Moose and Goose

Chapter Sixty-four

Judith looks at her. She never confessed how she felt about him being gone since the night she cried on Stacey, and hearing her voice crack, Judith sits her hand over hers.

"I miss him too." When Sheryl doesn't lift her hung head, Judith forces a smile through the cloud of sadness. "Hey, maybe we can go to that spot you mentioned. The one with the Soul Food near grandma's tenement."

"Randall's," she says with a light chuckle. "I suppose we could use the reservation—just you and me. Thank you, Judy."

The disingenuous grin remains on her face as her eyes trail Sheryl into the kitchen. When she steps toward the sink, Judith's mouth curls into a frown, and she lowers her head.

I'll tell Ja'liyah later.

When Judith stands up, the phone rings in the kitchen.

If that's David, I swear to God.

Sheryl leans her weight on the balls of her palms, pressing them against the edge of the basin. Seeing that she's ignoring the call, Judith speed walks into the kitchen and toward the counter. She lifts it off the hook and to her ear.

"Hello," she greets the caller, glancing behind her at Sheryl, staring at her reflection in the window.

"Hey, Judy, it's Kacey. I got back home an hour ago." She takes her eyes off her mother and darts them on the number plate. Kacey's voice is laced with poorly suppressed elation, and it tells Judith that the campus is a dream. "I went with Ronnie and La'Shawna, and oh, my God, that brochure was a lie."

"I told you," she monotonous begins to say. Sheryl pulls herself away from the sink and trudges toward the refrigerator.

"It was even better than the pictures made it out to be," she exclaims. "There was a fountain in the front quad, the student lounge was as big as Texas, and guess what? The girls' dorm is big enough to fit three Zeta Kappa Delta buildings. Also, each room is like a hotel room with small fridges and your own bathroom!"

"It sounds like Disney." Kacey exhales. Sheryl opens the door, and when the breeze sweeps across their legs, Judith takes a few steps to her left. "But I don't, um, I can't go."

"Wait, what," she raises her voice, chuckling awkwardly. Sheryl talks under her breath. She shuts the door and walks away with a sigh. "No. No, no, no, please tell me you're joking, Judy. I can't get a scholarship if you're not going. You're the face of this group!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to be like this. If I could give you my place as the leader or if I could go, I would," Judith says, and Kacey scoffs incredulously.

"You're unbelievable." That phrase sinks her into her relentless thoughts, but in the background, she hears a voice speaking to Kacey. "Yeah, I'm fine, La'Shawna. It's just Judith being a selfish bitch as usual!"

"Kassandra," Paola yells out, and Kacey exhales seething anger. Judith's face droops with sadness, and she rests her head against the refrigerator door, feeling the vibration.

"I'm sorry, Mom," she drones. "Look, talking to you is actually making me mad, so I gotta go. I gotta call Dr. Ahmed back and tell him you're not going, and then I gotta listen for hours at the hyena laughs my brother and sister will give me. They got accepted to Cornell, Judy. Cornell! Do you know how prestigious that place is?"

"Kacey, I'm sorry. Let me explain." She takes a breath and waits for Judith to continue. "My Mom wants us to move to New York to be near her family, and it stinks because honestly, at first, I didn't wanna go to Morehead, but after talking to my cousin, I changed my mind, and then she sprung that on me."