Hustlin' by L. Divine

cousin, Jay comes out of his room and rushes into the bathroom. Damn it, now I know this is going to be a rough day. Anytime I don’t get in there before him it’s a bad start.
    â€œJay, hurry up. I’ve got a bus to catch, unlike you,” I say, making my way quietly into his room to retrieve my toiletries. Daddy turns in his sleep at the sound of Jay’s loud peeing and my creeping. This house is way too small for comfort, if you ask me. But we’re family, and that’s just how it is sometimes.
    â€œYou can’t rush nature, Jayd. Haven’t you learned that in all of your studying with Mama?” he says, making light of what me and Mama do. As if she heard my thoughts, Mama clears her throat and shifts in bed, letting me know it’s time for me to get moving.
    â€œDon’t worry about what I learn. You just worry about getting out of my way. Come on, move it,” I retort, opening the bathroom door while he washes his hands. At least he’s a clean dude, unlike our uncles. Even Bryan makes a slight mess from time to time. But since our schedules coincide I’ve been training Bryan and he’s getting better at cleaning up behind himself.
    â€œSo impatient,” Jay says, pushing past me and shutting the door behind him. He can be more of a drama queen than I can sometimes. Speaking of which, I better get into character if I’m going to deal with Mickey’s ass today. I want to catch her first thing this morning and squash this madness. Her man is too unpredictable for me to let another minute go by without talking to her. I tried calling Mickey several times last night, but her phone was off, just as I predicted. No matter how big South Bay’s campus is, Mickey can’t run away from me at school.
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    My morning has been uneventful so far. My first two classes were a breeze—Spanish always is, and English is my favorite class. But if I don’t get more work done on my paper, government class is going to be most uncomfortable. Our rough drafts are due today and I’m ready, but it’s not my best work. I’ve been so distracted by my friends and their issues that I haven’t focused on my own. Speak of the devil, here Rah goes texting me now.

    Peace queen. I’m going to have my baby girl this weekend. I want you to meet her. See you after school. Holla.

    Rah finally wants me to meet his daughter. Wow, now I know he’s maturing. If I could only get Mickey to grow up and take responsibility for her failed hustlin’, then we might be able to save ourselves from her man’s insanity before it goes any further.
    I’ve been looking for Mickey and Nigel all morning, but they don’t seem to be anywhere. I hope they didn’t ditch again. It’s too close to the holidays to get caught for something that stupid. Break is almost over and I should take the remaining time to get some work done in the library. I want to clean my locker out at lunch. It’s gotten too overstuffed for me to handle.
    When I get inside of the library, Mrs. Bennett’s standing there talking to the librarian. I should’ve known her evil influence extends even this far. They both look at me crazy, and that’s just fine with me. All I want to do is get work done before third period and get out of here. To hell with what they think or say about me. I’ve got bigger fish to fry today.
    â€œGood morning, Jayd,” Mrs. Bennett says, forcing me to speak. I’m not going to give her another opportunity to call me rude. “It was nice to see you at Jeremy’s on Thanksgiving, even though you two aren’t an item anymore.”
    Why is she so into my business? Doesn’t she have anything better to do?
    After taking my government notebook out, I slide my backpack across the counter to the librarian, who promptly puts it in the cubby and hands me a number.
    â€œYou left this last time you were in here,” the