Kormia- Age 13
“Mia, why you keep givin’ me all these Mother’s Day cards?
” Jackie laughed, flipping through a stack of glittery, handmade, half-folded pieces of construction paper.
“I feel like you tryna jinx me. I don’t know who worse, you or Marcus.
” Kormia shrugged, sitting cross-legged on the carpet beside Jackie’s bed, iPod dock in one hand and the iPod in the other.
“We had art today, and that’s what she made us do.
I tried to tell her I ain’t have a momma to give the damn cards to, but she said just give it to somebody like a mom.
” Jackie’s laugh softened. “Girl, I’m not nobody’s mama. I’m barely grown myself.”
She leaned back against the headboard, kicking off her shoes.
“Marcus been tellin’ me to get off the pill, but I’m not stupid.
He tryna get me pregnant. But I told him I need to finish high school first.” She rolled her eyes, tossing her arm dramatically over her head.
“He said if I have his son, I’d be set for life.
Put me up in his condo off City Ave, get me a nice-ass car, keep me dripped in all the fly shit. ”
“You think he lyin’?” Kormia asked. “Nah.” Jackie smirked. “I seen the condo. It’s nice.”
“So what, you gon’ wait and move in after you graduate?”
Jackie went quiet, picking at the corner of one of the cards. “I don’t know, Mia. I think I wanna go to college like Syxe. Or at least start my own business.” Kormia tilted her head. “What kind of business?”
“I don’t know yet… maybe somethin’ with parties.” Jackie’s face lit up as she talked.
“I mean, I am The Youngest in Charge,” she said, nodding toward her Myspace username.
“My face been on every club flyer in the city, and I ain’t even old enough to drink.
The promoters know. Mention Jackie Brown name and the whole city gon’ pop out.
” Kormia laughed and slapped her five. “That part.” Jackie grinned wider, leaning forward.
“But seriously, I wanna be more than Marcus’ baby momma.
I like him, yeah, but I don’t see forever with us.
He way older than me, and the shit he want?
I don’t even know if I’m ready for that. ” She shook her head.
“Imagine me, Jackie Brown, as somebody’s momma.
That don’t even sound right.” She paused, then continued, her voice softer but more intentional.
“I don’t just wanna be the girl on the flyers anymore.
I wanna be the girl makin’ them. The one plannin’ the parties, pickin’ the themes, creatin’ the vibe.
Givin’ people a whole experience.” Her eyes went distant, dreamy. “
Why you think I joined the prom committee? Ain’t nothin’ but a bunch of nerds on there, but I promise you, this time next year, prom gon’ be a whole vibe, thanks to me. They don’t even know, they done gave the wrong bitch access. I’m ’bout to wake it the fuck up for real.”
“You don’t think Marcus would support you?
” Kormia asked. “He already give you everything you want. Why wouldn’t he help you with business or school?
” Jackie shrugged. “Sometimes I think he would. But other times… he act like a whole different type of nigga. Like he got this side to him I don’t even know. ”
“That sound scary,” Kormia said quietly. Jackie smiled, shaking her head. “Well, Jackie Brown don’t scare easy, baby cuz. Believe dat.” She quoted Lil Wayne before turning back to the mirror, then glanced over her shoulder. “But enough about me. Tell me why your little ass is suspended.”
“My mom told me to take your phone and your Mancala,” Jackie teased. “Please, just the phone,” Kormia begged, clutching the board game to her chest. “Let me keep my Mancala, please, Jackie.” Jackie laughed, heading to her vanity. “Girl, I’m not takin’ nothin’. But tell me why you suspended again.”
“Fighting.”
Jackie turned, one brow raised as she started curling her hair.
“For what, Kormia?”
“Well…” Kormia stepped behind her, their eyes meeting in the mirror.
“I let Jamila and Nia borrow my House of Deréon hoodies two weeks ago when we went to Super Sunday. No school Monday. When I asked for them back, they got nasty with me. Started calling me Orphan Annie, ’cause I ain’t got no mom and my daddy in jail.” Jackie froze mid-curl and turned.
“You beat them bitches up.” Kormia nodded, dead serious. “Real bad. Especially Jamila.”
“She supposed to be my best friend. I been knew Nia was fake, but Jamila?” Her voice cracked.
“She ain’t got no momma either. She and Journei live in foster care, and Ms. Cynthia treat her like shit.
That’s why I even offered her my clothes.
So she could look cute too. Her foster momma don’t do right by the money, so she never got anything.
” Jackie sighed, setting the curling iron down.
“Go get my Golden Seal off the dresser so them scratches don’t turn into scars.
” Kormia did as she was told, hopping onto the bed while Jackie came over and twisted the cap off the small bottle.
She dipped the applicator and lifted Kormia’s chin, placing one drop on her cheek, one under her eye, another along her eyebrow.
“You too pretty to be fightin’, Mia,” Jackie murmured.
“I know, but—”
“But nothing. Jackie wiped a tear sliding down Kormia’s face.
“Mia, everybody ain’t your friend, and that’s okay.
Real friendship don’t make you feel like this.
” She paused. “Those little bitches, especially that Nia, she ain’t nobody’s friend.
And Jamila know better. She was probably just bein’ a follower. ”
“She apologized, but…” Kormia’s voice cracked. “It still hurt.”
“I know,” Jackie said quietly, brushing another tear away. “That’s what love do sometimes. It hurt the worst when it come from people you thought would never do you like that.” Silence settled between them.
The smell of burnt hair, oil sheen, and Victoria’s Secret Love Spell hung in the air, mixing with the low hum of Beyoncé’s B’Day album playing from the iPod dock. Kormia stared down at her hands.
“I just wanted us to all be friends. Like… real friends.” Jackie gave a small, knowing smile, sadness flickering behind it. “You got a good heart, Mia. But everybody don’t deserve it.”
After a moment, Kormia whispered, “Jackie… tell me about my momma.”
Jackie’s expression softened. “What you wanna know?”
“I don’t know. Every time I ask my dad, he get mad, so I just stopped asking.”
Jackie smiled faintly. “Auntie Karmella was a fly-ass bitch. Beautiful, funny, and sweet.
My favorite auntie. She bought me my first pair of gold nameplate earrings when I was in kindergarten.
” Kormia smiled through her tears. “She owned a beauty boutique on 52nd Street back in the day called Karmella’s.
Every bad bitch of that era sat in your momma chair.
She did hair, nails, waxes, makeup. Anything you could think of.
” Jackie leaned back slightly, lost in the memory.
“She wore the flyest clothes, drove the nicest cars, had a condo overlooking the Art Museum. I loved goin’ over there. She’d take me shoppin’, do my hair, and we’d listen to Janet Jackson.” Jackie smiled.
“And when she wasn’t doing all that, she’d be sittin’ by herself playin’ Mancala.
Yo’ momma took that game everywhere. Even had one made special for her and her best friend.
If you look on the back, there’s a gold butterfly engraved.
They loved butterflies.” Kormia looked down at the board in her lap and held it a little tighter.
“That’s why when you told me you wanted to do nails, I made sure you had everything you needed.
What I ain’t steal from Sally’s, I took from Rite Aid.
” She smirked. “’Cause that’s your momma in you.
” The two sat quiet again, the air warm with love and memory.
“I like makin’ them cards for you,” Kormia said softly.
“’Cause you like a mom to me. I know you my cousin, but… you know.”
Jackie smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Yeah. I know.”
“You can sleep in my bed tonight,” Jackie said, standing and grabbing her purse.
“I probably won’t be back ’til late. If you wanna order pizza, there’s money in my shoebox.”
“Call me when you get where you goin’?” Kormia asked, trying to sound grown but barely hiding the worry in her voice. Jackie turned at the door, smiling wide. “Who the momma now?”
Kormia smiled back through a sniffle. “Still you,” she said.
“Yeah,” Jackie laughed softly. “That’s what I thought.”