Page 18 of Make Me Forget

She tilted her head slightly. “Well, I’ll pray that it gets better, because just okay isn’t acceptable.”

I smiled. This was why everyone loved her. I loved my mama, but Aunt Chrissy was the standard. That woman just seemed perfect. While I knew no one was, I had yet to see her fuck up. She treated people right and went above and beyond for her family… not just her kids, but all of us.

“Thanks, Aunt Chrissy.”

“Of course, baby. You want your usual?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She smiled big and began fixing my plate of stuffed fried chicken, rice dressing, candied yams, and green beans. Most of us ate the same thing every time we came. It was crazy with all the food they cooked that we got stuck on one thing.

“Where the fuck he at?”

My eyebrows lifted, and I turned to see Jameka. Everybody frowned. She was fucking insane if she thought she was going to come up in my aunts’ place of business and wreck shit. Jacob stood, and when I saw his lip twitching, I quickly grabbed that loud ass girl and escorted her outside.

“Take your fucking hands off me, KJ!”

“You got to be out your fucking mind to roll on our turf like that!”

She jerked away from me but ran right into Jacob. That nigga was mild until he wasn’t. “What the fuck I told you last time?” he said in an eerily calm voice.

“You gon’ fucking hear me, nigga! This yo’ fucking baby, and you gon’ take care of your responsibilities!”

My eyes widened. I thought those muthafuckas were gonna fall out of the sockets. “I know you fucking lying,” I said to Jacob.

“That bitch is lying. Her and her raggedy ass cousin just tryna make a come up. She don’t realize that if she make me snap, ain’t gon’ be no stopping me until she no longer breathing.”

“Oh, so now you threatening me? You gon’ kill me and our unborn baby?”

When I saw the cop car pull up, I was beyond grateful. None of my female cousins were at the diner, and neither Aunt Chrissy nor Aunt Jen were about to try to handle her. Now, had Aunt Tiff been here, that ho would’ve been on her back.

“That ain’t my fucking baby, and you probably ain’t even pregnant.”

When the police approached us, I took a step back, but I didn’t venture far until Uncle Storm pulled up. When he came over, that was my cue to go inside and get my food. I knew he had Jacob’s back. While he didn’t express having favorites, I knew he was partial to Jacob. Jacob had been under his wing since he was a teenager, learning the ins and outs of mechanics.

Aunt Jen was standing at the glass door watching everything. She stepped aside to allow me to come in. “You okay, Aunt Jen?”

“I wanna choke that ho. That’s why I called the police and stayed inside. I’m not tryna be on the altar Sunday with my old ass knees. Carter and Jess are out of town, so I called Storm. I don’t know if that’s better or worse.”

I chuckled. “One thing we know for sure is that he has Jacob’s back. So that’s better.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

I walked past her and went back to the counter to get my food. Aunt Chrissy kissed my cheek then headed toward the door and put her arm around Aunt Jen. I sat at a table next to my brothers and cousins. Before I could even say my grace, I heard SS say, “Oh, he too good to sit with us and shit.”

I swore if that nigga wasn’t his father’s son, I didn’t know who he was. I wanted to be petty and ask how his case was coming, but that would have been below the belt. After thanking God for this fire meal I was about to eat, I turned to him. “I got a lot on my mind, and I need to figure some shit out. Y’all gon’ distract me.”

Kingsley and Kane came over and slapped my hand. I was thirteen, almost fourteen when King was born and fifteen when Kane was born. It was like they represented the updated and improved versions of Kenny and Keisha. They were conceived after we moved back from San Antonio and my parents had gotten remarried.

Ignoring my previous statement, they both sat at the table with me and left the other fools to themselves. “You ready for tomorrow?” King asked.

“I guess. As ready as I’ll be. I heard you going to the rodeo with Rylan and Milana.”

“Yeah. I’m thinking about getting into saddle bronc.”

“That’s what’s up. I know you can ride a bucking horse for sure.”

He was always doing that shit. It was like he didn’t have enough excitement in his life. I could think of other things to do with my time than getting bucked off a horse or bull. “What about you, Kane?” I asked.

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