Kinfolks

by Kristin Hunter Lattany

Now swinging on the wrong side of forty, solid-bedrock, tight-forever friends Patrice Barber and Cherry Hopkins came of age in the sixties, veterans of Snick, CORE, and God alone knows how many Black Power rallies. By turns ferocious and fearless, passionate and proud, they rejected anything that was sanctioned by society. Sororities? No, thank you. Hair straightening? Get outta here. Marriage? Are you outta your mind? They became single mothers by choice. So who would have dreamed that these two ex-revolutionaries would find themselves trying to compose a la-de-dah wedding invitation for their soon-to-be-married children? True, Cherry's beautiful, somewhat spoiled daughter Aisha - excuse me, that's Eliza now - is about to jump the broom with Patrice's son, Saint, a ruggedly handsome computer whiz who likens himself to a Lone Star, like Texas. But Patrice feels a flutter in her gut, sensing something is deeply wrong. Cherry's favorite phrase is "no problem," but she's got big ones. For