"So are you gonna go?" Vida asks as she pulls an apple wine cooler bottle out of her big purse and opens it.
"I'm thinking about it. I mean, I should go right? He wouldn't even be in there if it wasn't for me. I've only been once. I don't know. What do you think?" Page responds as she puts a big pan of macaroni and cheese into the oven at Phillips Barbecue spot on Crenshaw. Page and Vida hear a loud crash outside the window. "What the fuck was that?" Page yells as she goes closer to the window to see.
"Hell if I know. Girl, get down and get away from that window!" Vida yells. "It's 2:00 in the morning on Crenshaw Blvd. That could be anything and you ain't got business getting close to the window. What are you thinking?"
"I just wanted to make sure nobody was coming in here." Page responds as she calms down.
"No. It sounded like it was across the street." Vida gets up from the floor and sits back in the chair. "So? You going?" She takes a swig of her drink.
"I think I am. My dad's been in prison for so long and the only way I get to connect with him is through letters and occasional pictures. Rock hasn't seen him at all since he's been in. He refused to go before and now...well, now he can't. It's fucked up. My dad lost his children and his freedom just trying to protect me."
"Stop it, P. Stop." Vida holds her hand in front of her face. "Harper is dead because he was a perv ass man posing as a reverend. I mean, what the fuck?! He was feeling you up and sticking his stank ass tongue down your throat in the fucking church and no one did anything. If you hadn't told your father he would still be doing it and probably worse with another young girl. Sis, you gotta let it go. It's not your fault. That motherfucker deserved to die if you ask me."
"Yeah but my dad doesn't deserve to be in prison for the rest of his life because of it. I mean, what good really happened because I told? He's dead! He was a perv but he's fucking dead. My dad is in prison. A whole church hates me. My mom and stepfather fucking moved to Atlanta. They blame me too. Maybe Rev. Harper would have still been the way he was and maybe he wouldn't. We don't know." Page gets a wine cooler from Vida and sits at the table with her.
"First of all, don't call that motherfucker Reverend anymore. Seriously. You weren't the first girl he was feeling up and you wouldn't have been the last."
"You don't know that." Page takes a sip of her drink and goes back over to the window and looks outside again.
"I do know that. What was gonna make him stop? He was getting worse and worse with you. It started with him feeling on you then kissing you with his tongue in your mouth then fucking going to the football games and watching you cheer! What the fuck do you think he was thinking about while he was looking at you in a cheerleading skirt? He ain't got no kids. Why was he even there? Where the fuck was his wife? P, I feel sorry for your dad. You know I do. But Spike did what good fathers do. Go see him, sis. Maybe you need to hear it from him and you can let it go and get on with your life. That's what he would want. I know it." Vida is standing next to her with her hand on her shoulder. "Come on, sis. I'mma roll one up. Make you feel a whole lot better."
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