“Too damn much.” I stuff a forkful of collards in my mouth. “Can we change the subject? You got this boy name in your mouth worse than Mama.”
“Uh-uh, don’t do me. It ain’t my fault your mama and Marcus got you stuck with him for the rest of the semester just because your parents knew his parents back in the day. It isjusta semester, right?”
“I don’t know.” I groan as he looks away from Brandy and up at me. “I don’t have time for this. Ido nothave time for this.”
“For what?”
I swipe my fingernail across the back of my neck, but it doesn’t help because I’m not Ace.
“Uh... for all this salt Mrs. Anderson put on the greens.”
“They taste fine to me.” Chelsea shrugs, shoveling another forkful in her mouth.
I see him out of the corner of my eye, looking at the finger I used to swipe at my neck.
He smiles, and Brandy follows his line of vision. When she sees it’s me he’s looking at, she smiles too, and then she smirks. She’s so nice-nasty and I hate that a part of her is even nice because I don’t like her.
“Not them looking over here at us. Oh God, she’s waving at you.” Chelsea nudges me in my arm. “Wave back.”
I wiggle my greasy fingers toward them. “She probably knows you been over here bumping your gums about her.”
“That girl don’t know me. You know I’m just a professional people watcher. Who knows... maybe they’re meant to be. They might fool around and have a basketball team of light-skinned babies and by that time, we’ll all have forgotten what he did. As the world turns...”
Brandy pushes up from the table while dropping her hand in his hair. She gives it one last scratch before strolling away while another annoying piece of chicken gets stuck in my throat.
“You have a sick imagination,” I choke out.
“I have a realistic one. Boys like that are always forgiven eventually.”
Just like I thought they were always regretful, but the smile he flashed my way in front of Brandy said otherwise.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because there’s always a chick like Brandy hanging around ready to be his pretty redemption arc. She’s safe for him—bright enough to make white folks believe it’s okay for them to associate with him again, Eurocentric features on par for the Insta aesthetic, and easy to control in case he has another.... mishap. It’s only been a couple years since it happened. It’s still fresh on all the bird’s brains. They’ll be lusting over him on Twitter again in no time.”
Everyone breezes in front and behind Ace like he wasn’t a McDonald’s All American, 2019’s number one overall recruit, or Mama’s new Zydeco partner. They don’t even do a double-take at him in that corner alone, pulling his headphones over his head and shoveling a mouthful of collards in his mouth.
As soon as I get ready to poke a hole in Chelsea’s theory, Bryson’s lanky body blocks my perfect view of him.
“It would’ve been nice to know that you had to miss my practice yesterday,” he says, plucking one of my braids while flopping in the empty seat across from me.
Chelsea smacks her lips. “It would’ve been nice of you to ask if you could sit with us.”
“This ain’tMean Girls. Don’t you have some praise dancing to practice, Virgin Mary?”
“Shouldn’t you be icing those broken ankles, Juwanna Mann?”
“Anyway...” Bryson huffs, stealing a drumstick off my plate. “You could’ve text me.”
“And said what? I’m leaving campus because Mama got diarrhea and couldn’t wipe her ass, so she called Marcus whoalsocouldn’t wipe her ass because he claims he has a weak stomach. So I had to catch an Uber to go do it because you had practice and Chelsea was at a meeting for the Baptist Student Ministry.”
They both look at me with those stares I hate. They’re not like Ace’s that remind me that even at eighteen I can still learn how to play follow the leader all over again.
“My fault. I ain’t know,” he says, biting into the chicken.
“Sorry, Phat.” Chelsea pats my hand. “My granny said they plan to add her to the sick and shut in list next Sunday and you know you can always stay at the house if you need a break. My room’s empty since I’m staying on campus. Granny won’t mind.”
Then who would take care of Mama?
