Rock Chick Reborn

“I’ll be doin’ that.”

“Good.”

I saw my house on the block so I said, “Almost home. Got pride to give and college lectures to speechify.”

Another chuckle before, “Call me later, tell me how it goes.”

“Will do.”

“As you know, girls are back with me tonight. I’ll find out their schedules and if there’s an opening when they’re doin’ something else with someone else somewhere else, we’ll fill it.”

That made me feel warm all over. “Works for me.”

“Later, baby. Thanks for sharing this news with me.”

I hit the garage door opener. “Thanks for listening to it. Have fun with your girls.”

“Will do. ’Bye, sweetheart.”

“’Bye, Moses.”

We disconnected. I drove into my garage and sat in my car while I hit the door opener again to close it. I didn’t get out until the door was down.

Old habits.

I’d barely walked into the house before I heard Sniff shout from the basement, “That you, Shirleen?”

“You better hope so,” I shouted back, dumped my Chloe on the kitchen bar, but kept hold of the report as I walked to the steps to the basement.

I went down to see two tall, good-looking boys sprawled on the sectional with game controllers in their hands, attention riveted to the TV and after-school junk consumption evidence all over the coffee table in front of them.

“Pause,” I ordered.

Not even a hesitation, they paused the game, then their eyes came to me.

God, my boys were such good boys.

I looked to Roam. “Just got back from rappin’ with Mr. Robinson.”

His expression shifted from alert to wary but he said not a word.

Sniff, however, as usual, wasn’t silent. “Oh shit.”

“Apparently,” I walked closer to them and tossed the report among the chip bags and cookie packaging on the square coffee table that sat in the middle of the sectional, “you wrote a report he had no clue how to grade.”

Roam’s gaze dropped to the papers then shot back to me.

“Because it was so good,” I finished.

“Whoa,” Sniff muttered.

Roam remained silent and stoic.

In the early days, he’d let things through, give things away.

He’d been among the Hot Bunch so long, he’d learned when he wanted to hide something, how to make sure it remained hidden.

It worked my nerves.

But whatever.

I looked between them both. “I’m gonna say this once and I want it heard. Are you both listening to me?”

“Yeah, Shirleen,” Sniff answered.

“Yeah,” Roam grunted.

“Are you listening good?” I pushed.

“Yeah, Shirleen.” Sniff was getting impatient, maybe to get back to his game, probably because he knew a Shirleen Lecture was coming and he wanted it over.

Roam just nodded.

“When I got you, and I knew I was gonna be able to keep you, I set money aside. I didn’t know what it was for. Didn’t care. Just knew it was for you.”

They both stiffened, even Roam.

I kept at them.

“I know you don’t ask for anything. Don’t expect anything. Maybe don’t want anything you can’t earn yourself. But that’s not how families work. Families look out for each other. And we’re family. And I know you two can take care of yourselves, but you gotta give a woman something, and what I want is to give something to you. We had the talk, I didn’t push it. We’re gonna have it again because I’ve been informed, Roam, that you got some serious talent with writing. And it didn’t escape me with either of you that you get yourself some good grades even if you don’t try real hard. So I want you both to think about usin’ that money to go to college.”

“I’d rather use it to get some wheels,” Sniff muttered.

“I’m buyin’ you both a car when you graduate,” I reminded him.

“I’d rather use it to get some shit-hot wheels,” Sniff amended.

“Boy, you don’t quit cussin’ in front of me, I’m gonna knock you into outer space,” I snapped.

Sniff grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, drew in a breath, let it out, and looked back at them.

“You two can be anything you want to be,” I said quietly.

They stiffened again.

I powered through it.

“And I want no limits on that. We don’t talk about it and we don’t have to, but I’m just gonna say it is not lost on me the limits you’ve had in your lives and I want you to know, right here, right now, those limits are done. You wanna go to college, it’s yours. You don’t, that’s your choice, but I want you to think real hard on that and know even if it takes a while for you to come to that decision, the resources are there for you to have it. You want something else for your lives, it’s your life, you get to make that choice. I’m just sayin’ I want you to discuss that with me. Bottom line is, you got choices. There are no limits. I don’t care if I’m covering your asses for years of medical school and residency. Your futures include options. Give me the privilege of giving that to you. Don’t limit yourselves because you got any concerns at all about taking it.”

They said nothing.

“Am I heard?” I asked.

“You’re heard, Shirleen,” Roam rumbled.

“Yeah, you’re heard,” Sniff put in.

I looked to Roam. “That report, son, I read it. Nothin’ else to say but to share the fact I got so much pride for you, it hurts me inside havin’ to contain it and not let it explode all over the place.”

“Shirleen,” he whispered.

He wasn’t hiding anything right then. The goodness coming to me from him came strong and pure.

God, I loved that boy.

Sniff punched his own heart with his fist twice then reached out and punched Roam in the arm with it. “Way to go, my brother.”

I loved both of them.

“Piss off,” Roam muttered.

And a little bit more eked out.

He was embarrassed.

I fought grinning as I ordered, “Don’t tell your brother to piss off.”

“He’s annoying,” Roam returned.

“He’s proud of you too,” I shot back.

“I totally am,” Sniff stated.

Suddenly Roam pushed up from his lounge and clipped, “Shut up.”

“Don’t tell me to shut up when—” Sniffed started.

He stopped talking when Roam pointed in his face then pointed to the ceiling and hissed, “Shut up.”

Sniff shut up, tensed, then both boys shot off the couch like rockets.

My heart dropped to my feet.

“Stay down here,” Roam ordered quietly as he and Sniff swiftly made their way to the stairs.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Got your phone?” Sniff asked as answer.

“No,” I told him.

He dug his phone out of his pocket and tossed it to me.

Oh no.

“Boys,” I snapped in a whisper.

Roam was four steps up, Sniff two down from him, when Roam halted and turned to me.

“Stay. Down. Here. And quiet,” he commanded on his own whisper.

If I wasn’t so freaked, I would lament all the time I allowed that boy to hang with the Hot Bunch learning to be so damned bossy.

Instead I was freaked.