Money-Makin' Mamas by Smooth Silk

puppy. If those boys are still fucking with you, just tell me. I warned them before, and if I have to blow another hole in their asses for fucking with you I will.”
    â€œThey ain’t messing with me no more. I told you it was nothing.”
    I walked farther into the room then sat on the bed next to Chyna. That’s when I noticed a small bruise underneath her eye. My heart sank to my stomach. I reached for her chin, and quickly turned her face toward me.
    â€œWhat happened to your face?” My tone had gone up a notch. Chyna knew better than to lie to me.
    â€œI tripped and fell — ”
    â€œTripped and fell my ass, Chyna!” I let go of her face then jumped to my feet. I then reached for her hand, attempting to pull her off the bed. “Let’s go. Take me to whoever did that to you. I don’t care how young his ass is. If he’s brave enough to hit you then I’ma be bold enough to put my foot in his ass.”
    I yanked Chyna’s arm but she resisted. “Let me go, Mama. I don’t want to go anywhere. Just leave me alone and stop trying to embarrass me!”
    My mouth dropped open. “Embarrass you? I don’t give a damn if you’re embarrassed by me. If you don’t know how to stand up for your fucking self, then I’m going to stand up for you. All of this needs to stop, Chyna. I’ve been to the school, talked to those boys’ parents, and I’m sick of being nice. You can’t expect me to sit back and do nothing.”
    Chyna still didn’t budge, so I left her ass sitting there near tears. I knew where to go to get the answers I needed, and one of Chyna’s friends down the street was the one who told me about those boys messing with my girls last time. Surely she knew something, so I was on my way to see her. But as I made my way to the door, Chyna called out to me. Displaying rage, I swung around, mad at her for not speaking up, but very sympathetic to my child who I knew was hurting from the tears she started to shed.
    â€œI . . . It’s not those boys who keep messing with me,” Chyna said with her head hanging low again. She kept fidgeting and didn’t dare to look me in the eyes.
    â€œWho in the hell is it then? Tell me who put their goddamn hands on you.”
    There was a sharp, long silence before Chyna softly whispered, “Ray.”
    I frowned, thinking that I misunderstood her. “Ray who?”
    â€œMy daddy. He chased after me because I refused to get in the car with him. I didn’t want to go with him. Not this time. I just couldn’t do it.”
    â€œGo with him where? And what made him hit you?”
    Chyna shrugged. “I guess the same thing that always made him hit you.”
    Her words stung. I walked back over to the bed and sat next to Chyna again. She wasn’t telling me the whole story, and deep down, I feared there was so much more to this. I pushed and pushed for Chyna to tell me more. That’s when more tears started to fall, and she said something to me that damn near took every single breath out of me.
    â€œHe touched me, Mama. Been touching and feeling on me, ever since I was seven years old. I’m tired of him doing nasty things to me, and a father ain’t supposed to do that kind of stuff to his own daughter, is he?”
    I sat as if cement had been poured over me. My lips felt locked together. Goosebumps were all over my arms, and there was a pain in my stomach that felt as if Mike Tyson had punched me in it. I slowly turned my head to look directly into Chyna’s eyes. I already knew she wasn’t lying to me, and the thought never crossed my mind. For years, I had suspected that Ray had done something to her. But every time I asked, she denied it. She brushed it off, and just a few months ago she told me I was out of my mind for thinking such a thing. I didn’t bother to ask what made her speak up now. It didn’t matter. What mattered was