What Ya Girl Won't Do (16 page)

Kylee was awakened by someone banging on the door like the police. She jumped up, looked over at the clock, and instantly got mad.

“Who the hell beatin' on my door at nine o'clock in the mornin'?” she yelled angrily as she headed downstairs to answer the door.

“It's your father,” he answered.

What the fuck you want this early?
she thought, swinging the door open with a mug on her face.

“What the fuck is this?” her dad walked in the house yelling while shoving a piece of paper in Kylee's face.

“I don't know,” she said, snatching it from his hand and reading it.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” her father asked, angrily waiting for her to read the letter.

“I forgot,” she replied slowly.

“How in the hell did you forget to apply for housing and your FAFSA?” her dad scolded her. “What the fuck you been doin' the entire summer? You've had plenty of time to get all of this shit taken care of, Kylee!”

Kylee stood quietly as her dad went ham.

“You know what this means? It means you're not goin' to college in the fall! 'Cause you don't have a place to stay nor do you have financial aid,” her father hollered. “I could pay for your tuition, but I'm not. It's time for you to grow the fuck up and learn some responsibility.”

“I'll just go winter quarter,” Kylee said, hoping that would make her dad happy.

“Did you at least do Ja'Nay's paperwork like you promised her you would?” he asked.

“No,” Kylee answered slowly.

“What! You not only fuckin' up your own future, you fuckin' up Ja'Nay's, too.”

“I said I forgot, dang!” Kylee huffed.

“You forgot is all you can come up with?” her father asked, disgusted.

Kylee didn't answer. She didn't have any other explanation. She'd told him the truth. She really did forget to do their paperwork. She sure wasn't going to tell him about Eli. Her mind had been so occupied playing house with Eli, she'd completely let her dad and Ja'Nay down.

“Who shoes are these?” her dad asked, looking down at the men's tennis shoes that were stacked neatly against the wall in the foyer.

Oh shit!
Kylee thought, forgetting they were there. Things were about to get real ugly.

“You got a nigga livin' up in here?” her dad asked.

“He just stayin' here until he buy him a house,” Kylee said.

“I can't believe this shit! First, you fuck up your chances of goin' to college; then you move a nigga up in some shit I pay for, knowin' I wouldn't approve of it.” Her father chuckled out of anger.

“He's about to buy him a house. He only gon' be here a few more weeks,” Kylee said, hoping that made things better.

Kylee's father looked at her like she was crazy. “I wouldn't give a damn if he was about to buy two houses! Look, Kylee, I love you and you grown and I'm about to start treatin' you as such. I don't know how you gon' pay your bills but you betta figure somethin' out.”

“That's fine,” Kylee retorted.

Kylee's father looked at his only child and shook his head before storming back out the door. Kylee knew her father was disappointed in her, which was the last thing she wanted. But he was right: she was grown, and forgetting to handle her and Ja'Nay's business was something she was going to have to deal with, not him.

Kylee walked back upstairs and hurried into her room to answer her ringing cell phone. She looked at the number and shook her head.

“Hello?” Kylee answered.

“So I guess we don't get to go to college,” Ja'Nay said, holding the letter she'd just received in the mail.

“I'm so sorry, Ja'Nay,” Kylee said sincerely. “We can always go for the winter quarter.”

“Winter quarter? What the fuck am I gon' do now? My mom said if I don't go to college I gotta get a job to help out around the house. Shit, my mom don't got money like yours and I'reon's.” Ja'Nay was crushed. “I wished I would have just done my own paperwork like I started to, and I wouldn't be in this predicament now.”

“I said I was sorry, damn!”

“I gotta go,” Ja'Nay said, hanging up.

“Damn, why everybody mad at me?” Kylee asked herself. “Damn, I forgot, I'm human!”

Kylee climbed back in her bed and thought about her dad and Ja'Nay. The more she thought about her actions, the more fucked up she felt. The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint the two most important people in her life. She lay there trying to think of a way to make it right with them and came up with nothing. Times like this she really hated that I'reon was so far away. She needed someone to talk to so bad; someone to tell her it would be okay. Kylee had grown so dependent on Eli to make her world right; she couldn't wait until he came home from work. Feeling sick to her stomach, Kylee ran to the bathroom and began throwing up. She rinsed her mouth out and walked back into her room. Kylee climbed back in bed, curled up in a ball, and cried.

It had been a few days short of three weeks since Kylee had last seen her mother. They had talked a few times on the phone, but every time her father walked in the room, her mother would rush her off the phone. Her father was still upset about her moving Eli in and it was putting a serious strain on their relationship. Kylee had a few minutes to spare before her hair appointment so she decided to stop by to visit her mother for a minute, but not before riding by the hotel her father and Sylvia met at every Thursday to make sure they were there. Like clockwork, she saw his car parked in the lot, so she headed over to her parents' house.

“Mom,” Kylee called out, using her house key to get in, surprised her father hadn't changed the locks on her.

“I'm in the kitchen,” her mother replied while cutting up some fresh vegetables.

“What's up?” Kylee asked, smiling, walking in and giving her mother a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey, baby.” Her mother smiled back, happy to see her daughter.

“What you cookin'?” Kylee asked, catching a whiff before walking over to the stove and lifting the top off of one of the pots.

“Spaghetti; why, you want some?” her mother asked, wiping her hand on a dish towel.

“Naw, 'cause 'bout time it gets done
, he'll
be home,” Kylee said, taking a seat on the stool.

“
He
who?” her mother turned around and asked.

“You know who
he
is,” Kylee replied smartly.

“That
he
is your father, Kylee,” her mother stated sternly.

“I can't tell. He sure don't act like it,” Kylee said, rolling her eyes.

“Why, because he's upset about you movin' a man up in your house?” her mother asked.

“No, that ain't the reason,” Kylee said, knowing it was.

“There can't be any other reason. Ya dad gives you the world,” her mother said.

“Gave,” Kylee corrected.

“Well, didn't nobody tell you to move a nigga up in ya house knowin' your daddy was payin' the bills. You could still be gettin' the world if you woulda listened to your father,” her mother said.

“I'm cool. I don't need him to do nothin' for me. Eli takes good care of me,” Kylee bragged.

“Well, I hope you got sense enough to not depend on no nigga. You need to get out and get your own!”

I don't ever remember you goin' out punchin' nobody's time clock,
Kylee wanted to say, but out of respect she kept it to herself. “I just don't see the logic behind Daddy's attitude,” Kylee said.

“You don't think your father should be upset about you movin' a man in your house after he asked you not to?” her mother questioned.

“No. I can see if Eli was livin' up in there rent free. He pays all the bills. I can see if I moved a broke nigga up in my spot, but I didn't. Eli owns his own businesses and everything,” Kylee protested.

“Chile you got a lotta growin' up to do,” her mother said, shaking her head before tending to her food.

“You always takin' his side,” Kylee huffed.

“I'm not takin' anyone side, Kylee,” her mother said, taking the top off the pot and stirring her homemade spaghetti sauce.

“Yes, you are, you always take his side, even when he's wrong,” Kylee said, catching an attitude.

“Well, if he doin' it all like that, how come he doesn't have his own house?” her mother questioned.

“He did,” Kylee said, leaving it at that.

“Did?” her mother asked.

“Yeah,” Kylee huffed, not trying to have her mom all up in Eli's business, giving them something else to throw up in her face.

“Well, what happened to it?” her mother pried.

“I don't know. Look, I'm about to go,” Kylee said, standing up from the barstool.

“Already? You just got here. Your father don't come home for lunch on Thursdays so you can stay a little longer, can't you?” her mother asked.

“No, I gotta go get my hair braided.”

“Well call me later on, okay?” her mother said, not wanting her daughter to leave.

“I will, Mommy,” Kylee said, giving her mother a hug before turning to walk away.

Kylee hopped back in her car and pulled off. Kendrick Lamar's “Swimming Pools” was banging out of the speakers as she pulled up to the red light. She looked over to her left and saw Josh in the car with his wife and instantly got jealous. Kylee could tell he was avoiding turning his head her way on purpose by the way he looked out the corner of his eye.

“No, this bitch ain't frontin' 'cause he wit' his bitch,” Kylee said, blowing the horn, catching the attention of his wife. She looked over at Kylee and frowned. Kylee blew Josh a kiss and busted out laughing before speeding off from the light, leaving them in her dust.

Still smiling, Kylee pulled up in front of the African shop and got out. She looked over at the Cadillac she parked next to and instantly recognized it. She pressed the wrinkles out of her clothes, threw her purse strap onto her shoulder, and walked into the shop with her head held high. She walked over to the assortment of hair and picked out the color. The entire time Tionna and Edna were staring her down with mugs on their faces.

“You ready?” asked one of the African braiders as she walked over to Kylee.

“Yep,” Kylee answered, following the lady over to an empty chair. The lady sat Kylee across from Tionna and next to Edna. The two friends continued staring at Kylee. Kylee sat down in the chair, looked over at Edna and then at Tionna, and smirked.

“These young hoes really think they be doin' somethin',” Tionna looked over at Edna and said.

“Don't they. You betta than me 'cause I woulda been whooped her ass,” Edna said, trying to start some shit.

Kylee didn't respond. They could continue to hold a conversation about her like she wasn't there if they wanted to. As long as they didn't put their hands on her, Kylee was cool with them talking. It was quite entertaining. She didn't want any trouble. All she came there for was to get her hair put in micro braids.

“Whoop her for what? Shit, what she don't understand is me and my husband got a bond that can't be broken,” Tionna said with confidence.

Not being able to contain herself, Kylee let out a chuckle.

“You find somethin' funny?” Tionna looked over at Kylee and asked.

“Only the fact that you think Eli is comin' back to you,” Kylee replied smartly.

“Look, baby girl, you don't have anything to offer my husband but some ass, so why would he try to build a future with you?” Tionna asked.

Edna and a couple of the other customers snickered.

Embarrassed by the truth because Kylee knew Eli was paying all the bills, plus giving her money to spend, so she really didn't have anything to offer Eli.

“I bet you still livin' at home wit' ya mommy and daddy,” Tionna continued.

There was more snickering in the shop.

“Actually, I got my own place, thank you,” Kylee replied.

The African lady finished up Tionna's hair and handed her a mirror to look at the finished project. Loving her new look, Tionna handed the lady the mirror back and stood up.

“Look, you might have my husband for now, but mark my words, he'll be back and when he comes home don't say I didn't warn you,” Tionna said before turning to walk away, making Kylee feel small in front of the other customers.

“I'll call you when I'm done,” Edna called out to Tionna as she headed over to the register to pay for her hairdo.

“Okay,” Tionna said, handing the cashier two crisp hundred dollar bills before heading out the door, leaving Kylee feeling small.

The following day after the incident with Kylee and Tionna at the hair shop, Kylee was in the kitchen cooking dinner when Eli walked in and slammed the door behind him.

“What the fuck?” she asked, wiping her hands on the dish towel before walking out of the kitchen.

“I can't believe this bitch!” Eli said angrily as he walked into the living room.

“What's happened?” Kylee asked.

“I went by the house this mornin' to get some more of my stuff; this bitch done got the locks changed. I'm cool wit' that. But then I go to the daycare when I get off work to see my daughter. And them muthafuckas tell me Tionna took me off Sy'onn's emergency contact form and said not to let me pick her up 'cause I'm gon' kidnap her.”

“What?” Kylee frowned.

“Then when I get to flippin' out up in the daycare center, they threatened to call the police on me, so I just dipped! I'ma kill that bitch!” Eli snapped.

“Calm down, baby. We gon' think of somethin',” Kylee said.

“Calm down my ass; this bitch playin' wit' my daughter!” Eli said as he paced back and forth through the living room.

“She knows how you feel about your daughter. That's why she playin' these games wit' you,” Kylee explained.

“That bitch know I will do somethin' to her about my daughter! Then when I call the ho, she gon' tell me not to worry about Sy and to have a baby by the bitch pussy I've been eatin'!”

“She too damn old to be actin' like that,” Kylee said, shaking her head.

Eli's phone began to ring before he could reply. “Hello?” he answered angrily. “Why the fuck you tell them people I'm gon' kidnap my daughter, T?”

Kylee sat on the sofa and pretended to be occupied with something on TV, but was really listening in on Eli's conversation.

“Bitch, you betta go up there in the mornin' and put my name back on her list or we gon' have some problems. Now think I'm playin' if you want to,” he said, hanging up on Tionna before she could respond.

His phone rang right back. He looked at the number on the screen and saw that it was Tionna and didn't bother answering it, tired of arguing. He said what he meant and meant what he said, and Tionna knew him well enough to know that his name better be back on their daughter's list the next morning.

“Other than the bullshit you been goin' through with Tionna, how was your day at work?” Kylee asked.

Eli's phone began ringing again before he could respond. He checked the number and pushed the ignore button. “It was okay. I'm tired though,” he said.

“Well go take a shower; dinner will be ready in a few.”

“Thanks, baby,” he said walking over and giving Kylee a kiss on the lips before heading upstairs. Eli wasn't used to having a hot meal ready for him when he got off work. When he was with Tionna he prepared all the meals. She didn't know the first thing about cooking; only thing she was good at doing was making reservations.

Kylee walked back in the kitchen to finish preparing dinner. She loved the fact that the more Tionna continued doing stupid shit to Eli, the further she was pushing him away. Pretty soon, Eli was going to get fed up and leave Tionna for good and Kylee would be right there for him when he did.