“All-natural dick.”
“Are you and he back together?” Jemini’s voice was optimistic.
“No. I haven’t seen Aldi all weekend.”
Anika gasped and pointed at me. “You haven’t called him Aldi since the breakup. Oh, you two were fucking fucking. His dick reinstalled deleted software.”
“Wow this is fanciful. Just making up stories.” My brow and upper lip were seconds away from breaking into beads of perspiration. If I had a bag of snakes, I would release them right now, or maybe I could just start a fight to get out of this conversation. I wasn’t ready to share, especially with my mother. “I’m going back to law school,” I blurted out.
“What? Danessa.” Jemini’s voice was laced with disappointment. You’d think I’d told her I’d gotten a DUI and not that I was pursuing a degree.
“Why is this shocking? I got into William S. Boyd here in Vegas and I start in January.”
Anika grabbed a coffee and two donuts. Walking past me she whispered, “Nice way to change the subject,” before leaving me and Jemini alone.
“What about work?”
“I’ll juggle both at first and then I’ll figure it out as I go.”
“You have clients who rely on you.”
“And I will still show up and provide excellent customer service. My hours of availability may be a little different, but it’s doable.”
“You should be focused on finding a man like your sister.”
“At twenty-six a man is the least of my concerns.”
“I taught you two life comes at you fast. And before you know it, you’re in your forties and the quality of men significantly decrease.”
She was right, she taught us our ABCs, 123s and that our value was based on whether we had a man. My mother was what we called male-centered. A man, shit it didn’t have to be her man, but any man took priority over her and her daughters. Her pursuit of a husband compromised her judgment allowing her to entertain all types of questionable men, and those men took advantage of her and us.
“Well maybe you should’ve taken your own advice.”
“My DMs are open and active. I can’t say the same for you.”
As we got older, she saw Anika and I as competition.
“Congratulations, how many thirst traps do you have to post per day to maintain that consistency?”
“You are just like your father. You got the worst parts of him, I swear to God.”
“Well at least I didn’t get the worst parts of you.” Make no mistake this was a regular weekday for me and Jemini. We’d fight and work hard to push the other’s buttons.
“You stay single because you’re a constant wet blanket. No wonder Aldridge moved on so quickly.”
One thing I did inherit from my mother was her temper. “This from the menopausal woman who is dating a twenty-one-year-old kid?”
“DeMarcus and I have a lot in common.”
“Yeah, you both love spending his money.”
“I didn’t raise you to be so … blah.”
“You didn’t raise me at all. You left us twenty dollars for pizza while you fucked random men. So because I don’t wanna be a whore—” My mother closed the distance between us and slapped me squarely on my face. This wasn’t the first time.
“You watch the way you fucking talk to me.”
“You just can’t …” The lump in my throat made it impossible for words to pass. Tears, however, filled my eyes and fell in streams down my cheeks. Jemini knew how to shut down a conversation when it wasn’t going her way. My entire body shook with a mixture of rage and embarrassment. Anika’s dainty foot falls hurriedly advanced down the hall. She reentered the breakroom to find me in tears and Jemini’s hands balled into fists.
