Tara moves off the futon and peeks out the door. We watch her check both ways, then shut the door softly and turn back around. “Maybe there’s something bad wrong with Annie Laurie’s family? There’s got to be a reason she’s like that.”
It crosses my mind that she’s like that because of the way she’s been raised—her mother’s influence. My grandparents raised me. What if my mother had stuck around? Would I be different? Would I be on drugs? “It’s because she lives in a house with a mean mother. It’s her mother’s influence; that’s why she’s like that.”
“I’ve never met the woman, but”—Hannah exhales loudly—“she sounds like the bitch from hell.”
“I met her the day we moved in,” Jasmine says. “She’s wound up tight. Very into herself and the way things look.”
“That’s an understatement,” Ellie says. “Considering all that woman has done, Cali was nice. Y’all wouldn’t believe the half of it.”
“Like what?” Bailey is wide-eyed, eager for some good scoop.
Ellie shakes her head. “I don’t want to stoop to her level, but she’s, like, scary mean.”
“So what started all this?” Hannah asks. “What’s this about y’all going against her mother’s wishes?”
Ellie rolls her eyes. “Her mom forbade us to take this project on. She said we’d never be able to get Eli Manning here. But my dad made it happen. He says she can’t do anything to stop us if all the members are behind it. And we are.”
“All but one,” Jasmine says. “But you may have changed that, Cali. She wouldn’t have been crying like that if something you said hadn’t put a crack in her armor.”
“How did she get into Alpha Delt, anyway?” Claudia asks. “I’m not trying to be mean, but, what the—”
“Duh.”Ellie blurts, flashing a tight-lipped smile. She throws her hands in the air. “How do you think?”
I see what they mean, but after tonight I see another side of Annie Laurie. Our situations may be different, but we’re both wounded. Wounded by the person who is supposed to love us the most.
SIXTY
MISS PEARL
The kitchen is as quiet as a whisper when I walk in the back door sometime around eleven o’clock in the morning. There’s no music, and there’s sure no singing. Mr. Marvelle is in the pantry on top of the ladder, Helen is chopping onions—I can smell them from the time clock—and Kadeesha has her hands in the sink. I have to wonder if it will ever be the same around here.
“Good morning,” I say, trying my best to be upbeat. Latonya is at the helm now and there’s a new kitchen aide working next to her. Once I punch my card I head her way. “We haven’t met yet. I’m Pearl.”
“No we haven’t. I’m Bernice, Latonya’s sister. Happy to meet you, Pearl.”
“Nice to meet you, too. Mind if I call you Bernie?”
“Go ahead on. Most my friends do.”
Latonya waves like she’s happy to see me, but that Kadeesha stares me up and down like I’ve done her wrong.I don’t have the time or energy for your lip,I’d love to say, but I keep my mouth shut. She’s not an early bird, and she’s been taking up the slack ever since I’ve been gone.
I go on about my business, tidying up around the coffeepot, making sure the snacks in the buffet area are stocked. Once I get back into the kitchen I ask Kadeesha if she wants me to take over for her, but she tells me no. So Ihead on out, past the dining room, down the hall to Mama Carla’s apartment. Her door is wide open. I poke my head in and see her on the phone. Trudy jumps off the chair and runs right up to me for a pet. Squatting down, I rub her on the head, then down her back.
Mama Carla holds up a finger and mouths, “One minute.”
I nod and wait outside the door, in case she needs privacy.
Exactly one minute later she pokes her head out. “You could have come in. I don’t have anything to hide from you, my friend.”
“Same here.” I take my usual spot in the chair next to hers. “You know almost everything about me.”
“Almosteverything?”
“A girl has to keep a few things to herself. I’m sure you’ve got some secrets, too, Mama Carla. And don’t you say you’re too old for secrets.”
“Well, I am old, but yes, I do have my share of private fantasies.”
We both laugh. I settle back into the familiar chair, thinking back to when I’d filled in for her. When I was queen for the weekend. “It’s good to be back.”
