Read Online Bad Apple - the Baddest Chick by Nisa Santiago - Free Book Online Page B

early and went before her. You know how she is, Apple.”
    “Where’s Ma?”
    “Still ’sleep. I ain’t tryin’ to wake her up,” Nichols replied.
    Apple began doing the pee-pee dance, trying to hold her urine. “Shit. I’m ’bout to kick down that door if she don’t hurry up.”
    “Go next door and use Ms. Terri’s bathroom.”
    “Her fuckin’ son’s a pervert.”
    “He probably ain’t home. But what you gonna do? Stand there and pee on yourself?”
    Apple knew her sister was right, so she rushed out the door to Ms. Terri’s, a kind Caribbean woman in her late fifties. She was from St. Lucia and had migrated to America thirty years ago. She was like a second mother to the girls. When they were young, Ms. Terri didn’t mind watching them while their mother was in the streets. She would feed them, clothe them, and talk to them sometimes, when needed.
    Ms. Terri had four kids, two adult sons who lived on their own, a daughter just starting college, and a young son who was the twins’ age. She had raised a respectable family and wanted to help bring up Denise’s children, but there was always some conflict with the two women. So Ms. Terri thought it was best to mind her own business and stick to raising her own kids.
    Apple anxiously knocked on Ms. Terri’s door, still trying to hold her urine. “Ms. Terri, it’s me, Apple. Please open the door. I have to use your bathroom,” she cried out. She continued to bang until the five-four, medium-build woman with long locks and wrinkling brown skin answered the door.
    She smiled at Apple. “Kola again?”
    Apple nodded.
    Ms. Terri moved to the side and invited Apple into her home, and Apple rushed past the woman and ran into her bathroom, where she quickly relieved herself. She spent a few minutes in the cherry-scented bathroom, which was clean and stocked with toiletries, unlike their own, which was always out of toilet paper, soap, and other items to keep a young woman fresh.
    Sometimes Apple wondered how she kept her hygiene up to par, with her mother too lazy to shop, clean, cook, and do other things. Apple felt like she was living with Peg Bundy from Married with Children. She hated her home but loved Ms. Terri’s place, and if it wasn’t for her perverted son trying to fuck her every chance he got, then Apple would’ve spent more time there.
    “Better?” Ms. Terri asked as Apple exited the bathroom.
    “You’re the best, Ms. Terri. Thank you.”
    “Anytime, chile. You can always come if you need somethin’,” she said in a motherly way.
    Apple was happy that Ms. Terri’s son, Jerome, wasn’t around. He was the worst. She remembered one time she was at the apartment talking to Ms. Terri, and behind his mother’s back, Jerome flashed himself and grabbed his dick. It was only one of many incidents that she went through with him. Other times he would grab her ass, and Apple would quickly check him on it. Out of respect for Ms. Terri, she never really hurt the boy, though she had slapped and punched him a few times when he’d disrespected her.
    “You hungry, Apple?” Ms. Terri asked.
    “No, I’m OK, Ms. Terri. Nichols is cooking breakfast.”
    “How’s your mother and the family?”
    “They good,” Apple lied.
    Ms. Terri smiled. She missed having the girls over, but times had changed, and Apple and her sisters were growing older. They didn’t have time anymore to sit around to sip tea, talk, and pretend to be what the girls seemed to long for—family. Apple wanted to see more of Ms. Terri too, but with Jerome constantly trying to get between her legs, she just stayed away altogether.
    Apple hugged Ms. Terri and promised to visit her more often, but it was a promise she didn’t intend to keep. She walked out of the apartment and went back into hers. Nichols had finished fixing breakfast, and Kola was still in the bathroom.
    Apple stormed to the bathroom and started kicking and banging on the door wildly. “Kola, you a selfish fuckin’