she says. “That’s it! Excuse me because I have the audacity to be poor!”
Trey touches her shoulder. “Ma—”
“You think I want my babies sitting in the dark? I’m trying, Mrs. Jackson! I go on interviews. I withdrew from school so these kids could have food! I begged the church not to let me go. I’m sorry if it’s not enough for you, but good Lord, I’m trying!”
Grandma straightens up. “I just think they deserve better.”
“Well, that’s one thing we actually agree on,” says Jay.
“Then they oughta come live with us,” Grandma says.
Trey puts his hands up. “No, Grandma. I’m staying here. I’m not gonna be the rope in this tug-of-war of yours anymore.”
“I ain’t ever gon’ apologize for fighting for my son’s babies!” Grandma says. “If you wanna stay here, that’s on you. I ain’t gon’ force you, Lawrence. But Brianna coming with us.”
“Hold on now, Louise,” Granddaddy says. “This girl old enough to decide for herself, too. Li’l Bit, what you want?”
I want food. I want lights. I want guarantees.
There’s this look in my mom’s eyes that I’ve seen before. It’s the one she had the day she came back from rehab. But that day there were tears in her eyes, too. She brushed my hair from my face and asked me one question: “Brianna, do you know who I am?”
That look was fear. Back then, I didn’t understand it. Now I do. She had been gone so long that she was afraid I forgot her.
Fast-forward to now, and she’s terrified that I’m gonna leave her.
I may not know if we’ll have lights again or if we’ll have enough food, but I do know that I don’t wanna be away from my mom again.
I look at her as I say it. “I wanna stay here.”
“Well, there you go,” Trey says. “You got your answer.”
“You sure, Li’l Bit?” Granddaddy asks.
I don’t look away from my mom. I want her to know that I mean it. “Yeah. I’m sure.”
“All right then.” Granddaddy takes out his wallet. “’Bout how much is this light bill, Jayda?”
“I can’t pay you back anytime soon, Mr. Jackson.”
“Hush. I ain’t said nothing ’bout paying nobody back. You know good and well Junior would have a fit if I didn’t—”
Grandma’s lips tremble. She turns on her heel and hurries out. The front door slams shut behind her.
Granddaddy sighs. “Grief one hell of a thing. I think Louise holds on to these kids ’cause it’s like holding on to him.”
Granddaddy looks through his wallet and places some money in my mom’s hand. “Call me if you need me.”
He kisses her cheek and kisses mine. Then he pats Trey on the back and leaves.
Jay stares at the money for the longest. “Wow,” she says thickly.
Trey rubs her shoulder. “Hey, Li’l Bit. Why don’t you get my keys and take our phones out to my car? Charge them up.”
That’s code for “Jay needs some space.” I think she’ll cry in front of Trey before she’ll cry in front of me. That comes with him being the oldest.
I make myself nod. “All right.”
I go out and crank his Honda up. Trey’s got one of those chargers that’ll handle multiple phones at once. I hook his and Jay’s up. Just as I pick up mine, it rings.
Damn. It’s not Aunt Pooh. Instead, Supreme’s name appears on the screen.
I try not to sound too disappointed as I answer on the speaker. “Hey, Supreme.”
“Whaddup, baby girl?” he says. “I got big news.”
“Oh yeah?” I may not sound disappointed, but I can’t make myself sound upbeat either. Unless Supreme is about to tell me he’s got a deal for me, nothing can amp me up. And even that can’t save Aunt Pooh.
“Hell yeah. Hype wants you to come on his show next Saturday,” Supreme says. “He saw the petition and the news story and wants to give you a chance to speak.”
“Oh, wow.” See, DJ Hype is more than just the DJ at the Ring. He’s a radio legend. I don’t think there’s a hip-hop head in the world who hasn’t heard of Hype’s Hot Hour on Hot 105. The show plays live around the country, and all the interviews end up on his YouTube channel. Some of them even go viral, but that’s usually only if a rapper acts a fool. But Hype’s known to push the right buttons to make folks act a fool.
“Yeah. Of course, he’ll wanna talk about the Ring incident, the Instagram video. Even that li’l music video you put up