Flyy Girl by Omar Tyree Read Free Book Online Page B

I’m just tired,” she muttered.
    â€œYou’re tired? Girl, you didn’t even have school today. What ’chew do to be so tired?”
    Mercedes squinted her eyes from the glaring light. “I’on know.”
    â€œWell, get up. It’s time to eat,” her father told her. “And you make sure these kids don’t get in any more fights.”
    Mercedes felt overjoyed about her secret. Keith didn’t seem as smart as he used to be. He wasn’t as scary either. He thought he had everything uptight, but Mercedes had proved him wrong.
    She ate dinner silently. She washed the dishes, pondering over herpassive mother. Beth had allowed her father to be God in their house. He’s not God, Mercedes thought to herself.
    She cleaned the floor, the kitchen table and the refrigerator without a complaint. She then watched television, ignoring Raheema and Tracy. They contributed to her torture. Mercedes was beginning to hate them as well.
    She wondered how Keith became her dad in the first place. He was too damned mean to have a woman like her mother. What did she see in him? she asked herself. He doesn’t even act like he likes us. All Keith seemed to do was pay the bills and control their lives.
    Patti stayed out late. She picked her daughter up early Saturday morning. Tracy didn’t bother to ask her mother how her date went. She daydreamed about her daddy coming over to see them. Dave hadn’t been to see them in a few months. He mailed Tracy’s allowance checks to the house religiously, but Tracy wanted badly to see him. Dave added the needed spice to her young life.
    â€œSo did you have fun last night?” Patti asked her.
    Tracy was watching Space Ghost in her room. She was sitting on her bed with crossed legs and her face in her hands.
    â€œNo, ’cause we didn’t do nothin’,” she pouted.
    Patti frowned. I know she can speak better than that, she told herself. But she decided to ignore it. She sat down and joined her daughter on her bed. “You didn’t?”
    â€œNo. We started fighting.”
    â€œFighting? Why?”
    â€œBecause, Ra-Ra don’t know nothin’.”
    Patti was confused. “Well, what were you two talking about?”
    â€œWe was talkin’ ’bout: don’t girls sleep in the daytime when ’ney thinkin’ ’bout boys?”
    â€œWhat I tell you about trying to talk so fast?” Patti snapped.
    â€œOkay,” Tracy said with a nod.
    â€œWhat does sleeping in the daytime have to do with anything?” Patti asked her.
    â€œBecause, Mercedes is talking to boys, and she was sleeping all yesterday.”
    â€œThat doesn’t mean that she was necessarily dreaming about a boy. She could’ve just been tired.”
    â€œNo she wasn’t. She never sleeps in the daytime.”
    Patti pondered the subject. “I don’t know, girl,” she said to Tracy. Mercedes was old enough to mess around. Tracy could have been right. But if Mercedes was seeing boys, it would serve Keith right. He had tortured her enough. And whatever it was that she was doing, it seemed to be making Mercedes’ personality a lot stronger. Patti had noticed the recent glow on her face. Hmm. Maybe Tracy’s onto something.
    DING DONG!
    â€œMommy, somebody’s at the door!” Tracy yelled.
    Patti walked out from the kitchen wondering who it could be. She looked through the peephole and was shocked.
    â€œWho is it, mommy? . . . Who is it?” Tracy repeated.
    Patti finally answered her. “Guess who, honey?”
    â€œDAD-DY!”
    Tracy jumped into his arms, and Dave kissed her on the lips, spinning her around the living room.
    Patti watched with a smile. She was still happy to see him. And she still loved him. Nevertheless, he should have called first, she thought.
    Dave just thought he’d drop by. It was still his house.
    â€œSo how’s my little girl?” he asked,