The Art of Synchronization

43

Colby was born and raised in Lincoln Heights, aka the Deanwood neighborhood in DC. His hometown wasn't far from Howard at all. He told me that on a good day, he could get there in thirty minutes. Obviously, today wasn't a good day because it took us at least two hours to get to his childhood home. Part of the blame was on us--we stopped to eat breakfast at a McDonalds and ended up sitting around and talking for a lot longer than we expected. Plus, traffic was bad which most likely had to do with the amounts of people traveling and preparing for the Christmas season. I had done a good job of keeping my anxiety and nervousness on edge during the car ride, but once we entered into the subdivision labeled Uptown Cove, that familiar sense of nervousness arrived again.

And this time, it was probably here to stay.

"Here it is," Colby had this childlike look on his face at he glanced at his home. It was a quaint house that appeared to be two stories. It was surrounded by trees though a lot of the leaves were covering the ground. There were three cars parked along the drive way--not including Colby's--letting us know that people were indeed home. It was a Sunday around two o'clock and we weren't sure if his family were back from church yet, or if they even went today.

Colby exited the car first and I opened the door, following suit. I headed towards the trunk so we could start bringing our stuff in but Colby stopped me. "Nah, it's cool. Dominique and I will bring the stuff in later. You got anything you need in there right now?" Colby questioned. I had my bag slung over my shoulder and that's where I had put everything I needed on hand so I shook my head. Colby locked the door to his car and proceeded to grab a hold of my hand as he led me towards the front door. I could literally feel my heart rate increase and I tried to keep a look of panic off of my face. I've danced in front of hundreds, sometimes thousands of people. I could handle this.

I got this.

The door opened revealing Tanisha, Colby's sister. She was holding a bowl of what smelled like oatmeal in her hand, and was dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a sweater. She glanced at us for a quick second before a big smile fell onto her face.

"Oh my gosh, Sage!" Tanisha exclaimed handing the bowl she was holding to Colby before wrapping her arms around me in an embrace. I couldn't help but laugh at her excitement to see me, but proceeded to embrace her as well. "You look even cuter in person. And your outfit? Your hair?" Her hands flew to the collar of my shirt, and then to my hair that managed to cooperate very well with me this morning. "Oh stop it. You look good, T." I spoke. Tanisha and I had never really met in person, but we communicated here and there on Instagram. She did look good. She had a sense of maturity to her look, and I think that came with her being twenty six, but she dressed, acted, and even talked like she was just one of the teens.

"Mom's going to flip to see you here. She was just getting on Colby about being so secretive. Come on in, it's cold out there." Tanisha spoke hurriedly, rushing us into the warmth of Colby's childhood home. You could definitely see the time and effort that was spent in decorating. As soon as you walked in, you found yourself in the living room. The living room felt cozy, and that probably had to do with the fire that was running in the fireplace. A news channel was playing as if someone had been sitting on the light brown couch that was positioned directly adjacent to it. Behind the couch yet not too far from the fireplace was a large mahogany archaic display case showcasing a copious amount of trophies and medals all with some type of basketball on it. Tanisha's diploma and one other medal from a spelling bee in fifth grade were tossed in the midst of Colby's awards as well.There were pictures inside of display cage and from where I was standing I could make out plenty of baby pictures of Tanisha and Colby, along with pictures of his mom as well.