Another Man Will Read Online Free PDF Page B

sounds good, and I’ll be home this weekend. Your mother won’t mind. You can bring the kids. We’ll probably get Nasir and Jewel, too.”
    â€œOkay, I’ll bring them over now, because we are leaving first thing in the morning.”
    Now that I had a sitter, it was time to leave Frank a message letting him know I wouldn’t be in tomorrow, and call Geneva back and let her know I was going.
    I was now extra excited and began packing for my trip. I had so many things I needed to do. I had to do something with my hair, get a pedicure, go to the bank, pick a few things up from storage, and drop the kids off. I called down the hall to my son. Brandon was fourteen and was starting high school in a few months. He thought he was grown, but he was still part baby. He came in my room, smelling like an entire basketball team after practice.
    â€œGo pack. You’re going to Mom Mom and Pop Pop’s for a few days.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause I’m going out of town with Ms. Geneva and Stacey for a few days.”
    â€œMan, I don’t want to go over there. It’s boring! Pop Pop’s going to be telling all those back-in-the-day stupid stories.”
    â€œYou don’t have a choice. You can’t stay here by yourself.”
    â€œCan I at least take my Xbox?”
    â€œI don’t care. Take your game, but take a shower and get ready.”
    My daughter, Mercedes, whom we all called Mimi, wouldn’t be as hard to break the news to. I could leave her anywhere as long as she had a few books to read, her skates, and a rope. Mercedes came in my room, bouncing and lively. She was very thin and smaller than the other nine-year-olds in her class.
    â€œMom, where are you going?”
    â€œOn a little trip with Miss Geneva.”
    â€œWhere are we going?”
    â€œTo Mom Mom’s.”
    â€œNo, Mom, please. I don’t want to go there.”
    â€œToo bad. Get ready. I think Jewel will be there, too!”
    â€œShe will?” Her attitude changed a little, like maybe she could deal with her grandparents if her cousin was with her.
    â€œAnd whatever you do this time, do not talk to her about Santa Claus not being real or her dad’s college.”
    â€œOkay, Mom, but there isn’t such a thing as Santa Claus, and her dad is in jail, not college. Why does Aunt Crystal tell her that stuff, and why does she believe it?”
    â€œBecause she does, Mercedes. Just go get ready.”
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    I pulled up to my parents’ West Oak Lane home. It was a semidetached brick home. The neighborhood had changed a little, but it was still a decent area, where everyone worked, trimmed their hedges, and swept in front of their home. My mom came to the black iron security door. I could tell she was surprised to see us. I was tall, caramel brown and shapely like she was, but I didn’t inherit her thick brown hair, which she kept flipped up at the ends.
    â€œWhat are y’all doing here?”
    â€œDaddy didn’t tell you? The kids are staying over for a few days.”
    â€œYour father doesn’t tell me anything. But, of course, they can stay.” My mother reached her arms out to Mercedes and Brandon. Mercedes gave her a pathetic hug, and Brandon quickly patted her side.
    We walked in the house that I grew up in. Everything was still the same: My parents still had the big black sectional, next to the wall unit that took up the entire wall, pictures of all our proms, hung on the wall. The pictures reflected a time when we had long ponytails, missing teeth, too many barrettes, and hadn’t quite grown into our looks. My dad came out of the basement. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek.
    â€œDaddy, why didn’t you tell Mommy we were coming?” I asked.
    â€œOh, I forgot.”
    â€œBrandon, your grandfather was just saying he was going to call you to see when you wanted to finish working on the planes in the garage,” my