It's All Good (14 page)

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Authors: Nikki Carter

BOOK: It's All Good
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23
I
've just finished wrapping Ricky's Christmas gift with my shiny, cartoon-print wrapping paper. I actually wrapped everything, and no, I did not get everyone else's gifts at the dollar store.
I got Hope and Candy cute House of Deréon baby tees. I bought my mom a cookbook. No explanation needed. For LeRon, I got a slamming tie at Macy's. His selection is pretty old-school, so I scored him a DKNY tie on sale. Kevin gets a copy of
Eragon
. He's gonna love it.
My phone buzzes on my hip. “What it do?”
“Hey, you.”
An involuntary smile pops up on my face. It's Ricky. “Hey. What are you doing?”
“Watching TV. You?”
“Just got finished wrapping gifts.”
“We going over to Pastor Stokes's house?”
Everyone always goes to my uncle's house on Christmas. The entire day, members of our church stop in and say hello to the family. Sometimes they bring gifts for Pastor and Aunt Elena. Some of them stay and have a plate of food. Grandma Stokes usually cooks enough for everyone. I'm sure with my mom doing the honors this year, there won't be too many people sticking around.
The young people all chill in Pastor's basement, playing pool and exchanging gifts. It's like our own little youth ministry Christmas party. It's the one time all year that no one has a curfew.
“You know I'm going over there. I'm helping Gwen cook this year.”
Ricky laughs. “You in the kitchen? What are you making? The water?”
“You're such a comedian. Hope is helping too. My mom is doing most of it.”
“Aw, man. Sister Gwen burns hot dogs. She can't be cooking the Christmas dinner.”
“We tried to tell her, but she's determined to show Aunt Penny that she can do it. I think my grandmother will be there to oversee, so it shouldn't be too bad.”
I can't believe Ricky brought up the burnt hot dogs. One time when we were little, my mom made us eat these hot dogs that she boiled until all the water left the pan. She tried to convince us that they were barbequed outside. We were ten, but we weren't stupid. That had to have been the nastiest hot dog I've ever eaten.
“What did you get me for Christmas?” Ricky asks.
“You'll find out when you open it.”
“Is it good? Am I gonna like it?”
I laugh out loud. “Dang, Ricky. You're worse than a little kid. But to answer your questions, yes and yes.”
“Sweet! I can't wait.”
“Ricky, I told Pastor about Valerie's mom.”
There's silence on the line for a moment. “You did? Why?”
“You heard about Susan, right?”
“Oh, yeah, that's messed up. I overheard my mom on the phone talking about it.”
“Well, that's why I told. I couldn't keep the secret anymore after that. If Valerie is mad, then oh, well.”
“I know that's right.”
Both of us are quiet now, but I don't think that he wants to get off the phone. I know that I don't. It's a good thing it's evening, or my mom would flip out if she knew I was using daytime minutes on my cell phone to listen to Ricky breathe.
“You ready to go driving again?” Ricky asks.
“Not yet.”
Ricky laughs. “I had fun that day, Gia. You were so scared.”
“How is it that me being scared equals fun for you? I don't get that.”
“I just like being with you period, Gia. So that's why it was fun.”
Gulp. I hate when Ricky does this. He'll just spring some random boyfriend-like sentiment on me when I'm not ready. He likes
being with me?
How do I even respond to that without sounding totally foolish?
Maybe I shouldn't care how I sound.
“Yeah, it was kinda fun, I guess.”
Yes, I know this was a total cop-out, but I'm not ready to go there yet. Because what if when I get there, I start acting stupid like Sascha? What if I start saying ridiculous stuff like, “I would die if he's not with me.” Dude! Totally not trying to go there, and yet it seems inevitable that teenage love goes there.
“You talked to Chase lately?” I ask, trying to change the subject.
“Nah. He and I aren't that cool, especially since he started putting his hands on girls. That's not cool.”
“Sascha is still trying to be a part of the PGP cotillion, but my mom and Aunt Elena aren't trying to hear it.”
“Did she break the rules?” Ricky asks.
“That's the thing! She didn't break the rules at all. They just don't like the idea of a girl who has an abusive boyfriend being one of the debutantes.”
“That sounds like Sister Gwen. You've already tried to talk to her, I guess.”
“Yep. She's being completely irrational about the whole thing. She won't even hear me out anymore.”
“That's messed up. Do you and Kev know the date for your SAT test yet?” Ricky asks.
“Yes. We go on January twelfth. You can go too, if you want. The deadline to sign up is the day after Christmas.”
I can't believe we're taking the SATs! We're almost seniors. It feels like high school has just gone by way too quickly. One day we were pimply, skinny little freshmen and now we're almost grown. It's just crazy. I guess I understand how my mom feels about me growing up.
We're quiet again, but like I said before, the quiet is cool. I feel my eyelids getting heavy, so I know that I'm gonna be asleep in a few minutes.
“Ricky, I'm falling asleep. Do you want to just talk tomorrow?”
“Okay, but you hang up first.”
Seriously??? I can't stop smiling. “No, you first.”
Ricky laughs. “Okay, on three. One ... two ... three ...”
We both burst into laughter because neither one of us hangs up.
“Good night, Gia.”
“'Night.”
24
“M
erry Christmas! Wake up, Gia!”
What is the meaning of Candy hovering over my bed at the crack of dawn like she just saw Santa Claus fly up the chimney? We are not three years old and I need my beauty sleep. I'm seeing Ricky today and I can't be all puffy-eyed and grumpy.
I'm just glad Christmas morning didn't fall on a Sunday this year. Pastor Stokes always gets ridiculous with calling for a sunrise service when a holiday falls on Sunday. The choir always sounds a hot mess on these days. Sopranos sounding like tenors—everybody singing in their hot morning-breath voices. Trust. All bad.
“I'm not awake, Candy. Come back in a few hours.”
“It's Christmas! Don't you want to open your gifts?”
Well, I'm awake now so I might as well get up. “All right. I'm up.”
“You want to make breakfast?” Candy asks.
She's way too gleeful for it to still be dark outside. And she has on antlers. Why is she wearing antlers? That is just unnecessary and I'm almost sure it's against some rule somewhere.
“Yes, how about some bowls of cereal.”
“Don't be a grinch, Gia. Let's do pancakes.”
“Are you kidding me? I'm not trying to make pancakes.”
Candy leans on the counter and takes a deep breath. “Okay, Gia. I'm only going to say this one time, so listen up. My mom made pancakes with me every Christmas morning, until last year when she decided that
her
life was more important than me. So, just chill and make the pancakes, okay? I need this.”
“All right then, pancakes.”
We go into the kitchen where it looks like there's already something going on. My mom has piles of neatly stacked recipes on the counter and when I open the refrigerator, ingredients are lined up in some kind of order. There are little sticky notes with numbers and letters on them.
“Hand me the milk,” Candy says.
“Umm ... it has a number two and an M on it. What do you think that means?”
“It means that's the second thing I'm cooking and the M is for macaroni and cheese,” my mom says. “Drop the food girls, I've got a system going on here.”
“Well, we want to make some pancakes for breakfast,” Candy whines.
“You all better get a piece of toast and get up out of my kitchen unless you're planning to help.”
Candy replies, “Excuse me! I thought we were helping by making breakfast.”
“It really doesn't make any difference to me,” I say. “I'm not hungry, so I don't need to make any pancakes. I was doing that for Candy.”
“I will need you two in a little while, once we get over to your uncle Robert's house. I'm doing the majority of the cooking over there.”
“Is Grandma here yet?” I ask.
“Yes. Your aunt and uncle went to get Grandma and Aunt Penny from the airport last night.”
I hear my phone buzzing in my bedroom. “Someone's calling me.”
I dash back into the room just in time to miss the call. It was Hope. I press the Send button to call her right back.
“Merry Christmas!” Hope squeals into my ear.
“Merry Christmas right back at ya. Is Grandma awake yet?”
“Yep, and she's making breakfast—waffles and stuff. Y'all coming early?”
“I don't think my mom is. She's doing something to the turkey. Maybe Ricky will bring me over there.”
“If you had your own license you could come on your own,” Hope teases.
“Whatever! Did Ricky tell you about our little lesson? I almost perished in that car. No thank you, ma'am. Plus, you don't have yours either, so shut up.”
“Well, I don't need mine because the waffles are getting cooked over here,” Hope taunts. “Is that blueberries I smell, Grandma?”
I hang up on Hope when she says something about warm, sweet syrup. I'm not trying to hear that, especially since I'm holding a dry piece of wheat bread in my hand. It's not even toasted!
I press the numbers in to call Ricky. “Merry Christmas, Gi-Gi. What it do?”
“Merry Christmas, Ricky Ricardo. You hungry?”
“Famished! Nobody is awake here.”
“My grandmother is making waffles over at Pastor Stokes's house. You down?”
“Give me fifteen minutes to get to you and then it's on and popping!”
I laugh out loud. “You are greedy with a capital G.”
“Whatever. The only reason you called me was to get a ride to the food.”
“You got me. But right now, you're still talking instead of showering. I need to get something on, too.”
“See you in a sec.”
“Holla.”
I poke my head out of my bedroom door and say, “Candy, if you want Grandma Stokes's waffles, be ready in fifteen minutes. Ricky's coming to take us over there.”
“But aren't we going to open gifts and stuff?” Candy asks.
My mom interjects, “We usually do that over at my brother's house. You can go if you want.”
“Grandma Stokes's waffles are the bomb diggity. Come on and get dressed. If you aren't ready by the time Ricky gets here we're leaving you.”
Fifteen minutes later, Candy and I are dashing out the door. On my way out, I notice that my mom is doing something totally inhumane to that turkey. Well, it would be inhumane if the turkey were still living, but since it's about to be dinner ...
“Mom, are you okay? Do you need any help?”
My mother pulls her arm out of the turkey's behind and waves a little packet in the air. “Got it!”
“Mom?”
“No, Gia. I'm fine. Why don't you and Candy pack our gifts into Ricky's car so that LeRon and I don't have to.”
I wave for Ricky to come in, so that he can help. Why? Because I try not to lift too many heavy boxes when there are boys around. I'm all for girl power, but they like carrying stuff. It makes them feel good.
Ricky steps inside as Hope and I gather the boxes and put them by the door. He's looking extra nice with his thick brown leather coat and Timberland boots. Even this early in the morning, his caramel skin and big brown eyes are looking real nice.
He completely and totally shocks me by giving me a big hug. “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas, Ricky!” Candy says, giving Ricky a hug too.
I'm sooo glad Candy did that, because I could feel my mother's antennae go up when Ricky spun me around the room. She's got to see how fine Ricky is looking right now, so if she hasn't already suspected some crushing, she probably will now.
“Merry Christmas, Sister Gwen!” Ricky says. “That turkey looks like it's met its match.”
“Hey Ricky, Merry Christmas,” Mom replies with a little giggle.
She sounds like she's having fun, so even if the turkey ends up burnt and dry, I guess it will have been worth it. But I'm really hoping for a Christmas miracle like in one of those family movies they always show on the holiday. Maybe someone will sprinkle some kind of dust on my mom when she starts cooking!
Ricky grabs a pile of presents and heads out the door. I try to hurry behind him, because I don't want to answer any of the unspoken questions that I see on my mom's face. But y'all know how Gwen does.
“Candy, you go on and help Ricky. I want to talk to Ms. Gia for a minute.”
Aw, dang. Why I gotta be Ms. Gia? That means that she's tripping on something.
“What's up with you and Ricky?” Gwen asks as soon as they're out of the house.
“Nothing's up. Why do you ask?”
My mom narrows her eyes. “If nothing's up, then why can't you look at me? He's got a little crush, doesn't he?”
I shrug. “I don't know. Maybe.”
“What about you? You have a crush too?”
Again, I shrug. “We're best friends, Mom.”
“Well, best friends or not, I need to keep an eye on you two,” my mom says. “You all aren't babies anymore, and Ricky is turning out to be a little hottie.”
The smile creeps up on me before I can stop it. My mom continues. “See! I knew you thought he was cute. Go on over to your uncle's house.”
“Okay.”
“Just remember, I'm watching you.”
“Yes, Mom. I know.”
I'm so happy to see my grandmother and Aunt Penny. They haven't visited since my mom and LeRon got married, and they live all the way in St. Louis, Missouri. Grandma went to live with Aunt Penny a few years ago when she got too sick to live alone.
I give my grandmother a gigantic hug. “Grandma Stokes! You're here!”
“Yes, baby, I'm here! Candy, come give your grandmother a hug.”
A huge smile beams from Candy's face. I think she wondered if she'd be accepted as family during a Stokes Christmas, but everyone is family to my grandmother. She's cool like that. Candy wraps her arms around my grandmother's neck and hangs on for dear life.
“And is that Ricky Freeman?” Grandma Stokes asks. “Boy, you are getting more and more handsome every time I see you.”
Aunt Penny chimes in, “Gia, you better snag him before someone else does.”
I roll my eyes. “You two are going to give him a big head with all that.”
“I'm serious!” Aunt Penny says. “If you were about ten years older, I'd give you my number.”
Ricky is completely embarrassed now, and his face is a hilarious shade of red. He scratches the back of his head and says, “Didn't someone say there were waffles here? I'm hungry.”
The aroma of the waffles floats in from the kitchen. It smells like those funnel cakes that you get at the amusement park. You know how you can smell the sugar rising up off of them. Grandma Stokes can put the mack on some waffles.
Candy asks, “Can we eat? They smell so good.”
“Help yourself, baby!” Grandma Stokes says.
Aunt Penny adds, “Y'all better get full too, because it might be the only decent meal y'all get all day long.”
Pastor Stokes comes in from the den. “Penny, don't start. Gwen is working really hard on the dinner, and when she brings the food over here, we're all going to help. Isn't that right, girls?”
Candy and I nod. Where is the third kitchen helper? While we're out here agreeing to be my mom's kitchen guinea pigs, Hope is sitting at a bar stool in the kitchen, stuffing a syrup-soaked waffle down her throat. Just plain old greedy.
Candy, Ricky, and I take off our coats, wash our hands, and dig into the breakfast buffet my grandmother has prepared. I don't know what my mom is talking about. Grandma Stokes doesn't seem sick at all, and whatever is bothering her sure didn't stop her from making a slamming breakfast.
“When is your mother coming over here with that husband of hers?” Aunt Penny asks.
“I don't know. I think she was prepping the turkey and then they were coming.”
Penny laughs. “I guarantee you that Gwen knows nothing about prepping a turkey. Why didn't she just bring it over here?”
“Now, Penny, we're not having any mess outta you and Gwen today,” Grandma Stokes says as she walks slowly back into the kitchen. “You're a good cook, so give your sister a hand. This is the day we celebrate the birth of the Lord. I don't want no mess.”
Well, Grandma Stokes done laid down the law. They better listen up too, because I think my grandmother is not above taking her cane to one of them. Actually, it might be funny to see my mom getting a beat-down. It might be something for the record books.

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