Butterfly

by Sylvester Stephens

  “We were just defending ourselves.”

  I don’t know where Uncle Mike met Ms. Tonita, but it was not at a debutante ball. I could tell that she was from the streets. She may have been reformed, but the streets were still in her. While she fussed, I sat silently in the back and did not say shit.

  “I told you not to take your ass up to that school acting a fool, didn’t I?”

  “Yes, Ma, but those girls kept making fun of me.”

  “So! Who cares what those girls think?” Ms. Tonita snapped. “Now I have to take off work to come pick you hooligans up! I’m dropping y’all off over to Alicia’s and I’m going to back to work.”

  “Okay, Ma.”

  “Naw, it ain’t okay. The next time you see outside, you’ll be walking across the stage to graduate!”

  Ms. Tonita pulled into the driveway, and Ms. Alicia and Auntie Cynthia were standing outside waiting for us.

  “Hey, y’all.” Ms. Tonita waved and leaned her head out of the window. “Look, Cynt, you already know; if you feel it necessary to take some kind of disciplinary action, you have my permission to tear that ass up!”

  “I just might do that, girl.” Auntie Cynthia laughed.

  Ms. Alicia and Auntie Cynthia stared at us as we walked past, but they did not speak; an obvious attempt to express their disappointment in our behavior. Bri and I stood in the doorway and waited for them to finish talking to Ms. Tonita.

  “Just save some of that ass for me for tonight.”

  “You are crazy, Tonita!” Auntie Cynthia laughed even harder.

  “All right, y’all take care.”

  “You, too.” Auntie Cynthia waved.

  Ms. Alicia waved good-bye as well. As soon as Ms. Tonita backed out of the driveway, Ms. Alicia looked at me and Bri. “Get your ass in that house!”

  They sat us down and we had to repeat the entire story all over again, minus the nude pictures, minus the sex with the grown man, and minus the confession from Bri admitting that she was not the innocent virgin everyone assumed her to be. It probably should not have bothered me, but I had always been looked at as easy, or trampy, and just because these girls had a better life than me, they were looked at as a “good girl.”

  “What you girls did was absolutely unacceptable! We specifically told you not to get involved with those girls, and you deliberately disobeyed us!” Auntie Cynthia pointed her finger back and forth at us as she paced back and forth.

  “But they started it.”

  “I don’t care who started what, Bri! You have a choice to walk away or fight, and you chose to fight. So since you two can’t handle the situation, we’re going to go to that school and handle it for you.”

  “No, Ms. Cynthia!” Bri pleaded. “I promise I won’t get in any more fights. Just please, don’t go to that school.”

  “You’ve had your chance to do it your way, Bri, and you blew it.”

  “Can my daddy go instead?”

  “No! Tonita and I will be going together in the morning.”

  “Ms. Cynthia, you’re upset right now. You know how Mama is; she’s going to embarrass everybody.”

  “She’s not going to embarrass me. I don’t have to go to your school.”

  “Ms. Cynthia, I promise, I won’t get in any fights! I promise!”

  “I can’t stop your mother from going to your school, and you can’t stop me, so stop asking me not to go, okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Then it was my turn to hear it from Ms. Alicia. She used a different method. Instead of blaming me and coming hard, she used the understanding and sympathetic approach. They used the classic good cop-bad cop routine on us.

  “Shante, you’ve been through a lot and maybe I can never understand fully the effect it has had on you. But I’m trying. All that I ask is for you to try to meet me halfway, sweetheart. However, I do understand that being a teenage girl nowadays is difficult enough without the pressure of being bullied. In the future, whenever a problem like this persists after you have brought it to our attention, don’t think that you have to take it into your own hands because the consequences could be irreversible. Trust me, like you want me to trust you. Okay, baby?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Wow! No sermons! No yelling! No screaming! No threats! Just simple communication between two intelligent people. Ms. Alicia did not have to resort to actions like going up to our school and trying to fight my fight for me.

  “So you’re not going to DCA, Ms. Alicia?” Bri asked.

  “Oh, hell yeah! I’m going first thing in the morning with Tonita and Cynt.”

  Ain’t that a bitch! I thought the speech Ms. Alicia gave was the extent of my discipline, but she played me.

  “You are?” I asked.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “But I thought...”

  “You thought wrong!” Ms. Alicia interrupted.

  The next morning, Ms. Alicia, Auntie Cynthia and Ms. Tonita went to DCA and had a conference with Mrs. Gary and the mothers of the other girls. To my knowledge, there were no incidents between the women, and if the other girls’ mothers laid down the law like our mothers, the last thing any of us wanted to do after that ass-ripping, was fight.

  Chapter Seven

  On day three of my suspension, Mr. Forrester, Dr. Forrester’s father, who I referred to as Pa-Pa, came in at 4:30 in the morning banging on a pan. It suddenly dawned on me where Ms. Alicia had gotten that method. I got up, showered, and then met him outside. He had a paint bucket and paintbrushes.

  “What are we doing out here, Pa-Pa?”

  “You’re going to repaint my daughter-in-law’s gazebo.”

  “It’s pitch-black out here, Pa-Pa.”

  “Now it’s not.” Pa-Pa shined a bright flashlight in my face. It was so bright, it lit up the entire backyard.

  “Where did you get that flashlight from?” I turned my head away from the light. “’Nam?”

  “They didn’t even have light when I was in ’Nam. No daylight, flashlight, moonlight, nothing! So no, this didn’t come from ’Nam, it came from Wal-mart.”

  “Didn’t you say Bri was coming today?”

  “Yes, I did, Private Butterfly. But I can’t get her daddy to bring her here any earlier than five a.m., even if it’s going to teach her a lesson.” Pa-Pa laughed.

  “So I have to start all by myself?”

  “Yes, Private Butterfly. You can start setting up so that when Private Bri gets here, you can be ready to go.”

  “Yes, sir,” I answered reluctantly.

  “Get to work.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Affirmative!” Pa-Pa walked off with his hands behind his back.

  Bri was dropped off around a quarter after five. It was still dark, but day was breaking. As Pa-Pa and I joked around, Bri kept to herself and basically ignored me.

  “You have a problem, Private Forrester?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Well, you better put a smile on that face and act like you have a purpose in life.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Bri dipped her brush in the paint bucket but still did not speak to me. Pa-Pa noticed it and took it from there.

  “Did I make myself clear, Private Forrester?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I don’t think I did because you haven’t opened that mouth of yours to greet Private Butterfly.”

  “Hi.”

  “You can do better than that, Private Forrester.”

  “Good morning.”

  “Good morning, who?”

  “Good morning, Private Butterfly?” Bri asked as if she didn’t know who Pa-Pa was referencing. I wanted to laugh so badly. That damn Pa-Pa was crazy as hell and I loved him to death for it.

  “That’s right.” Pa-Pa smiled and turned to me. “Private Butterfly?”

  “Good morning, Private Forrester.” I laughed.

  “Now, I’m about to go watch television but when I come back I want to see some progress. Do I make myself clear
?”

  “Yes, sir!” we said in unison.

  Pa-Pa walked away again with his hands behind his back. I waited a few minutes before I said something, but eventually, I struck up a conversation.

  “Hi, Bri.”

  “I don’t have anything to say to you.”

  “Why are you mad at me?”

  Bri ignored me and kept painting her part of the gazebo.

  “Hey!” Pa-Pa yelled from inside of the house. “Heeeeeeelp!”

  We looked at each other and then sprinted inside of the house and upstairs to Pa-Pa’s room.

  “You all right, Grandpa?” Bri asked.

  “Something done happened.”

  Bri and I looked at each other with confusion. Pa-Pa appeared to be fine, but he was sitting on the bed in an awkward position and would not move.

  “What’s the matter, Pa-Pa?”

  “I done had a bad accident.”

  “What’s the matter?” Bri asked as she started to walk closer.

  “Back up!” Pa-Pa screamed. Bri and I froze in our tracks. “I need some towels and I need a bath ran quick!”

  “I’ll run the bath. Bri, you get the towels.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do.”

  “I’m not trying to tell you what to do; Pa-Pa is.”

  “Stop all this arguing and do what I tell you!”

  “Okay, Pa-Pa. I’ll get the towels and run your bath.”

  “I’ll run his bath!” Bri said.

  “Will y’all shut the hell up and get moving!”

  Bri went to the bathroom to run Pa-Pa’s bath water and I ran to the linen closet and grabbed some towels. When I got back to Pa-Pa’s bedroom, he was sitting awkwardly on his side and the smell finally hit my nose. Damn!!!

  “Pa-Pa!” I shouted. “You stink!”

  “It’s those damn Ex-Lax! Alicia told me take ’em last night so that I can relieve myself this morning. I didn’t know all hell was going to break loose like this!”

  Bri walked out of the bathroom shaking her wet hands and making a horrible face. “Whoo! What’s that smell?”

  “Me! Now shut up and help me get to the bathroom.”

  Bri stood on one side of Pa-Pa and I stood on the other. We lifted him and wrapped a towel around his waist. He tiptoed to the bathroom, and Bri and I laughed behind his back.

  “You know you’re looking at your future, don’t you, Pa-Pa?” I joked.

  “Is that supposed to be funny?”

  Bri looked at me and tried not to laugh, but she couldn’t help herself. We helped Pa-Pa take off his pants and left him alone in the bathroom to bathe. We grabbed some more towels and cleaned up the mess. We took off his linen and washed them, too. By the time Pa-Pa was finished with his bath, we had everything back to where it was before the minor accident. I took advantage of that opportunity to find out why Bri was so angry with me.

  “What’s the matter with you? Have I done something I don’t know about?”

  “No, not really. I guess I’m just jealous of you and Grandpa.”

  “Why are you jealous?”

  “I’ve always had like this special relationship with my grandfather. Before he moved here, he drank a lot and he was always grumpy. But no matter what, he was never that way with me. And out of all four of his grandchildren, he always gave me his special attention. I was always his favorite and now he’s acting all goo-goo-eyed over you, and it’s driving me nuts!”

  “Are you serious?” I laughed and pushed her.

  “Yeah, I’m serious, man.” Bri laughed back. “First, it was all the new babies—Alex, then Brittany, then Little Mike—stealing all of my attention and now your old ass come in here, grown as hell, living in the house with him.”

  “I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to share Pa-Pa, Bri.”

  “I don’t think so. You can have Uncle Johnny, but you can’t have my Grandpa, niggah.”

  “Niggah? Look at you talking all ghetto.”

  “You haven’t seen ghetto. You just better stay away from my Grandpa,” Bri joked.

  “You better stay away from my Pa-Pa!”

  “Where did you get that country shit from, anyway?”

  “What?”

  “That Pa-Pa shit.”

  “Whoa! Whoa! Where is all this cussing from, Ms. Innocent?”

  “I don’t knooooow!” Bri whined. “I can’t help it! I’m stressing out.”

  “Over being suspended?”

  “I wish.”

  “What then?”

  “Remember that guy David I had sex with?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Well, I...”

  “I’m coming out of the bathroom, so y’all get out!” Pa-Pa yelled from the bathroom.

  “Okay, Grandpa, we’re going to go finish painting the gazebo.”

  Bri and I went back to the gazebo and continued to paint.

  “Now what were you saying about that David guy?”

  “Long story short, I’m pregnant, Shante.”

  “What the fu—”

  “Don’t make a big deal out of this!” Bri interrupted.

  “Don’t make a big deal out of this? You’re fifteen and pregnant! How can this not be a big deal, Bri?”

  “I don’t know what to do.” Bri sat down and cried.

  “Have you talked to that David dude about the baby?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what did he say?”

  “He said it wasn’t his.”

  “I want you be honest with me, Bri; is it?”

  “Yeah, it’s his. I know I lied about being a virgin, but he is the only guy I had sex with.”

  “So have you told anybody else?”

  “Nope.”

  “How do you think they’re going to react?”

  “They’re going to be disappointed in me.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know.” Bri sobbed. “I’m too young to have a baby.”

  “Talk to your parents, Bri.”

  “I can’t! They won’t understand.”

  “What is there to understand, Bri? You’re pregnant.”

  “I want to tell them, but I don’t want to disappoint them.”

  “This is not like you have a bad grade. You can’t hide this for a semester. You’re going to have a baby.”

  “I know, but I cannot tell them, Shante!” Bri shouted. “I just can’t!”

  I sat next to Bri and put my arms around her. I didn’t know what to say or what to do to help her, but I knew I had to do something.

  “Bri, whatever you decide to do, I’m here for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You want some advice?”

  “Yeah, silly, that’s why I’m talking to you.”

  “Don’t go through this all by yourself. David is just as responsible for this as you are. Make him be a part of this decision.”

  “I can’t make him do anything.”

  “Oh yes you can.”

  “How?”

  “You can...I tell you what, where that niggah live?”

  “Why?”

  “’Cause when we get off this punishment on Saturday, we going to pay him a visit.”

  “I’m not going to David’s house.”

  “Oh yes you are!”

  “Oh no I’m not!”

  “Hmm, we’ll see.”

  “You’re going to make me go, huh?”

  “You already know.” I wiped Bri’s eyes for her. “It’s either go, or I’m telling Uncle Mike and Ms. Tonita.”

  “I don’t want him to nut up on me.”

  “I wish that niggah would disrespect you after his old ass done got you pregnant.”

  “Damn, I wished this was you in my shoes.”

  “Why you wishing that on me?”

  “Because you could handle it better.”

  “I’m handling it by not putting myself in that position, Bri. And once we get you out of this mess, you have to promise me you’re going to be smart
er. If you feel like you have to sex, use protection.”

  “We didn’t have any condoms and we got all hot.”

  “So! I don’t care how hot you got; you know better, Bri,” I snapped. “And you can’t be depending on no man to protect you, either. You get on birth control. You make sure that you can’t get pregnant! Not to mention all the nasty diseases you can catch.”

  “You fussing just as much as Ma and Dad would have. I should have just told them then if I was going to hear all of this.”

  “That’s what I’m supposed to do. You’re like my little cousin and I don’t want anything to happen to you. Instead of being pregnant, you could have AIDS or something.”

  “But I don’t.”

  “But you could, Brimone!” I shouted. “Damn! Don’t you get it?”

  Bri understood my concern and she appreciated it. We were both crying. She wiped her eyes again and then she wiped my eyes. Although the situation was extremely crucial, I loved the sincerity we shared because of it.

  “I get it.”

  “I’m coming to pick you up on Saturday, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  • • •

  That Saturday before I picked up Bri, I made another stop for some back-up: Keisha, Toya, and the enforcer, Janae. Bri was at her mom’s, so when I pulled into the driveway, she came out to investigate.

  “Hey, Shante.” Ms. Tonita waved as Bri walked off of the porch and walked toward the car.

  “Hi, Ms. Tonita.” I waved back and then asked Keisha to get in the backseat. “Can you get in the back for me so that my cousin can sit up here?”

  “Damn, she putting you in the back, Keisha.” Janae laughed.

  “Shut the hell up and move your big ass over.”

  “Hell naw.” Janae got out of the car so that Keisha could sit in the middle. “Get your puny ass in the middle.”

  “I should make you ride bitch, Janae.”

  “Hey! Stop that cussin’, Keisha! Don’t you see Bri’s mom on the porch?”

  “Oops, sorry, Butterfly!”

  Once Bri was in the car, I introduced her to my girls. “Hey, Bri, that’s Toya, my girl Keisha, and Janae.”

  “Hey, y’all,” Bri said.

  “Hey, we heard a lot about you,” Keisha said.

  “I heard a lot about you, too.”

  “What you hear about me?” Janae asked.

  “I heard you were cool.”

  “I know she better had mentioned me,” Toya said.