by Evelyn Dar
Laylah stared at Avery’s hand, suspended in mid-air. The polite thing to do would be to shake it. But as the seconds ticked by, Laylah’s arm stayed stubbornly at her side. Touching Avery felt equal parts terrifying and amazing, and she wouldn’t do it again unless she had to.
Avery lowered her arm, her eyes shimmering.
“I really am sorry about your dad,” Avery said. She gave Laylah one last look and walked away.
“Holy mother-effing shitballs.” Maddox covered his mouth with his hand. “That was tenser than an episode of The Bachelor in Paradise.” He rubbed Laylah’s back. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Laylah sniffled. “I don’t even know her.”
They watched as Avery climbed into a stretch Lincoln town car and Maddox whistled. “She’s going to be so fucking popular at Lovett. I can’t stand it.”
“Maddox.”
“Becoming her friend would have been like jumping on Amazon stock in the 90s.”
“Can you please stop?” Laylah asked, her façade close to crumbling.
“Fine, no more Avery talk. But like, you’d be cool if I dated her, right?”
Laylah shook her head in disbelief. “Can I live in whatever parallel universe you inhabit?”
“Of course.” Maddox grinned. “Hilary’s my president and your super butch cousin is my power bottom.”
A smile tugged at Laylah’s lips. “Never change, Mads.”
Maddox laughed. “Growth is for losers, babes.”
CHAPTER ONE
“Mom, is that you?” Laylah gave the small pan filled with spaghetti sauce one final stir, shut off the stove, and jogged to the front door to meet her mother.
Gale shrugged off her pea coat and rubbed her hands together. “Hi, honey.” She threw her knit hat on the couch, and when she ran a hand through her week-old pixie cut, Laylah made a concerted effort not to frown.
Gale’s new hairstyle made her look like a poor man’s Sharon Stone, but it was cheaper to maintain and better concealed her thinning hair.
Laylah took her mother’s cracked, frost-chilled hands and rubbed them between her own. “Where are your gloves?”
Gale chewed her bottom lip. “Gloves, you say?”
“Mom.”
Gale pulled her hands free and kissed Laylah on the cheek. “There may have been a gloveless man sleeping on a park bench on the corner of Adams street.”
“Mom, you have to stop giving away your gloves.”
Gale patted her on the cheek. “Mmm, something smells delicious.”
“It’s spaghetti and don’t change the subject.” Laylah followed her into the kitchen.
Gale lifted the lid of the pot and dipped a finger in. “Mmm, what genius chef taught you how to cook?”
“Paula Deen,” Laylah said flatly. “Sit. I’ll make you dinner”–Laylah glanced at her watch–“breakfast.”
“No time, hon.” Gale snagged an open box of pop tarts off the counter and pulled out the last shiny pack. “I have a meeting before work which means I have just enough time to pee and eat a cold pop tart before the bus comes.”
Laylah grabbed the pop tarts from her mother and gave her a gentle push down the hallway. “I’ll toast while you pee.” She returned to the kitchen and opened the foil pack. “So what’s this meeting about?” she yelled.
“You don’t have to yell, the door’s cracked,” Gale replied. “And it’s a meeting with a
lawyer.”
Laylah dropped the pastries into the toaster. “Another one?”
“I know what you’re thinking, but Jackie told him about my…situation and he’s agreed to meet with me. Plus, I talked to him on the phone yesterday and he sounded optimistic. We might bring the bastard down this time.”
“That’s…great, Mom,” Laylah said.
“Isn’t it?” Gale replied.
“Maybe the 29th time’s the charm,” Laylah muttered.
The pop tarts popped up and as Laylah reached for a paper plate, the front door opened
and Kendrick bopped in. “Sup, cuz?”
Laylah shook her head and raised a finger to her mouth.
“Is that Kendrick?” Gale called from the bathroom.
Kendrick froze.
Before Laylah could respond, Gale was down the hallway and standing in front of Kendrick with her hands on her hips. “Oh, look – the prodigal nephew has returned.”
Kendrick rolled his eyes and plopped down on the couch. “Yo, where’s my pillow and blanket?”
“In the wash,” Laylah replied.
“Great.” He wrapped his jacket tighter around himself. “Guess I’ll fucking freeze then.”
“Or,” Gale said, “how about thanking Laylah for washing your bedding – which reeked of marijuana by the way.”
“Aight, Auntie. I hear you. My bad.” He winked at Laylah. “Thanks, cuz.”
“Where have you been?” Gale asked.
Kendrick switched on the television and propped his feet on the coffee table. “What you mean, man? You know, I be chilling at my boy Stacy’s crib.”
Gale snatched the remote and hit the power button. “First of all, it’s ‘what do you mean?’ and second, I am not a ‘man’ and as long as you live under this roof, you will speak the proper English I know you’re capable of speaking.” Gale sighed. “Brenda may have had her shortcomings, but bad grammar was never one of them. Your mother was smarter than even Winston gave her credit for.”
Kendrick snorted. “Yeah, she was so smart she OD’d on a speedball.” He clenched his jaw. “Sounds like a dumb ass bitch to me.”
“Hey!” Gale said. “Do not talk about your mother like that.”
Kendrick rolled his eyes. “Shouldn’t you be at one of your little jobs and not busting my balls?”
Gale’s eyebrows shot up, and she opened her mouth.
“Mom,” Laylah said, “your meeting, remember?”
Gale ignored her. “Kendrick, if I get one more truancy call from your school–”
“I’ll make sure he goes today,” Laylah said quickly. She grabbed the pop tarts, wrapped them in a paper towel and pressed them into her mother’s hand. “Do you want me to drive you to the bus stop? It’s freezing today.”
The superstore Gale worked at was a fifty-minute commute from their apartment, and it was more economical for her to catch the bus – not that Gale’s junker of a car could have made the trip.
“That’d be wonderful, honey,” Gale said, as Laylah helped her into her pea coat.
After slipping on her own jacket, Laylah followed her mother out of the apartment and into the hallway where the smell of old grease hit them like a ton of bricks.
Laylah wrinkled her nose. “Smells like ‘downstairs Keisha’ is frying fish again. Yum.”
Gale frowned. “I thought ‘upstairs Keisha’ fried fish?”
“Nope,” Laylah said as they trudged downstairs and entered the apartment building’s tiny foyer. “‘Upstairs Keisha’ fries chicken and uses fresh grease. ‘Downstairs Keisha’ fries fish and uses grease older than her seven-year-old twins.”
“I stand corrected.” Gale opened the front door, and a gust of icy wind blasted them.
Laylah held her glasses to keep them from flying off her face as they crossed the parking lot.
“We’re losing him,” Gale said suddenly. “Next month, he’ll turn 18 and can do whatever he wants.”
They stopped in front of her mother’s beater and Gale tossed Laylah the keys. The only thing new on her mother’s twenty-year-old Camry was the shiny Meals on Wheels decal that adorned both the driver and passenger doors. Gale’s second job.
“We won’t lose him,” Laylah said as she climbed behind the wheel. “Kendrick wants to do the right thing. He won’t end up like Aunt Brenda.”
“God, I hope not.” Gale climbed into the passenger seat. “Oh, and honey I picked up an extra shift at the store, but I should be home tonight.”
“Oh…another one?” Laylah asked lightly, tryin
g to conceal her concern.
After Gale’s ‘forced retirement’ and their subsequent move to College Park, Laylah had hoped her mother would find another job within the school system, but a certain attorney general ran a smear campaign against her mother so convincing, no school in the state would hire her.
After twenty years in the education system, Gale Carter was only qualified to deliver hot meals to the elderly and stock Wal-Mart shelves overnight.
Laylah turned the key in the ignition and the engine sputtered.
Her mother struck the dashboard with her fist. “Come on, you rusty death trap.”
Laylah tried twice more and on the third crank, the engine roared to life.
Gale closed her eyes. “Thank you, you gorgeous rust bucket.”
As they waited for the car to warm up, Laylah’s worry got the better of her.
“Mom,” she said softly. “When was your last day off?”
Gale sighed. “You paid the overdue balance on the electric bill last month.”
It wasn’t a question.
Laylah looked down, unable to lie to her mother’s face. “I made some extra cash from tutoring.”
Gale stared at her for an uncomfortably long time, but didn’t question the lie. “I’ll take a couple of days off next week. I promise.”
Laylah didn’t believe it for a second. “Sure, mom.”
She put the car in gear, and they rode the mile and a half to the bus stop in silence.
When they arrived, Gale kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, honey. And please make sure your cousin goes to school today. I don’t care if you have to drag him by his foot. I can’t afford another truancy fine, and I’ve already blown through my time-off for the year.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Laylah insisted.
After Gale was safely on the bus, Laylah returned to the apartment, ready to make good on her promise, but when she arrived upstairs, she found the apartment door slightly ajar.
No sign of Kendrick on the couch. Or in the kitchen. Or in the bathroom. A walk down the hallway confirmed that Laylah was alone in the tiny apartment.
She sat on the couch and checked the time. School started in forty minutes, and Kendrick was AWOL. It was going to be a long day.
****
Avery gazed into the sea of faces and imagined taking a running leap off the makeshift stage and diving head-first into the surprised crowd. She was sure the breaking news coverage of her ill-fated plunge would be shown repeatedly on every 24-hour cable news station.
Folks, it looks like we have some breaking news out of downtown Atlanta. This just in… the Adopted Daughter of Georgia’s Attorney General, Theodore ‘call me Teddy’ Bradley, has just crowd-dived into an unsuspecting audience at the grand opening of a homeless shelter dedicated to LGBTQ youths.
I repeat, the Adopted Daughter of Georgia’s Attorney General, Theodore ‘call me Teddy’ Bradley, has taken a running leap from what we are now being told was a hastily built stage constructed specifically for the attorney general’s appearance. We can only hope the builders and all involved in the stage’s construction will be held responsible.
The aforementioned Adopted Daughter will be missed but rest assured Attorney General, Theodore ‘call me Teddy’ Bradley, and his wife, Always High and/or Drunk Joanna Bradley already have plans to adopt yet another Daughter.
Keep in mind folks, after this most recent tragedy, the Bradleys’ are 0 for 2 in the Daughter department but here’s hoping the third times a charm for these wonderful, doting and not at all neglectful parents!
Avery would have smiled if the world’s fakest grin wasn’t already plastered on her face, although if Teddy didn’t wrap up his speech soon, her overworked jaw muscles might completely fail her.
The stage had been constructed in the largest room of the shelter – it’s cafeteria, and the overpowering smell of chili emanating from the kitchen was making Avery nauseous. She returned her attention to the podium where Teddy was doing his best impersonation of a human being with feelings.
Over the years Avery had perfected the skill of watching Teddy speak without hearing a word he said. It was the only thing that kept her sane at events like this – events designed to trick the target demographic into believing Teddy was just like them when nothing could be further from the truth.
Ignoring whatever patently untrue statements Teddy was making to the crowd, Avery concentrated on his right ear. Her jaw muscles spasmed and her smile faltered.
Come on, Teddy, let’s wrap this shit show up before I get lockjaw.
“And finally folks, as I’m sure you all know by now, the LGBTQ cause is one that’s close to my heart. Literally.”
Teddy tugged on his right earlobe and Avery almost shouted, ‘fucking finally.’ She stepped forward and Teddy wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.
“People, let me tell you a little story – a story I’m sure many of you can relate to.”
All eyes were trained on Teddy.
He cleared his throat dramatically. “Three years ago, my life changed forever. My then fifteen-year-old baby”–he squeezed Avery’s arm, and the crowd aww’d–“came to me with her truth. Trembling and so incredibly brave she opened her mouth and said, ‘Daddy, I think I like girls, too.’”
The crowd cheered and Teddy wiped a non-existent tear from his eye.
“And folks, from that day forward, I vowed to take on the LGBTQ fight no matter the personal or professional cost to myself because I want to live in a world where my daughter won’t be judged for whom she loves.”
It took everything in Avery not to roll her eyes. Her actual coming out had been far less Lifetime original movie-ish and more Netflix and chill-like.
Avery realized she was attracted to the fairer sex after she transferred to Lovett Academy, but had kept the revelation from her parents. Not because she feared rejection, but because she knew Teddy would use her newfound sexuality to lock in the LGBTQ vote. He was a bastard like that.
After a month at Lovett, Avery became enamored by a pretty classmate with dusty olive skin, gorgeous green eyes and the highest GPA in her trigonometry class. She invited the girl over under the pretense of studying. Suffice to say, very little studying took place. In fact, thirty minutes into ‘trigonometry and chill,’ a housekeeper walked in on them.
When the incident was relayed to Teddy, he salivated at the political implications. After Judge Carter’s passing, Teddy had never regained the black vote, but with the LGBTQ vote, he wouldn’t need it to win. Never mind the fact that Avery was a lesbian and not bi-sexual.
“Wait, what are you saying?” Teddy asked, after Avery clarified her sexuality. “You’re a dyke?”
“The word is lesbian, Teddy.”
Teddy shuddered. “Nobody likes lesbians.”
“What about Ellen?”
“The one exception to the rule.”
Avery shook her head. “Oh my God.”
“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.” Teddy held up his hands. “It’s not my fault lesbians have a bad reputation.”
“Lesbians don’t have a–”
“Hairy, man-hating feminists who want to cut off your dick.” He frowned. “Why would you want to be a lesbian?”
“I don’t ‘want’ to be a lesbian,” Avery said. “I’m just not attracted to men.”
“What about Wyatt?” Teddy asked. “You dated him.”
Avery clenched her jaw. “Because you wanted me to.”
“Good.” Teddy clapped his hands as if it had been settled. “I want you to be bi-sexual. It polls better.”
“And folks, that’s my time this morning. Thank you all for coming out on this blustery Monday morning to hear little ol’ Teddy’s talk.”
The crowd chuckled.
“And remember,” he added. “None of us are free until we’re all free.” Teddy grasped Avery’s hand and raised it with his. “Equality for all!”
The crowd gave Teddy a standing ovation as father an
d daughter walked off stage, hand in hand. The moment the cafeteria doors closed behind them, Teddy dropped Avery’s hand and made a beeline for the nearest exit.
Avery massaged her sore jaw and followed. “Teddy? Do you have a minute?”
He turned around and pointed to the AirPod in his ear. “Yeah Sean, the gays ate it up. You know I have a way with them.”
Avery checked the time. Thirty minutes until first period. “Teddy?”
“Sweetie?”
Avery turned around and was greeted by Teddy’s perpetually smiling assistant, Kaleigh. At twenty-two, Kaleigh was only four years older than Avery, but treated Avery like she was seven.
Kaleigh held out a Starbucks cup. “Now’s not a great time, sweetie.”
Avery took the cup without checking the contents. In the two years Kaleigh had worked for Teddy she’d never once screwed up Avery’s order. Her accuracy and overall efficiency made her even more annoying. Well that, and the fact she was fucking Teddy.
“It’ll only take a minute,” Avery said, speed walking after Teddy.
“Now sweetie,” Kaleigh said, easily keeping pace. “I’m sure whatever it is can wait until after the ceremony. It’s not every day your father gets sworn in as the state’s attorney general.”
“Just every three years,” Avery mumbled. She pushed open the double doors that led outside as Teddy was climbing inside the waiting town car illegally parked on the curb.
The back window lowered, and Teddy stuck his head out. “Goddammit, Kaleigh, let’s go! The Townhall’s at 8!”
“Coming!” Kaleigh turned to her. “Sweetie, the ceremony’s starts at seven, but we need you there no later than five-thirty, kay?”
“Sure.”