Page 11 of Curvy Girl Summer

He had some nerve.

“Now, Uncle Al…”

“That was a joke. I don’t mean no harm!” He threw his hands up and sat back in the chair. “But now I’m being serious, Aaliyah. I’m serious.” He searched my face. “And I know you got something to say. So, say what’s on your mind, but just listen first. I’m worried about you.”

“There’s nothing to be worried about.”

“Yes, there is, and I’m worried!” His voice boomed, carrying through the house. “You don’t have a husband or any prospects or anything. You don’t think we sit around worried about what’s going to become of you?”

“What?” My eyes widened because I couldn’t have heard what I thought I heard. “What’s going to become of me?”

He cocked his head to the side. “We’re going to find you somebody.”

“That’s the last thing I’d want.”

“Well, maybe it’s what you need. Because it’s looking like you’renot having any luck on your own. And you know what it is, don’t you?”

I sighed loudly and started to leave the room. “We’re not having this conversation.”

“If no one else is going to say it, I’m going to say it. It’s your weight. Your weight has something to do with it.”

I stopped in my tracks.

With family members joyously entertaining themselves outside, my uncle came into the house to tell me that I didn’t have a man because I was fat.

To say I was dumbfounded was an understatement.

Turning to face him, I was ready to tell him off.

He pointed at the picture of Aniyah. “At thirty, she was married and pregnant. They were living in that big ol’ house. She was running a successful business and making good money. That’s why I gave Aniyah the yacht. She was ready to handle something like that, and she had somebody. She had a man to help her and to help her take care of the yacht. You’ll be thirty in a couple months, and what do you have?”

I didn’t know if I was more irritated by the pity in his eyes or the audacity of his words.

My jaw dropped. “You’re not serious. You’renotserious!”

The sharpness of my tone seemed to trigger something in him. He slowly pushed himself up. “Now don’t get upset. I’m not saying this to hurt you.” He took a couple of steps toward me. “I’m just worried about you. We’re all just worried about you. That’s all.”

“What are we all worried about, Al?” Mom asked as she entered the room with my grandma in tow.

With a frown, he turned around and looked at my mother. “It’s time to be honest with her, Alicia. Instead of you and Darryl silently worrying about her and her future, you should’ve been talking to her—”

“Al, what is the meaning of this?” my mom snapped, interrupting him. Putting her hands on her hips, she shifted her gaze between me and my uncle before she glared at her older brother. “Why are you in here running your mouth? This isn’t your business!”

He poked his chest out. “Since you and Darryl haven’t done it, I decided to have the conversation with her. Especially since Marcus—”

“Albert, you need to mind your manners,” my grandma scolded him. “That’s not your place.”

“What is going on?” I questioned, looking around the room.

Everyone fell silent.

My uncle muttered under his breath and then turned to me. “It’s not just me concerned about your condition.”

“What condition?” I replied before turning to my mother. “What is he talking about?”

“Aaliyah, we’ll talk about it later,” she answered gently.

“You don’t solve problems by ignoring them,” Uncle Al said loudly.

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