Chapter 14
brOOKLYN
Me: I need you.
Bronx: Are you at home?
Me: Sitting outside of my parents' crib.
Bronx: Text me the address.
Iwoke up this morning with several missed calls from my sisters.
Immediately, I knew something was wrong.
Instead of calling them back, I just rushed right over there.
Only to get there and I didn’t even want to get out of the car.
The only reason I didn’t call Zoo and Sin, is because I hadn't gone into details with them about what was going on with my mama, and I didn’t feel like talking about it right now. I just want to make sure she’s good.
Zoo knew, but only to an extent. Shit, he knew just about as much as I did because I was still waiting to ask more questions.
May seem childish, but when it came to my mama, I'd always be puddy in her little fragile hands.
My family dynamics was one that some would pray for.
We rarely fell out and if we did, that shit would be squashed quick.
We weren’t raised to go against each other but to always have each other's back.
Zoo and I stayed going at it but it was all out of love and only to push the other one to greatness because sometimes we lost focus.
I needed someone to come push me out this car right now.
It felt like my legs were cemented to the floorboard.
Bronx: I’m pulling up behind your truck.
Exhaling, I got out then walked over to Bri’s Range Rover. It was still clean from me taking it to get detailed the other day; shit that I wouldn’t normally do because I had no one to do that shit for. Or no one that I wanted to do it for anyway.
“You ok?” Her eyes held so much sympathy, and she didn’t know what was going on. It was just the simple act of caring that she’d shown me since I told her about my mama.
“Yea just nervous to go inside.”
“I got you, come on.”
Bri had on this sexy ass two-piece fit. Some shit that I’d seen my cousins wear when they were about to get drunk off Mimosa’s and shots at Brunch.
“Where you headed somewhere?”
“To a party,” she casually said.
“I didn’t mean to fuck up ya plans. You don’t have to go inside with me. I’ll be good, shawty. Go ‘head and enjoy yourself.”
“Brooklyn Smith, if you don’t come on. You act like this my mama, and you scared to meet her. She’s your mom. Man up and face whatever the issue is. You are too damn old to be acting like this.”
I stopped walking to get a good look at her.
“Bronx, have you ever lost your best friend before?”
“Yes, Papi was my best friend.”
“Wait, when did your dad die?”
Her face scrunched up like I said something offensive.
“I was talking about my pet Iguana. My dad got him from some Mexicans in an alley, so I just named him Papi.” Hunching her shoulders, she then started to laugh.
“I’m being serious. Have you?”
“I was being serious, too, but since you don’t see Papi as my best friend then I guess no, I haven’t lost a best friend before, Brooklyn.”
“My mama is that to me plus more. I’ve always been able to come to her with anything that’s going on.
From me waiting to fuck for the first time, to this one pregnancy scare I had.
Turns out, the bitch was just trying to trap me ‘cause she knew my folks had money. My mama shut that shit down quick. She’s always in my corner and it just fucks me up to think of her not being there anymore. ”
“But she’s here now. So, hang on to that while you can.
It’s ok to be in your feelings but you gotta know when to get out of them.
I didn’t mean any harm when I said man up.
It’s just that you are terrified to go into your own parents’ home because you feel like your mom is doing bad.
That doesn’t make sense to me. This is the time you should be by her side like spaghetti and fish because besides what some Black folks think, they do indeed go together. ”
“You’re right. I’ll pull it together. Let’s go inside.” Some niggas were too tough to cry but when it came to my parents, oh a nigga would let the waterworks flow.
Reaching for her hand, I opened the door. I didn’t see anyone, but the back door was wide open. Figuring my dad was out there by his man cave, we headed that way first.
“SURPRISE!” my family yelled out as soon as I pushed the screen door open.
“Happy birthday, Cuzzo,” Sin told me then passed me a beer.
“Nigga, why it look like you been crying? Birthday got you feeling emotional or something?”
With everything that was going on, I swear I forgot today was my birthday.
“Zoo just say happy birthday and move, I was not crying.” I was, but he ain’t have to say that shit.
“Say what you want, but I know what a cryin’ face look like and Cuzzo, you had that shit.”
“Zoo, leave folks alone.” Pen stepped up and pushed Zoo out of my face. “Happy birthday, Brooklyn.” She passed me a gift bag and Zoo started looking crazy.
“It better not be a necklace with your name on it. That’s all I’ma say. Can’t be two niggas walkin’ ‘round hea with this ugly ass name around they neck.” We all started laughing then I remembered Bri was behind me.
“How y’all throw a party and not invite Bronx?”
“I’on know who Bronx and why you want us to invite another female, but we invited Bri.”
“Zoo, Bronx is her middle name,” Naomi told him.
“Oh he trying to be cute. Bronx and Brooklyn. I get it now.” Pen pulled Zoo away from us. He needed to go rest his nerves. His ass stayed talkin’. Just loud and wrong most of the time.
“I was on my way here already, which is how I made it over here so fast. Also, why I'm dressed like this. I told you I was going to a party. I just didn’t say who it was for.”
“If you knew this was about my birthday and not my mama, why you had me out there all emotional and shit?”
“I had to play my role and you needed to hear that so you can get over this with your mom and talk to her. Plus, they wouldn’t have invited me to anything else if I spilled the tea.”
“I’on know ‘bout spilling tea, but if you had told him about his surprise party, then we definitely wouldn’t have invited you to anything else.”
“Zoo, how you get back over here? I told you to sit until I got you something to drink,” Pen fussed.
“My bad, baby. I was bored as hell, sitting over there with them old folks. My uncles be trying to whoop my ass every time I’m around them and my daddy don’t even try to stop them, either.”
Ignoring Zoo, I thanked them for thinking about me.
“You know we wouldn’t forget, even though you seemed to have forgotten your own birthday. If we would have, you wouldn’t have let us live that shit down. Remember when you were ten and we didn’t come to yo’ party because it was at the circus and Zoo and I don’t fuck with clowns?”
“Hell yea. I disowned y’all for a full week.”
“That’s sad,” Bronx added. “You should have just had it somewhere else.”
“It was my party. They could have overcome their fears together but nooo, they didn’t even show up.”
“You have a fear and not even trying to overcome that.”
“What chu’ mean?”
“We’ll let y’all talk. My baby hungry.”
“Sin, when did I say I was hungry?”
“Not you, my young king inside of you. Us Smith men gotta eat every three hours.”
Naomi didn't try to protest, she just locked her arm into his, then walked towards the food.
“You gon’ tell me what you mean?”
“Brooklyn, you still haven’t walked over to yo’ mama yet. Ever since you walked out the door, you’ve been standing right here on the back porch. We just talked about this and you’re still avoiding her.”
“No, I was just kicking it with my cousins. That’s it. I’m about to make my way around but I don’t see her out here.”
“Ok, Brooklyn. I’ll go find Naomi while you go around.
“Just walk with me.”
“No sir, you are not about to introduce me as your homegirl. I know we are just friends but after the first three introductions... we go together,” Bri said that with a straight face too.
“We already established that we go together, real bad. You remember?”
Laughing, she covered her face up like she was embarrassed.
“I was just joking.”
“I’on know if you noticed or not but it’s a few things I don’t play about. My family, my business, and my heart. If you say we go together then that's what it is.”
“Just like that? Aren’t you supposed to get to know me, first?”
“I can do that, while dating you. Ain’t no right or wrong way to do this shit. You are either all in, or all out. It’s just that simple.”
“It’s not that simple.”
We’ll talk about this later,” I told her once I saw my little sister Jersey walking over to us.
“Brother, I called you so many times this morning to let you know about the party because I know you hate surprises. Why didn’t you call me back?”
“Why you ain’t just text that shit then? I thought something was wrong with Mama. Had me scared to come over.”
“Lord, Mama is fine. She’s been having more good days than bad.
Only time she’s really tired is after her chemotherapy.
Other than that, she’s been driving around, cooking more and all.
You would know that if”—she paused then looked beside me at Bri—“you weren’t wrapped up in something, or shall I say, someone else.
” Jersey looked over at Bri again. “Who is she?”
“This is my new girlfriend, Bronx.” If Bronx was in a cartoon, her eyes would’ve been on the ground with slinkies making them bounce up and down in shock.
“I’m Bri, but apparently, your brother wants you to call me Bronx. It’s nice meeting you.”
“You don’t have to be prim and proper with me.
I’ve seen one of his exes and trust me, you are already on my I Hope He Marry This One list. My brother isn’t the type to play the field, so you won’t ever have to worry about that.
Once he’s for you, he’s not changing how hard he’s coming behind you, unless you give him a reason not to come anymore.
Other than that, just be good to him and he’ll be even better to you. ”