Page 5 of Our Mother's Sons

“I raised your tired ass after I’d already raised my own damn son. That’s over forty years of raising kids. Damn right you paid my taxes and you gone pay whatever else I need you to pay too.”

Joanna was full of sass. She’d been that way since we were children. I guess when you sold cocaine for a living and ran a hole-in-the-wall club, you had to be tough. She didn’t read us bedtime stories and knit blankets while nestled in a rocking chair. She taught us about the boogie man and how to sell water to a whale. Ms. Mitchell was a thug.

“My bad killa. You still got that for me?”

Scratching the back of my head, I looked off. My grandmother took me in. Studying me from my head to my shoes, she leaned in close and just when I thought she was about to love on me, my lips stung.

“Grams! What the fuck was that for?”

Holding my mouth, I had to look at my fingers to make sure my shit wasn’t bleeding.

“You know good and well what that was for! What the hell you got me tied up in and who’s damn white baby is this?”

Yeah, I lied. I fucking lied to my brother about turning the baby over because what I did in my spare time was my business. He had a whole two-piece and a biscuit at the house. What went on at my residence didn’t have shit to do with him. When we left the Russian’s human holding spot, I knew I had to act quickly. I didn’t have a solid plan outside of wanting to keep the baby, so I brought her here. Before I went to the club, I tried reasoning with myself to turn her in, but the longer I stared at her, the more I knew that wasn’t an option.

“Ma. I told you, it’s my baby-“

Whap

“Shit!”

“Lie to me again! That baby, as pretty as she is don’t look like you. Plus, you and your brother can’t make nothing but twins. Y’all get that from your no good ass salami eating mama.”

“She shol ain’t no good is it Grams,” My words were muffled due to me holding my mouth.

“What the young folk say? And ain’t! She not fooling me with her bubble booty and long extensions while walking around here like she twenty two instead of damn near fifty. I owe her and ass whooping for popping back up and causing all this trouble. Had my fucking shit burned to the ground. Stupid hoe.”

“Ole skinny legs ass. Don’t you know your other grandson tried to get on me about not wanting to build a relationship with her?”

My Grams drew her head back.

“I know you lying to me!”

I held up two fingers like I was a fucking scout.

“I swear.”

“Oh I’m going to have to call his half breed ass. Just because he wants to see through her bull doesn’t mean we all want to wear shit stained glasses.”

“Right. Dookie booty lil boy,” I cackled.

Grams snapped her head at me, which made me jump a little. If she popped me in the mouth again, my shit was going to swell and bust.

“Who’s baby?”

“Okay, for real, Grams. She mine. Listen, Listen!”

I held my hand out to stop her heavy ass hand.

“I adopted her. Well, I’m in the process of adopting her.”

By the look on my grandma’s face, she wasn’t buying my shit.

“You’re the last person who needs to be adopting a child, Jovani. Remember when you had that rabbit? She was gone a week after you got her.”

My body tensed, and my muscles quivered at the mention of Lola.

“Grandma, you cooked her!”

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