My Sister's Ex by Cydney Rax Read Free Book Online Page A

twisted up that it’s hard for me to say how I feel sometimes, but the one person who I think understands me is my mom, Brooke.
    My mom lives way across town in Third Ward, near Texas Southern University, Houston’s only HBU (Historically Black University). For early March, the temperature outside is an unusually pleasant seventy degrees. The sun shines with such brilliance that it makes me feel happy inside, good enough to drive with my windows rolled down. I pull up in front of my mom’s two-story house and park my car on the street. I walk along the side of the house and use my key to open her side door. Seconds later I find Mama in the spacious yet cluttered living room. Three mismatched couches and two love seats, plus scratched-up wooden tables covered with vases holding fake roses, fill the space.
    “Hey, Ma, don’t do that.” She’s standing on a utility chair trying to hang curtains.
    “Hey, Little Bit, what brings you over to this side of town?”
    “I was missing my mama, that’s what.”
    I walk over to her and hold out my hand to help her get off the little ladder. I close my eyes briefly and squeeze her in a tight hug. She smells like gardenias, and her skin feels as soft as flower petals. My mama is middle-aged perfection. Her flawless brown skin makes her look ten years younger. Her fine grade of hair is usually kept in a nice traditional style, but today it is flying about. I feel tempted to find a comb and help her look prettier.
    “You’ve been working hard, Mama. Your hair is looking crazy.”
    “Oh, it’s just hair.”
    “Mama, what’s wrong? You always try to look good.”
    “Looking good all the time doesn’t mean anything … sometimes it’s not the biggest priority.”
    I feel guilty. Sometimes I forget moms are human, with tough issues they have to deal with. I wish that I would remember to call her more, find out what she needs, and stop unloading all my drama on her.
    “Mama, let me finish hanging those curtains. I think you should go put a comb to your hair. Or, if you want, I can style it for you. I did Marlene’s hair last night, flat-ironed it.”
    “Oh, yeah, what was the occasion?”
    I can’t help myself. “This trick had a hot date. You’ll never believe who it was with.”
    “Who, girl?”
    “Jeff.” I can barely say his name.
    Mama’s eyes widen. She looks taken aback, and she walks away from me muttering things I can’t hear.
    “Yep, can you believe those two?” I say. “It must be some kind of a joke.”
    “Stranger things have happened.”
    “Oh, Mama, you don’t think …”
    Mama stops walking and turns around to stare at me. “I don’t think; I know. I am living proof of strange things. You have no idea.”
    “Is this what happened with you and Loretta?” Loretta is Marlene’s mama.
    “I don’t know what you’re going through with Jeff and Marlene. And I don’t know how serious they are. All I can say is, I hope she doesn’t get pregnant by him.”
    Mama turns and walks away from me toward her bedroom. Right then, I know it isn’t right for me to burden her with my silly relationship problems. I can’t share my hurt when I know how much she’s still hurting. So I quietly finishmounting the curtains, making sure they properly fit on the rods. When I’m done working, I traipse through the house and find her upstairs, napping in her bedroom, where it smells like bleach. I pinch my nose and give her a kiss on the cheek and drop a crisp twenty on her nightstand. I leave her house with more questions than when I came.
    Later that night I swing by Alita’s. I notice Big Hen’s pickup parked in front of her town house. Not surprised. If she’s not with me, she’s always with her man.
    The screen door to the town house is locked, but I can see directly into the living room. My cheeks turn red and warm the instant I spot Alita cozily sitting on Big Hen’s lap. She’s pressing her lips against his neck and cradling his head in her hands. I