The People vs. Cashmere by Karen Williams Read Free Book Online Page B

asses will be out on the street.” She made a fist with one of her hands.
    I held Desiree down. There was fury in both our eyes.
    â€œWhy didn’t you tell us?” I asked as calmly as I could.
    â€œI ain’t got to tell y’all shit. I owe y’all no explanation for anything I choose to do. He don’t belong here. He better off there anyway. He’ll get the help that he needs.”
    I sighed again, and Desiree grunted.
    â€œIt’s a nice place too. Y’all welcome to visit if y’all like. Matter of fact, y’all need to go down to the social security office and get that money transferred over to them.”
    â€œHow we gonna do that if the money is in Mama name?”
    â€œExactly. Desiree, you look the oldest and look more like your mom—worn-out—so y’all going to take y’all ass down there, and Desiree, you act like you Pearla Pierce and figure out why they ain’t sent a check this month. And, like I just stated, make the recipient of the money over to Pine Meadows.”
    â€œI wanna see Daddy,” I said defiantly.
    â€œHoney, you can see him whenever you want to. You can live there if you like. But I’ll tell you this once and one time only—Take your ass down to the social security office, or be on the street.”
    Me and Desiree huffed and puffed as we slid off the couch to leave.
    â€œOh, and when you get back, I want my hair braided.” Aunt Ruby looked pointedly at me, as if I had no choice.
    My only question for her was, “What do you want braided? The little hair you have on your head, your beard, or the hair on your chest?”
    After her fucking sermon about what we could do and couldn’t do, could eat and couldn’t eat, me and Desiree left the tiny-ass bedroom that used to belong to her eighteen-year-old son, who was locked the fuck up. And her oldest daughter who was on crack, and she didn’t know where she was.
    â€œHey, ladies.”
    We brushed past our uncle by law. My aunt’s husband, Byron the bastard, was a tall, lanky, light-skinned dude with an Afro. And though the nigga was lanky, he had a big-ass beer belly. He was regular-looking, except the nigga was cockeyed. And that shit is worse than trying to figure out whether or not a cross-eyed person is looking at you. With a cockeyed person, you couldn’t tell when they weren’t. But the other fucked-up part about him was, where we normal people had two front teeth, that nigga had three. He said it was because he was born a twin and he got one of his teeth.
    I said, “Naw, you just one ugly muthafucka.”
    The nigga didn’t work either. He spent all his time picking up broads and hanging in titty bars.
    â€œLooking good, Cashmere. You got a man yet, or do you need to be broke in?”
    â€œGo beat your little shit,” Desiree told him.
    I laughed loudly.
    â€œYou betta watch your mouth, Desiree, before I tell Ruby on your ass.”
    â€œTell her, ugly muthafucka.”
    He ignored Desiree, knowing he couldn’t win an argument with her.
    â€œAnd get your eyes off of my sister’s ass. She wouldn’t piss on you, bastard, if you was on fire.”
    â€œLet her tell me that,” he shouted as we walked out the house.
    â€œFuck you, R. Kelly !”
    â€œMan, his ass is a fucking pervert,” I yelled as we jumped down the porch steps. We hadn’t been there long, and he had already rubbed up against me and jiggled his dick and balls at me.
    â€œI know, girl.” Desiree said, studying the pamphlet with the location of Pine Meadows.
    â€œMan, I can’t believe she just shipped him out like that, like he ain’t shit,” I said as we waited at a light.
    â€œWell, Cash, I mean, maybe it’s better off this way. I mean, neither of us can take care of him. I’m seventeen and you only fourteen. We got school and shit.”
    â€œI was doing a good job without you or