Home, Part 2: Return

Tippy’s note:  This is Part 2 of the Home series.  If you have not read Part 1, you should do that.  Of all of the things I have written thus far, this is the one that makes me nervous.  Not just because you are meeting some of Halle’s family but because you are mostly with Halle without her being in Cordonia or with any of the TRR gang to kind of keep you interested.  This is just Halle.  Don’t worry, Part 3 will be in Cordonia, so I am not going to leave Liam and company out of this.  Anyway, I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Choices owns this and I do not.

After a 20-hour flight with a 6-hour layover in Heathrow, Halle finally arrived in Raleigh, North Carolina.  It was nighttime by the plane landed, and she set foot on the tarmac.  She didn’t have a hard time getting through customs, and since she only had a carry-on, she didn’t have to claim baggage.

As Halle passed baggage claim, she could already see her father waving at her.  She offered to just take a cab or an Uber from the airport, but Harrold would not hear of the sort.

Harrold didn’t look all that different for nearly a decade passing by since they last saw each other.   His skin had a rich sepia tone that was very textured.  It was slightly darker than Halle’s and had a red undertone instead of golden.  The man had coarse, short hair with a smattering of light and dark grey strands towards the front, close to his deep forehead wrinkles.

When she was close enough, Harrold pulled Halle into a firm embrace.

“My baby girl is finally home,” Harrold said as he hugged her.

“Dad I am almost 30, I am nobody’s baby.”

“You are always going to be my baby girl.”

Harrold finally lets her go after several moments.  They exchanged small smiles as they broke apart.

“How are you dad?”

“I’m good,” he replied with a smile.  “I’m good.  Did you bring any other luggage?”

Halle shook her head.

“Let’s get out of here.  It’s already after dark, and I just want to get home quickly and without incident.”  Harrold said.  His daughter nodded, and they left the airport.

For as warm as the reception was at the airport the first 15 minutes of heading towards Goldsboro were oddly quiet.  The years of not seeing or talking to each other regularly had sat in the backseat of Harrold’s station wagon along with Halle’s duffle.

“It’s good to see you, Halle,” Harrold said warmly without taking his eyes off of the road.  “It’s been a long time.”

She let out a heavy sigh, “I know Dad.  I’m sorry.”

He let out a matching sigh, “I just wished it was under better conditions.”

Halle stayed silent with her eyes focused intently on the road ahead.

“I know about Cordonia,” Harrold said breaking the silence.  Halle turned to look at him before he added, “and Liam.”

Her eyes grew wide.  “But-but How?  Most Cordonian news doesn’t make it over here.”

“I saw your picture on a click-baity fashion blog.  I found some Cordonian news outlets and followed you closely ever since.”

“So you know about the–”

“The scandal?” Harrold interjected, “yes.”

“Does Mom or Hakim know?”

“Only that you were in Europe.”

Halle breathed out her relief.

“I didn’t want your mother to see you–like that.  There are just some things that you hold back from a mother to spare her.”

Harrold and Halle sat in silence again for the next mile and a half.

“Are you going to tell me what happened with Liam?”

Halle looked at her father and back at the road.  “It’s complicated.”

“I bet it is.”

They stayed quiet for the rest of the trip.

It didn’t take too long for them to arrive home.  Halle stepped out of the car and looked around.  Nothing has changed in the decade that she was gone.  Sure the house seemed a little more worn, but her mother’s garden, the label Halle made for the mailbox when she was 7, all of the little touches that made this house her home were still intact.

Halle entered behind her father.  The interiors haven’t changed much either.  While the house looked the same, it didn’t feel the same.  It seemed a lot quieter in her house than she remembered.  The home she left had a warmth to it.  Like if you listened carefully, you could hear all of the laughs and jokes and happiness that it housed.  Maybe the house just feels quiet because Joanne and Harrold had been empty nesters for a long time, Halle mused to herself.

She went upstairs to put her suitcase in her bedroom, and it was exactly as she left it.  Halle’s swimming medals and trophies lined the room.  There were some old pictures of her and her best-friend/ex-boyfriend Rhon-Ron.  Just them hanging out and having fun.  Her Taye Diggs poster was still up and intact, while her feelings for him weren’t.

Though her room wasn’t any different, Halle felt strange being there.  Like she was intruding in on someone else’s life even though it was her own.  Just as she was starting to get settled in, the was a knock on the door.

“I am glad to see that you have decided to grace us with your presence.”

“Hi, mama,” Halle said.

Joanne didn’t look too much different from the day Halle left, not that Joanne would allow anything like aging happen to her.  Her skincare regimen was simple, but it was the consistency that did all of the work.  Joanne’s light tawny brown skin did have some wrinkling, mostly around the eyes and mouth, but you had to have known her to really pick up on it.  Her hair was perfectly straightened which showed off the dimension of greys.  Most of the strands were steely with some light streaks throughout.

The two women stared at each other for a few moments that seemed like minutes.

Joanne sighed.  “It’s a little late, do you need something to eat?”

“No mama.  I am fine.”

“Alright,” Joanne said looking her up and down before leaving.

Later that night Halle tip-toed to the kitchen to see if there was anything to nibble on that would carry her through to breakfast.  Harrold had his head in the fridge humming to himself by the time she got there.  Once he got what he wanted, he shimmied backward.

“Reunited and it feels so good,” he sang to himself.  When his eyes opened, he saw Halle in the kitchen pulling out two plates and froze.

“I don’t know why there are two plates out seeing as you didn’t think to alert me to your presence.”  Harrold furrowed his brows and stared at his daughter.

They paused for a moment, then they smiled.

“Midnight snacks are back.”

Halle clapped and took a seat at the dining room table.

“Tonight’s menu: Turkey on whole wheat,” he said holding up the package of bread.  “That was your mother’s idea, lettuce, tomaytah, and of course the tzatziki.”

Halle raised her eyebrow.

“Again your mother.  She really wants me to watch my health in my advanced age.” He playfully wiggled his eyebrows on the last two words.

Harrold made two sandwiches and joined Halle at the table.  Halle took a bite of her sandwich and smiled.

“That’s the first time I have seen you be yourself since I have picked you up at the airport.”

“Oh.  I’m sorry.  I–”

“Just have a lot on your mind?” Harrold offered, attempting his best James Earl Jones as Mufasa.

Halle nodded.

“Maybe a certain alleged-charismatic king?”

“To be honest, I haven’t thought about him much. My head has just been a fog.”

“Care to tell me why you left Cordonia?”

Halle sat back in her chair.  “Being there was a lot.  I mean in some ways it was wonderful.  Like actually living in a fairytale.”  She punctuated her last sentence with a small smile.

“Cordonia is beautiful.  You look around you see this beautiful architecture and the water is so blue like in postcards.  There are all of these gowns and dresses, balls, waltzing–.”

“I bet you are grateful that your mother insisted that you take ballroom dancing for your cotillion.”

Halle shrugged.  “I guess, I don’t hate it anymore.”

Harrold smiled as Halle continued.

“While I was there I even had mostly good people around me,” She thought of her friends like Hana, Maxwell, and Drake.  Even Olivia was part of that number as of late, no matter how emphatic her denials were.  When the odds were not in her favor, having them around was enough to tip the scales.

“But the other stuff that would come with living there–” She continued, her small smile fading as the edges curled downward.

“Like what?”

Halle fought the urge to curl up and bring her knees to her chest.  The chair she was sitting on was old, and she didn’t want to test if it can handle that.

“Well, it’s not like I am living there and just being an ordinary citizen,” she sighed.

“I have to think about the press and consider what people would think of me.  I have to dress a certain way, talk a certain way, act a certain way.  I have to look at people’s smiles and wonder what is really behind them.

It was all ball gowns and dancing until you think you are going to get engaged and you actually get caught up in some court drama that is about you but not about you.”

Halle thought back to the night of the Coronation Ball, how Penelope congratulated her knowing that she helped make sure that Tariq was in her room and that the photographer was ready to photograph it.  Penelope knew but smiled at her face as if she never did that.  Halle crinkled her eyebrows at the thought.  Harrold brought her back to Earth.

“Are you talking about that man in your room? What happened there?”

Halle explained to her father about why Tariq was in her room that night.  This lead to her explaining why she and Liam were in a secret relationship while he was publically engaged.  That led to her explaining what happened during The Homecoming ball and the Unity Tour.  The more Halle delved into court intrigue, the more puzzled and confused Harrold became.

“I think all of that court stuff would be better discussed with your mother.  She would love this.”

Halle cocked her head to the side.

“Your mother would love the drama and intrigue.  She would not be for her child getting assaulted,” Harrold quickly clarified.

Halle nodded in agreement.  She thought about what her mother would say about Madeleine nearly marrying Liam even though Liam’s stepmother and Madeleine’s mother are cousins.

“It sounds like the worst of it is over, right?”

“I think so.”

Harrold adjusted the waistband to his pajamas and sat back.  “Yet you still haven’t told me why you left.”

“Dad, do you ever get the feeling that you don’t recognize yourself?”

Harrold laughed, “All of the time.  It’s called getting older.”

“I don’t mean just looks.  I look at myself, and I feel like I don’t know who I am anymore.  That I lost myself somehow.  Like trying to stay in court and ‘win’ Liam cost me my soul.  You and mom always seemed so sure of yourselves for better or for worse.”

Harrold grabbed his daughter’s hand from across the table.

“Halle, maybe you feel like you have lost yourself, not because you are really lost, but you have been through a lot.”  He explained, his gaze soft but unwavering.

“Experience changes you, that is how you grow.  You are not going to be the same person you were when you were 18 now that you are almost 30, at least I hope not.”

“But how do you stay true to yourself?”

“Halle, what that means changes and evolves with you.  I remember when I was at Howard, staying true to myself meant being an AKA and never dating the same woman for too long.  I am now married to the same woman for nearly 40 years and have 2 adult children.  What you don’t want to do is lose the parts of you that make you, you.”

“How do you do that?”

“You decide the parts of you that you value most and protect them.  Just don’t choose to fight and protect stupid shit.  Being an AKA is great, but that is not as important as being a good father to you.”

Harold looked down at his empty plate and looked up at the clock.

“It’s getting late, and my old bones need to sleep.  Per the usual, since I made the snack, you are on clean-up duty.”

Harrold stood up and kissed Halle on the temple as he headed to bed.  She did the dishes and went to bed.

The next morning Halle woke up.  It took her a minute to realize that she was not in Cordonia but her parents’ home.  While she slept well and everything, waking up there felt just as foreign to her as her first nights in Cordonia.  Halle looked at her phone.  She was connected to her parents’ Wi-Fi at home.  There were over 50 notifications on her phone.  She opened WhatsApp so that angry red badge would go away.  The most recent message was from Drake.

Halle, I just need to know you are OK.

Thinking about everyone back home worrying about her made her heart race.  By now they must have known that she left.  Halle stared at Drake’s message unsure of what to do.  She wanted to tell everyone that she was okay, but she would have to give some indication of whether or not she would be coming back.  Halle shook her head as she got off of the bed and showered.  Sometimes the best answer is no answer.

She went downstairs, and her house was still eerily quiet for her.  Halle walked into the kitchen and saw that there was a note on the table.

Halle,

I know you needed some extra rest, so I bothered not to wake you. Your mother and I needed to handle something really quickly in the office. We will be back later. I don’t know how long you are staying with us, but I figured you might need your own transportation. Your mother is unwilling to give up her car let alone drive mine, so we picked up a rental for you this morning.

Don’t stay in your room glowering and feeling sorry for yourself. Go see some friends. Mama Reed would be delighted to see you.

Love,

Dad

P.S. Talk to your mother at some point. She misses you too. Maybe you guys can leave the past in the past

Halle thought back to her time with Mama Reed.  As a teenager, whenever her mother was being too much which was often since Joanne was trying to position and encourage Halle to elevate herself socially.  Halle would grow tired and push back.  This usually ended at Mama Reed’s house.  There she could be herself, and not either have to be one of a few or have to train to learn how to deal with being one of a few.  Most afternoons were spent helping Mama Reed around the house, helping her cook, or tend the garden.  They would just talk.  Halle could tell that woman anything.

Mama Reed wasn’t the only person there that she liked, her best friend turned boyfriend Rhon-Ron also was there.  Rhon Ronald Reed, or Rhon-Ron for short, was Mama Reed’s grandson.  He was named after his Aunt Rhonda and his father’s friend Ronald.  His mother died when he was young, and his father couldn’t cope.  His grandmother stepped in to keep him out of the system and had full custody when Rhon-Ron was 10.

Rhon-Ron and Halle were friends ever since they were young.  They met outside of church, while the adults were enduring the long services, the younger children would play outside.  Halle and Rhon-Ron would sit under this large White Oak tree under the shade.  When they ended up going to the same middle school, they became even closer.  Even when Halle got an athletic scholarship to attend St. Mary’s School and Rhon-Ron went to Goldsboro High, their bond strengthened rather than frayed.

Halle and Rhon-Ron were too close if you asked Joanne.  Joanne didn’t mind Rhon, but in her eyes, he didn’t exactly have the pedigree that befits someone like Halle.  As Joanne would say, low standards now can only beget lower standards later.  Harrold liked Rhon as much as any father liked a teenage boy near his daughter.

Harrold’s indifference and Joanne’s utter displeasure was not enough for Halle to stop liking Rhon-Ron.  He kept her sane while she made him strive for more.

Halle held the rental car keys in her hand, she smiled as she decided to take her father’s advice.

Later that afternoon, Halle was pulling into the dirt driveway.  She stepped out of the rental and felt the balmy air on her skin.  Feeling the dirt road beneath her feet and seeing Mama Reed’s house head was instantly calming.  As she walked towards the porch, Mama Reed was sitting outside in her favorite chair.  She had a bowl in her lap while she was working on snapping the ends off some green beans.

Mama Reed looked up from her bowl as Halle approached.  She had umber skin that was smooth despite the wrinkles on her face.  Her hair was completely white, the coarse strands pulled back into a puff by a headband.  Her smile was wide, and her lips were full.

“Halle is that you?” Mama Reed called out.

“Yes Mama Reed, it’s me.”

Next to Mama Reed was a young girl, she had rich tawny skin like Halle but slightly darker.  Her facial features felt very familiar to Halle, but she couldn’t quite place them, especially the eyes.

Mama Reed handed the bowl to the girl while she dusted off the discarded green bean ends from her lap as she stood.  She held Halle at a distance to get a good look at her.

“Oh Halle, you have grown so much.  So lovely,” the older woman said while tenderly cupping her face.  “Not that you ever weren’t.  You are just, you are not the precious little girl that would run around chasing butterflies outside of church.”

The older woman pulled Halle in for a long embrace.  When they separated, Halle felt herself get teary eyed.  She didn’t realize how much she had missed Mama Reed and being near her.

“How are you doing? How is the world treating you?”

“It’s treating me okay,” Halle said with a small smile.

“Well you are too late to help me with these beans, but we can talk while we cook them.”

“I can do that after I introduce myself to my replacement helper,” Halle said looking at the young girl.

“Halle quit playin’,” the old woman chided.  “I am just watching her for the afternoon while her father picked up an extra shift.  I was supposed to do her hair, but I am not sure I will have time.”

Halle met the girl at her level.

“Hi, I am Halle.  What is your name?”

“I’m Jaleesa.”

“Jaleesa is a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.  Do you mind if I do your hair?”

Halle looked at her hair and could see a lot of tight coils, and some buildup that definitely showed that she was due for a wash day.  Jaleesa looked unsure at first.

“Jaleesa is a little tenderheaded,” Mama Reed explained.

“That’s okay, I am tenderheaded too.  I promise I will be really gentle.  Okay?”

Jaleesa was unsure but slowly nodded.  Halle took the green beans from her with one hand and held Jaleesa’s hand in the other and went inside.  There she gently detangled the girl’s hair with coconut oil while hearing about the drama going on with her dolls.  Some of it was eerily similar to what Halle had actually experienced in Cordonia.

“This is Tessa, and she is the most beautiful girl in all the land, and everybody loves her.  She is about to be queen.” Jaleesa said holding up a Black Barbie doll with thick curly hair.

“And this is Cam, he is the King, and he is in love with Tessa.” She held up a Black Ken doll.

“Even though Tessa and Cam love each other,” which the girl demonstrated by having the two dolls kiss.  “They can’t be together because Lila is jealous and wants everybody to suffer.”

She held up another slightly lighter, Black Barbie.  “Lila wants to be queen, but nobody likes her because she is mean and unimportant.”

Halle asked, “Do Cam and Tessa end up together?”

Jaleesa turned back to face Halle from between her legs.

“Yes. People who really love each other always get a happy ending.”

Halle gestured for Jaleesa to turn back around so she could continue doing her hair.

“What happens when Cam and Tessa have a happy ending?”

“They rule over their kingdom and have 7 babies.”  Halle’s eyes bulged at the thought of her having 7 children.

“Does anything happen to Lila?”

The young girl shrugged, “Everyone wants to push Lila off of a cliff, but she ends up working for Tessa instead taking care of some of the babies.”

After Halle detangled the girl’s hair, she washed it in the kitchen sink.  Then she conditioned and then wrapped Jaleesa’s hair in a t-shirt to gently dry it.  Before styling, Halle added some leave-in conditioner while she cornrowed the front of Jaleesa’s hair and did two-strand twists in the back.

Jaleesa smiled when everything was said and done.

“That didn’t hurt at all,” she commented while admiring her finished hair in the mirror.  “I am going to be so cute when I go to camp on Monday.”

“The cutest,” Halle agreed.

A male voice came from across the room, “Who’s going to be the cutest?”

Jaleesa ran from across the room towards where the voice came from.

“DADDY!” Jaleesa shouted.

“Wow, Nana went all out on your hair,” said the man.  His voice was raspy but pleasant but Halle couldn’t place it.

“Nana didn’t do this.  Her friend Miss Halle did.”

Halle caught up to where Jaleesa went and looked at the man whose voice she heard.  The man looked up and looked at Halle with familiar eyes.

“Rhon, you are Jaleesa’s father?” She asked in surprise.

“Hal, you are alive?” He quipped.