On the Come Up

On Sunday morning, Bri spends a long time in the bathroom thinking about how Pooh never came back to the recording session. Scrap walked Bri home after Doc polished the song and put it on a jump drive. Pooh sometimes disappears like this and then comes back like nothing happened, and though Bri knows it's for the best since Pooh does horrible things with the Garden Disciples, she's still upset that Pooh left. Bri wishes Pooh had been there to critique the lines and wishes she were here now to tell her what to do with the file. She thinks of a video she found online of Long and Tate pinning her down, and thinks that she already feels too exposed to post the song.

Trey pokes his head in to hurry Bri and they head outside to the car to go to church. Jay sternly tells them to ignore the people who will want to talk about how she lost her job and looks right at Bri as she does. They park and go inside. Jay greets Pastor Eldridge as though nothing is wrong, but neither Bri nor Trey allow him to hug them. They take their usual pew in the back and when Bri sees Deacon Turner, she flips him off. He isn't wearing his glasses and so waves in return. Sonny's family hasn't been to church since Deacon Turner said that hugging boys makes them gay.

Jay watches Grandma and her friends as Granddaddy comes to greet his family. Granddaddy gets a kiss from Bri and then insults Trey's haircut. He asks Jay how they're doing, and she and Trey insist they're handling it. Granddaddy insults Trey's job, and Bri tells the reader that Granddaddy is the sort to think the current generation doesn't want to work. He doesn't understand that Trey can't find anything but his current job. He gives Jay a few $20 bills, insisting that Lawless would want Jay to take it.

Grandma appears and tells Jay to not waste the money, and Bri notes that Grandma is stuck-up. Grandma invites Bri to sit with her, and since Bri alternates weeks sitting with Jay and her grandparents to keep the peace, she agrees. In the second pew, Grandma insists that Bri looks tired and skinny, insulting Jay as she does so. She picks at Bri's braids, which she says are a mess, and tells Bri she can come home. Bri tells the reader that Grandma still acts like Bri is just visiting with Jay. Because Bri knows how hard Jay worked to get custody, Bri says she wants to stay with Jay.

Sister Daniels, Grandma's church enemy and Curtis's grandmother, walks over. The women hug and compliment each other, though they both know their compliments are insults. Sister Daniels asks Bri how she is and says she heard what happened at school. Bri glares at Curtis as Sister Daniels gives Grandma the basic strokes of the incident with Long and Tate and suggests that Bri was trying to help Jay by selling candy. Conspiratorially, Sister Daniels suggests that Pastor Eldridge let Jay go because she's back on drugs. Grandma doesn't seem surprised, but Bri insists that Jay isn't on drugs. Bri thinks about it for a moment and realizes it's possible, but thinks that Jay probably wouldn't do that.

When church is over four hours later, everyone files down to the basement to eat. Grandma is serving, so Bri is last in line. She hears Curtis's voice in her ear calling her "Princess" and asking if she got in trouble, and she rams her elbow back into his stomach. They insult each other and Curtis says he was being a good grandson by keeping Sister Daniels in the loop. When Bri asks him if he thinks what happened is funny, he stops smirking, says it's not funny, and says he's tired of Long and Tate assuming things about them. He says that they'll get revenge one day, but Bri points out that if something bad happens, things are going to get way worse for the black kids at school.

Curtis tells Bri that there's a rumor at school that Bri is selling drugs on campus. He tells her to remember that she didn't do anything wrong, which makes Bri laugh. She says it's funny that Curtis acts like he cares, but Curtis bites his lip and says he does care about her. Bri is shocked. Their eyes meet as he grabs a plate and Sister Daniels starts to serve salad.