After Class (Janet and Aaliyah)

Chapter 56

Aaliyah

I was able to make it back home before my mama and straighten up the house a little bit. I was absolutely exhausted and annoyed that my little weekend getaway with Acacia was over so soon. It had turned out to be so much fun, and now I was back to hiding in my room and spending way too much time alone. I still wasn't on good terms with Jaz or Pac, and since they had each other now, I guess there was no reason for either of them to hurry up and try to get right with me. The more I thought about it, the more I regret ever setting them up. This isn't what I expected to happen.

I was in and out of sleep for about an hour thinking about it when I heard my mother come in the house. "Liyah, come help me with these groceries," she called. I sighed and rolled out of bed.

"Hey, ma." I grabbed the bags out of her arms and set them on the counter.

"Hey. You okay?" She asked, studying my face. "You look tired."

"Yeah. Just didn't sleep that great." I followed her back out into the garage to get the rest.

"You know it wouldn't kill you to sleep in your own bed. I don't know why you always gotta be over there, no offense to Jazmine."

"Yeah, yeah." We started to unpack the groceries and put them away. I could feel her eyes on me as I moved around the kitchen, and it made me feel like she could see right through me. This is exactly why I wished my dad was still here sometimes, so she'd have someone else's neck to breathe down. Honestly, my life was pretty dramatic on most days and I'd been so used to dealing with it on my own that my mother trying to step in and play this role all of a sudden felt very invasive. I knew she just wanted to help, but I never got help before.

"Aaliyah. Look at me."

I sighed and shut a cabinet before turning around. "Yeah?"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, Ma. I'm just tired. I'm cool."

"Don't be lying to me. I know when you're lying."

You'd be in prison for child abuse if you knew how many times I've lied to you in this last week alone, I thought to myself.

"I know."

"Alright. Just making sure," she warned.

"How's my auntie?" I tried to change the subject.

"Crazy as hell, as usual. Your cousins miss you."

"Well, I could have seen them yesterday if you didn't leave me at home."

"You also have a working car. You could have dropped by. I know you were off yesterday, too. So what were y'all up to all day?"

"Not shit," I muttered, getting annoyed all over again. I didn't think I'd said it out loud.

"Excuse me? You out here cussing at me now?" She grabbed my shoulder. I palmed my forehead, begging internally for her to just let me go upstairs. Every time we had a conversation longer than five minutes, it started to go south.

"I'm sorry, Mama. That wasn't directed toward you. Honest."

"Aaliyah, seriously. What is it?"

"Can we just—I gotta go study. Can I?"

"Now you wanna go study. Why won't you talk to me? I'm your Mama, remember?"

"No offense, Ma, but I feel like we don't have a whole lot to talk about. At least I don't." I always tried to choose my words so carefully around her because there were certain things that seemed to set her off for no reason at all.