In The Company of My Sistahs by Angie Daniels Page B

Renee thought the little college town was country. There were possums running around out back and crickets chirping on the front porch. She remembered being afraid to come out of the house because a cricket was blocking the door.
    In their small two-bedroom house, they had no central air. So she and Renee would spend many afternoons passing the time at the public library that was three blocks away.
    One particular afternoon, they were sitting in the periodical section, flipping through Teen magazine, reading an article on Janet Jackson, when Nadine and Kayla stepped into the room. Nadine was short and petite with a long, thick ponytail, while Kayla was tall and round.
    They walked over to the shelves and browsed, then Nadine cleared her throat.
    â€œAre y’all looking at Teen magazine?”
    â€œYeah, why?” Renee answered with attitude.
    Lisa had to kick her under the table. Even then she had a smart mouth.
    â€œYou mind if we look with you? I’ve been waiting all month to read that interview with Janet Jackson.”
    She signaled for them to take a seat, ignoring her sister’s frowns. Renee had always been a hateful thing. It took getting to know her to discover that beneath that hard shell was a vulnerable person desperate to be loved. A friendship began that day that withstood over twenty years of ups and downs, husbands, baby’s daddies, and even time and distance.
    Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Lisa turned away from the view and moved back through the sliding glass door. She left the sliding door open and the sheer white curtains billowed in the wind like a sail.
    â€œWhat you think?”
    Lisa glanced over at Nadine, who had just changed into a swimsuit. Short and round, the black one-piece with matching cover-up was flattering to her figure. “You look nice. Where’d you find that suit?”
    â€œI went to Penney’s last weekend. They were having a sale.”
    â€œGood choice. I should have checked it out myself.”
    â€œYour suit looks nice.”
    Lisa glanced down at her two-piece bikini with a purple wrap tied around her waist. Never having children, her stomach was flat, her large breasts still firm and upright.
    Nadine stepped out onto the balcony and gazed down below. “You know your sister is already working the beach.”
    Lisa gave a soft chuckle. “Yeah, I know. I don’t know what to do with her crazy ass. She is out of control.”
    Sometimes she blamed herself that maybe if she had stood by Renee all those years and defended her maybe things would be different. But there was no way of knowing. Besides, she had been only a kid herself. What’s to say if she had stood up to their stepfather, he might have rejected her also?
    One thing she could say about her sister, Renee had never stopped trying to please their stepfather. No matter how much he criticized her, she never gave up. She just returned to the drawing board and started over. However, what it took Lisa years to understand was that nothing would ever have been good enough because that was the type of person he was.
    Paul Perry had been a strict and heartless man. No kisses, never hugs. He rarely gave praise. For some reason he had accepted Lisa as his daughter. But Renee he never had. Lisa had wondered why for years and one day she asked Paul. He had told her simply, “Because Renee looked too much like her damn daddy.”
    Then, finally, five years ago, after years of being an evil bastard, Paul had given his life over to the Lord. Now he regretted the choices he had made and was trying to do everything in his power to win his youngest daughter’s heart. However, Renee wasn’t buying it. She didn’t trust him any more than she trusted any of the other men in her life to love her. After years of rejection, Renee had learned to take what she needed from a man, then jump ship long before he had a chance to figure out where the hell she had