My Mama's Drama

by La Jill Hunt

“What the hell are you doing here?” Darnell said when he got to my car.

  “Is that how you’re gonna greet me, Darnell? I thought you’d be a little happier to see me.” I faked a pout. “I’m here because you keep ignoring my calls.”

  “Why the hell do you keep calling?” He glared.

  “Because I miss you. Both of you,” I said, reaching down and fondling his crotch. I smiled when I felt a familiar bulge. “Oh, and I see you miss me too.”

  He took a step back. “Nah, I don’t.”

  “Liar.” I smiled. “Where are you about to go?”

  “None of your business. What do you want, Diane?”

  “It’s my day off, Darnell. I want to spend some time with you, so I came to see if you wanted to go somewhere for lunch.”

  “Somewhere like where?” he asked. “I damn sure ain’t going to your crib.”

  “We don’t have to go to my crib, Darnell. We can go somewhere and talk like we used to.” I shrugged.

  “Shouldn’t you be taking your man to lunch and talking to him?” Darnell was trying to be hardcore, but I could see him loosening up. The anger in his face when he first saw me wasn’t as strong, now replaced by mild irritation.

  “I keep telling you he ain’t my man. I don’t even deal with him anymore. I promise.”

  “Whatever.”

  “We can go to Applebee’s over by the mall,” I suggested, making sure whatever location I picked would be optimal for everything I planned on doing. I had to get back into his good graces, and today was going to be the start. My raggedy-ass car wasn’t going to last much longer, and I would need his help to either get Celia to take the car from Kendra and give it to me or get me another ride. Either way, Darnell was my best option, so I had to work my magic.

  He stared at me for a moment before saying, “Fine, let’s go.”

  Not only did I convince Darnell to take me to lunch, but also to take the rest of the day off to take me shopping. It didn’t take much effort to get him to check into a nearby hotel so I could thank him properly—although he was the one who did all the work. I was spent after two rounds in bed, and so was he.

  “I knew you missed my ass.” I laughed, playfully running my hand along his naked chest.

  “Yeah, whatever. I’m still pissed that you brought that clown-ass dude to my crib.”

  “Why are you jealous? You said yourself he’s a clown.” I laughed.

  “That was disrespectful as fuck, Di, and you know it.”

  “It was no more disrespectful than Celia giving Kendra that fucking car. It’s like my word doesn’t mean shit to anybody these days. And then, you ain’t even have my back.”

  “Man, fuck Celia and that car.”

  I was about to ask him why when my phone vibrated for what seemed like the hundredth time since we’d gotten to the room.

  “Damn, your man checking for you like that? He been blowing you up all damn day.” Darnell sighed.

  “Shut the hell up. I told you I ain’t got no man. Well, except for you.” I winked as I climbed out of bed and walked over to the dresser. I picked up my phone and saw that it was Kendra.

  “What the fuck do you want?”

  “Mama, have you talked to Avery?” she asked.

  “No, and I’m busy right now,” I said, hitting the END button before she could say anything else. I was about to put the phone back down when she called back.

  “Avery didn’t come home from school,” she said. “And she’s not answering her phone.”

  “Where the fuck is she?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Ashley says she thought she was gonna ride the late bus, but she isn’t home yet. I called her phone, and she ain’t answer. I know you’re off today, so I thought she might be with you, or you might’ve talked to her.”

  “Well, she ain’t called me, and I don’t know. But I tell you what: you better fucking find her by the time I get home later, or I’m gonna fuck all of y’all up,” I said. This time when I ended the call, I turned my phone off then climbed back into bed with Darnell. I still had to discuss the car situation with him, and I didn’t have time to deal with this dumb shit. Knowing Avery, she was somewhere with her dumb-ass friends, and Kendra was panicking for no reason. Then again, I wondered if I should try to reach her. If she answered the phone for anyone, it would be me.

  “Everything a’ight?” Darnell reached over and caressed my thigh.

  “Yeah. Avery ain’t catch the bus home.”

  “Oh,” he said. “We need to leave?”

  I looked at my phone across the room, then over at Darnell lying beside me. My eyes drifted from his handsome face to his lower abdomen, and then rested on his manhood, which was semi-hard. I decided to let Kendra deal with finding her sister since she thought she was the woman of the damn house anyway.

  “Nah, we got some unfinished business to take care of first,” I said, taking him into my mouth and enjoying the sound of him moaning my name.

  Celia

  Where the fuck are you? I typed then hit send.

  I had been trying to reach Darnell for almost four hours when I got the call from Kendra saying Avery was missing. He hadn’t answered is desk phone, his cell phone kept going to voicemail, and he hadn’t responded to any of my texts. I didn’t know where the hell he was, and I was pissed. Here we were at the hospital, in the middle of a family crisis, and he was nowhere to be found, and neither was my sister.

  “Your mama still not picking up?” I asked Kendra.

  “No, I guess her phone is dead,” she said, pacing back and forth.

  “I’m sorry, Kendra,” Ashley said, hugging her sister. “I should’ve went and found her when she wasn’t on the bus.”

  “It’s okay, Ash. You did the right thing by calling me when you did.” Kendra comforted her.

  I got up and put my arms around both of my crying nieces, and I became angry all over again. My sister should have been there with us, and instead, she was in the wind, no doubt doing something that she had no business doing.

  “Hey, did you try calling Ronda?” I asked.

  “No, I didn’t call her. I didn’t even think about that,” Kendra said, taking her phone from her pocket.

  “How is she?” We all turned to see Nikki coming into the waiting room.

  “They haven’t said anything yet,” I told her as she gave me a big hug. “Thanks for coming, girl.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Nikki said; then, looking around the room, she asked, “Where is Di?”

  I gave her a knowing look and shook my head, then motioned for her to step out into the hallway so we could talk in private.

  “We can’t find her ass. Kendra called her when Avery first went missing, and she told her to find her, and that was it. Hell, she doesn’t even realize that the girl is here in the hospital,” I told her.

  “You really need to get custody of those kids.” Nikki shook her head at me. “Diane ain’t no kind of mama for them. She never has been.”

  Nikki was right in a way. Diane wasn’t the best mother in the world. Still, a part of me wanted to believe that she loved those girls in her own way. Having my nieces come and live with me had crossed my mind time and time again. It was Darnell who pointed out that if I took those kids away from her, not only would Diane lose her mind, but it would probably split our family apart. With my parents being dead, Diane was the only sense of family that I had, and as much as we didn’t get along, I didn’t want to lose her. So, I resorted to helping out as much as I could. It wasn’t easy, especially when Diane felt like my help should’ve been more toward her than her children. But she was a grown-ass woman who could take care of herself, and if she made better choices, she would’ve had a better life.

  “I ain’t thinking about that right now.”

  “So, what exactly happened?” Nikki asked.

  “Well, it looks like she missed the bus. She decided to walk home the back way, and somebody found her laying in the ditch on Burnside Road. They don�
�t know if she was hit by a car or what. Like I said, we’re still waiting.” I gave Nikki all the information we had gotten so far.

  “Poor baby.”

  “Yeah, it’s a mess, girl,” I told her.

  We were about to walk back into the waiting room with Kendra and Ashley when my phone buzzed.

  “Where the hell are you?” I snapped when I answered.

  “I had a meeting out of district. I’m headed back in now. What’s wrong?” Darnell asked.

  “I’m over at the hospital.”

  “Hospital? What hospital? For what?”

  “Granby West. Avery’s been admitted.”

  “Oh, shit. Is she okay?”

  “We don’t know yet. They haven’t said.”

  “Mrs. Fuller?” A police officer approached me in the hallway.

  “Darnell, I have to go talk to the police. We’re in the fourth floor waiting room. Hurry up,” I told him then hung up.

  “Yes?” I said to the officer, who I couldn’t help but notice was tall and attractive.

  “I’m Detective Donaldson, and this is Detective Shaw. We have a couple of questions we need to ask you about your niece.”

  “Okay.” I nodded. We went into the waiting room, and I sat on the couch beside Kendra, who was still holding Ashley. “These officers have some questions,” I told her.

  We were in the process of answering their questions when Diane finally called.

  “What the hell happened to Avery?” she demanded.

  “Calm down, Diane. We’re still waiting to find out. We’re talking with the police now,” I explained.

  “Police? Why the fuck are the police there?”

  Everyone was staring at me, so I said in a calm voice, “This is my sister, Avery’s mom. I need to update her. Excuse me for a sec.”

  I stepped back into the hallway and said, “First of all, you need to calm down and act like you got some damn sense. Second, you need to bring your ass to Granby West.”

  “I’m on my fucking way now. And don’t tell me to calm down when my child is laying in a hospital and you’re talking to the police,” Diane told me.

  I wanted to ask her why she was a concerned parent all of a sudden, but instead, I told her, “I’ll see you when you get here.”

  The two officers walked out, and Detective Donaldson handed me a business card. “Here’s my card. We have some officers still out at the scene gathering information, and we’ll keep you updated.”

  “Thank you so much,” I told him, taking the card from him.

  “We’ll stay nearby until the doctors give an update,” he said before they walked off.

  Twenty minutes later, the doctor walked into the room. Kendra immediately jumped up and asked, “How is Avery? Is she awake?”

  “She’s still unconscious right now, but she’s stable. She has a broken leg and a few cracked ribs, some cuts and bruises,” the doctor told us. “She’s a tough young lady.”

  “Can we see her?” Ashley asked.

  “In about an hour. We’re still monitoring her closely right now, and we want to keep her in ICU for now as a precaution. But I’m pretty sure she’s going to make a full recovery.”

  “Pretty sure? What the hell does that mean? Is she gonna be fine or no?” We all looked past the doctor at Diane, who was standing in the doorway.

  “I’m sorry, you are?” the doctor asked.

  “I’m her fucking mother. That’s who I am. Now, where is my daughter? I want to see her,” Diane told him.

  “As I just stated before you arrived, she can’t have visitors now. But in an hour or—”

  “No, fuck that! I want to see her now!” Diane yelled.

  “Mama, please don’t do this,” Kendra pleaded.

  “You shut the hell up. This is your fault,” she growled at her.

  “What? How? Mama, I was at work when all of this happened,” Kendra tried to explain through her tears.

  “It’s not her fault, Mama.” Ashley defended her sister.

  “And you? Where were you when she went missing? Why weren’t you with her?” Diane grabbed Ashley’s shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain. Before I could move, Nikki jumped between her and the girls.

  “Ma’am, I’m gonna have to ask you to calm down,” the doctor told her.

  “Diane, you’re being ridiculous,” I said, embarrassed by my sister’s behavior.

  “I’ll let you know when you can see her. You may continue to wait here, and I’ll send a nurse to bring you back,” he said then quickly walked out.

  “Hell no, I want to see my daughter now! He can’t keep me from seeing my daughter!” Diane began yelling again. She went to take off after the doctor at the exact same time Detective Donaldson and his partner walked in. Behind them, I was surprised to see my husband.

  “What’s going on?” Darnell directed at no one in particular.

  “Is there a problem?” Detective Donaldson asked.

  “Hell yeah, there’s a problem. That cracker doctor won’t let me see my kid. That’s the problem,” Diane told him.

  “Detective Donaldson, this is Avery’s mother. She’s just upset by this whole ordeal. We apologize,” I said.

  “I don’t need you apologizing for me. I wanna see my daughter. And what do the police have to do with this anyway? Somebody better tell me what the hell is going on before I set it off up in here!” Diane snapped.

  “Ma’am, you’re gonna have to lower your voice. We can’t talk to you while you’re acting like this,” Detective Shaw warned.

  “Maybe we should talk somewhere else,” I said, reaching for Diane and hoping she would calm down. “There are other patients on this floor.”

  “I don’t give a damn about them. I wanna know what’s going on with Avery.”

  “As best as we can tell so far, she was struck by a hit-and-run driver,” Detective Donaldson answered.

  “As best as you can tell? What the hell is wrong with everyone around here? The doctor is pretty sure.... I betcha if Avery was some little white girl, she woulda been found and y’all would have some damn answers.” Diane folded her arms and began pacing back and forth.

  “I’m sorry you feel that way, Ms. Nixon,” Detective Donaldson started.

  “That ain’t my damn name. My last name is Hughes,” she told him.

  “I’m sorry. Your daughter’s last name—”

  “I can’t deal with this,” Diane said, brushing past them as she rushed out.

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “It’s okay. We understand how emotional these situations can be.” Detective Donaldson gave me a sympathetic look.

  “Detective, you guys have confirmed that it was a hit and run? That means that nothing else happened to her?” I asked him.

  “Not that we know of. A witness said that it looks like a vehicle veered onto the side of the road where she was walking, hit her, and kept going. But we’ll keep you updated,” he said and left.

  I was slightly relieved once he confirmed that there wasn’t any sign of rape or assault. My eyes went past him, and I realized that my sister wasn’t the only one missing. My husband was too. Come to think of it, they had both just happened to show up at the same time.

  A strange feeling came over me, and I turned and asked Kendra, “Did you tell your mom where we were?”

  “No.” Kendra shrugged. “Her phone kept going to voicemail, and I didn’t bother leaving a message because you know she never checks them.”

  I took out my phone and dialed Diane’s number. Sure enough, her voicemail picked up after the first ring. Thinking maybe she had me blocked, I turned to Nikki and said, “Let me see your phone.”

  When she gave it to me, I dialed the number again and got the voicemail.

  “Did you tell Ronda where we were when you talked to her?” I asked Kendra.

  “No, I just asked if she had talked to my mom, and she said she hadn’t,” Kendra answered. “As a matter of fact, let me go find her. Come on, Ashley.”
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  I felt my legs weaken, and I sat down trying to get my thoughts together. I passed Nikki her phone.

  “What’s wrong?” Nikki asked, looking at me strangely.

  I made sure we were alone before I spoke. I stared at her and said, “If no one got a hold of Diane, how the hell did she know where we were? How did she know we were here at the hospital?”

  “What are you saying, Celia?” Nikki’s eyes widened.

  “I’m saying wherever the hell Diane was, Darnell was there with her.”

  Kendra

  To hear that my sister was alive was a relief. It had been the longest, scariest eight hours of my life. I had been at work when Ashley called in a frenzy, saying that Avery hadn’t made it home. I immediately left work and went home, where we began searching for her. When we hadn’t found her an hour later, I called Aunt Celia, and she made it to the house in record time. We called the police, but they said my sister had to be missing at least twenty-four hours before we could file a report. We searched everywhere: the school the park, and friends’ houses that she would visit. She was nowhere to be found.

  I knew my mother would be no help at all, but I called her anyway. In my desperation, I even called my father, and at least he was more empathetic than she was. He was on the phone when two police officers arrived at the house and informed us that Ashley had been found and was being taken to the hospital. Hearing this, my aunt, sister, and I rushed to the hospital, where we waited until they updated us. My mother finally arrived and threw her tantrum.

  In the middle of the chaos, I had forgotten about my date with Bilal until he called while I was searching for her.

  “Hey, I’m on my way,” he had said when I answered.

  “I’m sorry, Bilal. I can’t make it tonight. I have a family emergency,” I told him.

  “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll tell you what happened later. Okay? I have to—”

  “Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Just give me a call when you can.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I told him.

  “Kendra, I get it. It’s cool. Go handle your business and let me know if you need anything.”

  Had I not been so distracted by everything that was going on with my sister, I would’ve been impressed by his understanding and his offer to help. I promised to call him as soon as I was able and continued to search for my missing mother, praying that I wouldn’t find her huddled up with Darnell, who also seemed to have disappeared.