Free Lady J by L. Divine

woman. And from everything you’ve told me about Esmeralda, she can’t be any good.” He’s got that right. Years ago, I used to tell Rah all about my lineage while we waited for the city bus together. He’s always been a good listener, sometimes too good.
    â€œI know. I’m going to ask my mom more about Esmeralda’s powers when I get to her house,” I say as we drive away from South Bay High. Though I’m ready to grub, I feel like that broad’s still looking at me with her creepy blue eyes. I swear she put something on me. I just don’t know what yet. But I’m going to find out. I brought my spirit notebook with me and I plan to take very good notes from my talk with my mom and compare them with the spirit book when I get home on Sunday. I’m going to figure out a way to beat Esmeralda at her own game without getting caught in the crossfire, and hopefully without Mama finding out.

5
    Things Fall Apart
    â€œYou must’ve done something wrong/ Why you can’t find where you belong?”
    â€”BOB MARLEY
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    A fter we grab a not-so-quick bite to eat, Rah drops me off at my mom’s house. It’s Friday, and I know he’s got clients to hustle for, not to mention a girl to tend to. He also has to pick Kamal up from the YMCA and take him to their grandmother’s house in Compton to spend the night. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow night’s session to see each other, unless he visits me at work tomorrow, which would be a welcomed surprise.
    â€œHey Mom, I’m here,” I yell as I close the front door behind me. The last thing I want is for her to think it’s an intruder and grab the little twenty-two she keeps handy. A girl can never be too safe, especially when she lives alone.
    â€œHey baby. I’m glad you got a ride. How was school?” she yells back through the closed bathroom door. The floral scent of my mom’s Caress shower gel fills the small apartment, overwhelming even the fragrant incense burning in the corner. My mom’s got Anita Baker playing in the background as she prepares for another date with Karl, I assume.
    â€œSchool was school,” I say, plopping onto the small sofa and putting my bags down on the floor beside me. After the turkey burger with cheese, fries and strawberry milkshake I just threw back, I’m too full to move much further. “How was tennis?”
    â€œIt was worth getting off work early for. We had a ball—no pun intended,” she says, leaving the bathroom wrapped in a towel with her shower cap on her head. “He’s taking me to El Cholo’s tonight for dinner. Not the one in Santa Monica, the one in LA, where they have the best margaritas.” From my mom’s excitement, I’d think this was her first date ever.
    â€œWell, bring me back some chicken nachos if you can remember after sipping on all of that tequila, por favor,” I say, teasing her. Margaritas are her and my Aunt Vivica’s favorite drink.
    â€œSo, what are you up to tonight? Big plans with Rah?” she asks, rubbing her Jergen’s lotion into her already smooth skin as the warm light from the setting sun creeps through her second story window, making her ebony skin shimmer. As she props her leg up on the dining room chair, I notice her legs and armpits are freshly shaved. I avoid shaving both at all costs. Luckily, I’m not that hairy.
    â€œWhy do you shave when you know the hairs are going to grow back?” This is one of many ongoing debates between my mom and myself. Out of all the things I do that get on her nerves, me not shaving is the one that drives her especially crazy.
    â€œBecause I like to be smooth, unlike you, Sasquatch. I swear, sometimes I wonder if we’re related at all,” she says, leaving the bottle of lotion on the table and heading back to her room to get dressed. “Besides, Jayd, men don’t like hairy women.