do anything just to keep a man. Niggas like you is why women like me feel the way we do.”
A moment passed. All she said was, “Ouch.”
I blew a ton of heated air out my nostrils. “Gerri, we need to reevaluate our friendship.”
Gerri hissed, then mimicked me, “Reevaluate?”
“We can’t be friends. Can’t be friends if you could do Butter like that. Especially over some no-good that’s dogged you out.”
“I don’t believe this shit. I let your no-credit, no-money, homeless ass sleep in my house, eat my food, shit in my toilet, ain’t charged you a damn dime, and this is the thanks I get?”
“Whatever. If some bitch was doing that to your daughter, you’d have a different attitude. What goes around comes around.”
I’d said it. No way for me to take it back. Didn’t want to. Should’ve said that a long time ago.
“No wonder Vince slapped your silly ass.”
That pretty much wrenched my heart out of my chest.
Both of us were crying, too choked up to talk. All this drama, everything that had happened tonight had both of us a little crazy. I know that it had me running too high on emotion, about to O.D. on adrenaline. It was dangerous, both of us being so high-strung in a speeding car that offered no space.
I put my hand on top of Gerri’s. She held mine tight.
“Sorry, Dana.”
“Guess I needed to hear that.”
“Me too. Guess I needed to hear that too.”
My sister. My friend. My road dawg.
If we weren’t friends before this day, we were definitely friends now.
“I mean it, Gerri, don’t encourage Butter.”
“Maybe I’m pissed off and saying it wrong. I wasn’t trying to encourage her. I was explaining to her her options, in a realistic kinda way. The same way I would talk to Stacy if she was in that predicament. Butter’s young. If she popped out a baby right now, with no skills, no income, she’ll be raising a county baby. That’s what I told her.”
“And her reaction?”
“She didn’t want to hear it, just started shouting, ‘Jefferson can afford it.’ Told her what I’ve gone through with my kids, that she can’t depend on Jefferson. She couldn’t see through those resentful eyes, told me I was playa hatin’. That’s where her head was at.”
“That bad?”
“All I can say was, it got ugly. It’s hard to act like Iyanla Vanzant when you’re dealing with the Jerry Springer generation.”
“Well, leave that drama between Butter and Jefferson.”
“You’re right,” she said after a second went by. “Time for a reality check. I need to take my losses, stop before I get in way too deep, let Jefferson and Butter work it out. Ain’t my pot to be pissing in.”
I patted her hand. Squeezed it a few times.
“Dana, since we’re telling each other off, you need to lose your childish vision of the world and grow the hell up. Stop thinking about what Dana wants and develop some sensitivity to other people’s lives and learn to admit when you’re wrong.”
Simply, I said, “You’re right.”
A moment passed.
Gerri said, “Tonight.”
“What about tonight?”
“This is my last night at Blondies.”
“When did you decide that?”
“When I saw the gun in that boy’s belt, I thought about my kids. Imagined myself in a coffin, being planted six feet under. Wasn’t ready for that. That was a sign. I should be at home. I need to be at home. Need to be back in church, trying to get right from the inside out.”
I stared out the window. Wiped my eyes with my ashy knuckles, licked the tears from the back of my hand, then found a tissue and blew my nose. I handed Gerri a tissue. She did the same.
29
Dana
I followed Gerri through a side door of Blondies. “Mustang Sally” thumped from every speaker. China Doll was onstage under the spotlight doing acrobatic moves, swinging from a pole, rolling into an upright split.
Gerri said, “Come on in the back.”
“You sure about that?”
“C’mon.”
When I stepped into the den of mostly naked vixens, my nose scrunched, eyes burned a little. Too many perfumes, so much nail polish in such a small space. Dancers’ eyes rose from the vanity tables. Sharp looks at me. Gerri undressed, neatly hung her dress clothes up in a pink metal locker, pinned her hair, then slipped on a black leather G-string.
Gerri took over the conversation. “Some fools just tried to jack me.”
She told the whole story, about what had happened at the comedy club, how Tia had shocked Claudio like he was at the end of his