Butterfly by Sylvester Stephens Page A

life.
    The following weekend Ms. Alicia invited some of her friends over to meet me. She called them the “office girls.” I went from having no aunts whatsoever, to having a clan of aunties in a matter of minutes. She was so excited when she introduced me.
    â€œHey girls, I want you to meet the new addition to our family. Her name is Shante.” Ms. Alicia pointed to the “office girls.” “Shante, meet your new stable of aunties.”
    â€œHi, Shante, I’m your Auntie Cynthia. You’ll be seeing a lot of me.”
    â€œGood to meet you, Auntie Cynthia.”
    Auntie Cynthia was short, with a ponytail and she dressed very conservatively.
    â€œMe too, I’m Auntie Pam. You look familiar, girl.”
    â€œYou look familiar, too, Auntie Pam.”
    Auntie Pam had a youthful athletic body. She was dark-skinned with a tight-ass, short hairstyle. She dressed like she was young.
    â€œI’m Auntie Wanda, and I don’t like children! I used to be Dr. Forrester’s patient, but he stopped seeing me because I’m just too damn crazy!”
    That lady scared the shit out of me! She was kind of husky with big-ass eyes. She was adorable, though, in her own crazy way.
    â€œQuit it, girl!” Ms. Alicia laughed.
    â€œI’m Auntie Tina. I have a daughter around your age. Y’all might be able to hang out sometime.”
    Auntie Tina was about five feet four inches, dark, slightly overweight, and she had long hair but it was not styled at all. She was soft-spoken and timid.
    â€œThat’ll be nice.”
    â€œI’m Auntie Susan. Alicia and I used to work together.”
    Auntie Susan was white. She was short, cute and acted like a black woman. Her husband was a black man and that may have something to do with it.
    â€œThat’s the white sheep of the family!” Auntie Wanda joked.
    â€œOkay.” I chuckled. Nobody else laughed, but I thought Auntie Wanda’s joke was hilarious.
    â€œI’m Auntie Tazzy. Good to meet you.”
    â€œGood to meet you, too, Auntie Tazzy.”
    Auntie Tazzy was short, petite and also soft spoken. She had a certain charisma about her that everyone seemed to respect.
    â€œHi, Shante, I’m Darsha. I’m too young to be your aunt, but you can call me auntie anyway.”
    Darsha did not look much older than me. She was young but she sounded like she had herself together.
    â€œY’all about the same age, Darsha!” Auntie Wanda joked.
    â€œDon’t pay no attention to her. She’s just mad because her old ass ran out of Geritol this morning!”
    â€œDamn, that’s cold. I just made a little joke and you coming at me with ageism.”
    â€œForgive these ladies, but they don’t know any better. I’m your Auntie Lisa.”
    Auntie Lisa was prim and proper. She was kind of tall, not nearly as tall as me, but tall. Her hair was long, and her face was unblemished.
    â€œHi, Auntie Lisa.”
    â€œHey, I’m your Auntie Valerie.”
    Auntie Valerie dressed like a dude. Her hair was cut like a dude. And she talked like a dude. She reminded so much of a man I almost called her Uncle Valerie.
    â€œShe’s our version of Ellen DeGeneres!”
    â€œWanda, shut your big-ass mouth!” Auntie Valerie yelled.
    â€œStop cussing like that in front of that girl, Val!” Darsha said.
    â€œI’m sorry, Shante.”
    â€œThat’s okay.”
    We drank tea, and then two very fine masseurs came over and gave all of us relaxing massages. By the way, I found out that day that a masseur was a male who gave massages and a masseuse was a female. Anyway, we also got our hair and nails done, too. I felt like a queen. The only time I was treated like that was when Mr. Harry groomed me for the stage.
    It took me a while to feel comfortable because those women looked important and I did not want to say the wrong thing. I was not used to being around those kinds of professional