Chapter one #2
“Well, it was originally a plantation home when they used the surrounding land as a plantation. At this point, your Auntie Lynn owns about fifteen acres. Now, know that a large part of the house has not been kept up and may be a little run down,” I tell him, parking to the side of the house.
The smile on my face is large as I look around, seeing three green houses, little reading gardens with fountains, and plants everywhere.
Auntie Lynn hasn’t changed at all since I was a little girl.
Things for my sister Shea and me weren’t the best. Our parents were trash and treated us badly.
Auntie Lynn would step in when father would allow it.
Her home became my escape. Movement on the front porch catches my attention, and shock hits me like lightning.
The last time I saw Auntie Lynn, she looked great.
Now though, she is holding onto a walker, and her clothes are hanging on her.
Rusher looks over at me with wide eyes. “Is Auntie Lynn okay? Ma, she doesn’t look good.”
“Your momma told me that Auntie Lynn was having some health issues. That’s one of the reasons we’re here. So I can help watch over her and make sure she doesn’t leave us anytime soon,” I tell him, trying to sound positive and upbeat.
He watches me skeptically before throwing the door open and rushing to her.
Rusher wraps her up in a tight hug, talking quietly to her, making her laugh.
Sliding out of the truck, I walk around it, making my way up the walkway towards the house.
As I make it up the stairs, I notice how soft they feel, making a mental note to figure out what it would cost to have them replaced.
This close to Auntie Lynn, I can finally take in how bad she truly looks.
“Auntie Lynn, why didn’t you tell me?” I whisper, pulling her bony frame in for a hug.
“Oh, you hush! There was nothing to damn well tell you.” She smacks my arm.
“You are nothing but skin laid over a skeleton,” I chastise her. “If you would’ve told me how bad it was, I would have come back before now.”
“Well, as wonderful as it’s going to be to have my babies back home, I didn’t want you anywhere near that sister of yours. She’s damn well up to something, and I don’t want either of you anywhere near it when it blows the hell up,” she finishes on a whisper, looking around.
“That doesn’t sound good. Makes me happier I came back, actually.” There is no way I’m going to tell Auntie Lynn what Shea really said to get me to show up.
“If you say so, child. Now let’s get in the house before we wilt away in this heat,” she tells me, turning to shuffle her way into the house.
I follow her, really taking her in, and my heart clinches because there is no way she’s as okay as she wants me to believe she is.
We make it through the front door and the smell that is only her wraps around me, reminding me of digging in the gardens on hot summer nights, learning about plants, taking pictures, breezy nights laughing over sweet tea, and the dreams of my future.
The sound of feet thundering down the stairs makes me smile even wider.
“Ma, there are like five rooms up there for me to choose from,” he yells.
“Pick the one that you want, and we’ll fix all up for you. Now stop running in the house!” I call back as I make it into the kitchen. I gasp.
“It’s glorious, isn’t it?” Auntie Lynn beams.
“Auntie, who did this?” I move around the oversized island, running my hands along the butcher block. “It’s exactly like we dreamed of it being.”
“The guys at Gold Wings Construction did it. I gave them everything we had talked about, all the pages you drew and clipped, and had them design it.” Auntie Lynn grins as she pulls two glasses from one of the cabinets.
“I just can’t believe it,” I whisper.
Walnut butcher countertops crown dark blue cabinets with mostly drawers.
All the top cabinets are white and go all the way to the nine-foot ceiling with frosted glass cabinet doors.
They put the sink in front of a large window, looking out over the backyard.
It is beautiful and perfect. I feel as if the designer reached into my mind and past to pull the plans right out of my head.
“Well, believe it. They're supposed to come back in a week or so and start on the two bathrooms, whatever room Rusher wants, and your room, updating everything.” She smiles at me.
“What about the master bedroom and bathroom on the main floor that you’re using? Don’t you want those fixed first?” I question her.
“Oh love, I’ve already had most of the first floor done.
Come sit and let me explain it to you.” Auntie’s sad smile makes my heart squeeze.
“I have never known fully what happened and why you left, never to come back. At this point, it does not matter. What matters is that you and Rush are safe, happy, and healthy.”
“Oh, Auntie, I love you and have missed you. I just can’t explain everything,” I ramble.
“Hush, child, and let me speak.” Auntie pats my hand.
“I knew there was a very real possibility you wouldn’t ever come back.
When I found out about two years ago that my health was on the downturn, I decided this house would either be ready for you and Rusher to come home to, or you would be able to sell it for top dollar.
Now, do not argue with Auntie and just enjoy being home. ”
Tears are running down my face now. This woman has always looked out for me in her own way. She always made sure my sister and I had what we needed. I never knew why she didn’t just take us in full time. I could never have imagined that she was still taking care of me, and now Rusher.
“Thank you, Auntie,” I whisper, standing and walking over to her to wrap my arms around her shoulders and hug her tight.
“There is one condition to all of this,” she tells me sternly.
“Anything, you know that.” I nod because I mean it. There isn’t anything she could ask for that I wouldn’t do everything in my power to complete.
“Shea gets nothing and isn’t allowed to stay at the house or on the land. Promise me that when the time comes, you will stop making yourself small for her.” Her voice is sharp and demanding.
I nod yes, trepidation settling into my bones because I know Auntie knows something she isn’t telling me. I start to ask her about it when Rusher rushes in, his smile wider and brighter than I’ve ever seen it.
“I’ve picked my room,” he says, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Can we start unloading things now?”
“Yes, honey, we can. Just be careful with the boxes,” I call as he rushes back down the hall and out the front door.
Auntie and I sit and chat for a while longer when Rusher’s worried call has me bolting for the door.
Making it to the front door, I find Rusher standing on the top step shaking as Shea sashays up the walkway with a slimy-looking man watching her ass as he follows her.
“Shea, why are you here? You told me you were going to be out of town,” I call, stepping in front of Rusher.
“Whatever do you mean?” she whines, folding her hands together and standing at the bottom of the steps. “Just let me explain. It wasn’t what you thought it was.”
“There is nothing to explain. You called and told me that Auntie was dying, that you were leaving and that if I didn’t get here to take care of her, then you wouldn’t be responsible for what happened to her. I am here.” I put my hands on my hips, glaring at her. “Why the fuck are you here?”
Her eyes go wide for just a second before narrowing slightly. “Don’t you dare speak to me like that. I will take it all away, and you will disappear. Do you understand me?”
Rusher steps up behind me and I can feel him practically vibrating with anger. Turning to him, I place a hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you go inside and check on Auntie Lynn for me? See if she needs help starting dinner.”
He stands there, looking between us for a long moment. “Yes ma’am.”
Sighing in relief I turn back to my little sister still trying to figure out how she could have turned out to be this way. Shea is beyond cold and heartless. Playing the victim so well that even I fall for it every time she calls with her life falling apart.
“You know he looks more and more like his father every day?” she sneers, looking up at me.
I just arch my brow at her. “He does. It’s uncanny, especially since they have to same dual eye color.”
The guy standing behind her tilts his head to the side as his eyes run up and down my body. I cross my arms over my chest to hide from the gaze, unconsciously taking a step back to put more space between us. A predator look fills his eyes as a slow, creepy smile spreads across his lips.
Shea looks back at the man and then to me.
Her eyes narrow at me, then she turns to go back to him and lays a hand on his chest before kissing him on the cheek.
Without looking at her, he places a hand on her hip while running the other up her back into her hair, pulling her head back and kissing her.
Rolling my eyes, I turn to walk into the house.
Just as I make it to the door, I hear her heels on the path.
“Do not walk away from me. I’m done talking to you,” she hisses at me, coming up the steps.
“What Shea? What could you possibly want?” I ask her, throwing my hands up. “Once again, I dropped everything to take care of things. You said Rusher is safe to be back here, and Auntie Lynn needs me.”
She stands tall, running her hands down her skirt, then leveling her nasty glare on me.
“Don’t forget that if you say anything to anyone about who Rusher’s father is, I’ll make sure that you will never see him again.
I wouldn’t want to take him away from you, but a mother must do what she needs to do to take care of her child.
Is that what you want? Not to see Rusher or know where he is and if he’s okay? ”
“Why? You don’t want anything to do with him.
You popped him out and, without so much as a good luck, took off for five months.
Then you come back for a month or so and, like a fucking myth, you're gone. Each time longer and longer, leaving me alone in a place I don’t know anyone or have any fucking help to figure out how to take care of a fucking baby.
Because according to you, if anyone knows about him, they would hurt us all,” I hiss back.
She laughs in a way that makes my skin crawl.
“And with a snap of my fingers, you and he could both end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m not the same scared little girl I was.
I have pull and power now, so do not make me show you what I can and will do to make sure I have everything I want. ”
I shake my head in disbelief. “You would use your own son, Auntie, and sister in whatever scheme this is to get ahead? Just go! We will stay out of your way.”
“I will do whatever it takes and sacrifice anyone I must to make sure the life and empire I’ve worked so hard for doesn’t go up in flames. Pretty little things like you, big sis, make that possible.” The sly smirk that crosses her face makes me want to slap her.
“She would definitely pull in just the right client,” the snake with my sister calls from his place at the bottom of the stairs.
Shea smirks, looking over her shoulder at him before turning back to me with a sinister smile replacing the smirk on her face.
“I will stay away and out of your hair as long as you stay far, far away from the Kings of Anarchy Motorcycle Club. Do not play with me, sister. If you wish to continue to play mommy and do whatever it is that you, Auntie Lynn, and that little brat want to do, then stay fucking clear. You see anyone with a leather vest, you cross the street or walk the other way. You hear or even imagine a motorcycle, you play deaf.” She leans in, so we are nose-to-nose. “Do you fucking understand me?”
“You really are a piece of shit. Grew up to be no better than our fucking parents. I don’t know what happened to make you this way and, truthfully, I don’t really give a fuck.
I will make sure we stay clear of anyone close to you or your schemes,” I spit at her, reaching back to grab the door handle.
“I’m not playing, Anastasia. If you go anywhere near those men, you will end up in the middle of my scheme, as you call it, and never knowing what happened to Rusher,” she calls as I push through the door, slamming it in her face.
Leaning against the door, I’m face to face with those two-tone eyes that rip my heart out every time I see them.
I watch Rusher fight tears back with everything he has until I hold my arms open, and he collapses in them sobbing.
We spend the evening listening to stories from Auntie, eating junk, and just enjoying life before we have to hit the ground running tomorrow getting the truck unpacked, things put away, and settling in for the week ahead.
Auntie Lynn kissed my temple before shuffling to bed. “Don’t fret Tasia everything will fall into place as it should. You just wait and see.”
“I wish I had your optimism,” I say sarcastically as I stand rinsing my cup in the sink.
“You will see,” Auntie calls, and I swear I hear her mumble, “I have made sure he will be your savior.”
Shaking it off, I trudge up the stairs, falling face first into my old bed in my old room, passing out before I even get fully covered up.