Page 46 of Ready to Score

Franny tried not to roll her eyes. Honestly, she did. Her umma, Jihae, was normally very calm and levelheaded, but she had not been happy about her only daughter moving so far away from her. Especially not when her boys had already left.

“Mom, you saw me two months ago, remember? When you came out for Amelia’s birthday? I saw you every day for an entire week.”

“That’s not the same as you being home,” she said with a sigh. “I could barely feed you because we had to eat at all those restaurants.”

Her mother’s voice was low, like she didn’t want to admit her disquiet out loud. Franny’s exasperation melted away in an instantas she imagined her umma at home alone while her father worked, worrying after a child who didn’t call nearly enough.

“I’ll come see you then, I promise.”

“When?” The woman seemed to perk up immediately.

Franny flipped through the calendar app on her phone. “I’ll fly out during a long weekend, but it might be a couple months before I can swing it.”

“Why not now? It’s summer, and you’re a teacher. No work, right?”

“Oh… um… I don’t really have the time to get away right now with football and everything.”

“Mmmm.”

It was a sound of great disapproval. The only sport her mother had even a modicum of respect for was tennis, and even that was mostly because she thought Serena Williams was “a very nice and talented girl.” Franny’s love of football had always been a mystery to her umma, and though she had never discouraged it, she’d never shown much interest in it either.

“Oh, please don’t make that noise,” Franny groaned.

“I just don’t understand how a game can keep you away from your family for months.”

“I know you don’t understand it,” Franny said. She rubbed at her temples. “But I need you to at least try to accept that it’s an important part of my life.”

Her mother was so quiet on the other end that Franny had to make sure the call hadn’t dropped.

“Of course I can accept that. I just want to see you at least once before I die.”

“Umma, come on now. You are not dying.”

“I could be.” Jade sniffed. “Then how would you feel?”

Franny ignored that. “You haven’t seen Phillip in how long? A year and a half? I bet he doesn’t get these talks like I do.”

“That’s different. Phillip lives across the world.”

“And he has more money than all of us! He could afford to come see you every other month if he wanted to,” Franny said.

“Well…” Her mother simply sniffed again. “I can’t believe my Kenneth is the only child of mine who stayed near home. Houston is so big. I was always so sure that when you grew up, you’d find your place here. Now look at you, too far for me to kiss or pinch when I need to. When was the last time I got to make tteok for you all?”

“Look, Mom,” Franny began. “I know I don’t call as much as I need to, and I promise I will get better at that. I also promise that I will make an actual effort to come visit you and Dad more. But I really hope you don’t feel like we don’t love you. Because that just isn’t true.”

“I have good children. Each of you makes me so proud. I don’t mean to be so… I don’t know, overly emotional. I just spent half my life raising you, and sometimes it’s hard to look around and see that you don’t need me so much anymore.”

“We’ll always need you,” Franny said gently. “But I think you need to find something outside of your kids to love. I mean, Appa has his bird-watching group. You need something like that.”

“Maybe I should get a little dog to take care of,” she said hesitantly. “Carla next door got one that looks like a little drowned rat when she got divorced, and that thing is all she cares about now.”

“Maybe… a real hobby and not just something else to take care of.”

The older woman made a noncommittal noise. “Maybe I should try to learn about football…”

Franny perked up immediately. “Wait, really?”

“Why not? I like learning about new things, and it seems like football is always on the television. I could do some research. Maybe you could help me.”

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