“No ma’am.”
“Then mind your business.” Clearly, she was pissed because normally she was uber nice to Aldridge.
“Let’s not act like we’re not all adults here. Jemini I’m trying to be respectful because you are theelderbut not too much.” I loved how he always had my back. And did you catch the dig at her age?
“I just don’t understand you girls. We had a plan, a big traditional wedding with all the extras.” She turned to me. “And you and your silly law school dream. You failed the first time and will likely fail again. Law school is a huge waste of time.”
Because she couldn’t control Anika, she decided to take swipes at me. “I disagree.”
“Aldridge, tell her law school would drain her bank account and it’s a scam.”
“I’m with Danessa on this. She should pursue what she’s passionate about. And she’d make one hell of a lawyer.”
“Now that you two are doing whatever this is, Aldridge should be your full-time priority. Making sure he’s cared for and looked after.”
“That’s archaic thinking,” I protested.
“Women are supposed to be a helpmate to their man. That’s from the Bible.”
“I know you’re not quoting scripture. The Bible also highlights adultery as a sin, but that hasn’t seemed to stop you.”
“He was separated.”
“Which one, Mom?”
“Technically she wouldn’t be the adulterer because she was never married,” Dante said. “A convenient loophole.”
“How about we agree to disagree,” I said through gritted teeth. “Better yet. Why not stop meddling in the affairs of your adult children. If Anika wants to get married while Elvis sings Love Me Tender that’s her choice.”
“You’re my daughters, so what you do is very much my business.”
“Most parents would be thrilled to have a kid in law school.”
“I’m not most parents.”
“No shit Sherlock. You had us wearing padded bras at eleven and thong panties at thirteen.”
“That was so you wouldn’t have panty lines.”
“You were always pushing us to grow up way too soon. And don’t even get me started on that twenty-year-old you tried to make me date.”
“He was nice and willing to buy you anything and you acted like a weirdo.”
“I was fourteen, Jemini. I hadn’t even had my first kiss, and you wanted me to date a drug dealer.”
“You’ve always been such a baby. Your sister was way more mature than you.”
“And you were a pimp.”
Aldridge squeezed my knee under the table. “Whoa maybe we should pause. Have you tried the scalloped potatoes, because they are the creamiest if anyone’s interested.”
“Do you hear that?” Jemini asked.
“What?” Anika said.
“It’s the world’s smallest violin playing a pity tune just for Danessa. I was a single mother doing the best I could with two ungrateful girls to look after.”
“Was the best you could do allowing random men in and out of our apartment?” Biting my tongue was the only option. There were so many skeleton bones I could allow to tumble at our feet. I was convinced my mother was suffering from a mild case of amnesia because she conveniently forgot all the shady parts of the past thirty years. My role was to support Anika, but Jemini knew exactly how to push my buttons, often making me look like the angry Black woman who couldn’t let go of the past.
