Page 72 of Body Language
“I know,” she said, breathless. “And I’m ready, Niv. It’s been long overdue.”
I stood slow. My blood boiling but my body calm. I looked up at Kendrix, and he was still watching me. I straightened my shoulders and squared my stance with a steady calm that sent chills through my own damn spine—
“Ok. Let’s go.”
Zejah pushed the door open first, and the second her mama laid eyes on her, the bullshit started.
“Oh, you back? So you ready to throw hands again?” Her mama leaned back in her chair, legs crossed like she was daring her own daughter to swing first. Then her eyes slid past Zejah and landed on Kendrix, and her mouth curved into this nasty little grin.
“Ohhh,” she purred. “So you brought some fine man with you. Mmm. And here I thought for sure little Hux, crackhead Jr., was the daddy.”
I stepped through the doorway right then. Her eyes went wide like she just saw the Grim Reaper in heels.
“Zejah,” I said calmly, not taking my eyes off her mama. “Go get your things.”
She hesitated.
“Now.”
She nodded quick and disappeared down the hall with Kendrix trailing behind her, leaving me and that woman face-to-face.
I crossed my arms, cocked my head. “So. What’s that shit you been saying?”
She smirked, lighting a cigarette like this was casual. “Yeah, I said it. I don’t know why she wanna go get pregnant like I already ain’t got enough damn kids for her to take care of. If she wanna do something, she need to go downtown, find her a job, pay some of these bills.”
I let out a sharp laugh. Not because it was funny, but because it kept me from putting my foot through her chest right then and there.
“You got a lotta nerve,” I said, voice calm. “Maybe instead of running your mouth about me and my family, you should’ve been a better mama so your daughter isn’t out here doing everything you should be doing for your kids.”
She blew smoke in my direction, squinting like she was unimpressed. “Oh, here you go. Miss Savior Complex. Miss Perfect. Girl, please. You out here swinging around poles, talking bout being better. Don’t get too high on your little pedestal.”
I smiled slow. “Funny. I don’t need a pedestal. I stand ten toes on the same ground as you. The difference is, I don’t need a blunt or a bottle to keep me standing.”
That one hit. I saw it in the way her jaw tightened.
“Whatever,” she muttered. “You don’t know what it’s like. You don’t know the pressure, the pain—”
“Oh, I know,” I cut her off, stepping closer. “I know because I lived through your mess. I raised my siblings like Zejah has been doing. I carried weight mothers like you cared less to hold. Don’t you ever think I don’t know what it’s like.”
Her eyes narrowed, that little smirk creeping back. “And look at you now. Still mad. Still bitter. You think you better than me because you found a nigga to bankroll you?”
“Everything I have,” I said, stepping closer, “I got on my own. Don’t get it twisted. I got a few paid niggas on my roster, but Inever had to lay on my back to get what I want or need. Unlike you—” I dragged my eyes up and down her like she wasn’t even worth a second glance, “—I’m self-made. I depend on no one. What a nigga adds is a luxury.”
She tilted her head, sucked her teeth, then laughed like she had won. “Self-made, huh? That’s what you call it? Baby, you still a hoe. Just like my daughter. Pregnant by a lil crackhead in training. Pssh. Take her. She can help you screw a few men while you at it.”
Something in me snapped clean in half.
“I reallllllly try to be nice, but Bitch, you got me so fucked up.”
Before she could breathe another word, my fist connected with her jaw. The sound echoed off those thin walls, her cigarette flying across the floor.
“Ohhh bitch, you thought this was a game?” I said, grabbing her by her shirt before she could fall.
I slammed her against the wall so hard the whole damn wall of picture frames slid crooked.
“You think I’m one of your little boyfriends you can talk crazy to?”BAM!I popped her in the mouth again.
She tried to swing back with a weak-ass hit, and I laughed in her face while dodging it. “That’s all you got? Girl, my little sister slap harder than that when she mad she can’t get ice cream.”
