Girls' Day Out: Part 1

It was a cool, cloudy day, and Naomi thanked God for that. She couldn’t imagine her, her two bodyguards, and her counselor melting in the heat as they waited for Amber and her two friends. Amber had been so eager to introduce her new friends to Naomi, so she didn’t understand what was taking her so long.

From her seat at the wooden bench beneath the pavilion, Naomi watched the ducks and their ducklings at the pond. They quacked as they swam around eating bread crumbs offered to them by the locals.

She looked at her pocket watch. 3:30 pm. They were a half hour late. What was going on?

“Are they always late?” her counselor, Nomvula, asked. She had decided to come observe her interactions with her friends to understand her better. Her parents had insisted she let her come, much to Naomi’s dismay.

But when it came to her parents, she couldn’t say no. After all, they were only concerned about her, after she said she heard God talking. So, she supposed she couldn’t blame them entirely.

“Not always,” Naomi said. “But it is a…quirk of Amber’s.” She wanted to say “bad habit,” but she didn’t want to drag Amber’s name in the dirt. “Perhaps something came up.”

Nomvula nodded. “Perhaps. But if you are waiting for someone like a Lord or Lady, and they fail to show up on time, what do you do?”

Naomi tapped her fingers on the wooden bench. “If they are late, then I go on about other tasks. If they show up, they have to make another appointment, unless of course it is a true emergency.”

“I see.”

Naomi wished this woman would be quiet. But she knew what she was saying. Tardiness wasn’t acceptable in matters of state, so neither should it be acceptable in friendships.

Especially since they had both agreed on a set time and place to meet.

Naomi didn’t want to say it, but she was frustrated with Amber and her friends now. Why did she always do this?

It was embarrassing having her counselor hang around with her waiting for her tardy friends. As if having her counselor hanging around her wasn’t embarrassing enough. 

“So, what do you do in your spare time,” Naomi asked.

Her counselor smiled. “My favorite hobby; People watching.” She pointed to a couple by the pond. “See them? Observe their behavior. What do you see?”

Naomi looked at them. The man was nodding his head at whatever his wife was saying, but he wore a blank expression while his wife was all smiles. As she chatted away, she tossed small bread crumbs into the pond for the ducks. “I see a serious husband and a bubbly wife who are both happy for the most part.”

“You don’t think the husband is sad? He doesn’t look happy.”

“I know, but I don’t feel sad when I look at him. He seems reserved, that’s all.”

The wife turned her attention to the ducklings, and at this, the husband smiled.

“See? He’s happy.”

Nomvula nodded. “So you can feel what others are feeling simply by looking at them?”

Naomi shrugged. “Sometimes. Why?”

Nomvula was about to say more but she stopped and looked behind her. “It would seem your friends have finally arrived.”

Naomi looked in the same direction. Sure enough, Amber and her two other friends were coming down the stone path waving fans in their faces.

When they got to the pavilion, Amber spoke in a rush. “Sorry for being late, Naomi. My friends and I were on the way but we saw this neat booth giving out these beautiful fans!” She held hers up. It was red and yellow with green flowers on it. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yes it is,” Naomi said.

“We were so busy trying to pick out which ones we wanted we lost track of time! You understand, right?”

“I mean–”

“Of course you do! Anyway,” she pointed to her friend who wore a beautiful blue crochet hat and had a green and yellow fan in her hand. “This is Diane.” She pointed to her friend who wore a green skirt and a yellow shirt. “And this is Ashanti.”

Naomi gave a nod to them both. “It is an honor to meet you two.”

“It’s an honor to meet you as well, Princess!” Diane and Ashanti said.

Naomi gestured to Nomvula. “This is Nomvula. She’s…” She didn’t want to say she was her counselor. “My Nana.”

“Nice to meet you,” Amber, Diane, and Ashanti said to her.

Nomvula waved. “A pleasure to meet all of you. Truly.”

Naomi rose from her seat. “Shall we go feed the ducks now?”

The three girls gave each other a look.

“Actually,” Amber said. “I’ve been feeling famished ever since we got here.”

“Me too!” Diane and Ashanti said.

“Would it be alright if we got something to eat first? Perhaps go to the bakery nearby?”

“Sure,” Naomi said.

They all went to the bakery called the Heavenly Treats Shop. 

As soon as they entered, an array of delicious smells greeted Naomi’s nose. At the counter was a kind woman with long braided hair in a bun. It was like Nomvula’s hair, except it was more black than brown in color. “Welcome! How can I help you all?”

Naomi and her friends looked at the treats in the glass display case. Behind the glass were delicious treats, like cinnamon rolls, malva pudding, lime cake, oatmeal bars, yogurt cake, almond cookies, and more.

As Naomi’s friends eagerly picked out their desserts and drinks, the baker quickly gave them their orders. 

Naomi turned to Nomvula. “Would you like anything?”

Nomvula smiled. “No thank you, Your Highness.”

“Alright then.” She turned to the shop owner. “I shall have a slice of yogurt cake please, and a cup of water.”

“Good choice!” The owner said. She got her a slice of yogurt cake and put it on a plate. She also gave her a cup of water in a glass mug.

“Thank you.” Naomi pulled out her money pouch from her purse and paid for her dessert.

Amber and the others sifted through their purses.

“Oh no,” Amber said, giving Naomi a sheepish look. “I forgot my money pouch.”

“I guess I forgot mine too,” Ashanti said.

“Same,” Diane said.

Naomi waved her hand. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I’ll cover it.”

“Are you sure?” Amber asked.

Yeah, are you sure? How come they all forgot their money pouches?

“Sure, it’s no problem.”

“Wow, you’re a lifesaver!” Diane said.

Naomi turned to Nomvula. “You sure you don’t want anything?”

Nomvula’s gaze was on Naomi’s friends for a moment. “No thank you, Your Highness.”

“Alright.” Naomi glanced at her friends. Was Nomvula judging? It sure seemed that way.

After Naomi paid for the food, they went out and took a seat at one of the small wooden tables outside the shop.

Nomvula took a seat at another table not too far away. Naomi could sense her watching them, and it wasn’t necessarily a good feeling.

“So, what do you guys like to do?” Naomi asked Diane and Ashanti. 

“I like to paint once and while,” Diane said. “One day, I’ll be a famous artist.”

“Wow! What kind of art do you like most? Abstract, impressionism, landscape painting? And what’s your favorite medium?”

Diane smiled, but she looked surprised. “I like doing landscape painting the most. But I like to do abstract painting from time to time too. I prefer watercolor.” She took a big bite out of her cinnamon roll.

“You have to show me your work.” She turned to Ashanti. “What hobbies do you have?”

“I like writing poetry,” Ashanti said. She took a sip of her tea. “I mostly write about animals, especially puppies. I love puppies! I’d get a pet if Mom and Dad would allow it, but no. So I have to write about them instead.”

“That’s great! Do you like free form or do you like using a certain rhyme scheme, like limerick or chain rhyme?”

This time, Ashanti looked a little surprised. “It’s mostly free form. But sometimes I go for an enclosed rhyme scheme.”

“What do you like to do?” Diane asked Naomi.

“I like spending time with Ms. Malfeasance practicing medicine making. I sometimes help her crush herbs and–”

“Ms. Malfeasance? You spend time with that crazy lady?”

Naomi stared at her. “She’s not crazy.”

“Oh, but she is. Haven’t you heard about the rumors? Some say she’s a witch or something.”

“That’s what I told her,” Amber said, finishing off her lime cake. “But she's the princess, so she can hang out with whoever.”

“But she’s very nice,” Naomi said. “And she’s taught me a lot. She’s even let me help her with her patients sometimes.”

“That’s nice, I guess,” Ashanti said. She finished her tea and her dessert. “Hey, let’s go to the pond now and feed the ducks.”

As the three of them rose from their chairs, Naomi remained seated. “You guys go on ahead. I’m going to thank the baker for the dessert.”

Amber shrugged. “Okay, but hurry, I have to get home soon.”

But you’re the one who was late! Naomi wanted to shout at her. But she smiled and nodded. “I will catch up shortly.”

The three girls walked down the path and started talking about some other subject.

Naomi leaned back in her chair for a moment. Something about the conversation was so wrong. Why would Diane and Ashanti talk about Ms. Malfeasance like that? They didn’t even know her.

She got her plate and cup and realized that her friends had forgotten to take the dirty dishes inside the bakery and sit them in the wooden box by the trash can. She sighed and picked up as many dishes as she could.

Nomvula picked up the rest. “I’ll help.”

“Thank you,” Naomi said.

Together, they took the dishes inside and put them in the wooden dish box. Naomi then thanked the baker again for the desserts. “I will definitely come again.”

“Thank you! Please do,” the baker said.

Naomi left and with her guards and her counselor close behind, she eventually caught up with her friends, who were halfway to the park.

However, Naomi wanted some more time to think, so she kept some distance between her and the others.

As Amber, Diane, and Ashanti talked about how they hoped it wouldn’t rain tomorrow and how they wanted to enjoy the festival, Naomi didn’t say a word. 

“Princess,” Nomvula said. “Are you okay?”

Naomi nodded. “I’m fine. I just wish…well I wish they didn’t say things just to say things and actually thought about what they were saying.” Naomi shook her head. Do I even know what I’m saying?

Nomvula nodded. “I see. Unfortunately, thinking before speaking doesn’t seem to be a concern of theirs right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll explain later.”

Naomi wished she wouldn’t leave her hanging like that, but she nodded. “Alright.”

When they all made it to the park, they went straight to the pond’s pier.

“Who has the bread?” Ashanti asked.

“I do.” Naomi pulled out two bread rolls from her backpack, tore them each in half, and handed one half to each friend.

“Oh, Naomi, you’re always so prepared!”

And on time, Naomi thought.

Ashanti clicked at the ducklings and tossed them some bread crumbs. “One day, I’m going to be a veterinarian.”

“That’s great,” Naomi said. “What made you interested in becoming a vet?”

“A bird flew right into our window one time. Smack! It hurt its wing so badly it couldn’t fly. I had to nurse it back to health and set it free. It was so pretty and cute. After watching it fly off, I decided I wanted to take care of animals.” Ashanti rubbed her chin. “Also, my parents said I couldn’t have a pet, so being a vet will be perfect catharsis.”

Naomi laughed. “That’s great. I used to consider becoming a vet when I was a toddler. But a cat scratched me. Really badly. Needless to say, I changed career paths.”

Ashanti rolled her eyes. “You say that as if you didn’t already have a career. You’re a princess already. Duh.”

“I know. But I want to do other things with my life too, not just politics. I’d like to become a healer and make medicine to cure illnesses that don’t have effective treatments yet.”

“And what are you going to do with the medicine once you make it?” Diane asked.

“Give it to those who are sick.”

“Yeah, and then send them the bill that will kill them later.”

Diane, Ashanti, and even Amber laughed.

“Yeah, maybe you shouldn't make medicine at all,” Amber said. “I wouldn’t want to pay extra taxes for it.”

Naomi smiled, but deep down, those comments hurt. Why are they acting like this? I never said anything bad about what they’re interested in. Why are they so dismissive?

She tried to brush those thoughts off. Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe they didn’t mean it the way she thought they meant it. Or maybe they did, and they were going through things. Amber was going through a difficult situation. Maybe the others were too?

“You’re not really serious about becoming a healer are you?” Diane asked.

Amber shook her head. “She is.” She sat down on the pier and threw the last of her crumbs to the ducklings. 

“But why would you be a healer? Aren’t you afraid of ruining your nails or something?”

Ashanti snorted.

Amber smirked but didn’t say anything.

Naomi stared at Diane. Surely she was joking. But the look on Diane’s face seemed completely serious, and maybe even smug. “No. I’m not concerned about that at all. Things are bound to get messy at some point whenever you are tending to a patient. There was one patient who was suffering from severe blood loss, so we had to–”

“Ew!” Ashanti made a face. “Don’t talk about that!”

“Fine. I’ll leave it up to your imagination.” She was beginning to wish she had made some excuse to stay home like she had originally planned.

“Look, Diane,” Amber said. “She wants to be a healer because she can. She’s the princess. She can do whatever Amber she wants. Even if it may seem unnecessary. So we should support her.”

“Certainly,” Diane said.

Naomi didn’t understand why Amber always made remarks like that. If she picked out a dress for herself that Amber thought looked bad, she’d say “Welp, you’re the princess. Do what you want to do. I’ll support you even if it doesn’t look so good on you.” She knew Amber had had a tough time lately, but there was no need to be so negative all the time.

“Princess,” Nomvula said.

Naomi looked up at her. Nomvula’s right eye was twitching. Oh my word. What’s wrong now? “Yes?”

“May I have a word with you please?”

Naomi held back a groan. “Of course.” She stood up. “We can speak at the pavilion.” She turned to her companions. “I’ll be back shortly.”

“Sure, thing, Dr. Princess,” Ashanti said.

Naomi shook her head. She, her guards, and Nomvula walked towards the pavilion. But every step Naomi made closer and closer to the pavilion was like a walk to her own demise.