A Mother's Bond

15

"What's up, Angel?" I asked, taking a bite of my slice.

She chuckled. "Domino's?"

I frowned. "What's wrong with Domino's?"

Solange looked at her curiously. "Yeah, what's wrong with Domino's? You a bougee chick now? We gon' have to fix that. We don't need another Beyoncé in here. We already got one too many."

Bey threw a piece of sundried tomato at her. "I'm not bougee. I just like classy things."

Solange looked at Sarayah. "She's bougee. Always has been, even when we were kids. She probably slid out my mama's vagina in a fake fur coat."

Sarayah burst out laughing, almost choking on her pizza. Beyoncé blushed, but smiled, enjoying the sound of Sarayah's laughter.

"Solange Piaget Knowles, we are in the middle of dinner!" Mama T shouted. "I don't wanna be hearing about vaginas while I'm trying to eat."

"Sorry Mama," she apologized, but as soon as Mama T looked down, she nudged Sarayah and they started giggling.

Sarayah shook her head. "I'm definitely not bougee. I'm sure Jay will attest to that. He saw where I was staying."

I laughed. "Yeah. You couldn't even say that place was infested with roaches. There was way too many of them for that. That was their home base; it was infested with humans. I swear those roaches squaded up on sight."

Sarayah chuckled, shaking her head. My heart soared. She didn't hate me.

"We did not have roaches. But the point is, not bougee."

"So, why you acting brand new bout Domino's?" Solange asked, narrowing her eyes at her.

Sarayah shrugged. "I don't know. Y'all are rich. I didn't think you bought fast food."

"Well, honestly we try to eat healthy, so we generally avoid it, but sometimes we give in. We don't always have time to be cooking," Bey spoke up.

"Plus, you can't cook. So, there's that." Solange added, pointing her pizza slice at Bey.

Bey scowled at her. "Whatever." She turned back to Sarayah. "You should probably know that this is a vegan household."

"You should probably know that this–" Sarayah motioned to herself, "is a carnivore's body."

Solange snorted, and I laughed.

Solange rested her hand on Sarayah's shoulder. "Don't you worry, pipsqueak. Have you seen your mama's ass?"

They both looked at Beyoncé. I felt Bey kick me beneath the table. I rubbed my shin and shot her a look. She was cheesing hard. I gave her a confused look. She mouthed, "she called me 'Mama'". I nodded slowly, not wanting to burst her bubble. Sarayah hadn't directly called her 'Mama', but okay. A win is a win, I guess.

"That is not the ass of a vegan, God as my witness." Solo continued.

"Don't bring God into your nonsense," Mama Tina scolded, from across the table. "And stop with the language. I don't wanna get up, but I will to smack you upside your head."

Solange pouted. "Sorry Mama."

Beyoncé turned back to Solange. "Whatever. You need to calm down Solo, I've only slipped up a few–"

"THOUSAND," Solange interjected quickly. Sarayah laughed looking between them.

"–times." Beyoncé finished, frowning at her.

Sarayah yawned and Bey looked at her.

"Alright, it's been a long day. Time for bed, August." She squeezed her eyes shut. Instantly regretting her words.

Sarayah glared at her but stood up. She put her plate into the sink and walked around the table, saying her good nights. She skipped Beyoncé. When she got to me, she punched me lightly on the shoulder.

"Good night, Jay." She turned on her heels and walked away. I tried not to smile too hard at her little display of affection. I could feel Bey hurting beside me, and I didn't want to make it worse.

"SEE YOU UPSTAIRS, PIPSQUEAK!" Solo yelled after her.

"NO, YOU WON'T!" Sarayah yelled back.

"YEAH I WILL! IT'S A SLEEPOVER! IMMA BE ALL UP ON YOU. HOGGING COVERS AND EVERYTHING!"

Mama T reached over and popped her upside her head. "Stop all that yelling."

I looked at Bey, who was picking at her toppings. I reached out offering her my hand. She smiled, gratefully taking it.

"She was less mean to me tonight." She noted, smiling slightly. I smiled at her positivity.

I squeezed her hand."Progress."

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So, I have some news. I'm going to Europe for a month. I don't know what that means for this book. I won't have a laptop...but I also have chapters written in advance. I don't know how I'd post them though. I'm gonna try. That's all I can promise. I'm sorry 😭