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ol’,” Secret said.
    â€œOh, really? Let’s see.” Yolanda folded her arms, crossed her legs, and allowed her foot to swing back and forth as if she was calling Secret out, just waiting to bust her in a lie.
    Secret pulled out the schoolwork she’d done for the day and handed it to her mother, glad she was able to control her shaking hands.
    Yolanda didn’t even bother to look it over. She just handed it right back to Secret, glaring at her. “You hungry?”
    â€œYeah. A little.”
    â€œGuess I’ll go in the kitchen and whip something up then.” Yolanda stood and then headed toward the door.
    Secret let out a deep breath. She was in the clear.
    â€œWhat did you guys have for lunch at school today?” Yolanda turned around and asked. “I don’t want to make the same thing you’ve already eaten.” Once again, Yolanda folded her arms. She played the piano on her left arm with her right hand.
    â€œHuh? What?” Secret was stomped.
    â€œI said, what did you all have for lunch at school today?” Now Yolanda’s hands were down at her side, balled into fists. Secret stared down at them as if they were talking to her. They were daring her to lie, but begging her not to.
    â€œI don’t know.” Secret didn’t lie. “I didn’t eat lunch at school today.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œShawndiece and I ate elsewhere.” Once again, she didn’t lie. She was on a truth roll for sure.
    â€œWhere?”
    â€œOne of our friend’s house.” Secret was getting both agitated and nervous. She didn’t want to have to lie or, even worse, get caught in one. “Trust me, Ma, you can cook anything and I’ll eat it. It’s no big deal.”
    â€œNo big deal, huh?” Yolanda had said in a knowing tone. “Well, since it’s no big deal, then I guess I’ll leave it alone. But just one more thing.”
    â€œYes, Mom,” Secret said, way too eager to get rid of her nagging mother.
    â€œThe bus got you to and from school today okay, didn’t it?”
    Secret’s heart was racing. Her mother was being far too inquisitive. She knows, Secret thought. She knows I didn’t go to school today. Secret thought it might be in her best interest to come clean. Then again there was a chance that a simple yes could get rid of her mother and that would be the end of it. With not much time to waste, and before Secret could catch it from slipping through her lips, there was an audible, “Yes.”
    â€œAnd you’s a lying motherfucker,” were the audible words that shot out of Yolanda’s mouth. “Your school called my job looking for yo’ black ass. Embarrassed the fuck out of me. I’m sitting there not knowing where my child is. I’m lying telling them you home sick ’cause I don’t want them to think I can’t keep up with my fast-ass daughter. Where the fuck were you anyway?”
    â€œNowhere, at school, Ma.” Secret wished she could have kicked herself. All she had to do was go ahead and fess up, yet she continued to play along with the lie. That only pissed Yolanda off more.
    â€œSo you gon’ sit there and lie in my muthafuckin’ face like I’m some bitch on the streets?” Yolanda had walked over to the bed where Secret sat and was all up in her face. “Huh, are you?”
    â€œBut I was at scho—” Before Secret could even get the lie out, blood was dripping from her lip from the blow Yolanda had struck her with.
    â€œThere’s two things I can’t stand in this world: a thief and a liar,” Yolanda told her daughter. “You lie to me, I bust you in your muthafuckin’ mouth. Now this is the first time you’ve ever lied to me that I know of. It happens again, you gon’ find yourself on the goddamn floor. When you come to, you gon’ feel like someone slipped your ass a Mickey ’cause