Free Kendra by Coe Booth

anything before she went away to school.
    “Babe, I have to do this faculty development thing at City next week if I want to start teaching this summer, which I need to do. So I’m coming home on Sunday.”
    “Oh, that’s good,” I say, “because Sunday’s the last show. It’s at five and the tickets are seven dollars. You can buy one at the door, so don’t worry about that.”
    “Okay.”
    “Good,” I say, and try to think of something else to talk to her about.
    But by now Nana’s in the kitchen, right by my side. “That Renée?” she asks, reaching for the phone.
    I try not to get an attitude with her again, but it’s kinda hard because I don’t know why she can’t let me talk to Renée without interrupting us. Still, Renée is coming back home and that’s all I care about right now. So I tell Renée to hold on, that Nana wants to talk to her.
    “I’ll see you Sunday, then,” she says.
    “Okay, bye.” I hand the phone to Nana. “Here.”
    I stand there and listen to their conversation for a while, but all I’m hearing is, “Yeah…well, finally…that’s a good salary…uh-huh, yeah…’bout time you’re going to be making some money.”
    My mind isn’t really on what they’re talking about, though. All I’m thinking is that Renée is coming home and this time it’s for good. I mean, moving to Boston could have been good, to start somewhere new and all that. But there’s nothing better than staying right here with Kenny and Adonna and, yeah, even Nana.
    Because I know everything is gonna get better once Renée gets back. Easier . Like Renée can be the one to tell me what I can wear to school and who I can talk to and what time I have to be home. Nana won’t have to do all that. And then maybe, hopefully, things between me and Nana won’t have to be so bad anymore.

TWELVE
    “You’re in a good mood today,” Adonna tells me the next morning on the bus. Then under her breath she adds, “About time.”
    I just smile a little bit, but I’m not gonna tell her anything about Renée coming back on Sunday. She’ll find out for herself in a couple of days.
    Me and her are squished together in the only two seats that were free, on the long row in the back. The lady next to me got hips for days, and she’s taking up her seat and at least half of mine, probably more. And she’s wearing this perfume that wouldn’t smell bad if she had on a normal amount, but it’s like she washed her clothes in it or something. I have to breathe through my mouth just to keep from choking.
    “Well, what’s up?” Adonna asks me. “Darnell ask you out or what?”
    “Not everybody needs a man to feel good,” I say. “I’m just happy about the showcase. That’s all.”
    “I can’t wait, either.” Adonna shakes her head, smiling. “It’s gonna be so funny seeing Tanya up there crying.”
    “Well, we all been waiting for that. But she says she can do it, so keep your fingers crossed.”
    “Oh, I know she can do it,” Adonna says, and leans in close to me with her eyes kinda lit up, the way she does when she got something good to tell me. “You should have been there last year, because she was going out with these two guys, right? One at school and one from her building. Stupid, I know. Anyway, one day she got busted by the home boyfriend, coming outta the school, holding hands with the other guy. And you should have seen the acting she was doing. Man, she was good, crying and telling both of them she was sorry and wrong and confused and all that. And telling both of them she needed time to think and make a decision and all that kinda bullshit. Her crying looked real, too. And I, like, came over and took her away from the whole scene, and all the way down the street she was still crying like a fucking baby ’til we turned the corner and then, like, in a split second, she was smiling, acting all, like, it wasn’t a big deal what just happened. I couldn’t believe it.” Adonna starts laughing.