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“I have it, Auntie. It’s right here.” She heard a bag rattle from the back of the car. “You reminded me before we left the apartment, remember?” Ayanna said as she gathered her bookbag and belongings.
“Baby, I barely remember my name.” Iris chuckled. “Okay, just as long as you’re covered.” The backdoor opened and Ayanna stepped out, closing it behind her. Standing there in her jeans and pink Polo shirt, she looked preppy and cute. Her hair had been flat ironed over the weekend, and she had arranged it in two long, thick black braids, one down each side. She had real nice, strong hair, like her mama.
“Auntie, I have a History test tomorrow, so is it okay if I go over Charla’s house and study?”
Iris slipped back in her seat and grimaced. Charla was a girl who seemed to care far more about boys than school, but her grades were good. Iris was careful about who Ayanna hung around, knowing a bad crowd was a ticket to a ride full of mistakes.
“What time will her mother be home from work?” She looked at the girl from the rolled down passenger’s side window.
Ayanna shrugged. “It shouldn’t take us more than a couple of hours, auntie.”
“All right. When you get to her house, call me and let me speak to her mama, and contact me when you’re ready to go, so I’ll pick you up. Two hours, Ayanna. That’s it.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you too, baby. Have fun today but pay attention. You can chew gum and jump rope at the same time.” She chortled as she waved to Ayanna who raced away towards a group of students she knew. Iris confirmed her niece made it inside of the school, then turned off the radio, picked up her phone, and dialed Aunt Blue on her way home. Blue was always up early fixing her coffee, smoking her cigarettes no doubt, and listening to music. She had a routine and was an early bird. Retirement looked good on her. The woman answered on the third ring. The sounds of ‘Tell Me’, by Groove Theory, could be heard from the other end of the phone.
“Hello?!” Blue yelled, as if she were mad at the world.
“Blue! Turn the music down. You can’t hear me because of all of that noise. Do you ever listen to any songs that came out in the last decade?”
“Naw! The music they got out now sounds a damn mess. Talkin’ ’bout some wet pussy and all this silly mess… All they talk about in the music nowadays is fat asses, money they ain’t really got, and bitches and hoes that ain’t studdin’ them. Half the time, I can’t even understand what they sayin’… talk like they got cotton in they mouth! The men wear skintight pants, and we should all be glad fuh it, ’cause maybe now they can’t reproduce. Nuts squeezed so damn tight, need to call those trousers, nutcrackers. They gonna find out they’re sterile. Then they can’t make more little mumble mouths just like dem! Might as well be Charlie Brown’s teacher up there on the microphone. Wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah! 10 million records sold.” Iris burst out laughing. “Don’t nobody wanna hear all that shit! Hold on…” Iris approached a red light and wrapped her hand around the Dunkin’ Donut’s coffee she’d purchased on the way to drop Ayanna off. It was hot and delicious. “All right. I’m back. You just got finished droppin’ the baby off?”
“Yes. I hardly got any sleep, so I’m on my way back home to sneak in a nap before startin’ that job I told you about yesterday after I got in from dinner.”
“Good. Why didn’t you get any sleep? Lot on your mind?”
“I’m not sure… tossed and turned. Just couldn’t get into it. I should’ve taken some melatonin. I have a bottle of it from Walgreens but haven’t tried it yet.”
“If you had trouble sleeping, the best remedy is to turn the air up real high.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah! My doctor told me about it! I get these hot flashes, girl, and they keep me awake. I’ve got my fans and all of that shit, but she hipped me to this coolin’ pillow and blanket. Honeeeey! Changed my life. I sleep like a baby now.”
“But I’m not hot. I actually sometimes get cold at night. I just couldn’t sleep.”
“It’ll still work I bet. That melatonin shit don’t be working, baby. I bought some of the gummies, and they may as well have been candy. So not only was I still up, girl, I was up all night breedin’ cavities from all the extra sugar in them mothasuckas! Ended up fixing me some soup and watchin’ a Lifetime movie about some man who was going around stranglin’ women with their own pantyhose. I wish a mothasucka would!”
“Was it based on a true story?”
“Hell, I don’t know. I wouldn’t doubt it.”
“Some people are really sick.” Iris shook her head and placed her coffee back in the cupholder.
“Shiiiid… As much as I pay for my pantyhose, I would’ve been pissed! He got hold of the wrong one finally, though, Iris. That woman got away, then tracked him down, shot him, but left him alive, and set his house on fire wit’ him in it! I bet he was hot footin’ it for real, then!” Blue let out a husky laugh. “Lovin’ pantyhose… his ass needed a fire hose! Haaaa!”
Iris burst out laughing again and shook her head as she sipped on her coffee.
“Auntie, let me ask you something.”
“Mmm hmmm. What is it?”
“I feel… funny.”
“Pregnant? You finally let someone new into the batcave?”
“No! I’m being serious now.”
