My stepsister looked at me with tight eyes. “Um, because your house is better than my condo. Why do we always have to go through this, Sol? You ask me the same question, and I give you the same answer. Let’s not do this. Now watch this. She just found out that Kellie is fuckin’ her baby daddy.”
“I’m going to change the code to my damn door. Where the hell are Cadence and Tsia? You’re here more than me, girl,” I fussed. Her being here didn’t really bother me.
Over the years, we’d gotten really close. Unfortunately, when she was twenty-four years old, she experienced the pain that I felt by the loss of a parent. Her mother, Corrine, succumbed to injuries from a car accident she was in when she was in another state on one of her travel nursing assignments. It was a hard time for everyone. When people heard the story of how Corrine became a part of our tribe, it baffled them. How did a woman handle their husband adopting their own damn child?
“Don’t piss me off, Solomon. They are both in their damn skin. You say you’re going to change the code every damn time, and you never do. That song is getting tired,” she said with annoyance laced in her tone.
If Michelle was here, then that meant that Cadence more than likely was out of town on an assignment, and Tsia was busy or at work. Corrine inspired Cadence to become a travel nurse. Tsia was a dental hygienist at her mother’s dental practice. Analise went from being a dental hygienist at my Auntie Flem’s orthodontic practice to becoming a dentist and having her own practice.
I rolled my eyes, then grabbed a handful of popcorn out of her bowl. “Oh, shit! She punched the fuck out of that bitch.”
I hated that it was so easy to get sucked into ratchet television. It was so outlandish that you couldn’t help yourself. It was the only place where violence was semi accepted. You couldn’t make me believe that they didn’t sign contracts that told them they had to fight.
I wasn’t sure how long we were engulfed in the show before I heard my alarm system beep to alert me that a code was put into my front door. Each person had a different code, and the system made a different beeping sound for the different codes.
“A damn shame. You talk shit about ratchet television, but here you are watching it,” Jessop said from behind me with a titter. “I don’t know if I should be disappointed or impressed.”
I told him to shut the hell up. I met Jessop after my third professional fight. He had just moved to Charlotte and started to workout atLeota Fitness & Fight. He asked if I wanted to spar, and it was up from there. We’d been locked in since. He was ranked number three in the light heavyweight division. My boy would have a title belt soon if he continued to work as hard as he was.
He sat in the single armed chair. “What’s up, Michelle? I’m so surprised to see you here.”
The sarcasm that dripped from his voice caused me to snicker. My sister’s middle finger in the air caused me to laugh.
“I don’t know why y’all insist on fucking with me. All I’m doing is minding my damn business, and here y’all come.” Michelle’s eyes bounced between me and Jessop. “Can’t we all just get along, you two buff bitches?”
We both burst into laughter. She loved to call someone a buff bitch. Before we could say anything, the alarm went off again. Seconds later, my cousin Issac walked in. “What up, y’all?”
“Oh, great! The third buff bitch has arrived. The three buffkateers are in full effect,” Michelle jested. She was a lot often, but I loved my sister. Everyone knew she meant no harm.
Issac went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of my water fridge before he came into the living room. He sat on the floor. It was crazy that no matter where he was, he sat on the floor. “Michelle, shut the hell up. Cadence must be out of town and Tsia at work or something.”
Issac went a different direction with his career. He trained with me but chose not to go into the mixed martial arts career. He was a teacher at heart. The family was impressed when he decided to become a wrestling coach. In the five years since he’d been the coach, they won the national championship three times. Multiple students of his had gone on to get college scholarships for their wrestling skill. He even had some trainingin MMA and continued on in the amateur league, with hope to go big one day.
We sat around and got completely caught up in the ratchet television that Michelle got us into. Michelle got up and cooked dinner for us. If there was one thing that she could do, it was cook. That was on par since she was a professional chef and caterer.
“Aye, Michelle, good look on referring ole girl to groom Frack. She’s coming through tomorrow. I hate taking him to the groomer. It’s so much easier to have someone come to me. Plus, it’s an additive that she’s black,” Jessop said.
Michelle gazed up from the pot in front of her. “Oh, no problem. I was in a bookstore café that I go to all the time, and she’s the owner’s best friend. She’s such a sweet girl.”
“Aye, y’all, get this. Her name is Gorjess,” Jessop pointed out. “Like that is for real her name. That’s what her parents named her.”
Issac and I laughed. “Well, shit, is she gorgeous, though? That’s the real question.”
He shrugged. “I don’t even know. Y’all come through tomorrow. I’ll throw some meat on the grill. The appointment is at two.”
“Y’all, don’t fuck with that damn girl. She is there to do a job and mind her dog grooming business. Leave that girl alone,” Michelle fussed.
I waved her off. She was so damn worrisome. “No one is about to mess with that damn girl.”
GiveMe Strength
Over 5 Years Ago . . .
“Jess, you should have been in Sunday school this morning. There was no reason that you were not there. You make time to go out, mess with those dogs, fornicate, and everything else, but you can’t give God his reverence.”
My mother was so fucking extra. “Ma, you act like I didn’t come to church at all. I missed an hour out of the, what, six that we’re in church. I really think God will not strike me down. You fuss at me, but Athena can do whatever she wants to.” I mumbled the last part.
Athena was my older sister who got away with murder. There was a huge age gap between us, but my sister acted likeshe was in her twenties. She still lived with my parents. I guess I couldn’t talk because I did too.
