After a long school day, Shinelle comes home with a bunch of homework. She sits on the recliner and muses for a while about her day. During recess, her best friend, Janine, told her about her encounter with an older man the night before and how she let him "feel up she legs" and how he told her she looked real "bess". Shinelle never had anyone refer to her that way before and couldn't help but feel a slight sting of jealousy. But at the same time, feel repulsed. She fights against telling her older brother.
She goes to her bookbag and gets her pens and books. She begins her homework and then...
The stereo begins to blast Blaxx's "Tanty Woi". She turns to her left and notices her mother flexing, Ricky dancing like Carlton from Fresh Prince and Bobby flailing his arms around wildly. Shinelle sucks her teeth and continues doing her homework. She can barely concentrate on her fractions and comprehension. She sighs. She remembers the teacher scolding her for incomplete homework and frowns. She goes to her room but notices her grandmother passed out drunk on the carpet and snoring loudly.
She goes outside, sits on a chair and puts her palm to her temple as the music blares in the background.
For a moment she wishes she was more like Linda, another girl in her class whose daddy wears a suit, has a clean-cut face and drops her to school in an Audi A4. Shinelle wonders how her family would be if her father had stuck around. But then she recalls incidents about children complaining about their fathers beating their mothers. And she remembers one particular horror story in the news about a father burning a mother to death.
She feels a sick grumble in her stomach. She waits for the music to finish. As it does, the door opens and her mother steps out. Her mother berates her for not finishing her homework and commands her to do so at once. Shinelle rolls her eyes and goes back inside. She completes her homework and speaks to no one else for the rest of the night.
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