The Other Half of My Heart (30 page)

Minni took the doll in her hands and stroked the wrinkled brown face. “I’d never forget you, with or without the doll.”

“Well, then, may she always remind you that things are not always what they appear.” She smiled and held out the other doll. “For your grandmother. Tell her her name is Akilah—Arabic for ‘wise, bright or smart.’ Just like my neighbor.”

Minni nodded. She started to turn, then stopped. “Miss Laverna?”

“Yes, child.”

“I know now.”

“Know what?”

“What fits my soul.” Miss Laverna waited.

“I’m a mixture. Of black and white, Mama and Daddy, and all the people who came before me. Even if Keira decides she feels differently about herself, we’ll always be sisters.”

Miss Laverna smiled a big smile. She wrapped her arms around Minni and they hugged. “That’s right, baby. No matter what, you’ll always be sisters.”

“See you next time,” Minni said.

“I’ll see you, too.”

Minni started to pull away, but Miss Laverna held her by the shoulders. She peered into her eyes. “You make sure to see
yourself
, Minerva-Goddess-of-Wisdom. See yourself rightly, you hear?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Minni said, thinking The Name suddenly didn’t sound so bad.

W
hen they were ready to leave the house, Minni held out the wisdom doll to Grandmother Johnson, who finally had changed into slacks and a blouse. “It’s from Dr. Oliphant,” she said.

The Eyebrow lifted.

“She makes them to sell at local shops…and gives them to friends.”

Grandmother Johnson took the doll slowly.

“Her name is Akilah, which means ‘wise, bright or smart.’ Like you, she said.”

Grandmother Johnson’s lips remained tight, but her eyes widened with pleasure. She sniffed and pulled herself a little straighter. “Thank you.” She walked to the fireplace and set the doll on the mantel, next to a vase full of pink roses.

Daddy said goodbye first. He gave Grandmother Johnson a peck on the cheek. Then Gigi came forward, holding
Banjo. She clutched Grandmother Johnson’s arm. “Come back and visit us real soon, Minerva. I’ll treat you to a massage at my favorite spa.” She winked and moved in for a hug.

Banjo stretched his neck and planted a juicy kiss right on Grandmother Johnson’s chin.
Lick!

Grandmother Johnson yelled and jumped back as if she’d stepped on a tack. She grabbed the disinfectant by the door and sprayed it at the dog.

Minni giggled. Keira laughed. Mama worked hard to hide her smile.

“Whoops!” Gigi said. “Got ya! But, believe me, he doesn’t kiss just anyone. By any chance, do you wear Marla Ray?”

Grandmother Johnson glared at the dog. She shook her head, breathing heavily.

“I’m going to send you a jar. You’ll
love
it. Don’t be a stranger now, you hear?” Gigi stepped outside.

“Goodbye, Mama.” Mama hugged her mother. “You going to be all right?”

“I think I’ll survive.” Grandmother Johnson smoothed her hair with her hand.

Mama backed away, and Minni and Keira stepped up.

Their grandmother hugged each of them tightly—real hugs, not awkward ones with too much space between their bodies.

A
t the motel, Minni and Keira convinced their parents to let them get in the pool, since the night air was still warm and humid. They splashed around, cooling off after the day’s
events. Keira didn’t wear her swim cap. She wanted her hair to curl up again.

Minni squatted underwater and Keira climbed on. A shoulder stand was much easier in a pool. They shot from the water and Keira did a backflip. Just like the days in Mama’s womb. Mama and Gigi clapped. Daddy looked up from
Around the World in Eighty Days
and whistled.

Minni felt for the pendant around her neck to make sure it was still there. Mama had given her and Keira matching necklaces for doing her proud in the Miss Black Pearl Preteen National Achievement Program. The charm she’d given them was a Chinese character that meant “change.” The character was made of the moon and sun—the moon on bottom and the sun on top.

Some sisters might fight to be the one on top, but Minni would always be happy to be the “under-stander.” Minni knew this didn’t make her less important, just different. She was the one whose shoulders provided support. The one Keira could count on to be there. And, when push came to shove, Minni knew, too, that she could always count on Keira to be there for her as well.

Minni clasped her sister’s hands in the water. They intertwined their fingers and circled round and round. Sun and moon.

Pearls of different shades.

Two halves of the same heart.

As I type these words of gratitude, our second child could be born any day and our first is a two-year-old who has lived her entire life hearing about two girls named Minni and Keira. I am extremely aware that I never could have written this book without a lot of help.

Thank you to the people who so willingly gave their assistance: my editor, Michelle Poploff, for the seed of the idea that bloomed into this story, and for giving me space and time to let it grow; editorial assistant Rebecca Short, for insightful feedback and a perfect last line; my agent, Regina Brooks, for the pep talks along the way, and for helping me realize that this was a story not of sisters against each other but of sisters against the world; my readers, Fina Arnold (my ofttimes muse), Bethany Hegedus, John Weber, Holly Huckeba, Carla Saulter, J. J. Hansen and especially Anastasia Hansen, an intelligent and generous young lady with a bright future (and maybe some novels of her own ahead); and Courtenay Edelhart, for sharing her personal experience as a biracial twin. Thanks also to Trish Parcell, cover designer extraordinaire, and to the girls at Forest Ridge School in Bellevue, Washington, whose votes and feedback moved
the book’s title from a barely considered option to front-runner.

Finally, thank you to my parents, for their unflagging enthusiasm and support (Mom, I truly could not have done this without your babysitting help); to Aunt Kathy, for the dried-apple doll and for telling me there are many ways to be black; and to my husband, Matt, for knowing what I look like deep down, seeing the whole of me and loving so sacrificially. With you, I can truly be myself.

S
UNDEE
T. F
RAZIER
is the author of
Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It, for
which she received the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent award. About her sister characters, she says, “They reflect twin sides of my own heart—the unsure and the bold—or self-doubt and self-acceptance.”

Sundee lives with her husband and two daughters in Washington State, where, as a teen, she was crowned Miss Palouse Empire and first runner-up in the Washington State Junior Miss Program (not pageant). Learn more about her and her books at
www.sundeefrazier.com
.