AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Marcus, please! She’s already upset. Let’s try to be calm about this. Now Carmen, what do you mean you didn’t go back? Were you not living in your dorm?”
Carmen hesitated. “I moved back here. I have an apartment in Tucker.”
Marcus did a peculiar thing. He began to laugh. It sounded maniacal to Ladonna’s ears, and her muscles tensed as she waited for the explosion. But he just sat back and stretched his legs out until they were perfectly straight. He let his head fall back onto the couch and he crossed his hands over his chest. He looked like a dead person in a casket.
“How are you supporting yourself, Carmen?” he asked.
“I have a job.”
Marcus rolled his eyes, and even Ladonna had to agree. Carmen wasn’t the working type. “Doing what?”
“Waiting tables.”
Marcus lifted his head. “Is that your plan? Your goal in life is to be a waitress?”
“Of course not.”
“So…what, then? What’s your plan?”
“Daddy, I don’t know yet.”
“This is a hell of an example you’re setting for your sister. You know she looks up to you. What are you gonna tell her?”
“She already knows.”
Marcus shook his head and stood without saying a word. He walked into the kitchen, and as soon as Ladonna heard his cabinet open, she knew he was officially at his wits end.
“When did you tell her?” Ladonna asked.
“Before I left. She helped me unpack in my new place. She’s been a big help to me. Which is weird, because I’m usually the one helping her.”
Ladonna forgot about her own deception for a moment and focused on her daughters’. “She’s been to your apartment?”
“Yeah, she rides the bus out there. She usually comes on Mondays and we have dinner.”
“That’swhere she’s been going. I knew something wasn’t right.”
“What do you mean?” Marcus asked. She hadn’t even seen him creep back in.
“She told me she had model UN on Mondays, but I…had a feeling she wasn’t telling me the truth.”
Marcus eyed her curiously before turning his attention to Carmen. “Bria rode the MARTA bus? By herself?”
“Yes.”
“Boy, I swear. I’m learning all kinda shit about my family today. This whole day has been very educational.” He downed the brown liquid in his glass and tapped his finger on the side. “Carmen, go upstairs and let us talk.”
She practically catapulted herself off the couch and ran up the stairs.Lucky, Ladonna thought.
“Before you start,” she said, “let me just say this: I know why you’re upset, and you aren’t wrong. But please try not to fly off the handle. I don’t think I can deal with it today.”
“When have I ever flown off the handle?”
She sucked her teeth and tilted her head dramatically. “Really?”
When he didn’t respond, she continued. “Maybe she’s just not cut out for college. It’s not for everybody.”
“Fuck that.”
