“Hell yeah! Let a brotha know what’s up!”
“You really, really want to know?”
“Yeah, gurl! Tell me sumptin, damn! Anytime, anyplace! It’s on you. This is your world. I’m just a squirrel trying to get a nut.” He smiled his goofy grin and added, “Get it? I’m trying to get a nut? Or bust a nut rather.”
Tempest inspected Fred over for the first time in years. He was even more unappealing than when they were younger. “Aiight, we can do this!”
“Word?”
“Most definitely!”
“So when is the big event?” Fred asked, licking his lips in anticipation. “I want to make sure I’m buff for your ass!”
Tempest laughed at him. She couldn’t manage to keep a straight face for one more millisecond. “When the dinosaurs reinhabit the earth.” Fred looked like someone had just slapped him. “Now get da hell out of my way!”
Tempest shoved Fred out of her path and took the stairs two at a time. She rapped lightly on Janessa’s bedroom door but got no answer. She tried the knob, and was surprised it budged. Ever since puberty set in, Janessa had been avid about locking her door to keep out roving eyes. Fred would always have his homies over, and all of their trifling asses would try to sneak a peek.
Janessa was sprawled across the double bed in her usual Scissorlegs position, calling the hogs big-time. Tempest was about to rouse her by shaking her shoulder, but a lightbulb went off in her head.
She eased herself up on the bed beside Janessa and gently squeezed her nostrils together. Janessa started making a disgusting noise that sounded like an anaconda regurgitating a boar. Tempest had to cover her mouth with her free hand to prevent herself from giggling.
Janessa started swatting at her nose, still lost in dreamland somewhere. Tempest couldn’t keep it in any longer and burst out laughing.
Janessa jerked her eyes open and pushed Tempest’s hand away.
“Wake up, sleepyhead!” Tempest ordered. “We need to have another heart-to-heart.”
Janessa slowly made it up onto her elbows, diverting her eyes to the clock radio on her nightstand. “Damn, what time is it?”
“Time for you to be up and about.” Tempest got up off the bed and went to the window to open the mini-blinds. “You want me to go down to the kitchen and make you some coffee?”
“Absolutely not! You know I don’t mess with that stuff,” Janessa barked, blinded by the sunlight. “If it’s not Kool-Aid or Pepsi, I don’t drink it.”
Tempest cackled. “All that dye is going to make you psychotic one of these days.”
“I just realized something.”
“What?”
“That you’re in my house,” Janessa replied. “This is the first time you’ve been in here since way back in the day.”
“That’s your fault,” Tempest said, quickly shifting the blame. “You’re always in such a big hurry to get out of here. By the time I pull up, you’re making a mad dash for the car.”
Janessa laughed. “You got me there.”
“I was hoping to see your parents, but they’re still at church. I’ll be sure to stop by later this week and visit. Other than talking to your mother on the phone, we’ve lost contact.”
The mother-on-the-phone line hit home with Janessa. “What did you and my mother talk about?”
Tempest realized her error. The last thing she needed was Janessa discovering that her mother was calling Tempest, reporting on Janessa’s dealings with Howard the jailbird. “Nothing. I’m referring to the casual greetings we give each other when I call looking for you.”
“Oh, I see!” Janessa wasn’t even buying into it. She could always tell when Tempest was lying. She smelled a conspiracy but decided to temporarily drop the subject. “So, to what do we owe this honor?”
“What honor?”
“Having Miss Tempest, Miss Thang herself, up in the crib.”
Tempest picked up a pillow and flung it at Janessa’s head. “You’re so silly!”