Teenage Love Affair by Ni-Ni Simone

Author:Ni-Ni Simone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2010-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

10

Hopped up out the bed, turn my swag on…

—SOULJAH BOY, “TURN MY SWAG ON”

A week had passed since our family blowup and the house had been quiet ever since. Well, not exactly quiet, more like a loud silence where we could each hear one another’s thoughts of why our lives had to be like this, were they ever going to change, and when would somebody—anybody—whomever was really in charge bring this to an end?

My mother had been hanging around all week a little more than usual and I could tell that she wanted us to make up. We were not the type of family who apologized to one another or talked about our problems, we just woke up one morning, pretended our differences didn’t exist, and went on about our business.

“Hey, Zsa.” My mother knocked on my door. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” I said, lining my lips.

“Your mail came.” She handed me the monthly check I got from my father’s death benefits. “Are you getting ready to go somewhere?”

“Not now, maybe later when Malachi gets off of work.”

“Where does Malachi work?”

“With his dad. Construction.”

“Oh, that’s nice.”

I could tell she was stalling so I took the bait. “Why, Ma?”

“I was just wondering—if you wanted to go to the mall. Thought maybe we could catch up.”

“About what? Kenneth? I’m soooo not doing him.” I gave a disapproving laugh.

“No,” she said quickly, “we don’t have to talk about Kenneth. I just wanted to spend some time with you.”

I rolled my eyes to the ceiling; my mother and I were like oil and water inside of the house so God only knew how we would be gettin’ it poppin’ in the street. Before I could say no, my mother said, “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

I could look at her and I could tell that she was as nervous about this outing as I was, but I could also tell that she really wanted it to happen. “Where’s Hadiah? Is she coming?”

“No, she’s gone with Cousin Shake and Ms. Minnie.”

“So just me and you are going to the mall?”

“Yeah, I think that would be cool.”

“I don’t have any gas in my car.”

“Do you ever?” She laughed. “I’m going to grab my purse. Meet me outside, we’ll take my car.”

Before I left I dialed Asha’s number and when I couldn’t get her I called Courtney. “Two snaps up and a fruit loop,” Courtney said with a drag.

“Ill, what’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing really,” he said, “just that time of the month. I’m drinking some hot tea with my pinky sticking out now. Wassup with you?”

“I’m going to the mall with my mother.”

“Oh…my…Gawd, Diva. Did somebody die?”

“No. She just wants to spend time together.”

“Okay, so what you want me to do?”

“Call me in an hour, scream on the phone, and act as if it’s an emergency. This way I’ll have an excuse to leave and come to your crib.”

“Okay, Diva. Now I have to go, I have cramps.”

All I could do was laugh at Courtney. I swear he was a trip.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.