"Money, Money, Money!"

Zelda sits on the bed next to me and there is the faint scent of leather and coffee that comes with her. Everything about her reminds me of expensive leather and rich coffee, from her dark skin that comes from years of indulgent sunbathing to her lined and buttery soft hands which now hold mine. She is a darker, sane and funnier version of my mother. She is also one of the most negative people I’ve ever known—something that would drive me crazy in anyone else but thrills me to no end when put beside my mother. “Remember my dear, love is no different from a light switch. Don’t turn it on unless Wealth walks in the room.” She scampers out of the bedroom with her little pointy heels and returns with a yellow leather purse. “A little something from Wealth,” she hands me a white envelope. Inside are twenty crisp twenty dollar bills!


“Oh Zelda, thank you!”


“Now don’t tell your mother. She wouldn’t want you going on that trip to Deidra,” she smiles mischievously.


“So you know about the car?”


“Yes, and how crazy to make you pay for fixing it. I can just imagine the nasty purse she wanted you to schlep around.” She rubs my back with those manicured hands that leave me comatose. I am in heaven.


“To be fair, mom only made me pay one-fifty.” My eyes are heavy like a dog’s sleeping in the sun.


“Oh please, a girl needs a little spending money.” She kisses the top of my head and leaps up. “Come on. Let’s put all this crap away. Your mother will be here any minute.”


“Why are you here?”


“Your mother’s birthday—although she doesn’t know it yet. I gave her some lame excuse that I had a beauty parlor appointment in her area. G-d is she gullible, like I’d go anywhere but Frederic Fekkai for a styling! This time my little Pollyanna is going to celebrate her birthday with me whether she likes it or not.” She scampers into the kitchen and opens the fridge. A huge silver tray covered in foil stands out like water in the desert. I am starving.


“You made dinner?”


“Yeah and I clip coupons on Sunday. Of course not Amelia, don’t be crazy! Everything you’re gonna eat tonight is catered and fattening as hell. Turn on that thing will ya?” Zelda points to the oven.