Page 2 of Be My Compass

"The charity event,” Mom says.

Bingo.

I swallow hard. Try to form a response in my head when there’s nothing but dread swirling in there.

“You need to come with me.” Her voice is firm. Like I’m still a kid. Still that shaking, terrified orphan with the big black eyes and the lisp.

My phone vibrates. I pull it from my ear and check the screen.

There’s a new text from Kaelyn. Something about her parents. Or her dance class. Or her expansive Disney DVD collection that I’m always teasing her about.

Just the sight of her name eases the knot in my chest. Makes everything feel warm. Light. Free.

“I don’t know if I can make it,” I mumble.

“You don’t?” Her words are harder. Not soft. Not sweet.

She doesn’t expect me to resist.

“I’m busy,” I say.

“Too busy for your mother?”

There it is. The hint of a shriek. The touch of a whine. The after everything I’ve done for you, can’t you do this one thing for me tone. That’s the mom I know.

“Show up for one hour. Take some pictures with me.” Her tone becomes cajoling as she switches the subject. “How’s Kaelyn doing?”

“Mom—”

“I can’t believe you two are still friends.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” Mom laughs. It sounds fake. Hollow. “Invite her to come with you,” Mom says. “We can go shopping together. I can turn her into my little doll.”

I almost snort. My mother and my best friend have never gotten along. They’d maul each other if they were left in the same room alone.

Kaelyn is convinced that mom’s secretly evil.

Thus the ringtone.

“A brilliant designer just signed to our agency. He’d make something dashing for her. In a few years, his work will be worth millions.”

It’s so like Mom to think she can solve everything with money. As if cash can make up for sincerity, for genuine love, for trauma.

“Emphasize that it’s designer. Something she’d never lay eyes on without me,” Mom adds.

“Kaelyn can buy her own dress, ma.”

It’s not like her family is hurting for cash. They’re doing alright with their business. And Kaelyn’s never cared about money anyway.

Mom pretends not to hear me. “Oh, can you do me a favor? Tell Kaelyn to tone down at the gala? Have you seen her posts lately? So aggressive. I don’t want her scaring the donors.”

“She’s passionate about black history.”

“She’s fishing for trouble. And there are plenty of people who don’t agree. After everything she’s been through…no. I won’t bring that up. But I think she should be careful.”

The hell?

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