Page 13 of Pieces of Us

They hated Diana the moment she moved all her shit into my house. At one point, we all were cool, but the moment our father’s forced us together, things were never the same.

“A’ight, fam. I’ll hit you later,” I told Loon as I exited his truck.

“In a minute.”

We slapped palms twice and saluted. I made my way up to my door and walked inside. Instantly, the smell of marijuana hit me.

I’m going to kick her little ass.

Shelby became interested in marijuana when our mother fell ill with Multiple Sclerosis. Queenie Newson was our guiding light, our guardian angel if I had to describe her. She was one of those moms that showed up for anyone she ever said she loved.

We never had to worry about if we were receiving enough love, affection, or attention because she never lacked in that department. It wasn’t until she could barely get out of bed that we realized how much of an impact she had on our lives.

We’d always known, but when she wasn’t able to do the things she used to do, it affected us more than we realized. So, Shelby started researching things to help with her condition. Unfortunately, by the time she figured it out, Queenie was gone.

To quell the emptiness of losing our mother, Shelby continued to grow marijuana to help save the lives of others or at least assist in helping them manage their pain. I was proud of her. What I wasn’t proud of was her smoking in my damn house.

“Anna Mae, what the hell I tell you about smoking in my house?” I asked once I entered the kitchen where she was located. I looked over and saw Chelsea and Shanise playing checkers at the table while Shelby stirred something in a pot.

“In my defense, I was trying out a new strand, and it works because I’m very calm, very sane, and very not about to go slice your ex-wife’s throat.” Shanise and Chelsea laughed.

“It’s not funny. Anyway, hello, ladies. Nice to see you all migrate over here when there’s an issue. At least I know y’all will ride at dawn for me.” I opened the fridge, grabbed a beer, then took a seat at the table.

“We gon’ always ride. I don’t know why you thought we wouldn’t,” Chelsea said as I leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“That’s why I love y’all. What you cooking, Sis?”

“Chili.”

“Chili in May?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Chelsea asked.

“It just doesn’t fit the weather.”

“Well, it’s all you had to cook up in here. That’s why you need a real wife. Because what the fuck was her baldheaded ass doing up in here?”

“The bare minimum,” I replied.

“We can see that,” Shanise said.

“So, just to be clear, we’re not putting hands on her?” Shelby queried.

I chuckled. “Nah. Leave her baldheaded ass alone. She got what she wanted.”

“And you just let her.” Shanise rolled her eyes.

“We’ve been fighting for months, Shani. I was over the shit.”

“The boat, though! Mannn, how the fuck you let her get the boat?” Chelsea yelled out.

“That part. But you’ve always been one to avoid conflict,” Shelby countered.

“He should have let me do my job, and that broad would have walked away with just her badly beaten wigs.”

“A’ight, enough. I get it. I really don’t want to show up to Pops party because I know Vic is going to be there. I don’t want to hear shit about what happened between me and his daughter.”

“Speaking of wives…I ran into Drue at Walmart the other day.”

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