She’d also sneak calls to her boyfriend, who was closer to her age. In reality, all Shayla really did was cook the occasional meal in between trips to the mall to steal clothing from Macy’s. Papa preferred that my mother stay home and take care of the house. My mother, Shayla, who was significantly younger than my father, never worked. Whereas Landon’s dad was an executive at Ford, my father, Eddie Saloomi, worked at a bakery downtown and made just enough to make ends meet. I didn’t have much aside from the roof over my head and, well, the hair on my arms. They’d turned it into a rentable apartment with a kitchenette and bathroom. For a short time in my life, he was everything to me.Īt thirteen years old, I was a tomboy living with my parents in a converted garage on Landon’s parents’ property in Dearborn, Michigan. Will you let me braid it?My name is pronounced RAH-na, so Landon used to call me RAH-na Ba-NAH-na. Choosing one at random, I opened it.Rana Banana,I wish I had as much arm hair as. After unzipping the black, canvas backpack, I dug inside, sifting through the dozens of notes he’d given me. I forced myself up and stumbled over to my closet. I had no clue why after thirteen years, I was still thinking about that boy. Whenever I would sink into this place of melancholy, for some reason, my thoughts would always wander to Landon. But this day had hit me particularly hard. It wasn’t the first time I’d come home from work and immediately opened a bottle of vino. It slipped out of my hand but thankfully didn’t break. The bottle of Shiraz that I was still holding was now empty. I hadn’t even waited to get out of my work clothes before opening that wine. Still dressed in my royal blue and gold belly dancer outfit, I looked down at the beaded tassels scattered around me. RANA BANANAThe room spun as I plopped down on my bed.

Penelope ward drunk dial