Page 50 of The Prodigy 2: Rise of a Queen

“My bad, Auntie. I ain’t know you were behind me.”

“Uh huh.”

I laughed at them, my dinner forgotten. Truthfully, I’d been full for ten minutes, but I kept eating anyway, knowing Van would make me clean my plate. When you grow up black and underweight, the passive aggressive comments can really mess with your mind. And your relationship to food. Sometimes I found myself overeating just to avoid the comments.

With a parting wink, Jakari left the kitchen, leaving me and Van to our dinner. She reclaimed her seat and stared at my plate. Seeing that, I braced myself.

“You’re slowing down. If you’re full, just wrap it up. You can eat it for lunch tomorrow.”

Smiling with relief and happiness, I found some foil in a drawer and covered my plate. Once it was safely in the fridge, I returned to my seat and came out with it.

“So you don’t get along with Gab?”

She snickered. “Hell, no. She’s a mess.”

I bit back a laugh. “So it’s not just me. And Jaz.”

“Listen. Gab don’t get along with anybody. Never has. Well, except for Lester, but even that was conditional.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you know what a narcissist is?”

“I see it thrown around a lot on social media.”

“Yeah, well, I ain’t no expert, but I did live with the woman for fourteen years, so I can say with the utmost confidence that she don’t care about nobody but herself.”

“I can see that.”

“Yeah." She put another piece of whiting on her plate. "But nobody’s born bad. Bad people are made.”

“Who madeher?”

“I don’t know. We had the same parents, and they were fine. Loving.” She shrugged a shoulder, then grabbed the hot sauce and sprinkled it on her fish. “Something broke her, and she’s been unbearable ever since. I mean, she might seem cold and vicious, but—I see you nodding your head,” she said with a chuckle. “But deep down, she’s insecure. Her self-esteem is in the shitter. And that’s why I don’t just cut her ass off. Whatever made her the way she is…it wasn’t her fault. It’s just…deep down, there’s a hole that never got filled, and she takes that out on everybody else.”

She downed the rest of her lemonade. “Anyway, enough about that nonsense. Now, I don’t know what’s going on, and it ain’t my business, but I want you to know you’re safe here. My home is your home. Okay?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

After dinner, I retreated to the bedroom with my stuff. Jakari was lying on his back in a towel, his arm slung across his face.

“You okay?”

He moved his arm and lifted his head. “I ain’t hear you come in. Yeah, I’m good now. Now that I know you’re safe."

“What happened?”

He sat up and leaned back against the headboard. “Today was Prez day.”

I nodded. I knew what that meant.

“I pressed him, and he ended up telling me there was a plan to snatch you and hold you for insurance. He must have felt the walls closing in on his bitch ass to do some shit like that.”

“I was gonna be kidnapped?” I shuddered thinking about that. “Second time in less than a year.”

Jakari made a face at me. “I done told you about that.”

“Sorry. Just trying to joke so I don’t freak out. Kidnap me? Do you think they would have hurt me?”

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