Operation Get Rid of Mom's New Boyfriend (2 page)

With the huge interest
Kennedy took in basketball, Sammi thought her first born was going
to be a little Tomboy for sure, but she was wrong. Kennedy’s
favorite color turned out to be pink and when she was a little
girl, she didn’t throw hissy fits when Sammi went to put frilly
dresses on her. Sure Kennedy was a little rough around the edges,
but she was all girl for sure; basketball in hand or not. And
giving up the belt that she felt was icing on the cake to her
outfit, she didn’t want to do willingly.

Mocking her sassy sister,
Kennedy threw a hand on her hip and batted her eyes while saying,
“Honey, child, this belt was the last thing on that pea brain of
yours.” She used her index finger to slightly push Joy’s forehead
back. “You’re just mad that it goes better with my basketball than
it does with your basketball head.”

Once again, Daryn couldn’t
help but belt out a laugh. She had to give it to her sisters; they
could really come up with some slick stuff when they were going at
it. Nothing in that newspaper she was reading was more exciting
than what was playing out in front of her eyes. “You do know that
possession is nine-tenths of the law, don’t you, Joy?” Daryn
thought she’d add in. “So in all actuality, that belt-”

“
Who asked you, geek?” Joy
shot to Daryn, cutting her off.

“
Geek? Who are you calling
a geek?” Daryn snapped. “You little Tyra Stanks, America’s Next Top
Bottle head.”

This time Kennedy burst out
laughing, reminding Joy who her real fight was with. So she let
Daryn attend to her cereal while she turned her attention back to
Kennedy. “Since you think what the nerd here said is so funny that
you have to laugh, take my belt off while you’re at it; Ms. LeBron
James in drag.”

Daryn spit out the bite of
cereal she’d just spooned into her mouth at that last snap Joy had
thrown at Kennedy.

Kennedy puffed out her
chest, mean mugged Joy and said, “I ain’t giving you nothing, so
you can keep on truckin’.” She then took her stiff pointed index
finger and pushed Joy right in the middle of her forehead, much
harder this time. So hard that she almost made her lose her
balance.

“
You better keep your hands
to yourself or…” an angry Joy started.

“
Or what?” Kennedy seethed
through clinched teeth.

Joy was at a loss for
words. She knew when it was time to back down from her oldest
sister. She shooed her hand. “Ahh, who cares about that belt
anyway? You can have it. It’s probably contaminated
now.”

“
I thought so,” Kennedy
said with victory in her voice. “It’s not like you needed to wear
it any ol’ way. It don’t hardly go with that get-up you call an
outfit.” Kennedy chuckled while looking Joy up and down. “And
you’re supposed to have a passion for fashion. Tah!”

Joy looked down at her tan,
corduroy bellbottoms that had little sparkles on them. Peeking from
underneath her pants were her brown Hush Puppy clogs. To top it all
off, she wore a light blue t-shirt with the words “Sassy Girlz
Inc.” that she had bedazzled with rhinestones. Sassy Girlz, Inc.
was the name she had given her line of fashion designs. She even
had a website; www.sassygirlzinc.com. Right now she just sold
things like tee shirts, totes and bandanas, but one day little,
sassy divas would be strutting her designs across runways from
Japan to Milan.

After checking herself out,
Joy realized that she didn’t really need the belt. She had enough
going on already with her outfit. There was plenty of sparkle and
glitter without the added visual distraction of a chain link belt.
But who cared? The belt was hers, and the last she remembered, she
didn’t recall Kennedy asking her permission to wear it. Even if she
had asked, the answer would have been a big, fat ‘NO!’

“
See, I was just going to
let you wear it, but since you had to have the last word with your
smart mouth, I want my belt and I want it now!” Joy said, snapping
her neck, then walking over to Kennedy in an attempt to start
undoing the belt.

“
I’ll do it myself,”
Kennedy said, pushing Joy’s hand from off the belt and removing it
from around her waist. “Take your old raggedy belt.” She threw it
onto the floor.

“
If it’s so old and
raggedy, then why were you trying to wear it?” Joy swayed her hand
in front of Kennedy’s face as she bent down and picked the belt up
from off the floor.

When Joy had reached for
the belt, that’s when Daryn noticed something familiar. There was a
shiny glare coming from Joy’s wrist. Daryn jumped up from her bowl
of cereal and approached Joy.

“
If I’m not mistaken,”
Daryn said, pushing her glasses up, “And I usually never make
mistakes, but isn’t that’s my charm bracelet you’re wearing,
Joy?”

An expression appeared on
Joy’s face that read: “Cold busted!”

“
Uh, well, “ Joy
stammered.

“
Um, hmm. I thought so,”
Daryn said proudly, tooting her nose in the air. “Now if you’d ever
be so kind as to return it to its rightful owner, that would be
very much appreciated.”

Joy shot Kennedy a puzzled
look, hoping she’d be able to translate what Daryn had just said.
Kennedy shrugged and shook her head, signaling she had no idea what
Daryn was trying to say.

“
Girl, what in the world
did you just say?” Joy asked Daryn.

Daryn sighed. “Give me my
dang on bracelet back; that’s what I said,” Daryn said with
frustration. Although she’d just witnessed her sisters being quite
petty and had no desire to partake in such immature behavior, this
wasn’t just any charm bracelet. It was Daryn’s lucky charm
bracelet; the one she only wore on special occasions; like when she
had a test, a debate or was trying out for something at
school.

“
What charm bracelet?” Joy
asked. “Are you talking about this charm bracelet? You’re not
talking about this charm bracelet are you?”

“
I am not about to stand
here and play this childish game with you, so give me my bracelet!”
Daryn demanded.

Joy loved making Daryn so
angry to the point where she would drop the “I’m smarter and more
mature than the whole wide world act” and get low down and dirty.
So she continued to egg her on. “You don’t mean this bracelet do
you?” Joy teasingly waved her wrist in the air, dangling Daryn’s
bracelet right in front of her face.

When Daryn went to reach
for it, Joy pulled back quickly and laughed. Kennedy joined in on
the laughter. She loved watching her baby sister taunt Daryn the
book diva, which was the nickname she and Joy had given their
sister.

“
Okay, that’s it!” Daryn
said, trying her best not to lose control, but her little sister
had pushed her over the edge. “You asked for it, little sister.”
Daryn lunged at Joy, grabbing the wrist that donned her charm
bracelet.

“
Stop it! Get off of me,”
Joy yelled. “Mommy!”

“
Quit screaming for Mom
before she comes to see what’s the matter and we all end up getting
in trouble,” Kennedy warned Joy. “You always droppin’ the dime on
somebody, tattle tale.”

Joy ceased her cry for
help. She then quickly pulled her wrist away from Daryn, which
caused the bracelet to break. Charms rolled all over the kitchen
floor.

Joy put her hand over her
mouth as Daryn fell to her knees in an effort to scoop up the
rolling charms from the floor.

“
Oh, no. Now look what
you’ve done,” Daryn said to Joy, almost teary eyed. “The drama club
is having try-outs next week for the spring play. Now what am I
going to do? I’ll never get a part without my lucky charm
bracelet.”

Kennedy shook her head at
the sight on the kitchen floor. “Umph, umph, umph. All that wasn’t
even called for, Joy, and you know it,” Kennedy scolded as she
watched Daryn sadly gather the remains of her broken bracelet. “And
you’re gonna buy her another one with your allowance...or else.”
Kennedy held up her notorious fist to Joy. Even though that fist
had never actually connected with any living thing, it still put
fear in her sisters nonetheless.

Of course, Kennedy couldn’t
have cared less about Daryn’s devastation over her broken bracelet.
She just loved taking advantage of any opportunity where she could
throw her weight around, and her age for that matter.
Thirteen-years-old and born to rule, she loved being the boss of
her younger sisters. Daryn had just turned twelve, and Joy was
eleven. But both younger sisters had learned that their older
sister’s bark was way worse than her bite, so they typically just
let her bark.

“
I’m spending my allowance
on Lemon Heads and Boston Baked Beans just like I always do,” Joy
said, folding her arms, closing her eyes and then bobbing her head.
“Anyway…” She opened her eyes and looked down at Daryn. “That’s
what you get for trying to snatch it off my wrist,” an unapologetic
Joy teased as she headed to the cupboard for a bowl to fix herself
some cereal.

Kennedy shook her head,
noticing the evil look that covered Daryn’s face as she shot cold
stares at Joy’s back. She recognized that look. It was a prelude to
nothing but bad news. As the oldest child, Kennedy had seen that
look many times before. Heck, she had invented it. She had worn it
on her own face enough times to know exactly what it meant…which
was WAR!

Chapter Three

Just the Girls

It was about 5:30 P.M. when
Sammi arrived home from work, which was around the normal time she
got home from work. The girls were each finishing up their homework
in their usual spots. Joy was in the den, Daryn was at the kitchen
table, and Kennedy was sitting on her basketball at the living room
coffee table. Sammi had made the rule a long time ago that the
girls weren’t to occupy the same room together unless she was home
to referee. Typically, with the girls’ after school activities,
tutoring and what have you, they got home from school thirty
minutes before Sammi got home from work. And of course with Kennedy
being of baby-sitting age, she was in charge for that half
hour.

“
Girls, I’m home,” Sammi
mumbled through the couple pieces of mail that were locked between
her teeth as she came through the front door. She was holding two
plastic grocery bags, one in each hand, and her brief case under
her arm.

“
Hey, Mommy,” Joy said,
running quickly from out of the den and into the foyer. She always
listened for the sound of Sammi’s key in the front door lock so
that she could be the first one to greet their mother when she came
in. She felt as though it was a privilege; as if the first daughter
her mother connected with got the best hug and kiss. “No sloppy
seconds from you two,” Joy would say to her sisters. “I might get
rabies or something.”

Sammi allowed her briefcase
to slip from under her arm and onto the floor. She then removed the
mail from her mouth and said, “Hello, sweetie.” She knelt down and
gave Joy a kiss on the forehead and a nice warm hug. “How was your
day?”

“
Well, actually, it was-”
Joy started.

“
Mom!” Kennedy interrupted
as she stood up from the coffee table.

“
Hey, there’s my little
darling,” Sammi said as she handed Joy one of the grocery bags and
then headed into the living room to peek at her oldest daughter’s
homework. “How’s the homework coming along?” She kissed Kennedy on
the cheek.

Unlike with Joy, she didn’t
have to kneel down to give Kennedy a kiss. A few more inches, and
Kennedy would be just as tall as her mother. At around five feet
tall, Kennedy had definitely taken after her father, God rest his
soul, when it came to her height.

“
I’m all finished with my
homework now,” Kennedy said, proudly. “I did most of it during
study hall. I was just doing some reading.”

“
Good, I’ll check it after
dinner,” Sammi promised her. She handed Kennedy the other grocery
bag so that she could follow suit and take it into the kitchen like
Joy had done with the other bag. Sammi followed behind
Kennedy.

“
Mother!” Daryn exclaimed
once Sammi entered the kitchen. Daryn closed her eyes and stuck out
her lips. Sammi bent down and planted some sugar on her middle
child’s lips, just as she always did.

“
Hello, dear,” Sammi said
as she then walked over to the counter and laid down her purse that
had been secure around her shoulder.

“
Mother, Mr. Leeberman gave
me the lead girl part in the play the drama club is putting on in a
couple of months,” Daryn bragged. “And I got the part even without
my lucky charm bracelet.” Daryn shot Joy a quick, dirty look, then
turned her attention back to her mother with a smile.

“
That’s great, honey,”
Sammi complimented. “See, I told you that you can do anything you
set your mind to. You don’t need a lucky charm. All you need is the
faith of a mustard seed.” Sammi bent down. “It’s about believing in
here, “she pointed to Daryn’s heart, “and in there,” she pointed to
Daryn’s head.

Daryn felt that her mother
was right. Lucky for Joy too. Now Daryn wouldn’t have to carry out
the plan of revenge she had plotted against her in retaliation for
breaking her bracelet. She had two bottles of Elmer’s Glue she was
going to replace her little sister’s hair conditioner with. After
all, the devious act had worked out just fine when she’d done it to
Kennedy, which explained the reason for Kennedy’s recent haircut.
Daryn couldn’t help but smile as she thought back to the
incident.