Free With Friends Like These by Reshonda Tate Billingsley

if my mother realized I was home.
    I heard her slam the front door, mumble a few choice words, and rush into the kitchen. While she moved around in there, I was burning with fury. I started to go in there and confront her myself, but I was too upset. Besides, I may have been mad, but I wasn’t crazy. After a few minutes, I looked up. My mother had come around the corner and stood right there in front of me.
    “How long have you been sitting here?” she asked, a frown plastered across her face.
    “Long enough to hear.” I couldn’t bring myself to look at her.
    “You have to understand, I just want what’s best,” my mother said.
    “Best for who?”
    I glared at my mother. She didn’t respond at first. Finally she said, “Camille, seeing that boy is just opening the door for problems. Now, if you don’t listen to anything else I say, listen to this. Stay away from that boy and his family.”
    There was nothing I could say. I didn’t care what Mrs. Lewis thought. I didn’t care what my mom said. I didn’t care what anyone said. There was no way in the world I was going to stay away from Walter.

13
Alexis
    I t had been a long day, and I wasn’t in a good mood. My parents had been fighting all day. I heard them arguing when I left for school this morning, and they were still at it when I came home. I’d locked myself in my room and tried to turn up my TV to drown out the fighting.
    Finally I’d gotten sick of listening to it and left to go hang out with Jaquan, but neither he nor Jasmine were at home. I felt myself falling hard for Jaquan, but I did wish we spent more time together. He was just always with his boys, although we had gone to the movies last night.
    Since I couldn’t catch up with him or Jasmine, I went to hang out at the mall until tonight’s Good Girlz meeting. I charged up a few things. Well, not really a few. Almost six hundred dollars worth of stuff that I didn’t even need. I had just signed the sales slip when the young saleslady handed me my bags.
    “Must be nice to shop like that,” she said.
    I forced a smile. “It’s all compliments of my dad.”
    She laughed. “Wow. Well, get ready to get it when he sees that bill. He’s probably gon’ hit the roof.”
    “I don’t think so,” I said, wondering why she was all up in my business.
    I took my bags and left the store as her words danced in my head. My father hit the roof about something I did? Fat chance of that happening. He would probably just pay the bill without even questioning me about it. Now, he loses it when my mother spends money. But me, he doesn’t say a word. I think it’s because he feels guilty about never being around. And probably because I never spend more than a few hundred dollars. My mom, on the other hand? It’s nothing for her to spend thousands and thousands of dollars.
    I know it sounds crazy, but just once I’d love to get in trouble about something. I mean real trouble, like have my dad go off or scream or something. Heck, I’d even take a whipping. At least I’d know my parents cared. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not stupid, but I’ve never in my life had a spanking. My mother has tapped my hand before, but that’s about it. I’ve been punished a few times, but that usually means just being sent to my room and not being able to watch TV or something. I don’t want any of those beatings Jasmine claims she gets, but I do want my parents to act like they care. When my father gets the credit card bill, he’ll probably give me a two-minute lecture on his way out the door, about how I need to manage money better. My mother will spend another three minutes telling me how so many poor people in the world wish they had money like us, then they’ll go back to doing what they’re doing. And I’ll be left alone in my little world again.
    I arrived at the meeting still down in the dumps. I made small talk with everyone, but I think they could all tell something was wrong.
    Rachel got the meeting