Page 27 of Standing In The Sun

“First time locked up since having him?”

Ahvi didn’t answer right away. She just nodded, fingers tapping against her knee, leg bouncing with pent-up energy.

“Yea,” the woman sighed, rubbing her hands together. “That shit hit different, don’t it?”

Ahvi wanted to brush it off, act like she wasn’t feeling it, but the lump in her throat made it impossible. “Yea,” she admitted, “It do.”

The woman didn’t pry any more after that, and Ahvi was grateful for the silence that settled between them. It was the only thing keeping her from falling apart completely.

When the guard finally came to the cell, calling her name for her phone call, she damn near jumped up before they could finish speaking.

It had been a whole day since she was brought in and they made no rush on getting the women booked or giving out phone calls. The judge hadn’t called for them to talk about arraignments nor had her probation officer shown up. She knew that would probably come before her actual hearing.

The guard led her out, past more cells and into a small room with a single payphone. She already knew the deal— one call and no do-overs. She punched in the number she knew by heart, pressing the receiver to her ear as it rang.

Sheena answered on the third ring, her voice too casual for someone who had a daughter sitting in jail. “Ahvi, what you calling me for? You know I can’t do nothing ‘bout?—”

“Where’s Kamari?” Ahvi cut in, her voice sharp. She didn’t have time for her mama’s blasé attitude.

Sheena huffed, “He good.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Ahvi snapped. “Where is my son?”

Sheena sighed like this was some minor inconvenience to her. “Lunar, that man you left him with, still got him.”

Ahvi frowned, her grip tightening on the phone. “Why the fuck does he still have my son? I don’t know that man like that.”

“Calm down – you can’t do nothin’ ‘bout it from where you at – can you? But I doubt he gon’ do something to him. Hell, when they brought him over here, he looked clean and fed to me. They pulled up in an expensive car so I know they got some money…you might have some of your mama in you after all,” Sheena said, like that was supposed to mean something.

Ahvi’s heart started pounding, “You let my baby go with a stranger?”

“Stop being dramatic,” Sheena scoffed. “I didn’t give him to no damn stranger,youdid. Lunar showed up talkin’ ‘bout how you wanted Kamari with me, but I told him I ain’t got time for all that. Butta got summer league, and I already got enough on my plate.”

Ahvi clenched her jaw so hard it hurt. “So you just—what? Handed my son off to some dude you don’t even know?”

“Like I said, you left him with someone you ain’t know and like I told them, I love my grandson but I can’t see bout him. If I see Dro I’ll send him to get his son,” Sheena said, sounding irritated now. “And it ain’t like I had options! Your sister ain’t reliable, and I sure as hell ain’t dropping everything for a baby when I got my own life.”

Sheena was talking like everything she said really made sense. Maybe in her twisted ‘got my own life’ ass mind, it did - but not to Ahvi. She would rather Kamari be with Dro even though that nigga didn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. Still, he was Kamari’s father and right now anyone was better than her mother.

Ahvi’s vision blurred with rage. “You don’t got time for your grandson?” she hissed. “You make time for card games but not for my baby?!”

“Don’t start that,” Sheena warned. “You act like you was some abandoned child. You always had a roof, food, clothes?—”

“Because of Daddy!” Ahvi shot back. “Not you!”

Sheena sucked her teeth. “Man, whatever. You actin’ like Lunar ain’t take good care of him. Besides, Tiny tried to say something slick, and I almost had to check her ass, so don’t say I ain’t do nothing.”

Ahvi barely heard that last part, too caught up in the fact that her mother had so easily dismissed Kamari like he was an extra responsibility she didn’t sign up for.

The automated voice cut in, cold and impersonal:You have one minute remaining on this call.

Ahvi sucked in a shaky breath, trying to keep her anger from boiling over. “You got his number?”

“Who?”

“Lunar,” Ahvi gritted out. Her mama was really pissing her off and showing why she should’ve stopped having kids a long time ago.

Ahvi felt that Sheena was often too childish. She cared about the local gossip more than what her kids were doing in school. Don’t get her wrong, Sheena didn’t play with disciplining her kids when it came to acting out in public but she wasn’t an active parent, nor did she stay on them like she should’ve.

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