Chapter 6 #2
“Damn, you’re looking like new money. Unless the purse you’re holding is a knockoff, that’s ten stacks hanging from your shoulder, and shit, you got the matching sandals too. Bitch, who’re you fucking?”
I swear I heard Conner growl from above me. He wasn’t pleased by the way my cousin addressed me.
“Ma’am, we need to head inside,” he demanded like Kincaid would, not leaving any wiggle room for debate.
I guess the hubby gave direct orders to protect me from a physical attack and verbal lashings as well. That’s when my mother stepped up to my side. Her eyes narrowed at Shayla. The two stared at each other in a way that incited feelings of violence.
“You found her? Oh, shit. Mama, look. It’s your sister.” A woman who resembled Shayla only in body type and complexion stepped up beside her. My mother’s regard moved from my cousin to who I assumed was my aunt.
“Damn, Endia, that’s you?” She squinted with a frown, not waiting for an answer before she continued. “Where the hell you come from? Wait ’til I tell Mama and Daddy I saw you.”
“Don’t bother.” My mother spoke firmly, which had my aunt’s face twisting.
“What you mean, ‘don’t bother’? You up and left, not even caring what it did to them. They made my life a living hell because you was gone. Mama was always worried I would leave too. How you gon’ tell me not to bother?”
“Easy. Don’t bother. Now, if you’ll excuse us . . .” She looked at me, and my eyes bounced between the two of them.
“We should go,” I said, narrowing a heated glare at Shayla, who returned the gesture.
“Oh, so you’re fucking some rich guy and you’re too good for family now?” She stepped closer, but Conner moved between us. “Who the fuck is you?” She looked him up and down, and I rolled my eyes, stepping around his big body.
“Who I’m with has nothing to do with me not wasting my time on you. How’s life been? Steal from any other family members lately?” I sneered.
“Girl, ain’t nobody steal from you. That money was mine anyway. You owed me—”
“I didn’t owe you a damn thing, but you know what? I’m glad it happened. Taught me a valuable lesson about family. If family means being connected to people like you, then I’m better off alone.”
“She’s disrespectful just like you, Endia. I’m not surprised.” My aunt sucked her teeth, glaring at my mother. Shayla shifted beside her with anxious limbs, balancing her need to attack.
“Family can whoop your ass too. Maybe that’s what I should have done instead of trying to baby your ass.” Shayla lunged forward, extending a fist like she would hit me, but Conner caught her wrist with one hand and pushed me behind him with the other.
“Get your hands off my baby. Who the fuck you think you are?” my aunt growled.
“Mrs. Akel.” Floyd extended his phone to me, and my eyes shot up to his, but all he did was toss his chin toward the device. I already knew the deal. Kincaid was on the line, so I took the phone.
“What?”
“Get in the truck, now.”
Oh, he’s big mad, but so am I. I’m also not his child, regardless of me carrying one.
“No, I’m not doing that. I’m fine. I don’t know why he called you.”
“Did she not just attempt to put her hands on you? I thought I made myself clear about the safety of our child. Get in the gotdamn truck now.”
Damn, how long has he been on the line to know she tried to hit me?
My eyes shot up to Floyd, who didn’t so much as flinch. I was positive Kincaid had clear instructions on the dos and don’ts when it came to me. If ever unclear on what decision to make, they were instructed to contact him, which was what had happened.
“We’re here for lunch.”
“Give Conner your order and he’ll get it to-go. Get in the truck, sweetheart.” There were two ways he used that endearment and this wasn’t the one I preferred. It was the warning before his ugly side surfaced.
My eyes lifted to Floyd before they bounced over to my aunt and cousin, who were still arguing at Conner.
I couldn’t say with because I hadn’t once heard his voice, only their verbal lashes demanding he give them access to me.
There was a brick wall dividing us: Conner and Floyd.
I was sure Kincaid could hear their loud mouths in the background, and I wasn’t in the mood to begin a verbal match with him, so I gave in.
“Fine.”
“Give the phone to Floyd.”
I rolled my eyes, almost throwing it at him, listening while he tossed out a few “yes, sirs,” but didn’t end the call. I was sure my very overprotective husband wanted to remain on the line until I did as he demanded.
“We’re leaving,” I said to my mother, who nodded, not asking any questions.
“You running again, Endia? You been gone for years, and it’s fuck your family? You were selfish then and you’re selfish now.”
“I’m selfish, but you raised your daughter. I wasn’t allowed to raise mine. Why don’t you ask our parents about that before you go judging my decisions? Maybe then you’ll understand why I never came back. It’s not like they cared.”
“You had a choice—”
My mother snapped quickly. “No, I didn’t. Regardless of what they told you, I was never given the option to keep my child, but apparently, you were, and what an amazing job you’ve done. She’s quite lovely. So much like you.”
“Don’t you dare act all high and mighty. At least I know who my kid’s father is. Can you say the same? Maybe if you did, then they wouldn’t have given her away. Who the hell wants to explain about their daughter’s bastard child?”
“I got your fucking bastard!” I yelled and attempted to be on the move again, but Conner put a quick stop to that. My mother remained calm, speaking her final thoughts.
“I can say a lot of things, but I won’t. It’s really not worth the energy. You’re not worth the energy.”
My mother stepped around me, sliding into the backseat. I was about to follow but paused when I heard Shayla still verbally attacking.
“Forget her, Ma. Ain’t neither one of them worth the time.
She thinks she’s something ’cause she done opened her legs for one of them men at the club.
I told you she wasn’t shit.” She laughed sarcastically.
“Yeah, I always knew yo’ ass wasn’t no better than me.
Hell, you’re worse. You let some nigga pimp you out just ’cause he got a few commas in his bank account. ”
“Possibly, but if you’re gonna let a man pimp you out, at the very least, get something out of it, right?
Isn’t that what you told me when it came to your ex?
” I arched my brow while her eyes narrowed, causing me to return a smug grin before I continued.
“I got a ring and his last name. What can you claim other than being passed to your man’s homeboys because you were so desperate to keep him around that you’d do anything he asked?
How did that work out for you?” I tossed my hand up, making sure she could see the massive diamond on my finger, and her eyes doubled in size.
“Bitch, I will beat your ass—” She lunged at me and my chest expanded because I was so angry. I hadn’t realized I was moving in her direction until Conner stepped in front of me. “Ma’am . . .”
That was his subtle warning. His boss had given instructions, and they weren’t about to allow me to break them.
I got in the truck, and while Floyd stood guard, ending his call with Kincaid, Conner left to get our order after I rattled off a few items. I knew who I was, but that didn’t mean her words didn’t bother me.
Kincaid hadn’t “pimped” me out, but she didn’t know the truth.
I hadn’t decided if my truth was any better than what she had already assumed.
Why the hell I even cared was beyond me.
This was the same person who used me, stole from me, then had the audacity to talk down to me when she had done far worse things than I would even consider.
I was sure she was kicking herself from admitting during a drunken rant that she’d slept with three of her ex’s friends one night while they all got high.
“Baby, if you love me, you’ll hook up my guys,” he told her.
That was a few weeks before we were getting kicked out of our apartment and probably when he ended things.
While I was stuck in my thoughts, my mother was stuck in hers. We were both quiet until we were about halfway to the house and I asked about my aunt’s comment.
“She said you didn’t know who my father was, like she had a secret about him.”
My mother’s eyes left the window, where she had been staring blankly since we left the parking lot.
“There’s no secret. It was easier for me to pretend like I didn’t know than it would have been to deal with the consequences if they ever found out.
My sister and I were never close. I couldn’t trust her to keep it from my parents, so I lied and said I had been with multiple guys.
I knew she would tell my parents and that’s exactly what happened. ”
I didn’t question my mother any further. I believed her, but regardless, it didn’t matter one way or another because he would never be a part of my life.
“It’s why I said sometimes it’s easier to leave things as they are.” We shared a look before she turned to the window again. The topic was dropped and I wouldn’t bring it up anymore. She was all the family I needed outside of my husband.