JUNE
No Place Like Home
Friday, June 13, 2025
There was something about the unforgiving summer sun that wouldalwayssit right with me. After hours of breathing in recycled cabin air followed up by the chill of airport A/C, the sun shining on my skin felt like a heated caress the moment I stepped outside those doors.
In about two point five seconds, the North Carolina humidity would have my defined twist out puffed up like the clouds dotting the sky, but I’d enjoy being cute while it lasted. Phone out, I used my sunglasses as a makeshift headband to push back my sun-dyed strands and smiled into the camera.
I was already excited to look back on the picture in September and compare how much deeper my mahogany complexion was.
For the next ninety days, I planned to be outside, doing what hot girls did. And while it was a long-shot, I planned to find somebody fine to hump by the end of this summer. Me and the birth control implant in my arm weren’t looking for love, but I wanted to have a good time, dammit.
And a summer fling between two adults never hurt nobody.
Still smiling, I stepped onto the airport shuttle, secured my bag at the front and sat down before swiping over to my messaging app. One tap of my thumb and the family group chat was open.
Me:
Getting on the ferry in thirty. Anyone around to pick me up from the harbor in about an hour?
As expected, my grandmother responded first with a voice note.
“If your mother hadn’t taken my keys, you know I’d be there to pick you up in a heartbeat, sweet pea. But that’s neither here nor there.”
The huff at the end of her message was all drama and had me grinning even more when my mother simply reacted to her voice note with the rolling eyes emoji.
Mama:
I don’t get back to the island til Sunday. Call your brother. You know he probably has this chat muted
Before I could respond and tell her Rico hadn’t technically been my brother in over five years, another voice note from my grandmother rolled in.
“Pick me up a pack of Newport Shorts before you get on that boat. Your mama got everybody on this damn island scared to sell ‘em to me. Thanks, sweet pea.”
Mama:
You’re still in the group chat, mom
Another voice note chimed through right away and I was glad I’d connected my headphones before walking out of the airport.
“I don’t give a damn.”
For somebody who could barely see two feet in front of her, my grandma sure had plenty of time to sit there glued to her phone. She was probably on her porch, eyes squinted and nose smushed against the screen while she sent off her retorts.
“Don’t forget my cigarettes, sweet pea.”
Mama:
Do NOT buy her cigarettes
With a snort, I shook my head as the shuttle took off, exiting the airport drive to head toward Wrightsville.
The shuttle ride through Wilmington was uneventful and the closer we got to the water, the more giddiness swarmed my senses.
Christmas was the last time home had seen me and I couldn’t wait to reacquaint myself with everything I adored about the place I was from.
Onyx Cove was a sliver of an island off the coast of North Carolina. All I needed was an hour and a good set of flip flops and I could walk the length of it without breaking a sweat.
