Free Caught Up in the Drama by Reshonda Tate Billingsley Page B

care of some transfer paperwork in the office. They were trying not to count some of my credits, and Iwouldn’t have been able to graduate. I’m definitely not having that.”
    â€œOh, yeah, I can’t imagine that,” I said.
    â€œWho you tellin’?” Tyeesha said, taking a seat next to Camille. “So what are y’all talking about?”
    â€œWhat else?” I rolled my eyes. “Camille and her life.”
    â€œCool. How’s it going?” she asked Camille.
    That made Camille perk up. “It’s going fine. We wrapped up shooting. Now we—”
    Tyeesha cut her off as she gazed across the table at me. “Alexis, what’s wrong?”
    â€œI just have a lot of stuff on my mind.”
    â€œLike what?” Tyeesha asked.
    Before I could answer, Camille squealed. “Got a text,” she said, pointing toward her cell. “I’ll be right back.” She jumped up and headed out the door.
    Tyeesha immediately turned her attention back to me. “Alexis, I see it all over your face. I mean, I know I don’t know you all that well, but I can definitely tell something is wrong.”
    I took a deep breath, not sure of how much she’d be willing to share. Finally, I said, “You know, you seem like such a happy-go-lucky person.”
    â€œI am,” she said. “But we’re talking about you.”
    I played with the nasty chicken fingers on my tray. “I was saying that because you mentioned your parents were getting a divorce, and you just seem to, I don’t know, take it so well.”
    Tyeesha didn’t agree with that. “I’m okay with it now. I mean, I wasn’t at first. That’s why I got into all the trouble. I started hanging out with a group of kids my mom hated.I guess it was my way of acting out. At least that’s what the therapist said.”
    My eyes grew wide. “Wow, you had to go to therapy?”
    â€œYeah.” She nodded. “That shows you that I didn’t deal with it well. But I’m okay now. Part of the cure for me was understanding that it’s not my fault.”
    â€œWhy would you blame yourself?”
    Tyeesha shrugged. “I don’t know. We weren’t rich, but we weren’t poor either, so there were no fights over money. And it’s not like my dad was cheating, at least to my knowledge anyway. They just stopped getting along.”
    â€œWow, that’s exactly what’s happening to my parents.”
    â€œI know, it’s a bummer, isn’t it?”
    â€œThat’s why I’m never getting married.” I stabbed my chicken fingers with my fork. “’Cuz that whole ‘till death do us part’ stuff is a bunch of crap.”
    â€œYou know, I used to think that, too, but the therapist got me to see things differently.”
    I shook my head. “That’s what I’m seeing, anyway.”
    â€œI don’t know. I guess I just got okay with it because I know my parents both love me. I really do think they tried their best to make it work, and now, honestly, everybody’s happier. It took a minute, but my mother smiles more. My father is happier and—I never, ever thought I’d say this—I’m happier, too. All that fighting and arguing is stressful. Granted, we’re staying with my grandmother and her house smells like mothballs, but it’s nothing a little Febreze can’t cure.” She bit into her pizza. “Just hope they can end amicably—I think that’s the word the therapist used. Maybe your family should consider therapy.”
    â€œOh, no,” I said, thinking how horrified my father would be at the thought of talking to a complete stranger about his problems—if he would even admit that he had a problem. No, I had to come up with another solution. I didn’t know what it was, but I had to think of something to keep my parents together.

15
    Camille
    I was so