Page 1 of Emani's Way

Chapter1

EMANI

“Emani Jackson, I swear you need to lighten the fuck up!” Shelby Banks, one of my best friends’ yells.

“Shelby, my goodness, do you have to cuss so much,” I reply, exasperated.

“See! That’s the shit I’m talking about. You and Kay are always trying to tell me how to behave. You’re twenty-eight, not seventy-eight. And whether you realize it or not, you arenotmy Mama.” Shelby points at me with a shake of her head.

I sigh and roll my eyes because Shelby and I both know if I didn’t rein her in, she’d act like a wild banshee in these streets.

“Shell, you know we aren’t telling you how to act, but screaming the f-word in the middle of a crowded restaurant could result in unwanted attention,” Kayla Jones, my other best friend, meekly explains.

Kay is the oldest of the three of us, but we treat her like our younger sibling because she was so sheltered. She’s also incredibly shy. I was so surprised when she started dating the outgoing hot guy at her office.

“Both of y’all need to chill. I’m not yelling; my voice just carries. Besides, it’s a Friday so everybody in here is letting their hair down and getting tipsy.” Shelby raises her glass in the air and blows a kiss to a group of men who are staring in our direction.

Kayla slinks down lower in her chair in order not to be seen, and I just shake my head at how forward Shelby is. I don’t comment this time because Shelby will only act more outrageous if I nag her.

“I’m sorry, Shell. Maybe you’re right. I need to lighten up a little.” I give in without much of a fuss. I do my best to always try to stay positive. I don’t want to make anyone upset about something avoidable.

“Good. Now, let’s drink to Kayla getting her proposal from Mr. Peanut—”

“Shelby, be nice.” I widen my eyes at her, and she rolls hers.

“Her proposal fromWarren.” Shelby raises her glass, and we both tap ours against hers before she finishes her toast. “I don’t care what you say; you know that dude has a peanut head.”

“Anyway… since you have plans with Warren on your birthday, maybe we can celebrate the weekend after,” I excitedly suggest.

“Oh, that sounds like a great idea. Then we can celebrate both my engagement and my birthday. Maybe we can go to that new Asian fusion place.” Kayla sits up with a twinkle in her dark brown eyes, and I can feel that she’s genuinely happy.

“Getting together will be fun, but I’ll pick the place. We will not be at some sad little restaurant when we can be VIPs at the hottest spot in Dallas. Y’all thinking small. You gotta think biiiiiig!” Shelby shimmies her shoulders and rubs her hands together with a cackle.

I can’t help but laugh, and Kayla joins in with a giggle. We know Shelby is a character, and we love her outspoken ways. I wouldn’t have her any other way, at least most days.

Shelby often says and does things that I only wished I could.But I would never have the nerve.Even though I’m twenty-eight years old. I still live by my parent’s rules.Their way is the only way.

As the youngest daughter of Dr. Miles Jackson and first lady Tina Jackson, I have always been under my parent’s thumb. You would think, as the youngest, that I would get to run wild because my parents would be tired from raising my three older sisters, but nope. I feel like they have watched me closer than anyone. And for whatever reason, no matter how much I toe the line and follow their orders to the letter, they still aren’t satisfied.

All I can do is work harder to please them.

“Okay, enough about me. It makes me nervous to keep talking about Warren’s plans. Emani, how are your students doing with their art projects this year? Do you think they will get to show their work at the district competition like last year?” Kayla turns toward me with a bright smile.

“Oh goodness! My babies this year are so talented! It’s only the first semester, and they are already grasping concepts that took me until the last month of school to teach last year. I can’t wait for Collins Middle School to represent and win this year!”

I can’t help but get hyped up when I talk about my middle schoolers. Those kids bring me a different type of joy. They are innocent and sweet, well, sweet for middle school kids with crazy hormones, but once they realize you want what’s best for them, they will give their all. And I love that. I love that I can be open and help my kids be open and able to express themselves.

Teaching is something that I will always cherish.

My career choice was also deemed “worthy” by my parents, so I didn’t have to fight with them about becoming a teacher like my sister, Amari, who decided to go against the grain and become a music producer. My parents were okay with her producing gospel, but once Amari started helping local rap and pop artists, our parents nearly disowned her. It has been almost three years, and Amari is successful, but that fact doesn’t cut through the awkward tension at our monthly family dinners.

I hate to say it, but I’m just glad that they stopped focusing on my work life so much. Although recently, they’ve been pushing for me to date more. Specifically, they want me to date a guy that they’ve picked for me.

I shake my head and come out of my thoughts before I go down that dark road of parental trauma and give myself an anxiety attack.That would be embarrassing and hard as heck to explain to my besties.

“So, Shell, when’s the next big event?” I ask, garnering Shelby’s attention back to our conversation. She’s still eyeballing the group of cuties, and I know she will be on a mission to get some new numbers if I don’t reel her back in.

“We have the Fall Ball coming up, and I get to take more of the lead this year, so…”