by Cydney Rax
She nodded. “Yeah. I tried to look up my high school sweetheart.”
Coco said, “Ooh. You must be checking for Jerrod Dawson. I remember him. You two used to get on my damned nerves, y’all hung around each other so much. Remember that, B and Lita?”
They both nodded.
Coco laughed. “Umph, well, look at you with your sneaky self. Does Ty know what you did? And were you able to find your ex, Dru Boo?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet, as in Ty doesn’t know what you doing behind his back.”
“Knock it off, Coco. I’m just trying to complete the November assignment like everyone else. I’m not keeping anything from anybody,” she calmly replied.
Coco smirked. “Yeah, right. Anyway, how long does Dru have to get herself into some trouble by looking up her ex?”
Burgundy rescued Dru, whose eyes began to flash with anger. “Coco, sweetie. We’re not doing this assignment so we can get into trouble. We might want to look them up so we can forgive someone, or we might need closure from somebody. That’s all. If we’re good to someone from our past, we can prove that we are the bigger person.”
Alita, who’d been quiet all this time, was about to open her mouth.
“Don’t even try it, Lita,” Coco warned her. “Enough with the fat jokes. I’m only this big because I’m carrying a baby.”
“You can believe that lie if you want to,” Alita said with a hearty laugh. Then she sobered up. “There is nobody from my past that I’m trying to get in touch with.”
“Maybe the person from your past that you need to get real with is Leonard,” Burgundy said.
“Are you telling me that I need to forgive him for filing on me?”
“I’m just saying there’s probably a good way to work this assignment into what you’re going through right now.”
“What?” Alita said, feeling like she was about to explode. “Meaning?”
“Meaning no matter how hard it is and how much you don’t want to do it,” Burgundy replied, “you’re going to have to find it within yourself to make this thing with Leonard not just be about your feelings.”
Alita snatched the strap of her denim handbag and arranged it across her body. She stood and fled the family room.
“Alita,” Coco called after her. “Bring you bony ass back here. You called this meeting, and you damn sure not leaving after five minutes.”
“Sister sad,” Elyse said softly.
“Yes, Elyse,” Burgundy said. “We’re ‘sister’ sad, but for Alita’s sake we gotta be strong. We’re Reeveses. We know how to go through hard times, no matter how hard things get.”
Alita sprinted back into the family room. She leaped toward Burgundy and shoved her chest until the woman fell backward with her legs awkwardly sprawled on the sofa. Alita practically lay on top of her, her face close to Burgundy’s face, as she stared at her sister’s mouth.
“Dang, what you do that for? Get off me.” Burgundy wiggled her tiny body underneath Alita, but the older sister solidly pinned her to the sofa.
“I’m sick of you talking all this crap when you ain’t the one that has to go through it. You always give silly-ass advice that sounds good to you, but it means nothing to me. Until you walk a day in my shoes, don’t open your mouth any more about my life. And unless you really ready to help me, really help a sister out, shut your damned mouth, because until you exit your ivory castle with the Italian floors and step inside my, or Elyse’s or even Coco’s shoes for a day, you know nothing about real life.”
Breathing so hard that it sounded like she was having an asthma attack, Alita gave herself a couple more minutes to control her temper, then she angrily lifted herself off Burgundy.
The second oldest Reeves sister had never been in a fistfight a day in her life. It just wasn’t who Burgundy believed herself to be. She had always been dignified. Self-controlled. A lot like her daddy. But not one hundred percent like him. This is why, after she composed herself but then thought about her sister’s vicious verbal attack, something uncontrollable rose up in Burgundy.
She got in Alita’s face. “You think you’re the only one that knows trouble, Lita. Huh?”
Alita withheld her anger and said nothing.
“Just because I don’t wallow around in sorrow and because I don’t call all my sisters up every single time I feel depressed, or miserable, or frustrated,” Burgundy continued, “it doesn’t mean that I don’t have real issues, real problems. Because I do.” She ran over to her purse, opened it up, and pulled out a dildo. It was big, hot pink, very wide, and made of latex. It could also light up when she squeezed it.
“Does a truly satisfied woman have sex with sex toys?” she asked.
“Some do,” Coco said. “They get it in any way they can. Literally.”
“I’m being serious,” Burgundy told her.
“You’re being ridiculous,” Alita cut in. “Just because you’re kinkier than I thought and you enjoy getting off on one of those things . . . seriously, B? That’s all you dealing with? That ain’t shit. Why’d you get one anyway? Nate’s dick not working like it used to?”
“No.” For once Burgundy decided not to put on airs. “Not anymore. Not how I want it to.”
“But why is that thing in your purse? Oh, never mind,” Alita said.
“Oh, Burgundy.” That was Dru. Coming from Burgundy, that topic seemed so taboo that Dru barely knew what else to say. But right then she realized that all the sisters had their own issues.
Coco only allowed a sad shake of her head.
And Elyse gave a tiny, feeble grunt that everyone ignored.
“Okay. Big deal,” Alita finally said after thinking about the situation. “So you get your rocks off on your plastic boyfriend, your chick stick, your weapon of ass destruction, as some like to call it. It ain’t the end of the world. I’d still trade places with you, my sister, in a minute. Would you trade places with me?”
When Burgundy failed to reply, Alita knew she had the answer to her question.
“But check this out, y’all. This is why I called this emergency meeting,” Alita continued. “Not only did Leonard spring this legal shit on me, but I also got fired from my customer service job.”
“Oh, Sis,” Dru murmured. “I’m so sorry. But what did you do to get fired?”
“Yes, anyway,” Alita said in a loud voice. “On top of that, Leonard didn’t ask me, he told me he’s flying Leno out of state to go to Pennsylvania on Thursday. To go on a college campus tour and see if he likes it enough to pay their athletic director any serious attention. Villanova been reaching out. And so Leonard told me that I need to have Leno ready on Wednesday night so he can spend the night with his dad. There is no co-parenting here. Just him giving orders. Him living life exactly the way he wants, and I’m just supposed to say okay and obey him.” Alita quickly brought them up to speed on every unfavorable thing that Leonard Washington was doing. Last-minute things. Things that made Alita’s head spin. Things that made her want to kill somebody.
While it was true that some couples who broke up had amicable dealings with each other, it wasn’t always the case for others. Alita was the poster child for the unusual cases.
“So, Lita, what you gonna do?” Coco asked in a serious tone. “You gon’ let Leno go on the trip?”
“Hell, no. When it comes to Leonard, I’m afraid to let my baby out of my sight.” She gasped for breath as if the thought of anything happening to Leno was unthinkable. “Him hanging out with his dad in Houston is one thing, going out of state is another. And this is where you come in. I need a favor. Can one of the sisters let Leno stay at your place on Wednesday and Thursday? Maybe Coco can pick him up from school on Wednesday and he can go spend the night with one of you. Leonard is not taking him to Pennsylvania. And I refuse to give him what he wants when he’s hardly ever given me what I want.”
“But legally, can you do that, Alita?” Dru wanted to know.
“Do I look like I care about
it being legal? Hell, is it legal for Leonard to try and take my only child away from me . . . after all this time?”
“He’s just being greedy. He wanna hurt you, Sis,” Coco said. “That’s how men get when they feeling themselves. He’s got that really nice house, a pretty new wife, some new pep in his step.”
“She ain’t that pretty.” Alita refused to give in to the positive statements Coco was saying.
“You right, Lita,” Coco continued. “Desiree isn’t pretty. That woman is gorgeous. She looks like a damned celebrity and acts like one too. She’s the upgrade.”
“If you know what’s good for you, you’d stop talking right now, Dark Skin. And forget about Leno coming to stay with you. Dru, I hate to ask you this, but can you please watch him for me? You and Ty have no drama in your house. I trust you to do the job.”
Dru squirmed in her seat. “I dunno, Lita. I can’t help you.”
“C’mon, Dru Boo. We family. We supposed to be there, be supportive. Even you said that at one of our Sister Day meetings.”
Everyone glanced at Dru as she easily responded. “I remember what I said, Lita, but Ty and I are actually having problems.”
“Bullshit,” Alita said.
“I know it sounds shady. But it’s the truth. I swear on a stack of Bibles.”
“I don’t believe it,” Alita said. “You’re just being your usual self-centered self. You don’t care about me and what I go through. You just like B, with that ‘my life is perfect, don’t get me involved with your drama’ type of attitude. Damn.”
With her options seeming to run out, Alita looked like she had no idea how to handle her problem. There was no way she’d let Leno and Leonard and his new wife get on that plane and travel more than 1,400 miles to enjoy a pleasant weekend in the northeast. But if no one was willing to help her out, what else could she do but let him go? A painful lump formed in her throat.
“Is this how family do? Turn their backs on you when you going through a little something?”
“That’s the thing,” Dru said. “You are always going through something, Alita. And yes, we are family, we love you, but you can wear out your welcome when we constantly are expected to cheer you up, bail you out, magically fix up every wrong thing that’s happening in your life. A life that you chose. Why we have to rescue you when you make these poor choices?”
“Are you serious, Dru? Because I don’t remember you having that attitude when Coco is going through it.” Alita asked.
“Alita, you’re the oldest, and you ought to know better by now.”
Alita came this close to pouncing on Dru, just taking off her shoe and hitting her, pulling her hair, and shaking her one good time. But Burgundy picked up on Alita’s violent intention and quickly came and sat beside Alita. She held her hand, talked soothingly.
“Don’t worry, Sis. Leno can come over here. I will pick him up. He can hang out with us until further notice. But I do have a concern,” Burgundy said. “If Leonard gets wind of us hiding his child, we don’t want it to turn into a custody battle. I haven’t seen him in a while, but he could easily look up on the internet, see where we live, and start all kinds of trouble even in this gated community. We have to fully think of the implications of this and come up with a concrete game plan. This is serious business, Lita. We want to help, we will help, all of us, in one way or another, but let’s put our heads together.”
The sisters all gathered around Alita, forming a protective circle. They came up with every single question they could think of, plotting, scheming, and trying to act like a true family tribe, laying aside their own personal agendas and thinking more about the one in need. Burgundy reminded them that they were Reeveses. “This is what Mama would want us to do. She’s smiling down from heaven and is happy that we’re figuring out how to help each other.”
By the time they were done talking, Alita was all smiles, reenergized and filled with confidence instead of moping around with anger and dread.
* * *
That Tuesday evening, Alita stole Leno’s cell phone. She knew his password, and she quickly looked up Zaida’s phone number. Then she fished around till she found another number. She promptly placed a couple more calls. She knew that Leno was in his bedroom, hopefully studying. Alita sat on the couch and waited.
Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang.
Alita opened the door and greeted Tiffanie, one of Leno’s high school classmates that had a deep crush on him. The girl was wearing a T-shirt bearing the school colors, along with a cute pair of shorts. She carried a backpack decorated with all kinds of key chains, lapel pins, colorful buttons, and tiny bottles of hand sanitizer.
“Hi there,” Alita said. “Don’t you look cute? Glad you could make it. How’d you get here?”
“My mom drove me.” Tiffanie hesitated. Alita peeped over her head and looked outside. “Oh, your mother waiting on you so she can give you a ride home? Don’t even worry about it. I’ll drive you home later. I have a feeling you might be here a while.”
“That’ll work. Thank you, Mrs. Washington.”
Alita laughed and invited the girl farther inside the apartment. She offered her a drink and asked her to be seated. This was the second time Tiffanie had been over to their place. A few weeks ago she had finagled her way over to Leno’s apartment after school one day when Zaida was sick and had missed classes. Tiffanie noticed how much Leno had been coughing and sniffling while he was in school; she offered to go home with him and fix up a homemade remedy that would get rid of a nasty cold. He said okay. That’s when Tiffanie had first met Alita, a woman who seemed to be excited to see her with her son.
Right then as she sat on his couch again, Tiffanie felt really good that Leno’s mom had taken to her so fast.
She and Alita chatted for a couple more minutes. Then Alita excused herself. Minutes later the doorbell rang.
Tiffanie sat and waited. The bell rung again. She heard a light knock. But neither Leno nor his mother came out. Tiffanie got up and went to open the door. The second that she saw Zaida Rojo, she felt a sudden burst of energy. Tossing back her hair, she said, “Hi. May I help you?”
Zaida appeared stunned. She didn’t know what to say at first. Then she coughed and cleared her throat.
“What are you doing here, Tiffanie?”
“I was invited. By his mom.”
Zaida looked crushed. “That’s impossible. His mom knows that I’m Leno’s girlfriend.”
“Obviously she doesn’t, because the woman called me on my phone and asked me to come over.” Tiffanie’s eyes darkened.
“You have no business being over here, even if she did ask you to come. You know he’s my man.”
“Zaida, girl, shut the fuck up. He’s not glued to you. He can hang out with whoever he wants. Especially if his mom doesn’t mind.”
Zaida tried to enter the apartment. But Tiffanie slammed the door shut before the girl could get in. Zaida dialed Leno’s number. He answered.
“Hey, what’s up?” he said.
“I’m at your spot. At the apartment. Standing outside your front door that got slammed in my face. Leno, what the fuck is Tiffanie doing over at your place?”
“What? She’s here? I didn’t even know.”
“Don’t lie, Leno. Y-you’ve never lied to me, right?”
“You know better than that, Zaida.”
“Where are you, babe?” she asked. Zaida thought about how she did not trust Tiffanie and how the girl could just be toying with her for the hell of it.
“Are you even at home, Leno?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m here chilling with my mom. I was in my room. Mom came in. She said I had company. But I thought it was Phil.”
“Leno, your company is not Phil. Hurry and open the door. Tiffanie won’t let me in. What the fuck’s wrong with her?”
“Uh, all right. Be there in a sec.”
By the time Leno reached the front door, his mother had already let Zaida inside. Then Alita joyfully g
azed at both young ladies.
Zaida started in immediately. “Leno, you busted. I can’t believe this, Papi. Why are you doing me like this? We’re in a relationship.”
“People break up all the time,” Tiffanie chimed in. “And you two aren’t married. He can be friends with and date anybody he wants. Me and him are chilling.”
“Stop lying, Tiffanie,” Zaida insisted.
At that point, Tiffanie unzipped her fancy backpack and pulled out an article of clothing. She unfolded Leno’s letterman jacket, gave it a good sniff, and said to Zaida, “If we weren’t cool, why did your man let me hold this for over a month?”
“Leno?” Zaida said. “How’d she get your jacket? Don’t lie to me.”
Before he could respond, the doorbell rang again. Alita answered. It was Shamicka Beach, another high school classmate, looking tall, regal, and stunning.
Zaida took one look at Shamicka and bolted out the doorway, rushing to the sidewalk and heading as far away as she could get.
Leno started to run after her, but Alita stopped him. “No, no, no, son. Never want anyone that doesn’t want you. She’s mad now, but give her time. Let her have some space. I promise you, she’ll get over it.”
Alita closed the door and feigned innocence; it was an attitude that infuriated Leno, but he knew better than to cause a scene.
“I thought you all would want to study together,” his mother explained to him and the remaining girls. “I know the semester is almost over, and you have tests coming up. So I set up this study date.”
“That’s true, Mrs. Washington, and I’m glad you thought of this,” Shamicka said. She came and sat down at the couch and was about to pull out her textbook.
“Oh, no, sweetie, I’ve set up everything so you can study at our dining room table. Go right ahead. Make yourselves at home.”
The following day, Leno was so miserable and angry at Alita, all he could do was try and talk to Zaida, but she blocked his calls. Every time he attempted to approach her at school she told him he needed to get his priorities straight, then she avoided him.
Later that evening, when it came close to the time that he was to be picked up, Leno ignored his dad’s texts.
