“I heard you were in Atlanta—”
“I was in Atlanta for thirteen years and just moved away two years ago. I’m always in and out of the city and ain’t never got word that you wanted to see me since you dropped me off. Now that I’m sure you need something I’m sure you been scouting out the city waiting to catch up to me.” Lyric was happily telling her mama about herself and Reina didn’t seem to appreciate being called out.
“You don’t have to talk to me that way.”
Lyric chuckled at her mama’s attempt to grandstand. “I really don’t have to talk to you at all if we’re being honest so you can take this tone or you can get the fuck out of my face. So, which will it be Reina?”
“I didn’t think that sending you to live with City would have you being this damn disrespectful. I’m still your mama.”
Lyric’s laugh was more like a chaotic chuckle as she went back to flipping through the racks. “I can’t say what you thought. You left me on the doorstep like a biracial baby in the fifties after a one-night stand at the juke joint. You never called, never sent that man a dime and you damn sure never came by. So your thought process is absolutely foreign to me.”
“Well, that’s your friend’s fault. I’ve been trying to get back in contact with you for years but it’s clear that she blocked me from getting to you.”
Lyric turned back around and I was standing there watching this whole thing play out like the strangest daytime soap. This shit was better than an episode ofPassions.
“Damn, you saying there’s a reason I have to be nice to Trice now? Did not see that coming on my Bingo card for this trip to the A.”
Lyric was laughing in her egg donor’s face and that only seemed to frustrate her more. I was sure Reina thought that dropping that info was going to be a gotcha moment but Lyric was unbothered.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m glad she didn’t put your calls through. I mean knowing her she probably lied to you and told you she was working on it. Anything to milk you for whatever I’m sure you were paying her. Cause she did nothing for free. I’m sure that money was supposed to be a guarantee that you’d have a piece of whatever pie you’re attempting to take a bite out of now. Probably only stopped once you heard we fell out and realized she’d been playing you. Sound about right? It’s page one on the trifling bitches’ playbook and frankly it sounds like something you would do. Crazy how you got conned like that. Anyway, again, what do you want? I know it’s something and I don’t have a lot of time today.”
Lyric tapped her watch like she wanted to hurry this run in along. To be honest, she was handling this much better than I could have. If my mama had done me like Reina had I wouldn’t have hesitated to swing.
Reina fidgeted in her pleated maxi skirt and tried to soften her approach. “Lot of time? You’d limit time for your mom? Your family? You have step siblings—”
“Okay. Good for you. It’s funny you had time to raise someone else’s kids but not your own.” Lyric was laughing ather mother but I wondered if her feelings were hurt behind her mother raising someone else and not her.
“Lyric, it wasn’t like that.”
I had to give it to Reina she either had been rehearsing this moment for years. She’d soften her voice at the appropriate times and even looked contrite. But it looked and felt like a performance to even me so I know Lyric felt the same.
Lyric laughed off her mother’s plea for understanding in a way that was so cold, I would’ve worried for this woman’s safety if I didn’t hate her so much.
“Nah, it was actually worse but I’m trying to be nice since we’re out in public. If you don’t want that I can tuck the manners that Corey taught me away and drag your ass up and down this floor. It would actually save me the trouble of having to come find you again later.”
“You would put hands on your mother?”
Reina started to glance around like someone in this department store was going to come to her rescue. The majority of the people were in an unspoken perimeter away from us and I could only guess how Reina got within the area.
“Actually, nah I wouldn’t. Cause then you’d want a payout for keeping quiet and then you’d think I was beholden to you for who knows how long. And frankly, I don’t want to give you shit. You know a shiesty bitch will always come back around with her hand out even after you’ve cut them off. I’m not giving you a dime of my hard earned money.” Lyric looked her mama up and down, gave her a fake smile and turned her back on her.
“So you’re saying even if I told you I was struggling financially you wouldn’t help me out?”
“I would say that karma is a bitch and if you didn’t want her to slap you in the mouth better you should’ve sown better seeds to reap a better harvest. It ain’t my fault life caught up with you, bitch. Bout damn time.” She hadn’t turned to look at her motherand gleefully muttered that last line as she kept looking through the racks.
“How would the papers feel that you would let your mother starve?” Reina crossed her arms boldly as though she had Lyric backed into a corner.
“I dunno. Why not take a chance and go ask them?” Lyric wasn’t even hiding her smile now and the threat was clear in her tone. But since her mama didn’t know shit about her I was sure she missed it.
“You’re serious.” Reina looked surprised that the threat didn’t get Lyric to do exactly what it was she wanted her to as soon as she played that card.
I raised my brows at Lyric because I was ready to jump in at any moment. I could still cut a bitch with my words even if I wasn’t allowed to physically get involved. But Lyric shook her head and looked at me like she wished I would try to intervene.
Lyric turned to her mother and sighed to give herself a chance to calm down. “Reina, I’m a rapper. You think this world looks at me like I should be a stand up citizen? Never mind that I actually am. At least now. They look at me for drama. Being a bitch won’t do shit but make my brand look better. Especially when word gets out on how you treated me when I was younger. Can you imagine? I’m the woman with the NFL’s Golden Boy. If they don’t care nothing about me that PR machine will work double time to make sure that his image and his mindset going into the next season is where it needs to be. You would get crushed in their cogs before tomorrow morning. You’d be outed as the villain in my life story that you are. You seem to forget that I got people now. People that are more than just block boys. My people are internationally known. Degreed. Muthafuckas so deep in shit I couldn’t even tell you how it works, it just does. And all for my good. So if you want to play with your existence like that just because you can’t shake me down, go right ahead.You’d get sued to within an inch of your life if you tried to say anything defamatory about me or my brand. Your reputation would be so bad you’d have to leave the fucking earth.”
“Girl, not earth.” I couldn’t keep quiet but I was so proud of the way Lyric was reading the fuck out of her mother I wanted to clap my damn hands.
