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Mommy lifted the lid on one of the pots on the stove, and the aroma drew me to it. She had some white beans with smoked meat in one pot. Catfish was frying in her cast-iron pan, and warm cornbread sat to the side. I just knew I was gon’ take a nap before I left.

“He’s down to your granny’s house, cleaning out her gutters and doing some yard work. He should be here in an hour or two. And don’t go calling him either. He don’t be having nothing to do but bother me when he’s home. Momma needs some alone time, shit,” she sassed, cutting the burner off for the beans.

I sucked my teeth, and her head snapped toward me. “Hey, now. Don’t get too spicy, Savannah. I don’t give a damn ’bout you being grown. In this house, you a child. Hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, dropping into a chair.

“You hungry?” she asked, grabbing two plates. “I’ll even pour your overly grown ass a glass of wine. Pick your lip up. You ain’t had no ass whipping since you were about ten. Ain’t like Ima whip you now.”

I giggled, watching Mommy fuss while she made our plates. Marley Mercer was hell. She didn’t take no shit, but there was no greater love than hers. Once she finished making our plates, she made Daddy one, covered it with foil, and put it in the oven. She poured our wine, sat beside me, then grabbed my hand to say grace.

“Thank you, Lord, for this meal. Thank you for the provision by my husband to put the food on the table. May this meal nourish us and keep us… And thank you for bringing my baby to my doorstep today. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

“Amen,” I whispered, picking up my fork.

For a minute, all I heard was chewing and forks scraping. But Mommy kept cutting her eyes at me, so I knew she wanted to say something.

“Mommy?” I said, placing my fork down.

She dropped her fork, then leaned back to sip her wine. “Why you ain’t tell me Juvie was back?”

Straight to the damn point. One thing about my mom was that she loved Juvie. She was cool and cordial with other boyfriends I had, but Juvie was the son she never had, and I hated it. All through college, she compared every boyfriend to him. And bringing him up now was even crazier. He and I were grown. We had our own lives, were in relationships, over thirty years old, and here comes Mommy.

“Mooommm,” I whined. “That man is none of my business. I told Messy Mildred that I don’t keep up with him. Now here you go.”

Mommy huffed, sipping her wine again. “Well, if you gon’ be nasty about it, forget I ever said anything. But if you happen to run into him, tell him Mama Marley asked about him.”

“You know I have a man, right? A good one who treats me good. The one we all spent the last three holidays with?” I asked, pushing my plate away.

“Yup, Emery. And I like him… But I ain’t talking about him. I’ll leave it alone, Sav. Finish your food,” she said, acting like I hurt her feelings.

“Don’t be like that, Mommy.” I reached for her hand. “Life goes on. I’ve moved on, and so has Juvie. He has a beautiful girlfriend, and he seems happy. I saw him at the gala.”

“Yeah, but you still never told me what happened and why he stopped coming around,” she shot back.

I went silent, picked up my fork, and started eating again. I wasn’t about to entertain the conversation further. We were kids. I didn’t know what happened, and fifteen years was a long time to try to figure it out now. The past was the past for a reason.

“How many pairs of pants did you bring this time, Sav? I might need a few days to get them all done,” Mommy said, changing the subject.

“Six. Two of them need to be taken in more than the others.”

“Okay. I’ll get started on them now. If you ain’t leaving, go to your room and look through that stuff. I’m clearing it out to set it up for my sewing and dressmaking. I’m tired of being in the basement. Mark what you want your Daddy to throw away or donate.”

She leaned over, grabbed my face with her warm hands, and kissed my forehead, then my cheek. I leaned into her, soaking in all her love. Then, she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight.

“If you need me, just holler. I love you, babygirl. Don’t leave without kissing your momma, hear?” she said sweetly.

“I love you too, Mommy. I won’t.”

She grabbed her wine and the little box where she kept her weed, then went upstairs. I washed our dishes and put the food in containers to cool off. If I put hot food in the fridge, she would probably kill me if she opened the containers and her food was spoiled the next day. After I wiped down the counters and the table, I turned on the light over the stove and went upstairs to my childhood room.

My room was like a time capsule. Everything was bright pink with splashes of silver. Stuffed animals lined up on the bed. My desk was still in the corner with the old desktop computer I used. Pictures of friends and me still hung on the walls—my old sketches of Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Lil’ Wayne. I cringed at the quality of the sketches because I was so much better now.

I plopped on my bed, then pulled my favorite stuffed bunny onto my lap. My mom had boxes of stuff for me to go through, so I grabbed the one closest to me and started digging. The first thing I pulled out was a picture of my sister Selene and me. The feathered bangs and two-toned weave I had with the invisible part was crazy. Selene had the Chinese bangs and her hands on her hips, like she was Nicki Minaj for real. I lost it, wheezing at how ridiculous we looked.

“Oh, my fuckin’ God,” I wheezed, seeing how thin my eyebrows were.

The next picture was of Shaina with one side of her head shaved and twenty-four inches of aqua-blue weave hanging down her back. She had on a purple blazer with a black pencil skirt. The six-inch heels she wore were nasty! Shaina couldn’t live without a high heel back then. She wouldn’t even attempt to walk in them now.