Read Snapped (Urban Renaissance) for Free Online Page B

television or not being able to go to the movies.
    “What are you doing in here? Did I call you?” My mother demanded as she shot me a beady-eyed look. “I should have kept my own damn baby.”
    My eyes bucked in horror. I had walked right into the trap I had created, and was about to face some of her wrath for the messy bathroom and for the baby my deadbeat dad forced her to abort.
    “Look at what your brother did.” She splayed her arms to show me the damage, but I already knew what the room looked like.
    Comet was spread all over the sink, walls, and floor. She yanked me into the bathroom so I could get a better look. Wet wads of toilet paper littered the walls. A note was written on the mirror in toothpaste: Merln hates chors.
    Gina slapped Merlin in the back of his head, bringing tears to his eyes.
    “Mother, I didn’t do this,” Merlin stammered.
    “Do you think I’m stupid? I know your dumb-ass brother did this. Hell, he can’t even spell your name let alone ‘chores.’ But you didn’t stand up for yourself and that is why I am punishing you. This is a mean world you’re stepping into and you’ve got to learn, hook, crook, borrow, or steal to make your way in it. Your dumb-ass brother knows this, and he sets you up every time and you allow it. You need to check his ass! I can’t do it for you.” She popped him in his head again.
    I wanted to take offense for her calling me a dumb ass, but when I realized what I wrote on the mirror, I couldn’t argue with her. In my haste, I had spelled his name wrong.
    “If there is one thing that you will learn from living with me, it will be to stand up for yourself.” She dragged him closer to the toilet.
    If he thought things were bad before, he was wrong. Floating among the Comet and the piss I’d left in the toilet was my mother’s toothbrush.
    “Oh, God!” Merlin shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it.
    My mother turned another shade of black. She was almost blue, and her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head. Once again, I felt sorry for my actions, but I was too far into it to back out. I inched my way out of the bathroom. My brother was on his own.
    “Is that my toothbrush?” my mother demanded.
    I was so sure that she already knew it was hers before she even asked him, but he didn’t know how to respond.
    “Oh, God!” he said again.
    I was afraid—really afraid.
    “Don’t you dare take the Lord’s name in vain.” She whacked him upside the head with her fist.
    “Momma, I swear I didn’t do this,” Merlin shouted, but it was too little too late. He bent down under the sink to get something to fish her toothbrush from the toilet with but instead of finding a rag, her wet silk headwrap fell out along with the empty can of Comet. Merlin’s honey-bronze face turned bright red. He knew he was in deep shit when he realized what he held in his hands.
    “If there is one thing that I will not tolerate in my house, it’s a fool. I know you had nothing to do with this, but you did nothing to stop it. That is why I am punishing you. I work too damn hard to have to come home and see this bullshit.”
    “How can I stop something that I didn’t even know was happening?”
    He had a good point, but Mother wasn’t buying it.
    “You should have double-checked.” She slapped him upside the head again. Even though she held her belt in her hand, she used her fist to let him know she meant business.
    He continued to tell her that he didn’t do it, but she couldn’t care less. She was on a roll and there was nothing he could do about it but take his licks. I was satisfied with another successful mission.
    “I know you didn’t do it, but you’re too stupid to tell me who did.”
    Damn, why should he have to tell her? We’re the only ones who live in the house. She should’ve known. I slipped out of the room because I wasn’t in the mood to get slapped upside the head.
    “You’re going to learn how to be a man.”
    So