II SEVENTEENChristine Reed Alhamadan looked down at the test message she just received. She shook her head and tossed the cell phone aside. There was no way she was going to be in the same room with her brother, her father, and their Black girlfriends. It was bad enough she had to stomach that three times separately; she wasn’t about to go for a fourth helping. “Something troubling you, Chris?” Hassan asked. “No,” she replied, “nothing really.”“Which means, something is bothering you,” Hassan walked over to his wife and sat beside her. “Wanna fill me in?”“We were invited to dinner by Mother. She wants all of us there. My dad was with her; that’s why she sent the text,” she clarified. “Ah, I wondered how she was able to text you,” Hassan nodded. “I’m not going,” Christine was adamant. “I’m not going to go over there.”“Chrissy, don’t you think you’re being immature about all of this?”Christine shot an annoyed look at her husband. “No.”“Chrissy…”Christine got up from the living room sofa and walked over to the window.
