Butterfly

by Sylvester Stephens

  “She ain’t talking nobody into nothing ’cause Bri ain’t messin’ around with that shit! So stop askin’ her, Toya!”

  “Okay, Butterfly. But I’m telling you, Bri, we can make some money.”

  “Bri got money!” Keisha snapped. “She don’t need to hustle.”

  “I don’t feel good.” Bri leaned her head onto Keisha’s shoulder.

  “We’re about to get you home, Bri.” Keisha wrapped her arms around Bri’s shoulder. “Hurry up, Butterfly.”

  I drove faster trying to get home as quick as I could. The Forresters were gone and Pa-Pa was playing with Brit outside in the backyard. We snuck Bri upstairs and put her in my bed. Keisha and Toya left and I went outside to play with Pa-Pa and Brit.

  “Hey, Pa-Pa.” I kissed him on the cheek and then picked up Brit. “How’s my favorite baby?”

  “Hi, Butterfly.”

  “Look at what I brought you.” I pulled out a lollipop and dangled it in front of her. “You can have it if you give your big sister a great big kiss!”

  “Mmmmmmm!” Brit gave me a wet kiss on the cheek.

  “Yuck!” I wiped my face.

  “Well, she gave you what you asked for,” Pa-Pa joked. “Where’s Louise, Thelma?”

  “She’s not feeling good; she’s lying down.”

  “Lying down?” Pa-Pa started to walk toward the house.

  I grabbed his arm and stopped him. “She’s all right Pa-Pa. It’s just like, you know, her time of the month. You know what I mean?”

  “If you mean what I think you mean, I don’t wanna know what you mean.”

  “I gave her some Tylenol, so she should be okay.”

  “That’s too bad.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I wanted you two to watch a classic with me.”

  “What? I’ll watch it with you.”

  “Well, come on!”

  I put Brit on my hip and followed Pa-Pa into the house. He put a movie called Roots in the DVD player. Pa-Pa sat in his recliner that he had shipped from Michigan and Brit lay on the sofa with me. That was the longest damn movie I had ever seen. Of course I had heard of it, but I had never seen it before. I had no idea it was that freakin’ long! The bad part about it is that Pa-Pa and Brit went to sleep ten minutes into the movie and left me all by myself to watch it. Bri came downstairs during the fourth hour with a comforter wrapped around her and lay on the loveseat.

  “How you feeling, Bri?”

  “I’m sleepy. I keep dozing off.”

  “You hurting anywhere?”

  “No, not really. I’m a little sore, but I’m just sleepy.”

  “We eating pizza tonight.”

  “Y’all go ’head, I ain’t eating nothin’!” Bri chuckled and then looked at the television. “What in the world is this?”

  “It’s called Roots.”

  “Grandpa got you watching this?” Bri looked over at Pa-Pa sleeping in the chair with his head about to fall off. “He’s always trying to get people to watch movies with him and then he falls asleep.”

  “He is knocked out, too, girl.”

  “Man, take that movie out,” Bri whispered.

  “I can’t. It’ll hurt Pa-Pa. He really wanted to share this movie with Brit and me. You, too, but you were sleep.”

  “Well, your Pa-Pa is sleep,” Bri said sarcastically, “so put in something else.”

  I got up to put another DVD in. “What you wanna watch, Bri?”

  “Avatar.”

  “Avatar? I’m not putting in no Avatar.”

  “I like Avatar. It has so many pretty colors.”

  “Is that why you like it?”

  “No. It has a good storyline, too.”

  “Girl, please! They stole that storyline from that cartoon movie The Ant Bully and they know it.”

  “No they didn’t. They’re two completely different stories.”

  “It’s the same story, Bri. In Avatar, the human becomes an Avatar and have to learn the ways of the natives, which were the blue people. And in The Ant Bully, the little boy shrinks and has to learn the ways of the natives, which were the ants. In both stories, they have to prove themselves by going against their own kinds.”

  “Dang.” Bri chuckled. “You’re right.”

  “See, I told you, it’s the same story. The only difference is, one was ants and the other was blue people. Now that one blue man was fine, though.”

  “Oh my God, you are crazy.”

  “Okay, I found ‘ATL’ with T.I. and Lauren London.”

  “How about N-O-T. I don’t want to watch that no more. I’ve seen that like a billion times already.”

  “I thought you were sleepy anyway.”

  “I am, but that’s going to keep me up.”

  “Oh, okay. You better be glad I like you.”

  “Whatever.”

  “What you want to watch then?”

  “Put in Beauty and the Beast. That always puts me to sleep.”

  “You kidding, right? That’s a kid movie, Bri.”

  “So? After what I’ve been through today, I want to stay a kid forever.”

  Bri fluffed her pillow and then lowered her head. I felt so sorry for her. She was truly a good girl who had made some bad decisions. From what I could see, she was doing it just to fit in. Too bad she did not realize that with everything she had going for her, she did not need to fit in with anybody; in time they would want to fit in with her.

  “Can I tell you something without you getting all sensitive and sentimental on me, Shante?”

  “I’ll try, you know how I am.”

  “Promise me or I won’t tell you.”

  “No! No! I promise! I promise!” I was excited and could not wait to hear.

  “I am so glad that you are a part of this family. And there is no way we are ever going to let you leave us. Even though you may not be a blood relative, you are definitely a love relative. You have been there for me ever since we met, and I don’t know what I would have done without you today.”

  “Awwwww.” I wiped my eyes.

  “See! There you go crying.”

  “I can’t help it.”

  “I don’t understand how anybody can cry that fast? You started crying before the words even came out of my mouth.”

  “I know! I know!” I sat up and wiped my eyes. “Well, I feel the same way about you. I see you as my little cousin, and I will do anything to protect and defend you.”

  “Thanks,” Bri paused momentarily, “Butterfly.”

  “Awww.” I ran over to the loveseat and kissed Bri. “You called me Butterfly, Bri.”

  “Oh my God, get away from me, you crazy insane girl.” Bri laughed and then playfully pushed me away.

  “Muah!” I gave her a big kiss on the cheek. Not as wet as the one Brit laid on me earlier, but I meant it just as much. “I love you, you mean old thang.”

  “I guess I love you, too.”

  I went back to the couch and held Brit in my arms. Bri was right; a few minutes into Beauty and the Beast and she was out like a light. I looked down at Brit sleeping in my arms, and then over at Pa-Pa asleep in his old rocking chair and Bri passed out on the loveseat. I thought to myself, Now this is what a family is all about.

  • • •

  Keisha and Toya came over on Sunday to tell me some important news. Bri was still on the loveseat sleeping through her medication when they got there. Pa-Pa had taken Brit for a ride, so we had the house to ourselves. We hung out in the kitchen, so that we would not disturb Bri.

  “You gon’ tell her, or do you want me to tell her, Keisha?” Toya asked.

  “You know more than I do, so you tell her.”

  “Okay, guess what, Butterfly?”

  “What’s up?”

  “You’ll never guess where Janae is.”

  “Where is she?”

  “In juvie!”

  “In juvie? The police caught her?”

  “Nope, she turned herself in and went down for everybody.”


  “Damn! Why did she do that?”

  “I guess she felt like she had less to lose than the rest of us, so she went down for all of us.”

  “You act like you happy, Toya.”

  “I ain’t happy, Keisha, but I ain’t mad, neither. I promise to God, that’s the last trouble I’m getting in to.”

  “We need to go see her,” I said.

  “For what?”

  “For support, Toya!”

  “Man, she only gon’ get a few months; that ain’t gon’ kill her. Janae can handle herself.”

  “Are you kidding me right now? That’s your cousin, Toya.”

  “I know who she is, Butterfly!”

  “Y’all don’t have to go, Toya. But I’m going.”

  “I’m going, too,” Keisha repeated.

  “Let’s go tomorrow when we get out of school, Keisha.”

  “Okay.” Keisha turned to Toya. “You going, Toya?

  “Don’t try to put me on blast, Keisha,” Toya snapped, “yeah, I’m going.”

  Bri walked into the kitchen with the comforter wrapped around her waist and hair all over her head.

  “Damn! I didn’t look nowhere near that bad when I had my abortion.”

  “Shut up, Keisha.” Bri scratched her head and opened the refrigerator.

  “You feeling better?” Keisha asked.

  “A little bit. I’m just sleepy.”

  “That’s that Vicodin you taking! I’m telling you, we can make some money off of them thangs.”

  “No y’all can’t.” I quickly intervened to keep the conversation off of that nonsense. “I thought you said you didn’t want to get in any more trouble, Toya.”

  “We can’t get in no trouble if we just selling it to our friends.”

  “Fool, that’s still illegal,” I shouted.

  “No it ain’t. Bri getting it from the doctor, Butterfly; that’s legal.”

  “So! It’s illegal for her to sell prescription drugs. She can get in a lot of trouble for that.”

  “She won’t be selling them; I will.”

  “Bri, listen to Butterfly; you can get in some serious trouble for that,” Keisha said.

  “I mean, I haven’t said anything. I’m just listening to y’all.”

  “I’mma text you, Bri.”

  “No you’re not!” I said.

  “Watch, bitch.” Toya pushed me on the shoulder and laughed.

  Ms. Alicia walked into the kitchen as Toya was talking and overheard her use the b-word, From that point on, she never really liked Toya.

  “What was that?” Ms. Alicia put her hands on her hips and looked at every single one of us. “Bitch?”

  “Hey, Auntie,” Bri said with a glass of orange juice halfway to her mouth.

  “Hey, auntie nothing! Who said that?”

  “I did, Ms. Alicia.” Toya sat next to me in a chair. “I’m sorry.”

  “And what is your name?”

  “My name is Toya.”

  “Toya what?”

  “Toya Jackson.”

  “Like LaToya Jackson?”

  “No, just Toya.”

  “Well, Toya, we don’t use that type of language in my house because we don’t have any bitches taking residence in my house. So please respect my house, and talk like you have some sense.”

  “Okay.” Toya looked at me as if she wanted me to help her, but it was nothing I could do for her, but pray.

  “And what are you doing all wrapped in that comforter, Bri?”

  “I got sick on Friday.”

  “Sick? What’s wrong with you?”

  “I don’t know. I think it was some pizza we ate. I just been nauseated and my stomach hurt.”

  “You feel nauseated? Did you vomit?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “The only women I know who have those types of symptoms are pregnant women,” Ms. Alicia joked.

  We all looked around the room at each other. Bri almost spit out her orange juice.

  “I don’t think you guys have to worry about that from Bri for a long time, Ms. Alicia.” I tried to turn the conversation to humor.

  “Oh yeah, Bri is a good girl. She probably doesn’t even know where babies come from yet.”

  Bri almost spit up her orange juice again. She was so nervous she choked on some of the juice going down her throat. Keisha patted her on the back.

  “You okay, Bri?” Keisha asked.

  “Aw, poor baby. You’re really sick, aren’t you?” Ms. Alicia walked over to Bri and rubbed her on the back.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Girl, go lay down somewhere until your mother comes and gets you.”

  “Okay.” Bri wrapped the comforter around her again and walked out of the kitchen with her glass of orange juice in her hands.

  “Well, we’ll go outside and get out of your way, Ms. Alicia.” I stood up to leave.

  “Keisha, you and,” Ms. Alicia pointed to Toya, “what is your name again?”

  “Toya.”

  “Can you and Toya wait for Shante at the gazebo?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Keisha showed Toya where the gazebo was and they waited for me outside.

  “Have a seat.”

  Dr. Forrester walked into the kitchen before Ms. Alicia could begin her lecture and interrupted our conversation. It was only a brief stay of execution, but I appreciated it just the same.

  “What’s the matter with Bri?”

  “She’s come down with some type of stomach virus.”

  I thought to myself, Yeah, a stomach virus called being pregnant!

  “How was your weekend with Pop, Butterfly?”

  “Lovely, just lovely,” I joked, “Pa-Pa is something else.”

  “Brit?”

  “She was a perfect little angel.”

  “And you?”

  “No problems whatsoever.”

  “Good.” Dr. Forrester turned to walk out and then turned back to Ms. Alicia. “Oh, do I need to take Bri home?”

  “No, Tonita is coming to pick her up later this evening.”

  “All right.” Dr. Forrester turned to walk out and then turned back to Ms. Alicia again. “We’re going to have to have Alex visit more often since Bri spends so much time over here. I don’t want her to feel left out.”

  “That’s fine with me.”

  Ms. Alicia looked at Dr. Forrester, waiting for him to leave the room so that we could finish our conversation.

  “Oh, I get it. This is one of those girl conversations, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, sir, it sure is.”

  “On that note...” Dr. Forrester left the room.

  “Now who is that Toya girl?”

  “She’s a friend from my old school.”

  “I don’t like her.”

  “You don’t even know her, Ms. Alicia.”

  “And?”

  “And I’m just saying.”

  “Saying what? I come into my house and I hear that little ghetto girl using that foul language.”

  “She only said the b-word, Ms. Alicia.”

  “Only? Do you know how degrading that word is to women?”

  “Yes, ma’am, but that’s not how we mean it when we say it. We mean it like, you know, like with love for each other. Not in a degrading way.”

  “Love? How can calling a person an indignant name like bitch, ever be about love? Do not use that word in this house!”

  “Yes, ma’am, but...”

  “But nothing, how do you young ladies expect for people to respect you, if you don’t even respect yourselves?”

  “I do respect myself.”

  “Oh really? You speak like you have sense when you talk to me, but when you talk to your ghetto friends, you act like you’re from the hood.”

  “I am from the hood, Ms. Alicia.”

  “And where exactly is the hood?”

  “It’s the streets! It’s where I come from! It’s where black people live. That’s where the hood is, Ms. Alicia.”

&nb
sp; “The hood is a state of mind, Shante, not a place! There are plenty of people who live in poverty who speak well, who act decently, and do not feel like they have to act like they’re animals in order to survive.”

  “Yeah, show me one.”

  Ms. Alicia walked in front of me and at first, I thought she was going to smack me. I was about to get the hell out of there. But she pulled up a chair and sat directly in front of me. “Me.”

  “You?”

  “I’m from the poorest area of Cincinnati, Ohio, baby, but my mother made sure we understood that our conditions do not define who we are.”

  I could not believe that the beautiful, classy and elegant Ms. Alicia was raised in poverty.

  “How did you get out?”

  “Get out of the hood?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I was never there. My mind was always thinking that my immediate environment was only a temporary situation. I always escaped to the future to a world where I belonged.”

  “Wow!”

  “Wow?”

  “Yes, ma’am. That’s what I do. That’s what my father told me to always do. He told me that I could be a butterfly and I could fly anywhere I wanted to go and be anything I wanted to be.”

  “And he was right, sweetheart. But you have to want to fly to these places and be these different things.”

  “I do.”

  “Then why are you hanging with that girl?”

  “She’s really a nice girl, Ms. Alicia. You just have to get to know her.”

  “Hmm, if you say so.” Ms. Alicia stood up from the chair and slid it back under the table. “Now, I really like Keisha and I think she’s a very nice girl. She’s respectful. She’s quiet. I don’t know what it is, but I have a very bad vibe about that other girl.”

  “Trust me, Ms. Alicia, she’s okay.”

  “If you say so.” Ms. Alicia headed for the den with Bri and Dr. Forrester. “You can go outside with your friends now, but check that Toya girl’s pockets for my good China before she leaves out of here.”

  “Ms. Alicia! That’s just wrong!”

  I went outside with Toya and Keisha and we came up with a plan for us to get in to see Janae on Monday.

  Chapter Nine

  On Monday, Bri was still not fully recovered, so she had to stay home another day. It was the Monday before Thanksgiving, so we only had two more days left in the school week anyway, then she could get all of the rest she needed.

  Keisha, Toya, Jacqua and I went to see Janae in the juvenile home. We paid Janet Cooper, the same lady who helped us with the abortion, to be our legal guardian. She lied and said that we were all Janae’s sisters. We provided identification when we went through security, but other than that, Janet took care of it. She had the hook-up on everything, fake IDs, fake birth certificates, fake death certificates, fake government letterheads; anything you wanted, Janet had it. That was her job, and she was very successful at it because somebody always needed a hook-up.