Page 60 of D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

With flat eyes, Mama offered Tanisha a bland smile that barely lifted the corners of her lips. What in the world was up with her? My mama was usually so friendly and welcoming to everyone we met that, although she wasn’t being outright rude, I was completely taken aback.

Thankfully, Tanisha didn’t seem to notice a thing, moving closer to the platform to give me a hug, the odd angle putting her face right into the exposed valley of my breasts. Wiggling her fingers at Mama and D’Niesha, she swished out of the shop. I watched her departure until Mama’s sharp clearing of her throat quickly brought my attention to her. She had me pinned with a disapproving frown that made my brows knit in response. As Dory wrapped measuring tape around my hips, I narrowed my eyes at the woman who’d birthed me.

“What was that about, Mama? You were less than welcoming with Tanisha.”

Mama pursed her lips. “I don’t like her.”

“Mmhm!” D’Niesha added, nodding as she headed for a plush settee and took a seat.

Gasping, I brought a hand to my chest, bouncing my disbelieving gaze between the two of them. “You just met her! How can you already not like her?”

D’Niesha crossed her legs. “For starters, she was flirting her behind off!”

“Flirting with who?!”

Mama clucked her teeth. “I know I make beautiful children, but the way she was looking at you was highly inappropriate. She practically undressed you with her eyes.”

Slapping my hands on my cheeks, I shook my head, my face heating even as the accusation boosted my ego. “Mama, please!”

“Don’t ‘Mama, please!’ me! You should’ve told her to stop looking at you like that! It was completely disrespectful to Kris!”

The short train of amusement I rode at her blustering came to a screeching halt. It took the force of God himself to keep me from rolling my eyes. Of all the reasons to be offended, that was so insignificant that it didn’t even warrant a line on my to-do list.

“Seriously, Mama?” D’Niesha asked, exasperation bringing her voice down an octave. “Kris is cool and all, but she isn’t here, so how about focusing on Vaughn?”

My eyes nearly popped out of my head, but I bit my tongue so quickly that I felt the unmistakable taste of copper. It never ceased to amaze me how Niesha had the ability to say things to Mama that neither me nor Darren could ever get away with, simply because she was the baby of us all. It was evident in how Mama only shot her a confused look instead of reaching for a belt.

“What are you talking about, li’l girl?”

Niesha shook her head. “You gotta let that patriarchal mess go, Mama.”

Mama fisted her hands at her hips and turned completely to face my baby sister. “Now you ain’t making a lick of sense. How is it patriarchal when they’re two women?”

I raised my eyes to the ceiling, silently praying for the sky to open up and swallow me whole.

“It’s all about a sense of ownership,” Niesha answered, sitting up straight and facing us with her hands on her knees. “Patriarchy says that wives are the property of their husbands. It’s why men won’t bat an eye when women tell them to stop harassing them, but quickly back off when they say they’re married or have a boyfriend. She belongs to that man and they don’t want to be disrespectful to him, completely disregarding the woman as her own person who is worthy of respect on her own. Claiming that Tanisha’s overt flirting was disrespectful to Kris instead of even considering Vaughn and her feelings is along that same vein.”

Mama jerked her neck back, blinking as if she’d been slapped. Her mouth opened, closed, and then she frowned. When she turned to face me, remorse shone bright in her brown eyes, and my chest squeezed tightly.

“I’m sorry, baby,” she uttered so sincerely that tears sprung to my eyes. She waved a hand around. “All of this is new to me, and I know that’s no excuse, but I have a few decades to...unlearn some things. Just know that I’m trying to do better.”

“Mama—” I broke off, choking back a sob. I’d had so many dreams over the course of my life about having conversations like this with her and now that they were happening, I couldn’t handle it.

She was on me in a moment, wrapping me in her arms tightly before leaning back to wipe away the wet trails on my cheeks. “No, my baby. Don’t cry. Mama is gonna get it together.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded. It was in her effort; in acknowledging that she was wrong and vowing to do better. And while I was happy to hear it now, it was bittersweet that I had to shove us into this place. There was a war inside of me between being grateful and being resentful.

“You ain’t done yet, woman?”

At Kris’s teasing question, I looked up to see her coming through the curtained door that separated the private dressing area from a short hall that connected to the other dressing areas. The moment that she caught sight of my tearstained face, the smile she wore melted immediately. Her eyes narrowed and she swept a quick glance around the room, silently reading the scene as she made her way toward me.

“How are y’all fine people doing today?” she asked. “Good to see y’all.”

After placing a hand on Mama’s back and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek, Kris grabbed my hand and smoothly pulled me out of my mama’s arms without waiting for a response. Her hands encircled my wrists, sliding up my arms and over my shoulders to cup my face as she gave me an intent once-over. As she touched her thumbs to the damp trails on my face, her frown deepened.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

My voice was already thick with emotion from the exchange between me and my mama, but the sincere concern in Kris’s eyes did me in. Sucking in a long breath through my nose, I shook my head.