Gardenia. [discontinued]

Chapter Two.

Gardenia finished picking out her hair and she looked in the mirror, this was one of the first times in her life she has ever worn her hair in Afro. She was happy with how it came out, she really loved how her hair did things that people don't expect. Her Dad Joel walks past the bathroom but then he retracted back, he stopped in the doorway and he looked at his daughter. "Gardenia, you need to do somethin' with that hair of yours, you're not gonna walk out this house lookin' crazy." Joel gripped and Gardenia's eyes fell to the floor, she looked at him and her mouth twitched because he didn't even say she looked pretty, he never said anything like that towards her. It was like he would die if he did.

"I-It's the style Daddy." Gardenia says and Joel shakes his head as he looks at her up and down.

Joel doesn't say a word and he walks out of the doorway, Gardenia looked in the mirror and it took her everything to just braid it somehow but she said she was gonna stop doing that to herself. She was gonna stop letting his words get to her because they were never true anyway.

Bear walks into the kitchen and he gasped as he walks into the bathroom. "Oh 'Denia, you look beautiful." Bear says and he hugs her leg, she smiles softly and she rubs his back. "Thank you, Barry, at least you love it." Gardenia says and Bear raises his hands. "Gimme a hug and kiss." Bear says and she leans down, she kisses his cheek and he hugs her. "Don't be sad Gardenia, Daddy always so mad." Bear whispered to her and she wasn't sad necessarily, she was just hurt by how ashamed her father was towards her, what did she ever do to him to make him feel that way towards her?

They leave the restroom and they go to the living room, she sees her Mom preparing her lunch for work. Her mother was a secretary at an office. She was a hardworking woman, she was a pretty one at that and Gardenia got about seventy-percent of her looks from, the rest was from her big-headed ass father. She was brown skin, tall which wasn't an asset that Gardenia didn't receive, she had really long curly hair that she always kept in a long braid.

Tara looks at her daughter and she pauses for a moment, she tilted her head as she looks at her daughter. "Now, Gardenia.. I know you're not finna walk out my house lookin' like that." Tara says and Gardenia's eyes furrowed a little but she fixed his fast because her Mom is gonna mistaken it for giving her an attitude or something. "It's an Afro, you know like the Black Panthers.. Angela Davis... Chaka Khan." Gardenia says and Tara puts her hand on her hip as she stares at her daughter. "Lord chile, are you a Black Panther? Are you Angela Davis or Chaka Khan?" Tara questioned and Gardenia shakes her head slowly.

"Then do your hair. I don't know why you are trying to undermine me or your father ever since we came here but chile.. Undermine us again or embarrass us and that will be your ass, you understand me?" Tara hissed and Gardenia nodded her head fast. Tara tilted her head as she walked closer to Gardenia. "Are you one of your uncle's horses or somethin'? You can't speak?" She questioned and Gardenia wanted to pull her hair out where she stood, she didn't understand why her parents gave her a hard time all the time. "I can and yes ma'am." Gardenia answered and Tara let out a small scoff as she muttered something under her breath as she walked away.