks that fit her slim curves. “Why do you need to go by the school?”

Halle avoided eye contact and shrugged. “I just need to check on some stuff.”

“Stuff like what? Just be real. There isn’t anything for you to check up on. You just want to find an excuse to go into that building despite school being out for the summer,” Imani teased.

“Well, can you blame me?” Halle admitted, not bothering to prove her friend wrong. “School will start in six weeks. I have a lot to get ready for. This is my first year as principal.”

The former principal had retired at the end of the last school year, and Halle was quickly chosen to replace her. Even though Halle knew the school and its policies inside and out, she still wanted things to go smoothly her first year.

“Didn’t you say you go back two weeks before the kids?” Imani asked. “You’ll have plenty of time to prepare. Why don’t you take this time to enjoy summer break?”

“I am enjoying summer break. We went on that weekend trip with Tracey last weekend. I’m planning a cousins’ weekend with my family in a few weeks, and I’ve got several activities scheduled when Shania isn’t busy with football practice.” She held up her hand and lowered a finger with each activity. She quickly dropped her hand when two fingers remained standing.

Imani shook her head, not missing the remaining two fingers at all. “All of that is not the same as taking time to do something for you. When are you going to just sit still and enjoy a day of doing nothing? I swear you never slow down.”

“When have I ever sat still?” Halle replied, pursing her lips.

Life was too short to sit still. Time was not promised. She hated when people used the excuse of being “too busy” to make time for the people or things they wanted to do. After losing her parents young, she always remembered that the person she blew off today may not be around tomorrow.

Imani opened her mouth and pointed up, paused, then sighed. “Girl, you’re right. You were always on the go. Even in high school.”

“Exactly,” Halle replied with a vindicated laugh. “I’m team too much. Queen of doing the most. Quit acting surprised.”

“That doesn’t mean you really shouldn’t try to slow down now.” Imani leaned in closer. “Didn’t you finally ask out Gregory Gaines? Please let me know when you’re going to pencil him in.”

Halle’s heart flipped at the mention of her current crush. Though, at thirty-six, was it still normal to refer to liking a guy as a crush? The word didn’t matter; Gregory Gaines was a guy who finally checked all of the boxes she wanted in a partner. The new English teacher at Peachtree Cove High School was perfect. Smart, well-read and articulate. After one conversation with him, she’d tumbled straight into crush mode. After years of focusing on being the best mother she could be to her daughter Shania, she hadn’t been excited about dating someone for a long time until she’d met him.

“I asked him to coffee, but we haven’t gone out on a date date,” Halle said. When she’d found the potential man of her dreams, she’d had to tell her best friends. Ever since, they’d been encouraging her crush. They both believed it had been too long since Halle had spent any quality time with a man. Something Halle hadn’t really focused on, until Gregory easily quoted Langston Hughes and her sex drive miraculously sputtered to life.

“Halle! If you can schedule coffee and go to this school then you can schedule an actual date. I know we came here so you can see him.”

Halle glanced around but thankfully, no one else in the restaurant was listening to them. Still, she put a finger over her mouth. “Will you not announce it to the world? I don’t need everyone in Peachtree Cove to know I’m trying to date him before he does. Besides, I really have to get back to the school today. The schedules are changing next year. I’ve got a few announcements to put together for the students and the families. Not to mention making sure maintenance fixed the leaking A/C unit dripping in the sixth-grade hall. I’ve got to check all that before picking Shania up from football practice.”

Imani cocked her head to the side. “You’ve got six weeks to tell the parents about a new schedule, and with this modern device called a cellular phone—” Imani tapped her cell on the table “—you can probably call your maintenance people and ask them if the leak is fixed.”

Halle shook her head. “Knowing the schedule is changing doesn’t take away the nervousness related to the change. I’m making sure my parents and students are up to date on everything about the new schedule, and how it will affect them. That’s my way of reducing their anxiety.”

“You are not responsible for the anxiety of every person coming to the school,” Imani lectured.

“No, but that doesn’t mean I should contribute to it by not communicating,” Halle countered and popped another fry into her mouth.

Imani just threw up her hands. “I don’t know why I bother. I keep thinking that one day you’ll realize you don’t have to do everything yourself, that letting others help out isn’t so bad. But I swear, if you didn’t have something to do, then you’d start worrying about having too much free time on your hands.”

Halle laughed and shrugged. “You might have a point.”

Imani’s words didn’t hurt Halle’s feelings. It wasn’t the first time she’d been accused of trying to do too much. What could she say? She enjoyed being involved. She was an active part of the Peachtree Cove community and as the newly appointed middle school principal, she took her job as a community leader seriously. A lot of people depended on her, from the teachers, staff, students and their families. Involvement didn’t mean sitting at home twiddling her thumbs hoping everyone understood what was happening.

“You know the school will still be there if you get hit by a bus.”

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