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off.
    â€œGet off of me, Cash. I’m your mother and you do as I say.”
    I obeyed and stepped back.
    Mama rose to her feet and told Desiree, who was moaning, as she lay on the floor. “Next time, step up or step off. I ain’t one of these bitches in the street—I’m your Mama and I’ll fuck your shit all up! Now that we got that understood, clean up this mess.”
    Damn shit was really falling apart by the seams. I tried to help Desiree up. Mama had whipped her ass, for real.
    â€œDon’t touch me, shit!”
    I pulled my hands back and walked away toward my parents’ room to see my daddy.
    â€œHey, Daddy.” I leaned over and kissed him. His skin felt so cold and lifeless against my lips. “Man, Daddy, I wish you would get your butt out of this bed so you can come in here and watch the game with me. You know what teams are playing tonight? I’ll give you a little hint—I hope Kobe’s behind passes that ball, but he probably won’t. Guess who the Lakers playing, Daddy? The Heat. I know it’s crazy, huh? After the way Kobe burnt up Shaq’s spot, now he playing against him. I’ll bet Shaq gonna let him have it. And Dwayne Wade playing too. Sound like a dream team to me.”
    Daddy blinked.
    â€œAwww, don’t get mad at me ’cause your boys might not make it to the championship and get that ring. There’s always next year.”
    I heard the toilet flush. Mama opened the door and yelled out, “Don’t bother. He can’t, and he ain’t gonna say shit!”
    I rolled my eyes and ignored her. “Yeah, so, Daddy, don’t get mad when they lose.” I used my hand to rub his legs and arms while I talked.
    The doctor had said to give him constant stimulation. I placed a small ball in one of his hands, hoping he would grip it. I knew Mama wasn’t doing this with him, and Desiree wouldn’t spend more than five minutes with him. But I chalked it up to her hating seeing him this way. But, then again, I didn’t like seeing him this way either. But we had to do what we had to do. It shouldn’t be no different for her ass. But I was done arguing with her dumb ass.
    Thirty minutes later Mama emerged from the bathroom all dressed up in a tight-fitting black top, a short white skirt that, if she bent over, all her ass would fall out, and a tight-fitted belt around her waist. She completed her outfit with the skinny stilettos. She made up her face and, for once, styled her hair.
    â€œWhere you going?” I demanded.
    She gave a curt, “Out.”

Chapter 5
    The next day wasn’t no different, only a little worse. When I came home from school, I noted that the kitchen was dirty. Fuck, the whole house was. I puffed out air impatiently. The laundry hadn’t been done, and all the meat in the freezer was going bad.
    After throwing down my backpack, I washed the dishes and waited for the load of clothes in the washer to finish, while I cooked pork chops in one pan, and chicken and hot links in two other pans, so they wouldn’t go bad. At least we’d have some cooked food.
    Desiree was missing in gotdamn action, and I hadn’t caught a peek of Mama.
    Once I had got the house together, I went in Mama’s room. She was guzzling down some Grey Goose, her eyes glued to the TV screen. The longer I stood in the doorway, the more I started to notice something wasn’t right. The room didn’t smell like the cinnamon potpourri she kept in there, it smelled like shit. And it could only be for one reason.
    â€œMama?”
    Her silly ass ignored me.
    I marched over and stood in front of the TV, trying my fucking hardest not to sass her. “Why hasn’t Daddy’s diaper been changed?”
    She offered no reply.
    I raised my voice slightly. “Mama!”
    She tossed the bottle on the carpet, causing it to spill, jumped up and ran into the bathroom. “Gotdamnit! You got a problem