Page 87 of Anonymous Acts

Thatwas it.

Right there.

The over-sell.

“You’renota good liar, Kay. I thought we went over this before?” I asked, chuckling as I sat down to eat my bribe waffles before she really told me what the fuck was going on. She’d either wrecked the Range Rover shebeggedfor as a birthday gift, was back to trying to hustle me into paying for her to have her own apartment, needed money, or… something that was too awful for me to even name, but I was expecting to hear any day now.

“Why do you think I’m lying?” she asked, in her definitely-withholding-the-truth voice. “You’ve always been fair with me, and consistent. I have no reason to—”

“You’re laying it on too thick baby girl,” I interrupted, holding up a hand. “Just tell me how much you need.”

She sucked her teeth. “Why do you always think I want money.”

“Because youalwayswant money, Kay. You think I’m playing, but I’m gonna make your ass get a job. You see where Taylor always is between classes.Working.”

“But Taylor doesn’t have an important part in a real show, with long, hard, exhausting rehearsals,ora boy—a…boy-ottomless… list of responsibilities… likeIdo.”

I gave her a blank stare as I chewed my mouthful of waffles, then swallowed. “Boy-ottomless.Boy-ottomless, Kay? With a straight face, you just tried to make that work. Okay, K-Pain.”

“K-Pain?” she asked, confused.

I grinned. “Yeah. Like, T-Pain. Rhymed “mansion” to “Wisconsin”. Wis-can-sin? Remember?”

“No.”

“Yes youdo,” I insisted. “That song, “I Can’t Believe It”. You remember that!”

She held up a finger. “Hold please.” I watched, amused as she picked up her hot pink, tutu-ed phone case, fingers flying over the screen as she looked it up. “Yeah, I was like twelve when that song came out, so…”

“You’re just a hater,” I said, brushing her off. “Hating onmyjoke. K-Pain is funny.”

She cringed, shaking her head. “But it’s… not though.”

“Maybe you’re right,” I grinned. “But your painfully unsuccessful attempts to conceal the fact that you have a boyfriend arehilarious.”

Her oversized afro puff shook as she stepped back in overdone faux-shock. “Why would I be pretending not to have a boyfriend?”

I shrugged. “Ol’ Khalil probably wonders the same damn thing,” I told her, almost making her choke on the sip of orange juice she’d just taken. “If he askedme, I’d say it was probably because you knew I would look into him, like I always look into them, and you probably didn’t want me to know he had a record, cause you’re inloooovewith him. Am I right?”

“Daddy, you didn’t!”

I laughed. “Oh, but I did. Months ago. I looked all up and through his shit, because I wanted to know who he was if he was going to be datingmybaby girl.”

Her eyes went big and glossy, like they always did when she was getting ready to go into full-on daddy’s-girl mode. “But that’s notfair. It’s a violation of his privacy, and you don’t even know the full story to judge him based on him having a record, and—”

“Kay,damn,” I said, motioning for her to kill the noise. “I haven’t said anything to you about him. If I had a problem, he would’ve disappeared by now. You don’t have to explain yourself like this to me – you’re grown, even though you like to pretend otherwise when you think you’re in trouble. I just want to keep you safe. I saw the letter from the judge in his file, all that shit.”

And I put a Lo-Jack on his piece of shit car.

“And you approve?” she asked, getting right in my face. “You’re okay with him? You like him?”

I sucked my teeth. “Ain’t nobody said all that. I just don’t think the little motherfucker is going to get you into anything you can’t handle, which is as far as I care to reach. You’re old enough to buy alcohol, which makes you old enough for me to mind my business. Just don’t fuck it up.”

“Ohhh, you shouldmeethim,” she gushed. “He paints the mostamazingmurals, and he’s teaching me how to eat vegan, which isgreatfor me as a dancer—”

“Hold up,” I said, with a piece of bacon halfway up to my mouth. “Is pork vegan?”

She grinned, and shook her head. “Youknowit’s not. Just don’t tell.”

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