Thrifty Love
The first day I walked into Dollars and Cents thrift store and laid eyes on Aaron, I knew I had the potential to be in love. An often stalker-like, bitter, unrequited type of love. However, it was love none the less. I was young then, only eighteen when my friend Kayra and I decided to waltz into a rundown thrift store and look around. Entering the store I was pleasantly surprised. There were nooks and crannies everywhere, with the potential for holding real treasures. I saw the tall, dark skinned, clerk with a broad smile. I was also aware that he was staring at me, a painfully intense, smoldering stare. “Do you have any books?” I asked. “Oh, you like to read?” he replied. “Yes.” “What do you like?” “Anything with words in it”. He gave a short laugh, more like a whinny, I was in love.
I picked a book which to this day, five years later, I still do not know what the title was, nor what is was about. I never read it. I left that day without a number or a name, and I was depressed. As I checked out we continued to chat and I mentioned I went to school. Two weeks later, he was waiting in the break room for me. Five years later we have a two year old daughter and a complicated relationship. What’s next? Maybe even marriage –hey, we already have the baby carriage. We’re not complaining. Anjanet Kamara and Aaron Thomas Raleigh and Durham, NC