EPILOGUE
Sometime In The Future
I wound up staying in Dyker Heights so long it eventually stopped feeling like exile.
Simone and I remained roommates in that little apartment for several years, and it was an incredible experience. It was the first time in my life that I truly felt secure, supported and heard. And the two of us did manage to get up to plenty of dumb shit during that time, but it was never anything risky. Just a lot of fun and a little bit crazy.
Then Simone finally decided to bet on herself for a change and focus on getting back into school. She worked her ass off and was accepted into a university program that enabled her to fast-track her Bachelor's degree and then roll directly into a Master's program, so she moved back to her home state of Ohio to matriculate.
And I gotta say, it was one of my first good-byes that felt more like an organic shift than a devastating loss.
I miss her dearly, but we speak every day and we visit when we can.
June is the other friend who’s still in my life. Hell, at this point he’s my oldest friend. He wound up staying in Hartford, became a master electrician and met and married a super chill physician’s assistant. They have a daughter, Imani. I’m her fun Auntie Eula.
Once I made peace with my newer, healthier and- yes- much slower lifestyle, I realized that I, too, could redefine my life path. That it wasn’t too late to become a responsible adult. That I was proud of the life I made for myself. I did a lot of dumb shit but still wound up exactly where I was supposed to be.
I finally figured out how I wanted to spend my days, went over to the Bay Ridge branch of my all-time favorite budget-friendly designer department store, Century 21, and talked my way into a sales assistant role. To my surprise and satisfaction, I managed to keep myself from fucking it up and was eventually promoted to department manager.
After a few more years of steadily not fucking up, I took the plunge and enrolled in F.I.T.’s fashion merchandising program. By the time I graduated, I had a job offer from one of Seventh Avenue’s favorite heritage brands. I love what I do and I’m good at it.
Most importantly, I’m no longer in my tortured twenties. I’ve managed to move on from the people, places and things I had no business messing with. I’ve never once so much as Googled Pierre Dorvil Taveras or Olmando Henriques. I know it’s better that I don’t go down that rabbit hole. I need to let sleeping ghosts lie.
And I’ve stayed clean.
In conclusion, to steal a cute saying I learned from one of my little work boyfriends at RL, “As Our Lord and Savior, Beyoncé, taught us, you can make lemonade out of life’s lemons.”
I just happen to like mine a little on the bitter side of sweet.
