Free Frenemies by L. Divine

comfortable. I grab a bag of Doritos from the large wicker basket on the table full of snacks. My mom’s the snack queen. I walk back across the room to retrieve my notebook from my backpack and thumb through the notes involving Marty I made today at lunch. I’m concentrating so hard on her no longer being my manager I’m surprised she made it through the day. If this stuff really worked, she’d be long gone.
    â€œSo, it worked for you to write down what you wanted to happen in any given situation?” I say, reviewing my words. Damn, my handwriting is awful. I can barely make out what I’ve written.
    â€œWell, yeah, but not in a positive way. I usually wrote down negative shit. Like, for example, I remember I was dating this fool in high school, and he thought he was gone play me with some chick up the block,” she says, sipping her Bailey’s and getting real loose. I love it when my mom tells me about her school days. I can’t believe how much of the same drama we go through from generation to generation. I wonder if this happens in all families or if it’s just a Williams Woman trait. “I wrote him such a nasty letter saying that I hope she would give him syphilis and make his penis fall off and all kinds of stuff.”
    â€œDid it fall off?” I say, as my phone vibrates, signaling a text. It’s Jeremy, saying he’ll be here in ten minutes.
    â€œJust about. I know he got some sort of sexually transmitted disease, and it’s one that will never go away. He didn’t bother me again after that,” my mom said, her voice low and guttural, almost frightening. I’m glad I’m not one of her enemies. I hope she’s thinking about something similar happening to Ras Joe.
    â€œSo, what was negative about that?” I say. “It sounds like he got what he deserved.”
    â€œYes, but so did the girl, and I didn’t wish anything on her, not really. That’s the thing about dealing with the negative side of our gifts,” she says wearily. “It usually hits its target, and then some, because of the power of your intentional thoughts. When you focus a lot of passion on something, you give it energy, and that can backfire on you.”
    â€œWow.” I don’t know what else to say. My mom’s sitting here telling me that her thoughts made this dude catch something and pass it on to the trick he was fooling around with. That doesn’t sound so bad to me. “So how exactly did you do this?” I say, ready to take notes. Maybe I can have similar residual luck with Tania but without affecting Jeremy.
    That’s what I’m trying to tell you; negative always hits more than the intended victim, my mom says without speaking. Damn, I still forget she can do that.
    â€œMom, just talk to me without reading my mind,” I say. It was enough having to be careful what I say around her, now I have to be careful what I think, too.
    Okay, she says, still on the telepathic plane. Seeing my frustration, my mom stops and comes back down to my level. “You have to let me practice sometimes.”
    â€œI’m actually proud of you for reclaiming your power, even if it only works on me.” I wish she’d stuck with her studies, like she’s advising me to do. I think my mom’s very powerful in her own right, and she could use some of that power to help a sistah out.
    â€œWell, thank you very much,” she says, her green eyes glistening in the setting afternoon sun. The time recently changed, falling one hour behind, so it’s starting to get dark earlier. “Learn from my mistakes, Jayd,” she says, placing her empty glass on the coffee table in front of her and curling up into the fetal position, ready to sleep the rest of the day away. My phone vibrates again, indicating Jeremy’s arrival.
    â€œIs White boy here?” she says, smiling at herself. Why is everyone hating on Jeremy