through me. I rolled my eyes when I saw Aivery’s name on the screen.
“Hey,” I answered.
But Professor Lee didn’t care that I was obviously on the phone. “Your ass coming home late wasn’t my fault! I told you last week I needed you here to help. I always need you here to help. You know that!” she fired off, not giving a single fuck.
“Everything okay, Ash?” Aivery asked warily.
“Yup,” I answered Aivery before kissing my mother on the cheek. “I’m ‘bout to shower then K.O. Keep it down up here.”
I took off before she cussed my ass out.
“Yeah,” I finally responded to Aivery. “I’m good. How are you?” I trudged toward my room.
“I’m okay. I just made it in. I thought you would have arrived hours ago. You left campus at a decent hour. Was your flight delayed?”
Thanks a lot, Ma…
Aivery was indirectly asking me to account for my time since leaving campus. It was something I would not do. But I also had no energy for a fight with her. There was no way in hell I’d tell her I stopped in to see NormaJean, who’d flown into Jersey just to spend a few hours alone with me.
Rolling my neck to loosen the muscles, I sighed, “I’m not sure about Mrs. Cooper, but when Ms. Wanda’s only child comes home, there’s never enough time for her to feel satisfied. I swear, that woman always thinks I’m late, or leave too early.” I turned into my bedroom. “How was your flight in?’
Chapter Five
-THEN-
“Taraji beat her muthafuckin’ ass!” Renata clapped each syllable over her empty plate…except for the lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles from her double cheeseburger. She looked smaller than the last time I’d seen her in August. “I told her you was gonna be proud of her, Tori. They thought ‘cause you was gone, they could fuck with her.”
“I told Tangi if they wanna start another war, we ready.” Treesha nodded, wiping the baby, NeNe’s, mouth. “We ‘bout that shit!”
“Sure is. Tangi and Raquel been on this childish shit for too fucking long. Like for real,” Treesha’s voice elevated, she was so upset. “Like your baby daddy fucking around on you with your cousin from two trailers down from you, but you wanna start trouble with a fourteen-year-old? You got time to argue with a child then run, go get your little cousin to fight that child?”
“That shit was fucked up,” Toya sighed after taking the last sip of her soda.
They were catching me up on the two sisters who had been a pain in my ass since I could remember. Apparently, Tangi ran into my little cousin, who was Renata and Treesha’s niece, at the store. Tangi claimed my little cousin, Taraji, didn’t hold the door open for her and it almost caught her hand. She yelled at Taraji and all hell broke loose, because my little cousin knew their family didn’t get along with ours…even if she didn’t know exactly why. At some point, Tangi threatened Taraji, and when Taraji wouldn’t back down, Tangi left for the trailer park to go get her niece, who was two years older than Taraji, to fight.
“I’m still bugging about how Tangi and JuJu walked over to Sonya’s trailer for Taraji. She wanted them to fight, and Taraji ain’t back down.” Toya laughed out of nowhere. “We was in the living room fucked up, and Taraji stomped in there with a whole bunch of Vaseline on her face and her sneakers half off her damn feet.”
“Right!” Treesha howled while trying to give NeNe soda from a straw. “Taraji was not playing. I flew up from that couch and ran outside. When I saw JuJu rushing Taraji with her fists in the air, I told Tangi she was next if Taraji lost.”
Renata rolled her eyes. “That bitch ain’t want it. If you was home, Tori, Tangi woulda kept her ass on her side of the park with lil’ ass JuJu.”
“Where’s Taraji now?” I asked.
They were right: I was proud of her. I tried teaching my little cousins to stand up for themselves, especially when someone put their hands on them. Never run from a fight that didn’t involve a knife, blade, or gun. Bullies didn’t always like to fight when they bullied. That was too much work for most of them. So if they threatened with violence, don’t back down. At least, that was my case with Tangi and her sister, Raquel. Just like my Margaret told me: you have to fight back.