Love Trumps Game Read Online Free

way.”
    â€œBoy, what in the world has gotten into you?”
    â€œI hate snitches; that’s what.”
    â€œBrandon, you do not hate your sister.”
    â€œI do so, and when I go live with my daddy, I won’t even miss her telling butt.”
    â€œUmph.” Hattie shook her head as she sauntered back over to the cookie jar and removed a few. “I know your mama ain’t foolish enough to let you live with that man.” It was wrong to bad mouth Topps to their faces, but she couldn’t help how she felt. Topps was notorious for his gang affiliations and drug dealing. Maybe even a few murders. People talked and she’d heard enough. It was difficult to feel warmth about a man who had allowed his own mother to starve to death. “If you wanted some cookies, all you had to do was ask. Whatever has gotten into you, you need to control it while you’re at my house. You hear me, Brandon?”
    His only reply was a stubborn pout.
    Raynita talked with a mouth full of cookie. “Mama said he acting mannish ’cause he spent the night at Daddy’s house. She said Daddy musta let him do weeds or somethin’.”
    It felt like Hattie’s heart thumped and skipped two beats. She patted her chest. “Is that true, Brandon? Your father let you try drugs?”
    â€œI ain’t no snitch like Nita.”
    â€œLittle boy, please. Snitching is when you talk to the police. I asked you a question. Did your father let you do drugs?” Hattie waited with a hand on her hip. It was hard to keep her face from frowning. So help me to God, if Neema is allowing that man to abuse this child, I will go crazy on her behind! “You can tell Nanny the truth, Brandon.”
    Every now and then, the boy spent time with his father, but each time he returned, there was a remarkable change in his behavior for days. He acted funny, looked funny, and walked funny. Heck, sometimes Hattie thought Brandon even smelled funny after such visits.
    â€œDang, Nanny, why you all up in my bizness?” Brandon wiped crumbs from his mouth with a paper towel before tossing it to the table. The tone of his young voice suggested irritation.
    Hattie raised a brow. “Boy, at seven, you don’t have no business.” She couldn’t control her kids’ lives, but if she could convince Neema to move to a better environment, meet a nice young man and settle down, maybe Brandon and Raynita might have a chance. True, Topps Jackson was the children’s biological father, but it didn’t give him a right to exploit them. It also didn’t give him the right to contribute to their budding delinquency.
    â€œI’ll just say this. Your father might be crazy, but I know he ain’t that crazy, to be letting you try drugs. I better not hear something like this again, I know that.”
    â€œI said, it’s my bizness, Nanny. Know what I’m saying?”
    Brandon looked upset enough to fight, but it didn’t stop Hattie. If there was something she needed to know, she planned to find out one way or another.
    â€œThat’s it. Maybe you need to take time out to work on your attitude. Get yourself on in that bedroom.”
    For a few seconds, there was a stand-off, two contorted faces glaring. Hattie couldn’t believe how defiantly the child was behaving. She must have been getting soft because when her own kids were coming up, it wouldn’t take much for her to go get a leather belt or a switch from her peach tree out back and get busy. “Did you hear me, Brandon?”
    He still didn’t move.
    Hattie stepped closer. “Boy, I am not playing with you. I said, get yourself into that bedroom. Now!”
    Without another word, Brandon got up and stomped from the room.
    â€œLord, give me strength. I’m getting too old for this mess.”Hattie forced herself to calm down. “Nita, what’s your mama’s cell phone number? I have it around here