“What happened?”
I almost let it go to voicemail, but something in my chest tightened. I answered.
“Hello?”
There was a pause. Then a woman’s voice said, “Is this Jane’s mother? This is the Dean’s office. It’s urgent. It’s about your daughter, Jane.”
My whole body went cold.
I stood up so fast the chair scraped backward. “What happened?”
“Why? Is she in trouble?”
“Please don’t panic,” she said quickly. “Jane is all right.”
My knees nearly gave out. I sat back down.
“She’s okay?”
“Yes. She’s here with us. She asked if you could come to campus tomorrow morning before the ceremony.”
I pressed my hand against my chest. “Why? Is she in trouble?”
The woman sounded almost amused. “No. She’s not in trouble. She just wants you here.”
By morning, I felt sick with dread.
I barely slept that night. I lay there staring at the ceiling, thinking of every bad possibility anyway.
Maybe she had failed a class and hidden it. Maybe there was some unpaid balance, and they were going to stop her from graduating. Maybe she was sick and had told them not to tell me until the last minute.
By morning, I felt sick with dread.
I put on my only good blouse. Blue, with one loose button I kept meaning to fix. I did my makeup badly because my hands would not stop shaking. Then I took one bus, then another, and walked the last stretch to campus.
I felt like I had wandered into somebody else’s life.
Everything looked polished and expensive. Brick buildings. Flower beds. Parents in pressed clothes, carrying cameras. Girls in white dresses under their gowns. Boys in ties laughing too loudly.
I felt like I had wandered into somebody else’s life.
At the main office, a young woman stood up when she saw me.
“Jane’s mother?”
“Yes.”
I stepped inside and froze.
She smiled. “Come with me.”
That smile confused me more than anything.
She led me down a hallway with framed pictures and awards in glass cases. My shoes were already rubbing my heels raw. My stomach was in knots.
She stopped at a door and opened it.
I stepped inside and froze.
But she wasn’t alone.
Jane was standing there in her graduation gown.
She turned, and her whole face lit up.
“Mom.”
But she wasn’t alone. The Dean was there. Two professors. A few staff members. Another woman with a camera.
Everybody was looking at me like I had arrived at a surprise party I had not agreed to attend.
I looked at Jane. “What is this?”
She started crying and laughing at the same time.
She came straight to me and took both my hands. Her fingers were cold.
“You came.”
“Of course I came. The Dean’s office called me and said it was urgent.”
She winced. “Okay, maybe that part was dramatic.”
“Jane.”
She started crying and laughing at the same time. “I’m sorry. I just needed you here.”
“I wanted it to be a surprise.”
The Dean stepped forward. He was older, kind-faced, and holding a folder.
“Ma’am,” he said, “your daughter has been selected as this year’s student speaker.”
I blinked at him. “What?”
Jane squeezed my hands. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
I stared at her. “Student speaker?”
One of her professors smiled. “Top of her class. Outstanding recommendations. Outstanding service record. She earned it.”
“A full what?”
I looked back at Jane and shook my head slowly.
“You didn’t tell me.”
She gave me a watery smile. “I know.”
