The Blacker The Berry

Morning's Work

Today was Saturday, and as usual, nothing was in Ebony's plan but to clean. She was awoken by the sound of gospel music blasting and the noise of a vacuum cleaner. Ebony groaned. Instead of getting out of bed, she reached over to her white nightstand and picked up her orange iPod. She grabbed her white headphones on her pink rug next to her bed and listened to music. She hadn't even enjoyed the first minute of the song when her room door flew open.

"I know you weren't sleeping! Get ya ass up and help me clean!" Ebony's grandmother shouted.

"Noooooo!" Ebony complained.

"Little girl, don't make me tell you again." Edna replied sternly. She took the febreze can in her hand and sprayed some into Ebony's bedroom. Ebony stretched and got out of bed. On her way down stairs, she heard and saw Edna yelling at Apryl to get up.

"Grandma, if you don't get out my room." Apryl mumbled. Edna grabbed a neon green pillow on Apryl's bed and smacked her head. They started to get into a scuffle. Ebony shook her head and went downstairs.

Her aunt was in the kitchen, washing dishes and her mother was vacuuming the living room carpet. Parish had a mean and disturbed look on her face. Ebony wondered if her and Edna got into an argument this morning. Even Tameka looked disturbed as well. Parish saw Ebony and dried her hands on the dish towel. She reached underneath the cabinet and grabbed a roll of paper towel and Windex.

"Ebony, come here. I got something for you to do." Parish said. Ebony walked over to her aunt."Take this here and clean the windows in the house. Then, when Apryl gets up, y'all two can clean the back patio." Ebony grabbed the cleaning utensils and started with the back door window. Apryl entered the living room with a scowl on her face.

"You know the drill. Get it cleaning." Parish ordered to her daughter, handing her a broom. Apryl groaned and went out to the back patio.

"Ebony,can you go out there and help Apryl with the patio? Thank you sweetheart." Parish said. Ebony stopped cleaning the windows and exited through the back door. Parish looked over at her big sister, vacuuming the plush white living room carpet. Parish signaled for Tameka to stop.

"What? What's the problem?" Tameka asked, completely thrown off guard. Parish walked over to Tameka and sat on the couch.

"I need to talk to you." Parish said softly. Tameka crossed her arms.

"About what?"

"Don't be mad at me."

"Parish, just tell me. Stop dragging it on." Parish fiddled with her fingers and looked down ashamedly. She knew Tameka would be infuriated if she told her about her little "secret."

"Greg and I are back together again." Parish admitted. Tameka's face remained its stone composure.

"Oh, okay. Good for you." Tameka grabbed the vacuum, ready to finish cleaning.

"So, that's it? You're not going to say anything?" Parish asked. Tameka shrugged.

"You grown. Do what you want." Tameka replied, tracing the tattoo of Ebony's name on her upper right arm.

"Tameka, don't do this to me. You know you are my big sister and gives the best advice. I just want to know if I'm making a big mistake." Parish defended. Tameka shrugged again.

"Like I said, do what you wanna do. You grown. You got allllll the answers to everything, remember?" Parish rolled her eyes.

"Tameka-"

"What, Parish?!  What the fuck do you want me to say? What do you want me to do? Give you a 'Woman of the Year' award? You know that scum bag, crack head motherfucker ain't no good for you! You forgot about all that shit he did to you? Everything he did to our family? Bitch, you lost your fucking marbles! Get the fuck away from me!" Tameka shouted. Parish was a little taken aback, but this was nothing different than the last conversation they had about this topic.

"Please don't call me a bitch. Please don't do it." Parish said.

"Well then stop acting like one! A stupid one, at that." Tameka shot back.

"Tameka, I swear to God....." Parish mumbled.

"What? What? Tameka what? Is there a problem? You mad or something?" Tameka asked, getting upset.

"I don't even know why you're getting so upset. Its not that big of a deal." Tameka was going to respond back but instead, she gave Parish an annoyed look and walked off. Tameka couldn't stand being in the same room with an ignorant person.

Meanwhile, out on the patio, Apryl sweeped while Ebony moved the white patio chairs. Apryl was still upset that she was interrupted out of her deep slumber just to clean.

"I hate when they do this. Having the music blasting and then waking us up just so we can clean. I have plans for today, ya know?" Apryl said. Ebony nodded.

"What did you have planned for today?"

"Eh, I wanted to do a little shopping. You know, retail therapy. Why? Wanna come?" Apryl offered. Ebony loved spending time with her big cousin and doing fun things with her.

"Yeah. Sure." Ebony replied.

"Great. Well, the mall doesn't open until 11, and its only 9. Unless, you wanna go to the flea market." Apryl said. Ebony shrugged.

"Whenever is fine. I don't have any money, so I'm not declining or offering anything." Apryl gave her a 'girl bye' expression.

"Stop. I have more than enough money to buy you something. Don't front like I'mma bring you shopping with me and leave you hanging like that. That ain't even my style." Ebony glanced over at Apryl and smiled.

"Now, we need to find you a cute outfit for today. I know there has to be something in there." Apryl commented. Ebony laughed.

"Well, good luck with that." Ebony said. They continued doing their chore and went back into the house, upstairs to Ebony's bedroom. The two went directly to the closet and opened the door.

Ebony's clothes weren't as stylish as most teenage girls' were. She wore mostly baggy clothes and sweatpants because they were cheap and fit her personal style a little bit more. Apryl looked at the clothes displayed in front of her and gave a hopeless look.

"Well, let's get to working, shall we?" Apryl said. Ebony shrugged. Apryl pushed through the hangers and examined the clothes. Not only were there no versatility within the warerobe, but the prevailing colors were black and white.

"So, I assume you receive a lot of, uh, inspriation from a zebra." Apryl mumbled. Ebony rolled her eyes.

"Don't judge me." Ebony replied. Apryl placed her hands by her sides and faced Ebony.

"You know what? Don't even worry about it. We'll go, hit up the mall and then you'll have something cuter to wear. You're getting older and it's time to let out your inner sexy. Embrace and appreciate the chocolate, girl." Apryl cheered. Apryl loved to help others with fashion and wardrobe. It was her passion since she was a child.

Ebony smiled, taking her cousin's words into consideration. Apryl exited her room, going to get ready for the shopping spree. Ebony sat at the edge of her bed, praying that this day went by super smooth with no troubles.

This chapter was a little dry. Bare with me y'all. Lmao hold on. Be strong for me lol. Y'all liked it, yes or no?