"Kemara?"
Oh yeah, when people are talking to me on the phone, the sane thing to do is respond back. "Sorry, I'm still here."
"So, what area are you in? It must not be near here since I've only run into you those two times."
"Yeah, I only go there to visit a friend from high school. We usually have lunch together a couple of times a month. I'm actually from--"
The doorbell rang. "Hold on a minute, someone is at the door."
"I'll be waiting with bated breath."
What kind of idiot would be coming over this late? One of my biggest pet peeves was people showing up at my place unannounced. Whoever it was would be getting chewed out. I hit hold on my cell, so Channing wouldn't get a glimpse of my angry and think I was like that all the time.
My battle-resolve drained from me when I opened the door to find my sister on the stoop, her eyes red and puffy from crying so hard.
I unmuted the phone. "I'm sorry Channing, I need to go. Family emergency." I didn't even hear his reply before hanging up. I rushed to my sister's side. "Tameka, are you okay? What happened?"
She sniffled. "The same thing that always happens. Rodney's dumb ass. Can I come in?"
I stepped back and let her in. "Of course. What did he do?" My voice got low. "Did that man lay hands on you?" If he touched one hair on my baby sister's head, his life was forfeit. I didn't care if they threw me in prison, it's be time well-served.
She shook her head wiping her nose on the back of her hand. "I told you, he'd never do that."
"So why are you crying so hard?"
"We got into a huge fight in front of the kids. They were crying, begging to stay at the house, but he wouldn't let them, and since it's his weekend, I just had to stand there and watch him drive off with my babies as they cried. It broke my heart. Then I was stuck in that big empty house, feeling like crap, so I came over here."
I gestured for her to take a seat on the couch. "Do you want some tea?"
She nodded as she sat down on the couch, folding herself up into a little ball. When she divorced her husband, the custody battle was brutal. Even though the two of them couldn't agree on anything, the judge gave them joint custody and if either of them refused to hand over the kids for any reason when it was the other parent's turn, they'd be arrested.
I never wanted to find myself in the nightmare my sister was in. It was so strange, only six years earlier, I was at their wedding and they seemed so in love. Now they hated each other just as deeply as they loved each other back then.
I handed her a cup of earl grey with extra sugar, just the way she liked it and took a seat on the couch next to her. "What did you two fight about?"
"I bought Kevin a baby doll. He kept stealing his sister's dolls and they were fighting over it all the time, so I got him one of his own, so he'd leave hers alone. He wanted to take it with him over to Rodney's. So we ended up in this big fight. Rodney feels like I'm trying to make our son gay. I never encouraged him to play with dolls, but if he wants one, I don't see the issue. He's only five."
I didn't see the issue either. My nephew liked trucks and football too. Making such a big deal over one doll was probably traumatizing him. "Your ex is a damn fool."
"I know, but I just don't want to think about it anymore. Let's talk about something else. Like who is Channing?"
I swallowed. "What?"
"I heard you talking to him in that voice five octaves higher than your normal voice. Be careful, these black men act like fools nowadays."
I took another sip of my tea. "He's not black."
My sister's demeanor changed from playful to annoyed. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Please tell me, you are not fucking around with no white man."
I didn't know what to say. "You just said, black men act like fools."
"Yeah, they do. But they are our fools. When a white man dates a black woman you don’t know if it’s real or if he just wants to knock boots. You ain't got time for that. You're getting older, you need to be looking for a serious relationship, a man that will marry you."
"You don't know anything about him other than his name. How can you say what he will and won't do?"
"Because I know men and I'm telling you, white men just use us. You are too smart and too pretty to allow yourself to be used."
"What do you know about men? You're already divorced and your ex makes you miserable!"