“Well, I only see him so much because I’m always at Troi’s house.”
“Still, that’s the first picture I’ve seen of him since he was a newborn. My sister sent me a few when he was first born, but she hasn’t even brought her funky ass around here to see me in a couple months.” Janis spoke of Troi’s mother, Kamilla.
“Maybe she would if it didn’t smell like pickled eggs and chili cheese Fritos in here,” Yanna retorted, dodging the piece of scrambled egg her mom threw at her.
“Excuse you, you judgmental little wench. Coming in here talking shit to me like you ain’t just hop off some little boy’s dick. Talking about how my house smell, when you smelling like you got slutted out in a trap house.”
“Never been slutted out in a trap house. A mini mansion, luxury apartment, five-star hotel suite, maybe. And I’m nottrying to judge you, I was just saying. What happened to the maid service I had coming over here?”
“I fired them. That girl didn’t speak a lick of English, and every time she came over here, she acted like she was scared. I asked her had she ever seen niggas before, and she acted like I offended her. Don’t make no sense my own child would rather send foreigners because she don’t want to deal with the person who gave her life.”
Yanna put her fork down and looked at Janis. “Now, why would you say something like that, ma? You know that’s not true. I’d been back and forth to LA with Troi, that’s not fair.”
“Not fair, my ass. Y’all been back from LA for a while, and I’m sure Kamilla has seen Troi plenty of times.”
Now Yanna felt bad. It was true she always avoided her mother. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her mother, because she did. Her mother was one of her most favorite people in the world. It was just that being around her was dismal. For the longest time, Janis had tried to convince everyone around her that she was depressed, and for a while, they believed it. It was the reason they excused her excessive drinking and lack of self-care. However, the therapist Yanna hired, who Janis ended up firing, had expressed that in their professional opinion, Janis didn’t have diagnosable depression. Her problem was far more complicated, though others would disagree. After a while, they all grew tired of Janis’ self-loathing ways and kept their distance.
“I’m sorry, ma, it’s just been a lot going on.”
“Working at that club fucking you up, ain’t it?”
“It really is. I’m going to start looking for something else to do soon. I won’t be able to party all night and sleep all day anymore, but I’m getting too old for that anyway.”
“Hmph, you sure you ain’t partying all night anymore? Because the way you came in here smelling like me would suggest otherwise.”
“I just had a long night.”
“I done been there, done that, chile. You just better make sure you being safe.”
“You never have to remind me to be safe. I’m always that,” Yanna assured her mother, but she and Kas hardly ever used protection, and she never made a big deal about it. At least her one-night stand on the island had made sure to strap up.
Yanna continued to talk with her mother while they ate. Once they were finished, she forced her mother to shower, wash her hair, and put on fresh clothes. While Janis did that, Yanna busied herself cleaning the house and washing clothes. After what seemed like hours of cleaning, her mother’s house no longer smelled like a corner store, so she felt her job was done. By the time she reentered her mother’s room, sweaty and even more exhausted than she was when she arrived, Janis was clean but had taken her position in the bed with her gin again.
“I cleaned up and washed a few loads of clothes for you. I’m about to go home so I can shower and try to take a nap. Are you going to be okay?”
“Yes, Jaiyanna, I’ll be fine. Don’t you worry about me.”
“Okay, call me if you need me. I love you, maybe try not to drink anymore after you finish that glass, okay?”
“I can’t make any promises. I love you too.”
Yanna left her mother’s house and took a seat on the porch; the exhaustion she felt earlier that morning nearly doubled. Except now the exhaustion was as much mental as it was physical. It broke her heart to see her mother in such a state. At one point in time, Janis and her sister Kamilla were considered the baddest in the city. They’d both caught the attention of two of Richmond’s biggest drug dealers. While her cousin Troi’s father, Troyan, was killed at a time when drug-related killings were occurring in double digits daily, Janis had married Yanna’s father. He was known as the king of Highland Park until themurder of his brother made him decide he wanted to live a different life. He used his drug money to open businesses that grew largely throughout the years. Unfortunately for Janis, she didn’t seem to fit into his new life. He ended up leaving her for some realtor who helped him find a building for one of his businesses. Janis was never the same after that. After none of the begging and pleading she did worked, she turned to drinking to ease the sting of heartbreak from the first and only man she’d ever loved. A lot of days, she’d be so drunk she’d forget to feed Yanna. Those were the times when Kamilla would step in, bringing Yanna to her and Troi’s home. That was why she and her cousin held a bond like sisters. Being so young and subjected to seeing her mother losing every sense of who she was the reason Yanna wouldn’t allow Kas or any other man to play in her face. It was the reason why, from the very first time Kas lied to her, he’d sealed their fate. He’d let her know that, like her father, he had the ability to inflict hurt because she genuinely liked him. She refused to let a man reduce her to the embarrassing state her father left her mother in. She was constantly battling her own emotions because while she was insistent on being careful with her heart, she typically did like the relationship she had with Kas. The ringing of her phone broke her from her deep thoughts. She initially thought it was Kas, but her caller ID let her know it was Nisha, a bottle girl who worked the club with her.
“Hey, boo.”
“Yanna, what you doing girl?”
“Nothing right now, around northside, came to check on my mumma. Where you at?”
“I was about to work, but since I was here all night, I decided not to. There’s a day party that just started though. I’m about to change and day drink, you should meet me here.”
Yanna pondered on it a bit; she really needed something to take her mind off Kas and his shenanigans with Yasmin. Notwanting to risk going to her house and Kas still be there, she quickly assessed what she had in her duffle bag. She had enough to put a cute outfit together and figured she could take a quick shower inside Janis’ house.
“Give me like an hour.”
“Bet. See you then.”
Her need to go home and sleep suddenly went away and was replaced by the urge to do something a little more fun. Once she was dressed, she took a Lyft to her Jeep and then drove to the club. Unfortunately for Kas, tit for tat was one of her favorite games, and she was ready to play.
