It depresses me when I go into them shelters—there’s two or three of ’em I take turns going to—but it do remind me how truly fortunate and blessed we are to have as much as we do. Every now and then, when I’m just bored and wanna get outta the house, I’ll go through my credit cards and pick out one or two that’s got real low balances and head for the mall, knowing ain’t a damn thing me or the kids need, and I think about them kids at the shelter and go berserk. I pretend like they my kids, or at least my nieces and nephews, who can’t help it that they got stuck with crackheads or alcoholics or dumb asses for parents, or whatever the reasons are that they ain’t got no place to live.

Is that lipstick on Monique’s lips? I hope it’s just Vaseline. When I look a little closer, I realize that’s all it is. But Tiffany is a whole ’nother story: she got black pencil inside the bottom of her eye. Lip liner and a pretty pale-pink color inside. Who taught her how to do this? She looks nice, even though I don’t know if this is the right time for her to be wearing makeup yet, but, what the hell, times have changed from when I was their age. Girls is doing all kinds of things at thirteen we didn’t even think about until we was almost out of high school.

“Let’s go,” Trevor says, heading out the garage door. He’s so impatient. I don’t know how he sews as good and as much as he do. But he can make damn near anything he sees in those magazines he gets: that one with a “W” on it, and some European ones that ain’t even in English. Half the time he don’t even use no pattern. I sure can’t fault him for having talent. If I ever lose these thirty pounds, I want him to make me a slinky dress, but not until I can get into a ten again.

“Hold up, Trevor!” Tiffany yells. “Ma, would it be okay if we went to the mall after?”

“For what? You don’t have no money, do you?”

“Nope. We was just about to ask if we could get our allowance early?”

“For what?”

“ ’Cause we wanted to look for your birthday present.”

I’m shocked they even remembered, considering it’s two whole weeks away.

“I don’t want nothing.”

“I’m getting you something anyway,” Monique says. “But this time, it’ll be something I know you like.”

“Me, too, Ma,” Tiffany says.

“My lips are sealed,” Trevor says.

“I told y’all I don’t want nothing and I meant it.”

“We heard you the first time, Ma. What about Granny? What you think she might like?” Monique asks.

“I don’t know! Call and ask her.”

“It’s weird you guys got the same birthday and y’all ain’t nothing alike, huh, Ma?” Tiffany says.

“Yeah, it’s a trip all right. Would somebody get my purse off the kitchen counter, please?”