7-4-97, 10:28 AM

Kourtnee and I didn't leave the house until 10:49 AM. I goofed around in the tub so long that Kourtnee had to knock on the door and tell me to get out of the bathroom. I was easy to relax in Kourtnee's whirlpool tub. It was quite a cathartic moment. I had done a mini-concert in the tub. I had sung and directed six songs in the tub. I began with praise and worship and went on from there. Kourtnee beat on the door again and yelled, "Girl, this ain't no concert. Get your narrow yella behind out of my tub!" I jumped out of the tub and got fully dressed as quick as I could.

When I walked out of the bathroom, Kourtnee pulled my ponytail, "Did you clean the tub out?" I said, "Nope. It's still dirty," as I flopped on the bed. She stuck her head in the bathroom. She turned, looked at me, and responded, "You and that ponytail are getting on my nerves." I took my ponytail down and shook my hair. It fell just below my shoulder blade. Kourtnee walked over to me and ran her hand through my hair. I turned around and looked at her, "I thought you were going into the bathroom to get dressed." She pulled my hair and walked to the bathroom.

While Kourtnee was in the bathroom, I went upstairs to talk to Marta. I thought that I should go straighten things out. I walked into the room she was in. She looked at me funny and asked, "What do you want?" I told her that I was there to apologize. She smirked and said, "Whatever." I apologized for hitting her. I also said that I shouldn't have ran the first game of pool. I apologized for showing off. She seemed unaffected by it all. I felt better despite Marta's disinterest. I had freed myself. My conscious was clear. I was happy. I went back downstairs. I ran into Donna who was walking out of the bathroom downstairs. She looked at me, shook her head, and said something incoherent.

When I got back downstairs to Kourtnee's room, she was putting on her make-up. I walked into the room and flopped down on her bed. She turned and looked at me, "Quit flopping on my bed. Where have you been? Why isn't your hair combed?" I walked over to the dresser where she was. I picked up a brush and starting brushing my hair, "Yes Mame. I was upstairs talking to Marta. You said that my ponytail was getting on your nerves." She took the brush from my hand and brushed my hair. She told me that I needed to go to the hair salon. It had only been three weeks since my last hair appointment. When I told Kourtnee that, it sent her on a five-minute tirade. At the end of the tirade, she said that I would have to go to the salon every week. She said that I could go to Mrs. Adams shop, Mary's Place, with her when she went. I didn't want to go with Kourtnee. I wanted to go to Anjanette. So what, if Anjanette worked out of her apartment and her license had expired, she was still the best hair stylist that I knew. I was about to continue, but Kourtnee stopped me and told me that we could talk about it later. Oh well, I figured that I would be getting used to a new hair stylist. I had left my friends, family, and church home, losing my hair stylist was foreseeable.

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7-4-97, 12:12 PM

Kourtnee and I arrived at Mr. and Mrs. Adams house at 12:12 PM. Donna and her family were right behind us in their mini-van. I didn't feel like celebrating any kind of independence. I did not feel liberated at all. After we stopped the cars, Byrde ran up to Kourtnee's window and waited for her to get out of the car. She got out of the car and Byrde grabbed her hand and pulled her off towards the house. I sat in the car. I didn't want to go into the house.

Byrde made me sick. The little pipsqueak took my mother and ran off with her. I wish all of them would go back home. I had to get use to too many new people. I didn't need these loud people in my life or house right now. Kourtnee hadn't even told me that they were coming for a visit. She should have told me. She knew they were coming.

My ranting was interrupted when Ms. Shields knocked on the car window. I opened the door. She asked why I was still in the car. I told her that I didn't know. She told me to get out of the car. I looked at her. I wanted to be rebellious and stubborn, but she gave me a look that let me know that now wasn't the time or the place to act silly. I didn't press my luck. She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and told me that everything was gonna be okay.

We walked into the house. Mr. and Mrs. Adams house was bigger than Kourtnee's house. It was full of people. There were too many people to even try to count them. From what Ms. Shields told me as we walked through the house, most of the people were family members. We finally got outside. Kourtnee was sitting at a table talking to a lady. I looked at Kourtnee. She smiled at me. I didn't respond. I kept walking as if she hadn't smiled at me. Ms. Shields walked me around and introduced me to people. As she introduced me, she related some of my accomplishments and achievements. I wondered how she knew all of the stuff that she was saying. Ms. Shields seemed genuinely proud of me, too. I asked her how she knew about my trophies and awards. She said that Kourtnee had told her and showed her my trophies. I looked down at the ground. I felt like an idiot for the way I had treated Kourtnee earlier.

The day went on. We ate. We talked. We played games. We had fun. I made new friends among some of my cousins, and there were a lot of them.

We played a game of spades. I had a hard time getting into the game because no one wanted to let me be their partner. I was about to walk away when Marta asked, "Tell the truth, can you play spades as good as you play pool?" I told her that I could. She laughed and told the group that she and I had the next game. No one objected.

I sat down at the table with Marta as my partner. I thought to myself, "Oh, Lord." Marta and I didn't get up from the table for a while. We won every game. Ms. Shields and Kourtnee came over to the table and told us to get up. Someone had went and told them that Marta and I were cheating. Marta and I had won 11 straight games. We had been at the table for over 40 minutes. Later on, I found out that Marta had bet on the games with the other players. She didn't give me any of the money.

Towards the end of the day, we had a family talent show. People sung, dance, did comedy, and acted out a scene or two. It was nice. Kourtnee kept trying to get me to sing with her. I didn't want to sing. Ms. Shields tried to get me to sing, too. Her tactics didn't work either. I wouldn't sing. Kourtnee ended up singing by herself. I sung with her at my seat. Ms. Shields laughed at me.

7-4-97, 10:30 PM

We all began to leave the house after 10:30 PM. It caused a traffic jam in Mr. and Mrs. Adams' driveway. It took nine minutes to get out of the driveway. While we were grid locked, Kourtnee said, "Mama said you need to come by the shop next week." I didn't say anything. She kept talking. "It's just that everyone in the family goes to Mama's salons. That's how it has been every since I can remember," she said in the conversation. I still didn't say anything. She kept talking. I didn't say anything else as we drove home.

It appeared that I had no say in the matter, so I saw no need in wasting my breath. I think I frustrated Kourtnee, but she never said anything on the way home. This weekend was not turning out well at all. I still had two more days to go.