“You turned out fine.” Her tone was dismissive.
“Despite you, not because of you. I’m going to law school because I don’t want to be an aging video vixen who can’t accept that the spotlight has faded along with her beauty.”
“Now you’re just lying you fucking little bitch.”
Aldridge clapped his hands. “Whoa, can we stop with the name calling?”
“Aldridge, you should run. Or at the very least pay so Danessa can get the stick removed from her ass.”
“I love dinner parties because they’re always so unpredictable,” Dante said.
“Oh, this is classic Jemini, never taking accountability, refusing to admit when she’s wrong.”
“Like mother like daughter, Baby girl. You’re an adult and still blaming me for everything that goes wrong in your life.”
“I’ve really gotten into painting,” Aldridge chimed in attempting to redirect the conversation. “Very soothing. I’m fucking heavy with watercolors right now.”
“Maybe you should teach Danessa. It might make her less uptight.”
“Uptight? You’d be uptight too if you had to share the same space with your abuser.”
“This is getting dark,” Dante whispered.
I stared at Anika who just pushed the garlic parmesan orzo across her plate. What happened to having each other’s backs?
“I really can’t stand this new generation. They read a couple of books, and they start saying shit about breaking curses and holding space for fuck knows what. When did people turn into such pussies?”
I countered, “Some would say perhaps your generation shoved too much down, never really dealing with the things that hurt you or the people who wronged you. And that crap you hid away still spilled over into your relationship with your kids.”
“Hurt people hurt people,” Dante added.
“Baby, you’re so philosophical.” Anika rubbed her nose against his.
I had to close my eyes to prevent them from rolling from my sockets. “Two things can be true, you did the best you could but your children were still affected by the choices you made.”
“I didn’t come here to be attacked.”
I surrendered my hands in the air. “No one’s attacking you.”
Aldridge scrunched his face. “Mmm.”
Leaning in I asked, “What do you mean hmm?”
“I just don’t think sniping at one another is beneficial,” he whispered.
“She’s berating me.”
“I don’t disagree but arguing with Jemini is like fucking with someone with nothing to lose.”
Dante spoke up. “Y’all should probably go to therapy. Everyone is doing it. It’s hella trendy right now. It’ll give you a chance to unpack all these emotions.”
Aldridge nodded. “Dante has a point.” We had now entered a surreal realm because Dante was making sense.
“I love therapy. Go religiously every week,” Anika said.
“Really?” I asked. Anika’s eyes met mine. Bullshit detected. She ain’t never a day in her life talked to a licensed professional about anything.
“If that would stop Danessa from blaming me for every goddamn thing, I’m down.”
