Suddenly
Tina and Prissy sat at the dining room table with a breakfast spread large enough to feed a family of ten.
They were waiting for the lawyer to arrive.
They hadn’t heard from Hussein since his arrest. The memorization of numbers was a thing of the past. He didn’t know any numbers to use his one phone call.
“All this food and you’re not going to eat?” Senior asked Prissy.
“I’m too tired to eat.” She yawned.
“Funny you say that because I think it’s time for you to come off that graveyard shift. With you and Hussein getting married soon, you need to get in the mindset of a wife. You should be in bed with your husband in the middle of the night. Not in nobody’s hospital.”
The elephant in the room was Hussein’s last words to Tina. He was denouncing her and everything she stood for. Hussein pretty much declared that he wasn’t a Turner anymore. Still, Tina was holding on to her plans. Everything would work out in her favor. It always did.
“My schedule is set for a few weeks out, but I’ll let them know tonight,” Prissy responded lowly.
“Speaking of the wedding, I haven’t received an invitation, yet. Where are you in the planning?”
“I’ve found the venue, the cake place that I want to use, and what I picture for my wedding dress, I just haven’t locked anything in, yet.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Jesus to come back?” Tina asked.
“I’m working on it.”
“Work faster. I want Hussein walking out of the jail and directly into the church to say his vows.”
A round of knocks sounded at the front door before Prissy could get a word in. She sat there silently panicking as Tina answered the door for the lawyer.
Sleep hadn’t been a thing since she left Onisha’s apartment. It’d been days of compulsively checking her phone. Nisha was going to reach out when she was ready to be introduced to Tina. While Prissy wasn’t excited about doing it, she was ready to get it over with.
“Prissy, don’t you look lovely,” Nyelle Peters greeted.
The family lawyer walked into the dining room with a smile on her face. Senior stood to hug her, all the while his face was glued to his phone.
“Aw.” Prissy stood to hug her. “Thank you. You always look great, Nyelle.”
“Well, thank you, darling.” She sighed, taking a seat across from Tina. “So, I don’t know much, yet. Just that he’s being charged with assaulting a police officer.” She looked over the notes she had on her phone.
“Well, what did they grab him for in the first place?” Tina asked.
“I plan to find that out when I go in to talk to Hussein. I’ll find out what’s going on and then we’ll discuss what the goals are for him getting bail. Any messages you want me to pass along?”
“No bail,” Tina said.
“I’m sorry?” Nyelle paused, glancing from Tina to Prissy.
“No need to apologize. You heard me correctly.”
“Am I missing something?”
“Not at all. Hussein needs to sit for a while. It’s the safest place for him to be.”
“Jail?” Prissy asked.
Tina cut her eyes at her but didn’t say a word. As far as she was concerned, no further explanation was needed.
“Tina, I mean no disrespect, but I have a responsibility to act in the best interest of my client.”
“And I just told you what was best for him. He don’t need to be out here on the streets where the cops can grab him again.
Who’s to say he won’t put one of them pigs down next time?
I know what I’m doing. And furthermore, I pay you, not Hussein.
I’m the client regardless of what Turner is getting their day in court. ”
“Very well.” Nyelle stood from the table.
“I would like to see him,” Prissy cut the silence. “Do you know when I’ll be able to visit him?”
“When I say so,” Tina answered.
“So, no bail, no calls, no visits.” Nyelle sighed. “Are you trying to turn him against you?”
She was doing the opposite. Hussein needed to be reminded that when he had no one else, he always had Tina. He’d sit until he remembered or at least until she could manipulate everything he left on the outside.
PARENTING CLASS | 10 A.M.
“If each of you can go around the room listing something that we went over today in class,” the instructor leaned against her desk.
“You don’t have to have it all figured out, but you do have to be intentional,” Aaron was the first to speak. “Right or wrong, the public, the doctors, the social workers will assume that whatever bad happens to your child that you did it on purpose.”
“Exactly that,” the instructor spoke up. “Society does not believe in accidents anymore. They are ready to hang you at the stake immediately.”
“You can’t protect your child when you are distracted,” Georgia Victoria answered. “Me, personally, that’s what’s been stuck in my head all class. I don’t have to give up making content, but I need to make the most content when he is in school or sleep. I can’t do both.” She shrugged.
“You’re getting it,” the instructor encouraged with a smile. “What about you, Eddie?”
“Kids understand consistency at all ages. What’s a little harder for them to understand is emotion. While I think spazzing out is showing my daughter that I’m not playing about her, it’s more than likely scaring her. She don’t understand it. And that shit is not helping my case in court, either.”
“The best thing you can do to prove to the courts, your daughter, and her mother is showing up when you’re told to with a good attitude even in the worst of circumstances.
They can say what they want but when you do what you’re supposed to do they can’t argue with that.
” The instructor nodded. “Fatima, what are you carrying with you from today’s class. ”
“I feel like my most important responsibility as a parent is to make sure my daughter can take care of herself when I am gone. I’ve always pushed for her independence.
It’s not a bad thing that she can do something like make oodles and noodles, but she does need to be monitored still.
That’s something I have to instill in her that she can’t just do things on her own even though, I’ve taught her to do things for herself.
” Fatima dabbed the wetness from her eyes, not wanting to ruin her mascara.
“And last but not least, Jakia. What’s held your attention this class.”
“What you said about stability. It’s not just about paying the rent and keeping the lights on.
Its standards being upheld even when you’re tired.
It’s doctor’s appointments. It’s who you have around them.
You’d like to be their only influence, but they will learn from every single person and thing you have around them,” Jakia answered.
She’d been getting sign after sign to take a step back from Hussein. The fact that he’d been locked up for days without reaching out was a push in the same direction. If she was going to leave him alone, now was the perfect time.
When class was dismissed, Jakia was first to head out. Two classes down and two more to go. The closer that the kitchen calendar got to the court date, the more anxious she became. It felt like she wasn’t doing enough even though she was doing all she could.
“You always move so fast. You got somewhere to be, or you just don’t like people?” Fatima caught up with her.
“Always somewhere else I’d rather be. Unless I’m at home.” Jakia reasoned as they stepped into the parking lot.
“I’m fitna roll up before I have to deal with life. You smoke?” Fatima asked, holding open the driver’s seat door.
“Is a nigga ain’t shit?”
“And ain’t” Fatima laughed. “Wait.” She paused. “And is.” The thought lingered for a second before the both of them burst into laughter.
Jakia and Fatima passed the blunt back and forth, getting to know one another.
They were both equally intrigued by the other’s profession.
Admittedly, Fatima could’ve never done something as structured as the military, Jakia agreed that she could never be a stripper.
It took guts despite the pushback women got.
Hunger snuck up on them, and they dipped into a nearby carry-out that could feed both of their cravings; cheesesteaks and triple mixes.
“I think this one is yours.” Jakia scrunched her face to stop the stench. “Oil and vinegar on a cheesesteak is diabolical.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing.” Fatima happily accepted the foil as Jakia slid it towards her.
“How do you even discover that it tastes good?”
“Fucking ‘round with a Philly nigga.” Fatima’s tongue hung from her mouth like a happy dog. “I’ll never fuck with another one, though.”
“I’ve been all over the world and I can promise you, it ain’t just Philly.” She stuffed a fry into her mouth. “Men all across the globe do their best work on a woman’s nerves.”
“I believe it, but Baltimore men just do it for me. I see why to the rest of the world, it’s charm city. They open doors, immediately give you a nickname and at first sight make you feel like the prettiest woman they’ve ever seen.”
“All the while being ruthless.” Jakia snickered. “I love them, too.” She threw her head back and the two of them hollered.
“Oh.” Fatima jumped up, peeking out of the storefront window. “My weed man is here. I be right back.” She grabbed her drink from the table.
Jakia finished her food, watching Fatima with her eyes.
Soon as dude stepped out the car, she recognized him.
It was Dontrae. It didn’t surprise her that he was the weed man.
Keyona had always gone for the bad boys that made a lot of noise.
Now that Jakia was made aware, she could only assume that he was selling more than that.
“I still wish I would’ve met Lah first.” Fatima sighed, rejoining Jakia at the table. “Instead, I fucked his clout chasing ass homeboy.” She rolled her eyes, taking a big gulp of her half and half.” I hate when they trick you into thinking they the top dog.”
“Lah?” Jakia asked for clarification.
“Yeah, you don’t know him?” Fatima scrunched her face. “It’s short for Wallah.”
“Like magic?”