Operation Get Rid of Mom's New Boyfriend by E. N. Joy

that has changed. It changed that day in
the deli when I smashed my Tuna sandwich all over your blouse.” Bo
let out another nervous laugh as he held onto the courage to
continue speaking.
    Sammi’s heart melted inside
with Bo’s kind and sincere words.
    “ So, like I said, I feel
it’s time for us to go to the next level.”
    “ The next level?” is all
Sammi could reply as she tried to force a smile on her face to hide
her own nervousness.
    “ Yes,” Bo said, staring
into Sammi’s eyes and then taking both her hands into his. “Sammi
Soul, I think you are a very special woman. You are someone I could
see myself enjoying all of my days with. I only hope you are
getting as serious about me as I am about you. And with that being
said…” Bo exhaled and then finally said it. “I think it’s time I
meet your daughters.”
     

Chapter Eight
    Guess Who’s Coming to
Dinner?
    “ Turn back!” Joy shouted.
She had been in the den sitting on the couch watching television
peacefully; that was until Kennedy entered the room.
    Kennedy had just picked up
the remote and turned the channel as if no one else was even in the
room.
    “ Nobody
wants to watch Sponge
Bob ,” Kennedy said, flopping down on the
love seat while she continued to flick the channels. She stopped at
an old re-run of That’s So
Raven . “Now that’s more like it,” she
grinned.
    Just as Kennedy had smirked
with victory and relaxed back onto the love seat, Daryn entered the
room with a notebook and pencil in hand. She positioned her glasses
on the brim of her nose. She walked over to the television set and
turned to the History
Channel . She then sat down on the chair
and prepared to begin taking notes.
    “ Hey!”
Kennedy said, sitting straight up with the remote still in hand,
scrunching her eyebrows. “I was watching That’s So Raven .”
    Joy quickly snatched the
remote out of Kennedy’s hand. “And I was watching Sponge Bob ,” Joy added,
turning back to the channel she was originally watching.
    “ Then I
guess it’s rightfully my turn to watch what I want to watch,” Daryn
said, walking back over to the television and turning back to
the History
Channel . She adjusted her glasses once
again and then took her place in the chair. “Besides, I’m taking
notes for my eighth grade History project,” she informed them,
slightly tooting her nose in the air.
    Kennedy and Joy each shot
one another puzzled looks.
    “ Eighth grade History
project?” Kennedy questioned.
    “ But you’re only in seventh
grade,” reminded Daryn.
    “ Yeah, but I’m so caught up
on my regular school work, matter of fact, ahead of my seventh
grade work and projects, that I might as well start with my eighth
grade work.” Daryn was known to request a syllabus from her
teachers. A syllabus is a list of all school assignments and
projects that the teacher has lined up for the class. Having the
syllabus allowed Daryn to work ahead of schedule if she chose to.
She always chose to.
    “ Girl,” Kennedy said,
sucking her teeth and rolling her eyes, “you workin’ on a project
that isn’t even due until next year…? You better turn back to my
girl Raven Symone!”
    Kennedy snatched the remote
from an unsuspecting Joy. She then flicked the channel back
to That’s So Raven . “If you wanna be a nerd and spend your life watching
the History Channel , go watch the little television on the kitchen
counter.”
    “ I don’t
want to watch it in the kitchen. That little television doesn‘t
even have all the cable channels,” Daryn told her. “I want to watch
it in this room; on the big screen TV.” Daryn sighed, got up, then
politely walked over to the television and turned back to
the History
Channel .
    Kennedy waited all the way
until Daryn got good and comfortable back in her chair and then
turned back to the station she‘d been watching. Once again, Daryn
got up and went and turned back to her channel. Just like
clockwork, as soon as she returned to her