Free Butterfly by Sylvester Stephens Page B

was Brimone. Bri was fifteen and becoming a sophomore at Duluth Christian Academy. She was cute. Bri was about five feet two inches with real long, straight black hair. She was not dark and she was not light-skinned. She was kinda like, in between. Her body was thick but she had a nice shape. She looked a lot like her father, Uncle Mike.
    The middle child, we called her Alex. She was ten. She was a skinny, little, light-skinned girl. She looked more like Uncle Mike than Bri, but Bri and Alex did not look much alike at all. Alexwas; what’s that word they used to call me when I was younger? Rambunctious. There were two words always associated with me when I was growing up: rambunctious and Ritalin!
    Then there was the baby. His name was Michael. He was named after Uncle Mike. He was a pretty good baby. He did not cry or whine when we were in the car or in the mall. We made way more noise than him.
    We went into almost every store in the mall. I guess they were used to it. I had so many clothes I felt guilty and asked Ms. Alicia not to spend so much money on me. She laughed at me and told me I had better get them while the getting was good.
    Brimone and I asked if we could go to the food court. They let us go, but made us take Alex and Brittany with us. We didn’t care. We grabbed their hands and got away from the grown-ups as quick as we could.
    â€œIs Chick-fil-A cool?” I asked.
    â€œYeah, that’s cool.”
    We got in line and then a group of chicks walked up behind us. They must have known Bri because they kept calling her name. I know she had to hear them because I heard them loud and clear. But for some reason she just kept ignoring them.
    â€œBri, those girls are calling you.”
    â€œI hear them.” Bri did not turn around to look at them.
    Bri held Alex’s hand. They were standing in front of Brittany and me. I was between them and those girls. A girl named Asia Coleman tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to step to the side so that she could talk to Bri. She was a pretty little, light-skinned chick. She was short but had a nice little shape on her. Nice face, nice petite body. I could tell she thought she had some swagger.
    â€œHey, Brimone, what you wearing on the first day of school?” Asia asked.
    â€œI don’t know yet.” Bri did not show the girl much attention.
    â€œYou oughta be able to wear anything with your rich-ass daddy.”
    The other girls started to laugh.
    â€œWhatever!” Bri said. “Come on, Alex.”
    Bri moved closer to the counter and tried to block the girls out. A girl named Valencia Williams stepped around Asia and started to ask questions. Valencia was even prettier than Asia. She was dark-skinned. She was about five-four or five-three-and-a-half, something like that.
    â€œYou still going to DCA this year?” Valencia asked.
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œWe are, too.”
    â€œI know.”
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œBecause Asia already told me.”
    â€œIs your father going to buy you a brand-new car this year, Bri?”
    â€œI’m too young to drive a car and you know it, Asia.”
    â€œSo what?” Valencia said. “He buys you everything else.”
    â€œSo what?” Bri yelled. “I can’t help if your daddy can’t buy you nothing!”
    â€œDon’t be yelling at me!” Valencia yelled back.
    â€œYou better shut up. You know what happened to you last year!” Asia said.
    â€œI’m not scared of y’all!” Bri let go of Alex’s hand and balled her fists. She opened her nostrils and breathed hard.
    I was supposed to be the bad girl from the wrong side of the tracks. But those rich, suburban chicks were acting like Bloods and Crips in the mall. All of their parents were rich. What the hell did they have to be fighting for? Who had the biggest trust fund?
    The third girl in the group, Jheri Rose, finally spoke up and made her little comment. She was