Catfish by Nina Foxx

Author:Nina Foxx
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Brown Girls Publishing
Published: 2014-09-22T04:00:00+00:00

Twelve

Damika

I was grounded, plain and simple. My mother dropped me at school and was there like clockwork to pick me up. There were positives to this. I didn’t have to take the bus, but that was also a negative, especially on beautiful days like today.

The sun was shining and there was just a light breeze when I got out of school. It would have been a great day to take my time getting home, but I didn’t dare risk pissing off my mother even more. I came right outside to where I normally met Dana, and my mother wasn’t there yet like I’d thought she’d be. Rosheon was waiting, though, and before I could get rid of him, both Dana and my mother rolled up on us.

Dana surprised us right in the middle of our argument and she was giving me grief and putting her nose where it didn’t belong. Rosheon really wasn’t her business. By the time my mother showed up, I was in trouble for sure, but Rosheon surprised me by charming my mother just a little too much. Damika and I watched in disbelief as she laughed and cheesed with Rosheon like she wasn’t pissed off just a few minutes before. By the time she was done with their conversation, and started walking back to the car, she was all smiles.

She put her hand on the door handle.

“If you say a word to my mother I’m not going with you to Brooklyn. Believe that.” Dana thought she was the only one who could play hardball, but I’d learned from the best. We’d hung out together for years. I knew exactly what to say so she would leave me alone about Rosheon. I didn’t need her approval for anything I did.

My mother hopped in the car, obviously happier than she’d been before she’d started flirting with my boyfriend. It seemed like her walk back the half of a block she’d covered arm in arm with Rosheon took forever. The few feet of sidewalk seemed to stretch out into something like a mile, as if we were under the influence of those Alice in Wonderland mushrooms. I braced myself for one of my mother’s long lectures, but instead I got nothing. She put the car in gear and checked her mirrors, just like normal.

Dana and I looked at each other, all wide-eyed. She was surprised, too. She was probably counting on my mother to put me in my place or something. I tried to see my mother’s face in the rearview mirror.

I held my breath and my tongue until she’d pulled away from the curb. “Mom,” I said, “is everything okay?”

She glanced at me in the mirror. “Yes, of course. Rosheon seems like a nice young man.”

“Excuse me?” Had he slipped her some drugs while she wasn’t looking? Who was this woman and what had been done with my mother?

“He does seem a little old for you, and I still think you’re too young to be dating, but if you had to have some secret crush, he doesn’t seem like he’s too bad of a choice.

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