what because of it.
So I cooked dinner, we ate and she cleaned up the kitchen. It was worth it to be sitting watching her clean everything up, plus I was actually learning how to cook. A few weeks ago she gave me an empty notebook to write down all my recipes. I also started writing down her recipes for life. I don’t know why. I guess it seemed like a good idea. And now I just kind of liked it. So I was just finished writing down how she told me to make pork chops when my cell rang. I answered even though I didn’t recognize the number.
“Kenisha.”
“Who’s this?”
“This is Darien.”
“Who?” I asked, having no idea who it was. I was just about to click off when he continued.
“Don’t play with me, girl. You know who this is. I know you were waiting for me to call.”
“Look, I don’t know who this is, and I know I didn’tgive you my number. So please don’t call me again.” I closed my cell. I figured it was one of those stupid guys at school trying to be funny.
“Problems?” my grandmom asked. I told her about what was going on at school and what happened after I left Freeman. I could see she was angry, but she still remained calm. “I’ll take care of it,” she affirmed.
“Grandmom, don’t. Let me handle this. If I can’t, then I’ll let you know. But I can’t come running to you every time I have a problem. How am I supposed to be my own woman like that?”
She walked over to me and smiled with kindness in her eyes now. “Know this, I’m always here to listen and to help. Never forget that.” I nodded. She walked out and went into the living room.
I stayed in the kitchen a while. I glanced down at my cell trying to figure out who’d just called. But my thoughts were interrupted when my cell rang again. I knew the number. It was lawnmower guy. We talked for about an hour. He wasn’t coming home this weekend because he was still on line for the fraternity and schoolwork was getting harder. We talked about me at Penn Hall, but I didn’t tell him all that other stuff going on. I didn’t want him to worry. He already had a lot going on.
It was late when we hung up. I’d gone upstairs and was sitting at my laptop playing online. Terrence sent me an instant message, so we started typing back and forth while. We signed off around one o’clock in the morning. Talking to him, then IM-ing was the perfect ending to my crazy day.
Saturday, the next morning, my dad showed up early.I was still in my room when my grandmother called me down. “Good morning, Grandmom,” I said, having taken the back stairs directly to the pantry off the kitchen. “Hey, Dad, what are you doing here so early?” I asked.
“Hey, baby girl,” he said, standing and kissing my forehead. “I have something for you.”
“What?”
“It’s in the living room. I just got them in and thought you’d like one.”
We walked into the living room and there were two identical boxes sitting on the coffee table. I immediately took them off and set them on the floor. In each box was a computer conference call system. “Get out, for me? Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome. I bought five. I dropped two off to your friends Jalisa and Diamond. You are still friends this week, right?” He chuckled. I laughed and swatted at him. “I just wanted to make sure. So you go on and put it together. The instructions are easy enough. Enjoy.”
“Wait, there are two of them. Who’s the other one for?”
“You mentioned that you made a friend at Penn Hall.”
“Oh, Cassie, right, okay.” I shrugged not even thinking about her. She was okay and we walked home from school every day and all, but she was acting strange lately, like she was jealous or something. She reminded me a lot of Chili, two-faced. There was no way I was giving her this. But I knew exactly who I was giving it to.
“Listen, I gotta get to work.” I smirked. He must have seen my expression ’cause he called me on it. “I’m doing right,”
So I cooked dinner, we ate and she cleaned up the kitchen. It was worth it to be sitting watching her clean everything up, plus I was actually learning how to cook. A few weeks ago she gave me an empty notebook to write down all my recipes. I also started writing down her recipes for life. I don’t know why. I guess it seemed like a good idea. And now I just kind of liked it. So I was just finished writing down how she told me to make pork chops when my cell rang. I answered even though I didn’t recognize the number.
“Kenisha.”
“Who’s this?”
“This is Darien.”
“Who?” I asked, having no idea who it was. I was just about to click off when he continued.
“Don’t play with me, girl. You know who this is. I know you were waiting for me to call.”
“Look, I don’t know who this is, and I know I didn’tgive you my number. So please don’t call me again.” I closed my cell. I figured it was one of those stupid guys at school trying to be funny.
“Problems?” my grandmom asked. I told her about what was going on at school and what happened after I left Freeman. I could see she was angry, but she still remained calm. “I’ll take care of it,” she affirmed.
“Grandmom, don’t. Let me handle this. If I can’t, then I’ll let you know. But I can’t come running to you every time I have a problem. How am I supposed to be my own woman like that?”
She walked over to me and smiled with kindness in her eyes now. “Know this, I’m always here to listen and to help. Never forget that.” I nodded. She walked out and went into the living room.
I stayed in the kitchen a while. I glanced down at my cell trying to figure out who’d just called. But my thoughts were interrupted when my cell rang again. I knew the number. It was lawnmower guy. We talked for about an hour. He wasn’t coming home this weekend because he was still on line for the fraternity and schoolwork was getting harder. We talked about me at Penn Hall, but I didn’t tell him all that other stuff going on. I didn’t want him to worry. He already had a lot going on.
It was late when we hung up. I’d gone upstairs and was sitting at my laptop playing online. Terrence sent me an instant message, so we started typing back and forth while. We signed off around one o’clock in the morning. Talking to him, then IM-ing was the perfect ending to my crazy day.
Saturday, the next morning, my dad showed up early.I was still in my room when my grandmother called me down. “Good morning, Grandmom,” I said, having taken the back stairs directly to the pantry off the kitchen. “Hey, Dad, what are you doing here so early?” I asked.
“Hey, baby girl,” he said, standing and kissing my forehead. “I have something for you.”
“What?”
“It’s in the living room. I just got them in and thought you’d like one.”
We walked into the living room and there were two identical boxes sitting on the coffee table. I immediately took them off and set them on the floor. In each box was a computer conference call system. “Get out, for me? Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome. I bought five. I dropped two off to your friends Jalisa and Diamond. You are still friends this week, right?” He chuckled. I laughed and swatted at him. “I just wanted to make sure. So you go on and put it together. The instructions are easy enough. Enjoy.”
“Wait, there are two of them. Who’s the other one for?”
“You mentioned that you made a friend at Penn Hall.”
“Oh, Cassie, right, okay.” I shrugged not even thinking about her. She was okay and we walked home from school every day and all, but she was acting strange lately, like she was jealous or something. She reminded me a lot of Chili, two-faced. There was no way I was giving her this. But I knew exactly who I was giving it to.
“Listen, I gotta get to work.” I smirked. He must have seen my expression ’cause he called me on it. “I’m doing right,”
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