“Come here, bitch!” I let go of her leg and tossed it to the floor. “It’s like this; you’re going to keep my cousin’s name out of your mouth or I’m going to kick your ass!”
Toya started to crawl backward to try to get away. “I ain’t said nothin’ about your cousin, Butterfly!”
“Yes you did! The police looking for my cousin for selling ’scripts and they said you told them!”
“I promise, Butterfly! It wasn’t me!”
“So you’re not going to tell the truth, Toya?” I stood over her and she started kicking like a baby to keep me away. “Huh? You’re still going to lie?”
“I’m not lying!” Toya shouted.
I looked over my shoulder at Keisha. “Lock the door.”
Keisha walked upstairs and locked the door. I pushed Toya’s kicking legs to the side and sat on top of her. She was screaming for me to get up, but I put my knees in her chest and I put my hands around her throat. You can believe she stopped all that kicking and screaming then.
“Now,” I squeezed her neck even tighter, “are you going to leave my cousin’s name out of your bullshit?”
She tried to say something, but I could not understand because I was choking the hell out of that neck. I let go of her neck so that she could speak. She grabbed her throat and tried to catch her breath.
“I ain’t told nothing on your cousin!”
“Okay!” I held her face still and I slapped her as hard as I could. “So you’re going to keep on lying?”
My slaps turned to punches and my anger turned to rage. Toya was screaming, but I was so spazzed out, I did not even hear her.
“Butterfly!” Keisha screamed.
Keisha and Jacqua tried to pull me off of her, but I pushed them away. I put my hands around her throat and choked her again, waiting to hear what I wanted to hear.
“Shante!” Keisha shouted. “Stop! You’re hurting her!”
I snapped back and realized what I was doing.
“What the hell, Butterfly?” Keisha pushed me away. “I’m going to get a towel.”
“Look, you said you just wanted to talk to her, Butterfly. You didn’t say nothing about doing no crazy shit like this.” Jacqua sat next to Toya and put Toya’s head in her lap. “Toya! Toya! Toya, you okay?”
Keisha ran back downstairs with a towel and started to wipe Toya’s bloody face. “What’s wrong with you, Butterfly?”
“I don’t know what happened. I snapped.”
“Look at what you did to her.”
“Look at what I did to her?” I did not mean to hurt Toya as badly as I did, but it was not like she did not deserve it. “Do you know how many people this girl has hurt with her backstabbing?”
“Yeah, but she didn’t deserve all of this.”
“I don’t believe you, Jacqua! She’s the reason your girlfriend is in jail right now! She did not care if either one of us went to jail as long as she didn’t! Wait, why am I defending myself?” I pushed Jacqua and Keisha to the side and I slapped Toya lightly on the side of her face. “Toya! Toya! This is my last time asking you; are you going to keep my cousin’s name out of your mouth?”
“Yes,” she mumbled.
“And are you going to tell the police she had nothing to do with your drug deals?”
“Yes.”
“Okay then.”
I stood up to leave and Keisha had to throw her two cents in, “But Bri did, Butterfly!”
“Yeah, and I’m about to go handle her ass, too.”
I drove to Ms. Tonita’s house and I talked to her young woman to grown woman. I loved Bri and I really did not want her to get caught up because she was trying to fit in.
“Ms. Tonita, I need a really big favor.” I was anxious and she could tell.
“What’s the matter, Shante?”
“Bri’s in some trouble with some girls and I need to talk to her.”
“What kind of trouble?” Ms. Tonita yelled upstairs for Bri. “Briiii?”
“Please, Ms. Tonita, I need to speak to Bri alone.”
“I’m her mother and I...”
I did not mean to be disrespectful but I had to interrupt her. “I know you’re her mother; that’s why I came to you, Ms. Tonita. But I need you to trust me on this one.”
“You’re telling me that my child is in trouble and I should let another ‘child’ handle the situation, and not me.”
“What I’m saying is, I love Bri like she is my sister and I know I can handle this if you let me.”
“How do you expect for me to sit back and do nothing when my child needs me.”
“Because you love her, Ms. Tonita, and you want what’s best for her. But this time what’s best for her, is not you.” I paused momentarily and stepped backward because I did not know what reaction I would get back. “It’s me.”
Ms. Tonita closed her legs and rocked back and forth in her chair. “Okay, Shante, but this better turn out right!”
“I promise it will.”
“It better!”
“Now, I need another favor,” I said.
“And what’s that?”
“I’m about to take Bri into your basement and I’m going to have a private conversation with her. No matter what you hear coming from that basement, I want you to remember that I love Bri and I would never hurt her.”
“What you plan on doing to my baby, girl?”
“Nothing.” I chuckled. “But she’s not going to like what I’m going to say and there might be some yelling and screaming. Just remember...”
As I was talking, Mr. Robert, Bri’s stepdad, walked into the house. He was a detective for the Atlanta Police Department.
“Hi, Mr. Robert.”
“Hey, Shante, how are you doing?”
“I’m good.”
“Seems like we have a little problem with Bri that Ms. Shante wants to handle on her own.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah, she wants to talk some sense into her about something.”
“Wait a minute, and you’re not getting involved?”
“I know when to step back sometimes and do what’s best for my child without being all up in her business.”
“Yeah, right.”
“But I don’t know about her taking my baby to the basement and telling me to ignore any sounds I might hear coming from down there.”
“Will it resolve the situation, Shante?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then by all means, use these handcuffs for precautionary measure.” Mr. Robert handed me his handcuffs from his belt. “There you go.”
“You better not put those things on my baby.”
“I don’t know, Ms. Tonita, I might need them.” I laughed.
“Okay, hell naw, you’re not taking my baby nowhere!” Ms. Tonita snatched the handcuffs out of my hands. “I don’t even know what the hell is going on.”
“No, Ms. Tonita.” I laughed out loud. “I’m not going to do anything to Bri, I promise! I’m just going to scare her.”
“Bri!” Mr. Robert shouted upstairs.
“Yes, sir?” Bri shouted back.
“You have company!”
“I’m comin’!”
A minute later, Bri ran downstairs. “Hey, Butterfly.”
“We need to talk, Bri.”
Bri looked at Mr. Robert and Ms. Tonita and then looked at me. “What’s up?”
“We need to talk alone.”
“Mama?”
“Y’all go do your little talking. I don’t have nothing to do with it.”
“Is somebody going to tell me what’s going on?”
“I will, Bri. Come downstairs.”
Bri followed me to the basement. Mr. Robert’s basement looked similar to Dr. Forrester’s and Uncle Mike’s basements. It looked like a miniature ESPN center with multiple big-screen televisions all over the walls. What was it with men and big-screen televisions anyway?
Chapter Twelve
I waited for Bri to sit down and I w
asted no time jumping all over her. ”I know about your dope ring with Toya, Bri!”
Bri was cool as a cucumber. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t know what I’m talking about, huh?”
“Nope.” Bri rolled her eyes.
“Look, I don’t have time for your lies. All that I’m going to say is Toya went to the police on you and they’re coming to take you to jail.”
“Nobody is taking me anywhere.”
“How do you think Mr. Robert is going to feel when he finds out his stepdaughter is dealing ’scripts?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Butterfly.”
For a moment I thought Asia had given me the wrong information about Toya and Bri. If she had, I could never forgive myself for what I’d done to Toya. My instincts, however, were telling me that Asia was right and Bri was lying.
“I’m tired of people lying to me, Bri. I know you sold Toya your ’scripts and I don’t care if you admit it or not, I better not ever hear about you doing anything stupid like that again. You hear me?” Bri jumped out of the chair and tried to walk past me. I snatched her by the shoulders and pushed her back down in the chair. “Sit your ass down and listen to me! Whatever little rebellious phase you’re going through, it’s time for it to stop right now! Too many people that I love, love you, including myself! And I’m not going to let your little stupid ass hurt them, or me!”
“Mama!” Bri screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Mama can’t help you. It’s just me and you.”
“I keep telling you I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes you do, and you’re not leaving this basement until you promise me you’re going to leave that shit alone!”
Every time Bri stood up to leave, I pushed her back down in the chair.
“Let me go!” Bri screamed again. “Mama!”
“You know what? You wanna call your mama, call her!” I let her up. “Call her, Bri. Call her and I’ll tell her about you having sex with David, your abortion, your stupid-ass dope ring, everything! Call her!” Bri sat in the chair and huffed and puffed, but she did not say a word. “Now shut the hell up and listen! You hear me?”
“Yeah!” Bri rolled her eyes and turned her head to the side. I grabbed her chin and looked her dead in the eyes.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because it’s the only way I can make friends.”
“Look, girl, I love you! And I’ll be damned if I sit back and let you ruin your life because you don’t have as many friends as everybody else. Or, you’re not as popular as everybody else! How many times do I have to tell you, Bri, you don’t have to fit in with anybody! Don’t fall prey to that peer pressure bullshit! Those fools should be trying to fit in with you!”
Bri jumped in my face and screamed, “That’s easy for you to say! Everybody likes you! Everybody wants to be around you! And everybody wants to be you!”
I hugged Bri and I kissed her on the cheek. “But Bri, I want to be you. And I want to be around you, because you’re my cousin and I love you.”
We hugged each other for a minute and then Bri sat down. “Why would anybody want to be me?”
“Because you’re cute. You’re smart. And you have a loving family that loves the hell out of you. Friends will come and go, but your family is your family, Bri. I’m a part of that family now and I can’t let you do this to yourself, or them. So no more, ‘trying to fit in with the crowd’ stunts?”
“Okay.”
“Promise?”
“I promise. But what difference does it make now? I’m going to be in a lot of trouble anyway.”
“Don’t worry about that. Toya is not going to tell on you. If you want to be done with this right now, you’re done with this. So what is it going to be?”
“I’m done!”
“That’s my girl.” I led Bri upstairs by her hand and she snatched away.
“I’m not ready to face Mama right now.”
“She doesn’t know anything, Bri.”
“You must not know my mother.”
“You must not know me! I got it taken care of. Your mom knows we are down here talking, but she said she would let us handle it.”
“My mom said that?”
“Yup.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Come on, girl.”
We walked upstairs and as I tried to push the door open, it slammed against something. That something was Ms. Tonita eavesdropping.
“Ouch!” Ms. Tonita shouted.
“Oops! You okay, Ms. Tonita?”
Bri and I walked from behind the door and Ms. Tonita was rubbing her head.
“Ouch, that hurts.”
“I told you to stay away from that door, didn’t I?”
“Shut up, Rob!” Ms. Tonita walked into the living room with Mr. Robert and we followed her.
“So did your private conversation turn out all right?” Ms. Tonita asked.
“Baby?” Mr. Robert sighed.
“I said I would not interrupt their conversation; I said nothing about asking questions afterward.”
“Shante, did you get it worked out?” Mr. Robert asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Great! End of conversation.”
“But...” Ms. Tonita tried to speak, but Mr. Robert kept cutting her off.
“End of conversation, baby.”
“But...”
“End of conversation, Tonita!”
“Well, if I can’t ask my questions, I’m going upstairs!” Ms. Tonita stomped upstairs.
“You girls got everything worked out then?”
“Yes, sir,” Bri said.
“You sure, Shante?”
“Yes, sir,” I answered.
“In that case, let me go up here and tell your mother I’m taking her to dinner.”
“Okay.” Bri laughed.
Mr. Robert went to console Ms. Tonita and I went home and took a nap. Keisha called me later that evening and asked me to call Toya, but I couldn’t. We spoke a couple of days later and she was the one who apologized for always bailing on the rest of us. Janae put her up to it, but as long as it was sincere, I was cool with it. Her lucky ass also got out of going to juvie, too. They questioned her and then let her go. It turned out that by not snitching on Bri, the police had nothing to tie her to the ’script ring.
• • •
In April, the media converged on Jeremy like vultures. It was approaching the time when he was supposed to select the college he would be attending in the fall. Recruiters had begun to camp outside his door on the very first day, waiting for their opportunity to talk to his parents. That meant from April 14 to May 19, the only time I would see Jeremy was through private indoor quarters. I was glad for him, but it was interfering with our relationship. I wanted privacy, and I wanted to spend time with him. Instead of spending my weekends with Jeremy, I was spending every Saturday with Bri, Brittany and Alex, or hanging with my girls.
One Saturday evening when I was folding clothes, Ms. Alicia, who liked Jeremy but still was not a big fan of our dating one another, started to probe into our relationship.
“You feel like taking Brittany to get her some ice cream? I’ll foot the bill.”
“I may as well. I don’t have anything else to do.”
“Where’s that so-called boyfriend of yours?”
“His dad won’t let him out of the house.”
“Not even to come visit you?”
“No ma’am, he might get trapped by the media and say something his father doesn’t want him to say.”
“Does he have a say in any of this?”
“Not really. His father guards him twenty-four hours a day. He doesn’t want him to do anything. He doesn’t even want him to date me.” Ms. Alicia looked at me in a strange way and I knew I had said too much. “Oops!”
“What do you mean he doesn’t want Jeremy to date you? Who the hell is he supposed to be th
at he can’t date you?”
“He’s just very protective of him, that’s all.”
“Why does he have to protect him from you?”
“Not just me, everybody. People are trying to get next to him, so they can get whatever they can from him.”
“Yeah, but that’s not you,” Ms. Alicia looked at me, “is it?”
“No ma’am. I couldn’t care less about him playing basketball.”
“And I don’t know who his father thinks he is to even suggest that you are after that boy because he can put a freakin’ ball through a hoop!”
“I don’t think it’s anything personal, Ms. Alicia. I think Mr. Winston doesn’t want Jeremy to date anybody, no matter who the girl is.”
“He should consider himself damn lucky to have you as his girlfriend.”
I didn’t respond because she was talking herself into a state of frenzy, and she would only turn anything I said into a negative against Jeremy. She sat next to me and helped me fold a few clothes and then started talking to herself again. I wanted to go to the basement and get Dr. Forrester before she was too far gone because when she got fired up like that, there was no stopping her.
“That man has no right to try to say that you are not good enough for that big-headed boy!” Ms. Alicia folded a few more clothes and then fussed again. “Like he’s all that and you’re nothing! I wish he would say something like that where I could hear it. I’ll be right back.”
Ms. Alicia fussed all the way upstairs. I did not open my mouth. I could hear her fussing to herself through the ceiling and then all the way back downstairs. When she came back into the room, she had changed her clothes and styled her hair.
“Do you know how to get to this boy’s house?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Come on, let’s go!” Ms. Alicia stepped to the side and gestured for me to follow her.
“Where are we going, Ms. Alicia?”
“You know where we’re going, come on!”
“Please, Ms. Alicia, don’t do this.”
“You better come on here, girl, and quit playing with me!”
I stared at Ms. Alicia and then yelled at the top of my lungs, “Doc-tor For-res-terrrrrr!”
Ms. Alicia put her hands on her hips and patted her right foot in one place. Dr. Forrester came running upstairs. “What’s the matter?”
“You have to help me, Dr. Forrester. Ms. Alicia is going crazy!”
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