Page 22 of Kisses Behind the Spotlight

Since she was a baby, Yarissa loved stuffed animals. Build-A-Bear hated to see her coming. The year prior, we shut down Build-A-Bear so Yarissa and her friends could make stuffed animals. She had a massive teddy bear-shaped cake, and I remembered Mama and Yaseer gifting her an assortment of teddy bears in a glass case that Yarissa and her friends went wild over. I thought Jameera and I bought the most expensive bear known to man when we pulled up with the $2,000 Build-A-Bear with the Swarovski crystals. Apparently, we weren’t.

“That’s how much those stuffed animals they bought you for your birthday cost?” I questioned.

“They aren’t just stuffed animals; they are vintage,” Yarissa explained, pulling out her phone where she had a presentation queued up for me to go along with her argument. “This collection has every Billionaire Bear ever made! I’ve heard Milly and mommy bragging about buying vintage purses that cost ten times more.”

A picture on the slide showed Amill and Mama with the aforementioned purses and the steep price tags in bold red.

“Plus they wear those expensive purses outside. My vintage toy collection is locked up in the house at all times. Your purses could be snatched or stolen at any time.”

The next slide displayed pictures of her toy collection with the words safe and secure above them, and then pictures of a man snatching purses.

“An early birthday gift, please? And I don’t expect a gift on my birthday. Plus, these bears are cheaper than the bear you bought me for my birthday last year. This collection comes with twenty bears, which makes them the low price of one thousand a piece.”

Yarissa proudly beamed, batting her lashes.

“You make some great points. Where do I need to go to buy the vintage Beanie Babies?”

“I’m going to send you the link for the seller.”

“I’ll get them since you got all A’s on your last report card,” I promised.

“Yay! I have to get my iPad so I can send you the link. That’s where I saved the link,” Yarissa shrieked. Gripping the straps of her backpack tightly, she ran towards the stairs, her little feet pounding as she raced up them.

Yarissa and Amill’s relationship was so funny to me because they were the same fucking person. Both spoiled rotten. Hated hearing the word no. Thought batting their long natural lashes would finesse anybody into anything. I’d seen Amill bat her eyes just like that to Yaseer to get her way. Plus they had the same face. It was scary. I couldn’t understand how Amill could tell her twin no.

“I picked her up from school, let her ride with the top down, and got called broke immediately after. See if I pick you up again anytime soon,” Amill shouted behind Yarissa.

“Mmmmm Hmmmm. I’ll see you next week at pick up, Milly,” Yarissa sang without breaking her stride.

Yaseer came sauntering through the sliding glass doors with his empty plate grasped tightly in his hand. He sauntered over to Amill and placed a kiss on the side of her forehead.

“Hey, beautiful.”

“Hey, daddy,” Amill greeted him, then placed both hands on her hips. “Why does Yarissa have a credit card? I had to ask you for money until I was eighteen because you didn’t want to give me a credit card. Now my eight-year-old sister has a credit card?”

“Man, gone on, Amill,” Yaseer laughed. “You know that ain’t nobody but Marissa’s doing. If it were up to me, she wouldn’t have one either. But Yarissa only takes the card when she goes on field trips.”

“What’s her limit?”

“Why you hating Milly?” Yarissa whined, rushing back down the stairs with her iPad in hand. “Plus, I’m almost nine!”

Amill rolled her eyes and walked over to Khaleesi to hug her. “Hey Khaleesi, I’m glad to see that you’re feeling better.”

“Thank you,” she chirped, eating her salad and silently watching the drama.

“Aye, I need to speak to you in private,” I advised Yaseer.

“Come to my office. I need to grab my laptop,” Yaseer nodded towards the stairs.

My phone vibrated again before I could take a step. “Wait! Big Brudder, did you get the link?” Yarissa hopped into my path.

I looked down at my phone to confirm the link came through.

“Yeah, I got you. I’mma order them when I get home tonight.”

“Thank you, Q! You are the best,” she chirped, wrapping her small arms around me.

“You’re welcome.”