Manipulative (No Label x Stem)

T W E N T Y - E I G H T

Johnsynne Brooklyn

I sat at my house, answering all of the questions the lady asked me. She was fun, and polite, and at times snarky. Whoever had decided to send her had chosen the right person. After receiving my statements about Grandpa and Deyshawn, she let me in on a secret she told me I wasn't supposed to know.

"They're going to ask you if you changed your mind at the hearing, and if you've been coerced into telling a false truth. With this information I have...all of that will be history. Your life will only be moving in one direction," she smiled at me gently. She felt like the mother figure I never had. The father figure that was absent. A loving grandpa, if that even made sense.

We embraced, then the lady left quickly, telling me she had another client to attend to. I went to the living room, kicking off my socks and sighing at the long day I had. I need to make things right with Teddi. She's the only person I have right now, and I don't wanna even think about what could be happening to Deyshawn. He could be in danger or worse- dead.

"I'm about to make dinner. Did you want something?" Auntie asked me, poking her head in.

"No, I'm good. Thanks for asking," I smiled, closing my eyes again. My mind was still on Teddi. She had seemed so cold and unemotional towards me. I couldn't bear seeing her like that again. Too many people in my life have given me the cold shoulder or denied the action of being positive towards me. I wasn't gonna let Teddi slip from my grasps: she was my friend through and through.

I picked up my phone to text her but saw that it was off. And so it begins. All my dependence on Deyshawn is gone, and now I need someone to pay my phone bill. I ignored the stack of homework I should be completing and headed to the kitchen. Auntie was cooking up a storm- something she no longer needed to do for a house of only two people.

"Auntie," I leaned against the counter. "You know anywhere for jobs? My phone's out."

She shook her head, and I thought she meant "no" until she sat down the dish rag. "I don't want you working right now. The case is more important, along with your schoolwork," she told me. "But how am I gonna keep my phone on?" I asked her, dangling my phone from my hands as if that action alone could show her the phone wouldn't work.

"I'll pay for it, but don't be going wild," she mumbled. "Come back in here when I'm done cooking." I nodded and went back into the living room. I cut on the TV and mindlessly watched a cartoon. Cut off from Teddi and the online world, I realized who I was.

I was a lonely, beaten up ass teen in Potluck Homes. I wouldn't doubt someone else was living my same fate not too far from me. That's just the way things were. Doubt made me feel crestfallen. What if they don't find Grandpa guilty? With Deyshawn gone, the one Grandpa mainly used to hurt physically, all the court has are my statements of emotional and verbal abuse. That probably wouldn't land a fly in prison, unfortunately.

And where is my father? Shouldn't he be here by now? Helping his sweet baby girl through hard times. Daddy abandoned us to work overseas, Grandpa hurt us, and Deyshawn fled when shit got too hard for him.

What is that accurate saying?

Niggas ain't shit.

"Johnsynne B!" Auntie called out.

"Yes ma'am?" I answered back, waiting for a moment. I groaned as I had to get up and see what Auntie wanted. "Do you want baked chicken or fried chicken again?" she asked me, throwing something into a sizzling skillet.

"Baked," I shrugged.

I wasn't used to eating so well at home. Most of my lunch was from the school or times when Deyshawn and I would go out and eat. It's not like Grandpa neglected us food or shelter wise, but we were too afraid to be near him. And you know old ass niggas always gotta stay they stale asses in the kitchen.