Before I Let Go

Yasmen is preparing Thanksgiving dinner with her mother, Carole. Carole, outspoken and full of concern, asks Yasmen about Vashti and if she truly accepts Josiah’s new relationship. Yasmen surprises her mother by saying she wants to try Byrd’s stuffing recipe. Her mother understands immediately that this is because she misses Byrd, and Carole shares her grief. Kassim and Josiah arrive, and Carole greets Josiah affectionately.

Josiah leaves after confirming the dinner arrangements. Yasmen walks out with him to discuss Kassim’s recent progress in therapy. Josiah reports, rueful and amused, that Kassim seems to regard therapy as a test he can pass to prove his readiness to skip a grade. Yasmen, adopting a tone of self-reproach, asks Josiah if Kassim’s problems are her fault for being too involved and anxious. Josiah apologizes for his previous criticisms of her parenting and gently touches her face to enforce eye contact. Staring at each other, both are soon lost in the attraction between them. Yasmen breaks the charged atmosphere by reminding Josiah she will see him tomorrow with Vashti.

Josiah agrees he should go home, joking about Otis eating his shoes—like the missing pair he does not know Yasmen has secretly kept.