Growl Power! Read Online Free PDF Page B

don’t think he’s cute
at all
.
    We say good-bye to the heckling Beethead, and go up the front steps. Angie chuckles, and says, “He sure got skinnier.”
    “He sure did,” I say, then coo at Porgy and Bess. “That’s okay if Beethead doesn’t like y’all. I’ll bet Big Momma’s gonna
love
you.”
    Big Momma never did have the pleasure of meeting Porgy and Bess when we lived at home, because she never came upstairs to our bedroom. These last few years, she has slowed down quite a bit, and she uses a cane to get around.
    “Look at y’all!” Big Momma says, standing still in the doorway so she can get a look at us. She peers closely at my cheek—I guess to see if there’s a beauty mark.
    “It’s Aquanette, Big Momma,” I say, helping her out.
    “I know how to tell my grandchildren apart, Nettie One,” she says, shooing me with her hand. “My, my, my—those are quite some get-ups y’all got on!”
    “This is what we wear when we’re the Cheetah Girls!” Angie exclaims, and we pose so Big Momma can admire us.
    “Don’t just stand there, take off your coats—the pawnshop’s closed!” Big Momma says, chuckling at her own joke.
    I set Porgy and Bess’s cage down, and hug Big Momma real tight. Then she hugs Angie. Our cousins Egyptian and India come running into the foyer. Egyptian is ten and India is almost eight, but she is the same height as her older sister.
    “We’re so glad y’all finally got here—now we can eat!” India says sassily. She has big bug eyes, just like Uncle Skeeter, but her demeanor is more like her mother’s—Aunt Neffie—high and mighty.
    Personally, I don’t think Aunt Neffie’s name is really Nefertiti like she claims, even though Ma says that now she sure is a queen, “sitting alone on a throne.” (She means because Aunt Neffie and Uncle Skeeter got separated.)
    “Is Uncle John coming?” Egyptian asks me, even though she knows Daddy moved to New York because he and Ma got dee-vorced.
    “No. Is Aunt Neffie here?” I ask, playing the same game. Aunt Neffie doesn’t come to Big Momma’s now that Uncle Skeeter is living back home.
    “Oooo!” India says, eyeing Porgy and Bess in the cage.
    Now Big Momma sees them too, and grunts, “Guess there ain’t much bacon under those hides. Not worth cookin’.”
    “Big Momma!” I squeal, then grab her waist. She’s just joking, though. Big Momma wouldn’t hurt a fly.
    “Can we take them out to the garden?” India asks, picking up Porgy and Bess’s cage.
    “That’s where they belong,” Big Momma says, smiling.
    “Why didn’t Skeeter meet me to go to the airport?” Ma asks Big Momma as she helps her put the “good” silverware on the table. (Big Momma always puts out the good stuff when company comes.)
    “I don’t know,” Big Momma says, distracted. “I think it’s time to get the corn bread out of the oven.”
    She hobbles over to it, and Ma runs to help her. “Sit down now—I’ll take care of everything.”
    Egyptian cuts me a look and tries to mouth something to me, but I can’t understand what she’s saying. I put my finger up to my mouth and tell her to “shhh” and tell me later.
    “Big Momma, how was the Quilt Festival this year?” I ask quickly, so she doesn’t know we were whispering. Even though she’s slowed down some, Big Momma wouldn’t miss the Quilt Festival for anything.
    “Junie—how many quilts did they have there this year?” Big Momma turns and asks Ma.
    “I think more than nine hundred,” Ma calls out.
    “They sure were beautiful,” Big Momma says.
    Egyptian starts mouthing at me again. I shake my head at her and tell her to stop. She probably is trying to give me a blow-by-blow account of one of Aunt Neffie and Uncle Skeeter’s battles.
    Angie and I feel bad for Egyptian and India because they’re younger than we are, and it’s hard for them to understand that sometimes grown-ups are better off separating than staying together and being miserable.
    “Are