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IT WAS THE LAST WEEKEND in February, and the last two weeks had been some of the roughest Mika could remember. To make matters worse, her cousins had been pestering her for a get together. With the mood she was in she didn’t feel like talking to them. Every time she turned around one of them was calling, emailing, or texting her about picking a date for either lunch or dinner. So far she had put them off. Today was Saturday, and she was going to drown her sorrows, then watch some mindless TV.
She had just started on step one by pouring a big glass of wine. There was no one here to judge her but herself. God knows she had way more fucked-up things she could be judging herself for than being a weekend alcoholic. She had just put the bottle back in the fridge when her doorbell rang. Irrationally, she hoped it was Robert.
Leaving her wine, she shamelessly rushed to the door, but paused with her hand on the knob. Did she even want to talk to him right now? Some days she thought she did, other days she hoped he was somewhere rotting. Would they be able to have a civil conversation? She flung open the door then let out a pent up breath.
“This is exactly what I get for not using the peephole.” Instead of slamming the door she just walked away.
“Well, hello to you too cousin...with your rude ass,” Misha said as she walked in followed by Milissa and Michaelle.
“Whatever,” Mika threw over her shoulder going back to retrieve her wine. With them here she was going to need it. When she came back to the living room, she found them all sitting down as if she had invited them.
“What do you guys want?” She asked still standing.
“The same thing we’ve wanted for the last week or so. To go out and eat,” Lissa complained.
“I told you guys I didn’t have time, I’ve been busy.”
Michaelle slowly looked her up and down. “You don’t look busy to me.”
“Well I was about to be.”
Misha got up nipping the wine glass from her cousin’s hand, before taking a big sip.
“Go ahead and get dressed so we can go. We have a reservation at eleven-thirty. Nowhere fancy, just throw on something decent.”
Mika huffed. Annoyed that her wine had been stolen along with their persistence in bothering her. “Look, I’m sorry you all came here for nothing. But I really can’t go anywhere right now. I’m in a mood.”
Lissa rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”
“Enough already,” Michaelle said standing up. Using the tone she had perfected in their youth to help control three younger girls when they were under her charge. “Go get dressed. You are going to lunch with your family.” Giving Mika a little push she continued. “Hurry up, and we can get this over with.”
“Fine, Y’all get on my nerves.”
“Hurry along.” Misha wiggled her fingers at her cousin’s retreating form. “Let us know if little Mikala needs any help.”
* * *
THEY WENT TO ROSES Restaurant & Lounge, which was right in Canton. A nice little Italian place she ordered take-out from. Honestly she was hungry and didn’t mind eating here at all. After they were seated and water and bread was served, Mika turned to her family.
“So what do ya’ll heffa’s want with me so bad you had to track me down? I just saw you all two months ago.”
“Who, you calling a heffa? None of us are fat cows, so I take exception to that,” Lissa said blandly.
“Your m—” Misha started to say before Michaelle cut her off.
“Why do we need a reason to see you? There is no schedule of how many times we can talk per month or quarter,” Michelle scolded.
“Well there should be,” Mika mumbled.
“Tell us what you’ve been up to lately,” Michaelle went on as if she hadn’t heard her, while cutting her eyes at Misha who had a big mouth. If Mika found out they were here per her mother's request she wouldn't tell them anything. “How’s your love life? Did you give Stanley a chance?”
“No, I’ve ignored all of Stanley’s calls.” Actually she had told him she was seriously dating someone else. Which had been true at the time.
“Ahh good! Does that mean you’ve found someone else? I was starting to worry. It’s been a while since you mentioned anyone,” Lissa said smiling.
When Mika remained silent Misha barely resisted the urge to shake her. “Mika, I swear if you don’t stop acting like an ass I’m coming across this table—and not for a hug. You only get this weird over a guy you’re really into, which doesn’t happen that often. Tell us already. Maybe it will make you feel better.”
They were slightly over a year apart in age, and because of this they tended to fuss at each other more often, even though they were the closest.
“I don’t really know how I feel. Maybe it’s for the best,” Mika said on a sigh.
“Just tell us what's going on, and we’ll be the judge,” Michaelle said gently.
Mika proceeded to tell a quick summary of her and Robert’s original fight, ending with the horrible confrontation in his office. By the time she had told it all, their lunch had arrived.
“Well,” Michaelle finally said. “What company does he work for? I’m sure my husband can get him fired. He knows everybody.”
Mika almost choked on her ice water. “Jeez, I don’t want him to lose his job. He’s my financial advisor and damn good at it.”
All three cousins nodded their heads at that statement. After all money was business, some things you just never risked.
“Okay,” Misha narrowed her eyes. “You said he works downtown right? My hubby knows some folks that can uh....teach him a lesson.” When Mika just gaped at her she went on. “Okay fine, what city does he live in? I’m sure we can do it there. Give me his address.”
Letting out a strangled laugh, Mika shook her head. “I admit I almost kicked his ass myself. I really thought about tossing him through that stupid glass wall in his office. But I don’t want him hurt.”
“You sure? It won’t be traced back to us, I promise,” Misha pushed.
“She said no,” Lissa finally spoke up, an evil grin on her face. “She doesn’t want him hurt. Guess she’s a softie like that. I would gut the bastard. Anyway what about hurting his property? I mean there is a lot we could do! Do you know if he has a security system at his house?”
Mika was confused. All three cousins looked at her expectantly, waiting for the answer. They seemed to be dead serious about their suggestions. “I don’t know if I should be creeped out or touched that you guys care so much.”
Michaelle frowned. “Of course we do! It sounds like he really hurt you. We’re not going to let him get away with doing that to our family.”
“You’ve never seemed to care before. None of you take me seriously when I talk about what I’m looking for in a man.”
“Here you go being dramatic. We do listen to you.” Misha voice sounded tired. “All we do is listen as you constantly complain about your mother, or the perfectly acceptable men she tries to hook you up with.”
“Oh please!” Mika was getting a little upset. “You guys never take up for me, always siding with her. I don’t know why you just can’t accept I’m not like the rest of you. I don’t want respectability to be my only concern in life. I want to live life on my own terms, not some predetermined role someone else has for me. If I ever marry, I want to marry for love!”
There were several beats of silence—then Michaelle lit into her.
“You have always been a spoiled and somewhat selfish brat. It’s because your mother couldn’t have more kids and doted on you. Partly our fault as well, for putting up with your attitude over the years. We have always been on your side. We’re your damn cousins. Hell we were practically raised as sisters!”
“And yes we agree with your mother and ours when you argue. Unlike you we learned the art of being subtle. You know...catching more bee’s with honey and all that. We agree, as not to add fuel to the fire. When you leave we plead your case in a calmer manner.”
Michaelle took a deep breath before she went on.
“And stop the bullshit about us accepting you how you are. Maybe you should start taking your own advice. You assume we—” She indicated herself and her sisters. “Are pretending to be something we’re not. Did it occur to you this is just our personalities? That we like who we are and our lives!”
Mika was shrinking in her seat, but her oldest cousin wasn’t done yet.
“And furthermore, you have always been so judgmental of us! How dare you insinuate we didn’t marry for love? What you think, you the only black woman out here looking for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? If you didn’t have your nose so stuck in the air you would have noticed our husbands don’t treat us like trophy wives, but the queens that we are.”
Michaelle leaned forward on the table. “Our mother and Aunt Beverly taught us what to expect from a man. Get over yourself! Since we were kids, you’re the one who always pushed us away. We have always accepted you, just not the other way around.”
When it was clear she had run out of steam and her tirade was done, not a word was said for a full ten seconds.
“I’m sorry. I never looked at how I came off from your point of view. I never took the time to look beyond the surface. I haven’t taken the time to look at you all as full complex people. I’m sorry.”
Mika took a long sip of her water fighting off the tightening of her throat. The number of people she was offending seemed to be climbing.
“I forgive you,” Lissa said suddenly. “I looked up to you for a while growing up. You seemed so free and daring. I used to love when you would let me in on your adventures. Besides, we all talked once and decided you needed to paint us a certain way to make yourself feel superior.” She shrugged her shoulders. “We figured we’d let you have it, since you couldn’t seem to keep a man and all.”
“Gee, thanks. And nice dig at the end.”
Lissa grinned. “You’re welcome!”
Mika turned to Misha. “You’ve been awfully quiet. Don’t you have something to say?”
“Yeah, I do. I’m just trying to figure out how you thought we didn’t like you, or didn’t take up for you.” Misha was genuinely confused and a little hurt. “When you were in school and refused to perm or hot comb your hair, who do you think defended you? Even though you stood out like a sore thumb?”
“Well, I stood up for myself. Honestly though I wasn’t messed with that often about stuff like that. I was quirky by our bougie school standards, but folks seemed to accept it. Maybe I was just lucky.”
“Luck, my ass.” Misha snorted. “Michaelle and I wouldn’t allow anyone to talk about you. We were fairly popular so that helped and for those that it didn’t, we kicked their ass. We had your back all throughout school.”
“What!” Mika sat in disbelief. “Come on you guys did not. You never got kicked out for fighting.”
“Of course not that wouldn’t have been proper now would it?” Michaelle slyly proclaimed. “Do you remember Stacey Higgins? You were in ninth grade, Misha was in tenth and I was a senior. Stacey was a year below me and she had always been a snot, you could tell she had a problem with black people. Anyway, you started school and she took to calling you the N-word. Saying how you didn’t fit in because of your hair, and how you dressed more urban. You never told your parents and only told me because I found you crying in the bathroom. You told me she had been harassing you for months!”
Michaelle paused as indignation flooded her even after all these years. It had hurt her heart to see her cousin—who had always been bold, outgoing, and sure of herself, broken by an ugly racist word.
“I gave you that pep talk about rising above it, to ignore her and that you betta never let her see you cry. Never let her see her words affected you. That you were a queen and she was a peasant. For the next week I stalked her skinny ass and one day she went in the bathroom alone. I waited ‘til she was washing her hands and hit her with a hard punch to her right kidney!”
They all gasped around the table, though Lissa’s surprise quickly turned into a quiet chuckle.
“The little bitch dropped to one knee and I grabbed her ponytail. Told her if she ever called you or any other black person in that school the N-word again, I would beat her ass.”
Michaelle had a reminiscing smile on her face. “I added that after I beat her ass, I’d have my ghetto cousins find her and they’d kick it again. Told her she betta not tell anyone either.”
“But we don’t have any hood cousins, at least none that live here,” Lissa stated.
Michaelle rolled her eyes. “I know that, but she didn’t. She probably thought all black families had thugs willing to beat people up. It must have worked as Mika never said she messed with her again.”
Mika stared in awe at learning all this and had a new appreciation for her oldest cousin, who she had always thought was the stiffest of the bunch. “No, she never said another word to me. I kept hoping she would. I had newfound courage after you talked to me. Thank you...I didn’t know.”
“Good, and you’re welcome. It’s what family does.”
“Yeah, the same way you did for me when I got to high school. We’re family,” Lissa said simply.
“We are, aren’t we?” Mika started to cry. Everything with Robert and now this. It was all too much.
“Please stop, you're embarrassing yourself and us. Or at least do a pretty cry, you looking ugly,” Misha quipped.
“Oh shut up!” Mika said but she was grinning and got her tears under control. “I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate you guys more. I’ll do better, I promise. You annoy me, but I love you all.”
“We love you too, Mikala,” Misha teased, as the waiter came over.
“Can we get a round of mimosas?” Michaelle addressed the server. “We just had a boatload of emotional family crap, and we need to fortify our nerves.”
The cousins shared a laugh, but then Milissa turned to Mika. “Back to your original problem. You don’t want to make him pay, so it sounds like you want to make up?”
Mika hesitated, but finally said. “Yeah, I guess. I definitely want to have a real conversation with him. I really thought we were in a good place before all this.”
“Well what are you waiting on? He overreacted as well but only after you did. You know men and their egos,” Misha reminded her.
“I know. Thanks for listening. It did help.” Especially since she hadn’t updated Andrea about the last argument or sought her advice. She still didn’t feel right putting her in the middle of it.
Their drinks arrived and when everyone had a glass, Lissa asked. “What should we drink to?”
“To our dysfunctional and misunderstood family and hoping stupid men come to their senses,” Mika warily said.
They all laughed and toasted though Mika noticed Milissa didn’t actually take a sip. “What's with you? If you don’t want yours I’ll take it. I feel like I earned it, since I just found out I’m a major bitch.”
Milissa eyes lit up and she flushed.
“I was looking forward to this meeting, for a reason of my own. I wanted to talk to you all about something.”
“Well, spill it,” Misha said,
“Okay. Brian and I are trying to get pregnant! We’ve only been trying for a month. It’s early but I’d rather be cautious with the drinking. We don’t know when it might take.”
Amidst the congratulations and well wishes for Lissa to conceive soon, Mika saw the joy on her cousin’s face at the hope of expanding her family. She felt her heart melt. Right then she came to the conclusion that she did in fact want kids. She wanted to plan having kids with a husband, anticipating a new life to love. Not right away, but one day.
