“Say what you want, but I know what a cryin’ face look like and Cuzzo, you had that shit.”
“Zoo, leave folks alone.” Pen stepped up and pushed Zoo out of my face. “Happy birthday, Brooklyn.” She passed me a gift bag and Zoo started looking crazy.
“It better not be a necklace with your name on it. That’s all I’ma say. Can’t be two niggas walkin’ ‘round hea with this ugly ass name around they neck.” We all started laughing then I remembered Bri was behind me.
“How y’all throw a party and not invite Bronx?”
“I’on know who Bronx and why you want us to invite another female, but we invited Bri.”
“Zoo, Bronx is her middle name,” Naomi told him.
“Oh he trying to be cute. Bronx and Brooklyn. I get it now.” Pen pulled Zoo away from us. He needed to go rest his nerves. His ass stayed talkin’. Just loud and wrong most of the time.
“I was on my way here already, which is how I made it over here so fast. Also, why I'm dressed like this. I told you I was going to a party. I just didn’t say who it was for.”
“If you knew this was about my birthday and not my mama, why you had me out there all emotional and shit?”
“I had to play my role and you needed to hear that so you can get over this with your mom and talk to her. Plus, they wouldn’t have invited me to anything else if I spilled the tea.”
“I’on know ‘bout spilling tea, but if you had told him about his surprise party, then we definitely wouldn’t have invited you to anything else.”
“Zoo, how you get back over here? I told you to sit until I got you something to drink,” Pen fussed.
“My bad, baby. I was bored as hell, sitting over there with them old folks. My uncles be trying to whoop my ass every time I’m around them and my daddy don’t even try to stop them, either.”
Ignoring Zoo, I thanked them for thinking about me.
“You know we wouldn’t forget, even though you seemed to have forgotten your own birthday. If we would have, youwouldn’t have let us live that shit down. Remember when you were ten and we didn’t come to yo’ party because it was at the circus and Zoo and I don’t fuck with clowns?”
“Hell yea. I disowned y’all for a full week.”
“That’s sad,” Bronx added. “You should have just had it somewhere else.”
“It was my party. They could have overcome their fears together but nooo, they didn’t even show up.”
“You have a fear and not even trying to overcome that.”
“What chu’ mean?”
“We’ll let y’all talk. My baby hungry.”
“Sin, when did I say I was hungry?”
“Not you, my young king inside of you. Us Smith men gotta eat every three hours.”
Naomi didn't try to protest, she just locked her arm into his, then walked towards the food.
“You gon’ tell me what you mean?”
“Brooklyn, you still haven’t walked over to yo’ mama yet. Ever since you walked out the door, you’ve been standing right here on the back porch. We just talked about this and you’re still avoiding her.”
“No, I was just kicking it with my cousins. That’s it. I’m about to make my way around but I don’t see her out here.”
“Ok, Brooklyn. I’ll go find Naomi while you go around.
“Just walk with me.”
“No sir, you are not about to introduce me as your homegirl. I know we are just friends but after the first three introductions... we go together,” Bri said that with a straight face too.
