Kendra Read Online Free PDF

nobody around here broke into it or anything. I hear Kenny saying, “How you gonna drink one of my Sprites when you ain’t ask me?”
    “Hold on, Kendra,” Adonna says. “God, Kenny, it’s only one little can.”
    “Adonna, you better pay up!” Kenny yells.
    By then the phone is completely away from Adonna’s face and, even though I can’t really understand what she’s saying, I can hear the attitude in her voice. I pick up my pencil again and draw the parallel lines for the staircase.
    The next thing I can make out clearly on the phone is Kenny yelling, “Yo, Ma! You better come talk to your daughter ’cause I’m gonna hurt her if she keeps on touching my stuff!”
    I’m really not in the mood for one of their stupid fights.
    Finally, Kenny comes on the phone. “Babe?”
    “Hi,” I say. “What’s going on with you two?”
    “Look, Babe.” He’s real mad and not trying to hide it. “Your friend is gonna get her butt kicked, I swear. That girl needs to start showing me some respect, you know what I’m saying?”
    In the background, Grandma and Adonna are arguing now, their voices getting louder and louder.
    “Kenny,” I say, “can you just tell Adonna I’ll see her in the morning?”
    “Alright,” he says, but I can tell he’s not even thinking about me. His mind is deep in the fight with his sister. Over a stupid can of Sprite.
    I click off the phone and lay there for a couple of minutes, finishing the grapes and trying not to let myself think too much about Kenny and Adonna.
    I close my sketchbook and go out to the kitchen. The TV in the living room is actually off for a change and Nana is sitting at the kitchen table eating, not putting her plate on a dinner tray to eat in front of some Lifetime movie.
    I put the phone back on the base to charge and, without her even telling me to, I make myself a plate.
    “Did Renée call?” I ask.
    “She called me at work this afternoon and told me her interview went real good. She thinks they’re going to make her an offer, but she still got that second interview at City College tomorrow and she knows they want her.”
    I put just enough vegetables on my plate that I won’t have to hear Nana’s mouth. “Is she coming home tonight?” I ask.
    “No, she said the college paid for her to have the hotel room tonight, too, so she’s going to take them up on it. And she don’t like driving at night.”
    I sit down next to her. “What did she say about tomorrow? Is she gonna spend the night here?”
    “Yeah, she said something about meeting some friends in the city for dinner, and she’ll be here after that.”
    “Oh,” I say. I know it don’t make sense, but I was kinda hoping Renée was gonna get here tonight instead of tomorrow, just so we could have some extra time together. Because I know she’s gonna leave early on Thursday to start driving down to Maryland and I think she said she was gonna stay there all weekend for her friend’s graduation party or something.
    We eat for a little while, quiet. Then Nana says all proud and everything, “I knew Renée was going to be in high demand. Every college that got any sense is going to want her, a smart girl like that.”
    “I know. I can’t wait to hear what she’s gonna decide.” It’s kinda hard not knowing what’s gonna happen next, where Renée is gonna work and where we’re gonna live. It’s hard having to just wait like this.
    “So, Nana,” I say when I’m finished eating practically everything on my plate. “Are you gonna invite Clyde over? ’Cause he seems like a real nice guy.”
    “He is,” she says, and there’s a tiny little smile on her face that she can’t hide. But then she sighs all heavy. “But you know how I feel about having men in and out of here.”
    “I know, but I’m not all that little anymore.”
    She looks at me for a few seconds. “I can see that.” Her voice sounds more tired than it usually does. “But, Babe, you’re at that age now. You need