Chapter 5 #2
“Why are you telling me this? You never told me before,” Sweetie said as she peered at her sister. She’d never heard that story before and wondered why.
“Because from that moment on, you stole all the attention. That childish envy runs deep.” They laughed again.
“But when you got kicked out, it kind of seemed like something was missing from around here. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect, but I was too proud to reach out.
Granny had a lot to say about that. You know she always hoped we would grow closer. And now . . .”
Her sentence trailed off, but Sweetie didn’t need her to finish. She knew. And now their grandmother was dying.
Sweetie sighed and stood. “Can we talk more about this later? I don’t have much time. I have to get to work.”
Truthfully, it was a lot to take in. She didn’t even want to go to work anymore, but that hustler mentality wouldn’t allow her a night to rest. She needed to see her granny and get to work. She would come right back the following morning.
Audra stood too and smiled. “Heard you strippin’ now. You any good?”
Sweetie grinned. “What you think?”
Audra nodded approvingly and whispered, “Daddy is beside himself that he has a daughter that’s stripping .
. . I say do the shit until your knees give out just to spite him.
” Sweetie giggled. She liked this side of Audra.
She always thought that Audra liked their father, but it seemed like her sister might have a little more to her than Sweetie thought. “Come on. I’ll go in with you.”
They made their way toward the guest room, and Sweetie gently pushed the door open. It was set up like a comfortable hospital room, but her eyes fell on her granny in the middle of the bed.
“Granny?” Sweetie whispered as she moved further into the room and sat down in the chair next to the queen-sized bed.
Her grandmother’s eyes fluttered open. She had IVs in and looked thinner than Sweetie remembered. Her vision blurred as she grabbed her granny’s hand gently.
“Sweetie, is that you, baby?”
Sweetie’s shoulders sagged. Her grandmother’s voice even sounded frail. That wasn’t like her at all. She was normally the fiercest one in the room.
“It’s her, Granny. She came to see you,” Audra said from behind her when Sweetie couldn’t speak. A lump had formed in her throat as she looked into her grandmother’s eyes.
“Oh, now don’t cry,” Lucille fussed.
“I’m so sorry.” Sweetie bowed her head and sobbed.
“For what, chile?”
“For not keeping in touch. I thought I had more time. I just wanted to get on my feet.”
Lucille weakly waved her off. “Don’t speak no more on it. Let that shit go, Sweetie. Ya here now. That’s what matters.”
Sweetie watched as her granny’s eyes fluttered again, and she closed them.
“She just took her medication. It makes her extremely tired,” Audra whispered.
Sweetie sat with her a little longer, letting her rest. She held her hand and kissed her cheek. She soaked her in as much as she could before she stood and wiped her tears.
“I’ll be back tomorrow, Granny.”
Audra offered her a sad smile as they walked out of the room. Neither of them had the chance to speak when Audra closed the door behind them because they ran right into their parents.
“Sweetie, you came,” Valarie said. Her mother looked poised as ever with tightly curled hair and flawless loungewear that looked like it had been ironed by the maid.
“I told you I would,” Sweetie said defensively. She saw a flash of hurt in her mother’s eyes, and Sweetie instantly felt bad. Her mom was losing her mom, and Sweetie was being an ass to her.
Before she could apologize for her tone, her father asked, “What are you doing here?”
Sweetie’s attitude could no longer be contained as she eyed the man who made her life a living hell. He was bald and tall, and she got her ebony skin from him.
“To see my granny,” she snapped.
He waved her off. “You still stripping?”
“Yup,” she replied with her chin up.
“Then get out. You aren’t welcome here.”
“Vernon,” her mom scolded, but her dad held his hand up to her.
“I don’t care who’s dying. If you want to continue to be a disgrace to this family, you are not welcome here,” he barked.
“Daddy, I think that’s a bit extreme.” Audra tried to reason with him, but it was clear he wouldn’t be swayed.
“I’m sorry. Who pays the bills around here? Who takes care of y’all?”
Audra and Valarie looked down at the floor. Sweetie hated the sight. This was what her father did. He was an ass and held his power over his family.
“You’re fucking evil,” Sweetie said.
“Get out,” he roared.
With tears in her eyes, Sweetie turned on her heels and stomped toward the front door. “Gladly.”
She didn’t stop, despite her mom and sister calling after her.
When she got into her car, her phone she’d forgotten in the cup holder vibrated.
She ignored it so she could pull out of the driveway and get a safe distance away from her childhood home.
Her phone kept going crazy, so she finally picked it up to see missed calls and a text from Boogie.
Boogie: Where the fuck are you?
Sweetie frowned as she tapped out a response at a red light. Her attitude was bad, and she didn’t like the way he asked his question.
Sweetie: On the way to work… that cool with you?
“The fuck is his problem?” she muttered as she tossed her phone into the cupholder. Her only mission at the moment was getting her mind right for work. That would be hard, though, because the realization that she may never see her granny again hit her right in the chest.