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“Baby don’t do that. I’m in here serving time a nigga be stressed.”
“Then go be an inmate, hell. You serving time, but still wanna live like you free. Make that make sense.” My mouth fell open in disbelief. This lady was crazy. Not wanting to hear them argue, I intervened.
“Heyyyy, Daddy. I miss you.” He cleared his throat, so I assumed he was trying to calm down.
“Hey, baby girl. You good? Do you need anything?” My mama’s head snapped up fast as hell.
“How she gone get it Earl? I know damn well you not volunteering my money. If you old enough to make your own problems, you old enough to figure out how to pay for em. Once you grown, help becomes a favor, and I don’t do favors.”
“Juanita.”
“Earl.”
“It’s okay, daddy. I’m used to her by now.” Juanita shrugged and smirked at me.
“Okay, I love you. I’m gone let yall go. I’m about to go grab one of these showers. Juanita, send the money.”
“Aight, bye.” He hung up and I couldn’t do shit but laugh.
“Peanut, can you go wait in the car for a minute. I wanna talk to my mama about something.” He got up and left out without contesting.
“It’s getting harder to pull off these licks, and I was thinking about getting a job.”
“I ain’t got no money.” Shaking my head, I laughed.
“Juanita, I’m not asking you for anything but advice. What would you do if you were me? If I do a big lick, it can settle all my problems but Peanut not really about that life.”
“Sounds like Peanut don’t need to be your man.”
“Ma, I’m serious,” I whined.
“Me too. Look, two people can love each other all day, but if one pulling and the other one riding, eventually the one pulling gone get tired. God said equally yoked for a reason. Eggs ain’t gone taste right if they scrambled different.”
“Ma, you know that ain’t what that mean right? You know what, never mind.” I left it alone because the first half of the advice made sense.
“Made sense to me. Now, go in there and get me a fork so I can eat this food you made.” Thinking it over, I grabbed the container and walked towards the door.
“If you able enough to hear your stomach growl, you able enough to rattle some pots. I don’t do favors.” I stuck my tongue out at her as I ran out the door. Jumping in the car, I pulled off fast. She was running behind me, but I was going to run over her toes if she came near this car. I laughed as I pulled off.
“I thought you was bringing that to her to eat?”
“I changed my mind.” He looked confused, but I smiled all the way home. I loved me and my mama’s relationship.
When I pulled up at the house, my phone started pinging. I was getting notifications back to back. Looking at it, I saw multiple charges hitting my account from DoorDash. Opening my phone, I saw it was Juanita ordering a bunch of food. I sat there with my mouth open trying to figure out how the hell she got in my account when I got a text.
Juanita: Every lesson got a fee. Don’t let that fee be me!
Closing my phone, I got out of the car and slammed the door. I should have just let her petty ass have the food. Now the money I just got from the out of towners had decreased thanks to her. Stomping up the stairs and into the apartment, I only had one thought in my mind. Fuck Juanita!
Anton “Tax” Hodges
“Signal’s clean.” Key was giving me the go ahead.
“You sure?”
“Nigga.” He looked at me offended. I laughed and leaned back in my chair. That was answer enough for me. We were about to have a meeting with a potential client. The warehouse belonged to a company, that belonged to another company, that belonged to some shit that neither one of us had anything to do with. There was nothing connecting Anton Hodges to the building, and him telling me the signal was clean meant Key had finished scrambling the signal. Anybody trying to trace this call would be looking for me somewhere I’ve never been. Key tapped a few keys before the monitor went black, then a face appeared. “Go.”
“Who the fuck is this?” My screen showed him clearly. His showed what Key wanted him to see. My voice wasn’t leaving here sounding like mine either.
