Bad Apple - the Baddest Chick(19)

Apple nodded.

Ms. Terri moved to the side and invited Apple into her home, and Apple rushed past the woman and ran into her bathroom, where she quickly relieved herself. She spent a few minutes in the cherry-scented bathroom, which was clean and stocked with toiletries, unlike their own, which was always out of toilet paper, soap, and other items to keep a young woman fresh.

Sometimes Apple wondered how she kept her hygiene up to par, with her mother too lazy to shop, clean, cook, and do other things. Apple felt like she was living with Peg Bundy from Married with Children. She hated her home but loved Ms. Terri’s place, and if it wasn’t for her perverted son trying to f-uck her every chance he got, then Apple would’ve spent more time there.

“Better?” Ms. Terri asked as Apple exited the bathroom.

“You’re the best, Ms. Terri. Thank you.”

“Anytime, chile. You can always come if you need somethin’,” she said in a motherly way.

Apple was happy that Ms. Terri’s son, Jerome, wasn’t around. He was the worst. She remembered one time she was at the apartment talking to Ms. Terri, and behind his mother’s back, Jerome flashed himself and grabbed his dick. It was only one of many incidents that she went through with him. Other times he would grab her ass, and Apple would quickly check him on it. Out of respect for Ms. Terri, she never really hurt the boy, though she had slapped and punched him a few times when he’d disrespected her.

“You hungry, Apple?” Ms. Terri asked.

“No, I’m OK, Ms. Terri. Nichols is cooking breakfast.”

“How’s your mother and the family?”

“They good,” Apple lied.

Ms. Terri smiled. She missed having the girls over, but times had changed, and Apple and her sisters were growing older. They didn’t have time anymore to sit around to sip tea, talk, and pretend to be what the girls seemed to long for—family. Apple wanted to see more of Ms. Terri too, but with Jerome constantly trying to get between her legs, she just stayed away altogether.

Apple hugged Ms. Terri and promised to visit her more often, but it was a promise she didn’t intend to keep. She walked out of the apartment and went back into hers. Nichols had finished fixing breakfast, and Kola was still in the bathroom.

Apple stormed to the bathroom and started kicking and banging on the door wildly. “Kola, you a selfish f*ckin’ bitch! You got other people living here too!” she yelled.

Kola screamed back, “Just f*ckin’ wait! Damn!” Not caring about Apple’s tantrum, she remained in the bathroom, taking her sweet time with her hair.

“Fuck you, bitch! Fo’ real, f-uck you!” Apple screamed out.

“Fuck you too, Apple. Broke bitch!”

“What?”

The commotion had awakened their mother, who came walking out of her bedroom. Tying her robe, she said, “Would both y’all bitches just shut the f-uck up! Damn it, I’m tryin’ to sleep.”

“Tell Kola to get her triflin’ ass out the bathroom then.”

Denise looked at Apple as if she didn’t care. She didn’t have to use it, so it didn’t bother her none that Kola was taking her time in the bathroom. She looked at Apple and said, “Just go next door.”

“I already did,” Apple snapped back.

“So what you bitchin’ for?”

“’Cause she gets on my f*ckin’ nerves!”

“Apple, kill that f*ckin’ noise, or else I’ma start makin’ some noise of my own. You understand?”

Apple sucked her teeth, rolled her eyes, and sharply replied, “Whateva!” Then she stormed back into the kitchen, where Nichols had breakfast ready and on the table.

“At least you get to eat first,” Nichols said to Apple with a smile.

Apple sat at the table and returned the smile. Nichols was her favorite. She cared for her baby sister more than anyone else in the house.

While pouring Apple what was left of the orange juice, Nichols said, “You snooze, you lose, right?”

Apple downed the juice and ate her breakfast. She and Nichols had their sisterly moment together, and Apple liked that. When breakfast was done, Apple made sure that whatever was leftover got thrown in the trash. She didn’t want Kola to have anything Nichols had made. It was her way of revenge.

As Apple was exiting the kitchen, Kola entered the room wearing her usual tight shorts and shirt. Paying Apple no mind, she asked, “What y’all eating?”

“You mean, what were we eating?” Apple smirked then kept it moving.

Kola looked around the kitchen. The table was clear, and the dishes were piled up in the sink. Then she noticed her breakfast in the trash. Her face lit up with anger.

“Apple, why the f-uck you throw my food out like that? You a straight-up bitch! Sometimes, I swear . . . ”

“You ain’t the one that cooked it,” Apple replied with a look of satisfaction.

Nichols just stood on the sidelines and watched her twin sisters argue like they were strangers on the street. After about ten minutes of listening to one call the other a bitch one too many times, she left the apartment. Nichols always left out to find a friend when her sisters or her mother became too much for her to handle.

She escaped downstairs to the lower floor and went to chill with her friend from school, Benny, who lived with his grandmother and didn’t mind having Nichols around for company. The fifteen-year-old let Nichols into his home with a welcoming smile.