“Can you stop callin me a bird?”
“Ain’t that what bird brain bitches do? Post wild shit on social media, seeking attention and validations from mafuckas they don’t know?”
“Now you callin’ me a bitch?—”
“Never called you a bitch. Yo… you need something other than understanding and approval?”
“You know what? Forget it. Like I said, you just don’t get it because you don’t be on there.”
I didn’t say anything. The line went quiet. Jada was a fucking glutton for attention and approval. The way I hadn’t been in agreeance with the goofy shit she been on was eating her ass alive. Sometimes I felt like she desired that shit more than she did her next breath. I wasn’t one for validating or pacifyingdumb shit so she for sure was barking up the wrong tree if it was for that. Especially regarding recording her pops.
“X,” she mumbled. “I need to go back?—
“Aight.”
“Can Rocc?—
“Fuck no,” pausing, I pulled from the blunt again. “You wanna go out there and record yo cracked out daddy for views, take yo’ self. I ain’t supportin that shit.”
Again, she went quiet before lowly saying, “Okay.”
With that, I hung up, continuing out of the parking lot.
As I cruised down Shady Lane, on my way back across the bridge, I shook my head. Jada, my Jada. I didn’t know what I was going to do with her ass. I would say I couldn’t believe she fell victim to that weird ass internet shit, but I could believe it. She was one of them, and I hated that for her.
Once I got off the phone with her, I hit Kiss and told him about what shorty said about detectives snooping around The Woods. Yeah, she said some detectives had come through, asking questions. Detectives I was expecting, honestly. I knew there would be some sort of fallout behind the hit. I was just waiting for names.
Givens and Shields.
I told Kiss what was what and he jumped off the phone damn near immediately to put a couple calls in. When I said I’d have to clean Zeke’s mess up, this was what I meant.
“She said what?”I asked, phone pressed against my ear. “Hol’ up. I’m about to come in.”
I hung up with my little sister Genesis as I pulled into the massive driveway in front of my ma’s crib. I left The Woodsand headed straight for my ma’s. Pulling up on her was a daily occurrence. Usually, my first stop of the day but since Meech’s lil’ sister was on my mind, I went there first. After pulling next to Genesis’s Tesla, I killed the engine and got out. Walking up to the house, I took notice to the flowerbed that needed tending to. I made a mental note to get in touch with the landscaping company ASAP. If it was one thing moms didn’t play about it was her yard. And while she wasn’t in the right headspace to notice it, I still wanted to make sure it stayed straight.
After unlocking the door, I stood in the foyer swapping my twelves out for the Balenciaga slides waiting for me by the door. She didn’t play about shoes in the crib neither. Never had. She’d been that way since I was a lil’ nigga and we stayed in the crib on the westside of Brickhaven, on Courtland Ave.
Once my feet were in the slides, I walked further into the house, passing by what should’ve been ma’s office. Except it held a lot of unpacked shit from the old house that hadn’t been touched.
I followed the sound of The Bernie Mac show into the living room, right off the kitchen where Genny sat.
“Hey bro,” said Genesis before getting up from the stool, phone in hand. “Here. Just listen to it.”
“Hol up,” I told her, before stepping down into the living room where moms sat in her usual spot on the couch, big ball of yarn and crochet needle in hand, eyes on the TV. She might not have been all there conscious wise, but she still loved to knit. It had to be like muscle memory. And Bernie Mac? She loved that black ass nigga and wouldn’t watch anything but him. Walking over to her, I dropped a kiss on the top of her short afro. “Sweet lady, sweet lady What’s goin’ on?” I spoke.
She looked up at me, her eyes shining with love. Her lips curled up into a smile, but she didn’t say anything. Made an ‘mhm’ noise, giggled, and went back to watching the TV. Isat next to her, and glanced over towards the TV, my eyes landing on the mantle. It was full of pictures. Pictures of people I was sure she didn’t even recognize. Well, shit… she always recognized one. Her Isaiah. Anytime she saw a picture of pops, she said his name, smiled and immediately broke down right after. She didn’t react the same to any of us.
She hadn’t always been that way though. Back before pops was murdered, Marietta had a larger-than-life personality. When he died, a big chunk of her died with him. That was years ago. You’d think she would have shook back by now. But nah. It’d been a long, tedious, strenuous journey.
“Let me see,” I said to Genesis, holding my hand out for her phone.
Genesis gave me the phone, and I pressed play on the voicemail. “Good morning, Ms. Christ. I’m calling about the aide that was scheduled to come out to your home this week. Unfortunately, she had an um… a family emergency. I’m in the process of going through the rest of the staff to see if I can find a good fit. Please give me until the end of the week to secure a new aide. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. I appreciate your patience and understanding…”
I handed Genesis the phone and rested against the back of the couch, tugging on my beard, staring off at the T.V.
“I don’t know why you won’t just go with a company out here. Them bitches in Brickhaven ain’t trying to work for real. They too worried about going over that income threshold for welfare.”
“You know why I ain’t fuckin with nobody out here,” I said, glancing at her. “She’ll be straight. They gon’ get her together. In the meantime,” I paused and shrugged. “Fuck it… call me Nurse X.”
