While the reason for her absence, that Cara had apparently given Holly, about being in Florida to visit her grandmother was better than stating the reality of where she had really been, it wasn't that much better in Kiara's eyes. She was a girl who had lived in low-income housing her entire life, with a single mother, a frequently-changing baby daddy, and a bunch of siblings. They were lucky if their food stamp money lasted them halfway through the month, and it was a huge occasion if any of them ever got something, be it clothes or a toy, that was actually new, and not some hand-me-down from a neighbor or sibling. Needless to say, vacations weren't a possibility in their household, and aside from moving from Philadelphia to New York when she was five, Kiara had never traveled outside of the state. So, the idea of Cara being able to pick herself up and, presumably, fly to Florida, on the spur of the moment, no matter what emergency situation her grandmother posed, just spoke of the "severity" or lack thereof, of her financial situation. Though it was something that could have rubbed her the wrong way, Kiara had no reason to take it personally, especially when she planned on Cara's wealth benefiting her. The dinner plans apparently weren't going to go her way, as Holly climbed over her to leave the table with her plate of food nearly untouched, signaling that she wasn't hungry, but Kiara wouldn't give up there. Holly was malleable. All she needed to do was whisper something in the girl's ear about the dessert that some restaurant down the block served, and she was sure she could add a little something onto the bill that Cara was covering. Especially with the vodka in her system, she was sure she could get away with it. So sure, that she didn't even tell Isaac he better put that plate of mac and cheese down if he wanted to keep his hands, when he grabbed it. She would let him get away with stealing what could have been her meal for now, but only because Cara left the table after officially extending the invitation to her and Isaac. Isaac declined it and disappeared with the food,
"Lord, if that child grew up in my house, I don't know what the fuck my mother would've done with herself," Kiara said, smiling, but shaking her head as she glanced towards the back of the bar where Holly, Cara and Isaac had been before leaving her range of sight. She either would have had one of her boyfriends beat it to death, or tossed it to Kiara to take care of it she was old enough. There was no way that Kiara would have been able to do what Tee does for Holly, though. That maternal instinct wasn't in her blood. "But, damn, if I were you, I would have her ass lined up to go to school an hour before the doors even opened. You'd get like, six hours to yourself for free. Now that's she's back, though," she continued, referencing Cara, "it's almost better, because it's like a free babysitter and you can make a buck off of it. I don't know why the fuck you're tryna unload your money to Malibu Barbie. Girl, you've got the perfect chance to cling to that bitch and make her drag you up the social ladder with her!" Her tone suggested that she was joking, or being playful at the least, but she wasn't really. Kiara's job forced her to toss a lot of pride out of the window, so it was likely that difference in their personalities that made it hard for her to see why Lateefah wanted to be independent like this. Plus, Lateefah actually had potential and qualifications and real skills that could allow her to be something on her own, in the real world. They were things that Kiara lacked, so in her mind, if she didn't find someone wealthy to leach off of, she was going to be living this life until she killed herself or was killed, lately with the former seeming more likely, scarily enough.