Tyrell by Coe Booth Page A

homework. I leave that store with a little over a dollar. Damn, I need to make some money soon.

NINE
    The second we get back to Bennett, the guy at the front desk give us the bad news. “Kids, tell your mothers not to pack nothing. Y’all ain’t going nowhere tomorrow. I just got word. The city’s expecting the snow to get real heavy tonight, and they gonna be overloaded with homeless people looking for shelter, so y’all gonna have to stay here for a few more days. Spread the word, okay?”
    Damn. Why we gotta get stuck at Bennett?
    Jasmine get tears in her eyes. “I don’t believe this,” she say, more to herself than me. “I can’t believe Emiliano is doing this to me.”
    â€œEmiliano? Who that?”
    â€œMy sister’s boyfriend. He threw us out. In the middle of winter.”
    â€œMan.” I think ‘bout asking her why, but I can tell by the look on her face, she don’t wanna talk no more. She look serious and mad as hell.
    â€œC’mon,” Troy say, pulling on the bottom of my jacket. “Stop talking.”
    â€œWait,” I tell him. I can’t stand when he pull on me like that. He let go but look up at me like I’m being mean or something. “Troy, go sit down and count to a hundred. Then we gonna go upstairs.”
    He walk away from us real slow and look out the window. A lot of kids from Bennett is out there playing in the snow, and I know he wanna be out there with them. But me and him is both funky, and I told him he can’t do nothing ‘til we take showers. And ‘til he do some of that homework he gotta do. He sit down on the chairs, and a second later start counting real loud and fast. I shoulda made him count to two hundred.
    I ask Jasmine, “What you gonna do now?” It’s like only a little after 11:00, and I don’t wanna just leave her standing in the lobby.
    â€œNothing. I have to finish reading this stupid play for school, and since there’s nothing else to do—”
    â€œYou go to school?”
    â€œYeah. Why you sound so surprised?”
    â€œI just ain’t think—”
    â€œDon’t you go to school?”
    I don’t really wanna say nothing ‘cause, damn, I don’t want her thinking I’m stupid or something, so I just go, “I’m takin’ a break from all that right now, with all this shit that’s going, know what I mean?”
    â€œYeah, I missed a few days last week too. Me and Reyna were trying to find a place to stay after Emil changed the locks on us.”
    Troy up to fifty-seven now. “Why he throw y’all out?” I ask like it don’t really matter to me.
    â€œBecause he’s a control freak, that’s why.” She got her arms folded in front of her, and she looking really mad now, like she ‘bout to explode but don’t wanna show it. “I’ll see you later,” she tell me, and before I can even open my mouth to say something, she down the hall on her way to the stairs.
    â€œOne hundred!” Troy scream. The guy at the front desk look over at me like he want me to control Troy. Like Troy my kid or something.
    â€œC’mon,” I say, and Troy jump up and run over to me. “Good job.”
    He run right past me. “Hurry up, Ty. Let’s go give Mommy the food.”
    My moms is still ‘sleep when we get to our room. I tell Troy to go wash up and brush his teeth ‘cause we gotta spend some time working on all his homework. While he in the bathroom, I try to wake my moms so she can eat some of the food while it’s still hot. She ain’t happy to get up ‘til I tell her I got Spanish food for her.
    â€œYou got that food for me?” she ask. She laying there looking tore up from her night partying. I don’t know why she think she still young enough to hang.
    â€œEat it ‘fore it get cold,” I tell her.
    She sit up real slow, and I