It was a lie. She totally cared about cool points. But balancing being the cool older sister and the responsible guardian was something she was still working on six years into this role that had been thrust upon her. Responsible guardian won out this time.
Kara took Duchess’s leash from her and, with Ashanti and Puddin’ following behind, entered the daycare.
“You did great,” Deja said from behind the desk, where she had been streaming the noon broadcast on the computer.
“Could you tell how nervous I was?” Ashanti asked, rounding the desk and getting one of the treats from the private stash. She handed it to Kara in exchange for Duchess’s leash. “Now get back to school.”
Kara rolled her eyes and left.
“That girl is going to fail eleventh grade if she skips any more school,” Deja said.
“I don’t understand how she does it and still gets to play volleyball.”
“Sweet talk,” Deja said. “She got twenty bucks and my Netflix password out of me the other day.”
“Deja,” Ashanti said. “No Netflix was part of her punishment for skipping last week.”
Deja shrugged. “She’s a good manipulator.” She handed Ashanti a pink sticky note. “Mrs. Frances called halfwaythrough the segment. Apparently, her grandson didn’t think to mention that her dog had become a celebrity.”
“I meant to tell her about the interview,” Ashanti said, feeling like a big bag of dog poop. “Thad should have. He knows his grandmother would get a kick out of this.”
“At least she still caught the segment,” Deja said.
“I’ll give her a call as soon as I get Duchess and Puddin’ settled in the back.”
Ashanti brought the dogs to the backyard exercise pen. When she learned that her story was being moved to the noon broadcast, she’d taken advantage of the extra time to bathe and groom both Duchess and Puddin’. As a result, they had missed their morning exercise.
“How did it go?” Colleen asked from the other side of the Rover Jump Over.
“Nerve-racking,” Ashanti said. “But it’ll be good for business.”
Colleen walked over to her. “I know this seems counterproductive, but business is a little too good already,” she said. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re bursting at the seams.” She picked up a tennis ball and tossed it to Sunshine, the Dumases’ golden retriever. Sunshine took off like a rocket. “The point is,” Colleen continued, “without a bigger facility, all the free publicity in the world won’t do us any good.”
“I know,” Ashanti said. She’d told herself she wouldn’t bemoan Thad buying her house again, but she deserved at least a few more days to mourn. “It’s just hard to find the perfect spot, and other than that two-story in the Lower Garden District across from Coliseum Square Park, there is no place better than the house in the Bywater.”
“Ever think of moving out to Metairie?” Colleen asked.
“Absolutely not!” Ashanti’s answer was immediate.
Colleen took the ball out of Sunshine’s mouth and held her hands up in mock surrender.
“Okay, okay. Don’t shoot me for asking,” she said.
Ashanti’s cell phone rang. She pulled it from her back pocket and rolled her eyes.
“It’s Ridley,” Ashanti said as she turned back toward the daycare. She answered the phone with an overly dramatic sigh. “What did I do wrong during the interview?” she asked.
“Is that how you answer a phone?”
“It’s howyouwould.”
“Touché,” her friend said. “And I have no idea what you did wrong. I’ve been in a meeting Uptown all day. I haven’t seen the segment. I did, however, just see something that will make your entire year. Move, asswipe!” Ridley yelled.
“I’m gonna assume you’re driving,” Ashanti said.
“I’ve got another meeting at my office downtown. I swear, you would think with all we’ve learned about telecommuting these past few years that these people wouldn’t insist on holding in-person meetings. As if stale muffins and bitter-ass coffee is supposed to make up for being stuck in traffic.”
“So what is supposed to make my year?” Ashanti asked.
