Read Online Good to Me by LaTonya Mason - Free Book Online Page B

Charity asked.
    “It’s not that, Cherry. Momma seems to think I have a problem because I’m not like you.”
    “What?”
    “Momma’s always comparing us and when she do I get upset because I always get the short end of the stick. I always end up
     looking like the bad seed.”
    “Cherry, I don’t compare y’all, do I?” asked Mama Lorraine.
    Charity could see the hurt in Iesha’s eyes. “Momma, I’ve worked hard to make y’all proud of me, to show you that I appreciate
     everything you’ve done for me. But there have been times I felt like you hold me on a higher pedestal above Iesha.”
    “Thank you,” Iesha said, waving her fork at Charity.
    “Charles, tell these girls how much I done struggled to treat them equally and how hard I worked to not show favoritism.”
    “That’s true, girls. Your mom and I have talked on several occasions about what to do and what not to do for one because of
     the way it might appear to the other.”
    “I agree with what you’re saying,” Charity said. “You guys didn’t give one of us something without giving the same thing to
     the other one. But I think what Iesha is saying is different. Esha, give us an example of what you’re talking about.”
    Mama Lorraine rolled her eyes at the ceiling. “I done told you about treating us like we one of your clients. Leave that therapy
     mess in your office. We black and that mess don’t work for us.”
    “I’ll give you an example,” Iesha offered. “When Cherry called us from that women’s shelter and told us she had left Emmitt,
     Momma, you was so distraught you wanted to kill Emmitt yourself. But had that been me, you would’ve just overlooked it and
     fussed at me for messing with the wrong type of man.” No one responded to her, everyone looked like they were more interested
     in what was on their plates.
    “Okay, I got a better example,” she continued. “I got my house before Cherry did. No one threw a housewarming party for me.
     But when Cherry bought her house, you would have thought Oprah was coming to town, the party was so big.”
    “Now, I’ll give you that one,” Mama Lorraine said. “You did
get
a house before Cherry. And we did come to your house for a housewarming dinner and we bought gifts for you. We threw a different
     celebration for Cherry because she
bought
her house.”
    “So, I don’t deserve a housewarming party because I live in a Section 8 house?”
    Mr. Brown interjected, “Honey, all Lorraine is saying is that a Section 8 house is rental property. Did we give you a housewarming
     party when you were renting apartments?”
    “No.”
    “Okay then.”
    “Well, here’s another example. I just started working my first job, and no one has said anything to me. I didn’t get a congratulations
     or nothing.”
    “Esha, since when did you become so needy?” Mama Lorraine asked. “I never felt the need to praise you for every little thang.
     I thought you were the strong one. Cherry was the one who always needed to be praised and validated. She was the one with
     the bruised ego. Girl, working a job is like cleaning your room. That’s something you supposed to do. Don’t get me wrong,
     I’m glad you working. It’s about time you see you worth more than a welfare check in the mail every month.”
    “And I’m glad to have you working with me,” Charity added.
    “Are you sure about that? I mean, I don’t wanna embarrass you ’cause I don’t talk like you, and I don’t dress like you,” she
     said sarcastically.
    “Iesha Nicole, that’s enough,” Mama Lorraine intervened. “We getting ready to squash this. Don’t nobody owe you nothing, and
     ain’t nobody mistreating you. You need to get up off your high horse and realize that.”
    “I just want everybody to know that me and Cherry are two different people and that’s okay. You wouldn’t want two Ieshas,
     so you shouldn’t want two Cherrys.”
    “Like I said,” Mama Lorraine said, faking a smile so hard