Chapter 2
Two
“Thank you for taking me to get ice cream, TT Nhuri,” Raniya said as they turned down the block toward Natalia’s home, her older sister.
She smiled at her through the rearview mirror. “You’re more than welcome, Niy. I told you I would if you had a good week at school.”
A good week meant not getting in trouble and smart-mouthing her teacher.
At six years old and an only child, Raniya tended to think everything was supposed to go her way.
She’d boss around the other kids in her class and then try to explain to her teacher why they should listen to her.
Nhuri and Natalia thought it was cute at first, but Natalia quickly nipped it in the bud when she came home with yellow and red stars because of her behavior.
Since she’d kept her promise for the week, it was only fitting that Nhuri did the same.
“It was tough,” Raniya pouted, making Nhuri chuckle. “No one wanted to listen to me.”
“And they don’t have to unless they’re doing something that bothers you or gets you in trouble.”
Nhuri heard her hum, considering her words. Raniya didn’t quite agree with her statement, but she always wanted to keep her promises.
“If you say so. Do you have a boyfriend?”
Her question caught Nhuri entirely off guard. Chuckling, she glanced at her pretty, chunky face through the rearview before pulling into Natalia’s driveway.
“What made you ask me that?” Nhuri asked.
Raniya shrugged. “I was just wondering. My teacher’s husband brought her flowers today, and he told us that he bought them as her boyfriend too.”
That was sweet of her husband, but Nhuri wanted to ask her niece what that had to do with her relationship status. She already contributed enough to her smart mouth, so, instead, she mused over her question before giving her an honest answer.
“That’s nice of him, but to answer your question . . . No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“Hmm. I guess that’s okay for now,” Raniya said.
Nhuri laughed. “I guess it is. Was that the only reason you asked?”
Something in Nhuri’s gut told her that it was an underlying curiosity that had nothing to do with her, and she was right.
“Kinda. I like Mommy’s boyfriend, and he’s nice, but sometimes, I wish my daddy still lived with us.”
Her confession shocked Nhuri, and she couldn’t wait to talk to her sister.
There was a reason why Raheem no longer lived in the same house and was no longer dating Natalia.
That wasn’t information Nhuri felt Raniya should know at her age, but she was sure that the older she got, the more questions she would ask.
She was smart too, so piecing information together wouldn’t be difficult.
Raheem’s decision to move out and end things with Natalia three years ago angered Nhuri.
She’d never bad-mouthed him to her niece, but she had a few choice words for him back then.
He suggested coparenting and promised to always be in Raniya’s life, but he couldn’t be with Natalia.
Raheem had kept his promise and was the best father to his baby girl and a great friend to Natalia in some capacity.
“Sometimes, when relationships end, people move out. Living together isn’t always the best,” Nhuri said gently.
“Yeah.” Raniya sighed. “I know. Mommy said the same thing. Can we go inside now?”
Shaking her head with a smirk, Nhuri shut off the car. “You’re something else, Niy. Come on.”
They climbed out of the car and walked to the front door. Using her key to unlock it, Nhuri entered the home behind Niy, who took off searching for her mama. Nhuri found them both in the kitchen.
“Hey, sis,” Natalia greeted.
Smiling, Nhuri hugged her and kissed her cheek. “Hey, to you too. You feeling better?”
Natalia nodded. “Yeah. Still a bit tired, but I’m used to it.”
“Does that mean we can’t have movie night?” Raniya asked. Her eyes were hopeful that they still could.
Nhuri’s heart broke a little more every day, seeing her sister fight through her chronic autoimmune disease with a smile on her face.
For her child, Natalia would push herself to the limit.
The rest she did get while Nhuri picked up Raniya from school, took her to the jump house, and then for ice cream after work still wasn’t enough.
But every third Friday of the month was their movie night day, so there was no going back to bed.
“Yes, movie night is still happening, baby,” Natalia reassured her. “You want to go take a bath and put on your PJs before we put some cookies in the oven?”
Raniya’s face lit up. “Yes! I’ll be fast, I promise.” She ran out of the kitchen, then double-backed to hug Natalia and say, “You’re the best, Mommy.”
Natalia didn’t have time to hug her back or tell her thank you before she took off again to her bedroom. A smile was present on her face, and she glanced her sister’s way to see if she was sporting the same expression. She was greeted with wet eyes.
“Don’t do it,” Natalia chastised. “I swear, you better not.”
Nhuri sniffled. “Fine. Whatever. That was just too sweet, though.”
“It was. I’ll never get enough of hearing her say that,” Natalia said.
Neither would Nhuri, but she didn’t voice her sentiments, afraid of getting choked up.
Instead, she took in her sister’s appearance.
From the outside looking in, it wasn’t noticeable that she had an illness.
She had a rough week of being glued to her bed, fatigued and in pain, but today had been better.
Natalia’s smooth brown skin was well moisturized, her pixie-cut curls swirled neatly, and she even wore lip gloss.
“You look cute. You went out before we got here?” Nhuri asked.
Natalia chuckled. “Thank you. Sometimes, I question whether I’m the big sister.”
“I bet you do,” Nhuri chuckled.
They were five years apart, but you couldn’t tell Nhuri that. She acted as if she were the one born first.
“You know, some days aren’t the best, but I don’t let them beat me. So, yes. I got up and got myself decent just to sit in the crib. Is that okay with you?”
Nhuri smirked. “Mm. It is. Is that bottle of wine for me?”
Natalia glanced across the kitchen at the black bottle. “Um, for us.”
“I don’t think you should be drinking with how you’ve been feeling these last few days,” Nhuri suggested.
Waving her off, Natalia pivoted toward the sink and placed the knife in it that she’d used to smear Miracle Whip on their bread.
“A little red wine isn’t going to hurt me. Who said I was opening it tonight, anyway?”
“Oh, girl, please. It wouldn’t be sitting there if opening it wasn’t the plan. Don’t play,” Nhuri laughed.
That was the truth. Natalia’s pristine kitchen was thoroughly cleaned weekly by the cleaning company she hired.
Nothing was ever left on the counters, so the bottle of wine sitting atop it had been her doing.
She just wanted to sip wine and eat cookies with two of her favorite girls without thinking about the side effects that may come with doing so.
“When you come to someone’s home, a gift is usually brought with them,” Natalia joked.
“I am the gift!” Nhuri exclaimed, making them laugh. “Plus, with the way that niece of mine had me running all over that bounce house, I need the largest wineglass in the cabinet.”
As if it were her home, Nhuri opened the cabinet containing the glasses and grabbed the biggest one.
“You swear Ny be doing the most. She’s the calmest child,” Natalia defended.
Nhuri pursed her lips outward in somewhat of a disagreement. “Calm sometimes . . . I’ll give her that. Inquisitive too, but I love it. Do you know she asked me if I had a boyfriend?”
A laugh escaped Natalia as she grabbed the container of cookie dough out of the fridge.
“I’m not surprised. Wonder what made her ask that?”
“She said her teacher’s husband brought her flowers and told the class that he’d been doing that since he was her boyfriend,” Nhuri explained.
Natalia smiled. Mrs. Miller was the sweetest teacher and one of the best at Raniya’s school.
“My girl wanted to know who’s bringing her TT flowers too,” Natalia snickered.
Nhuri rolled her eyes. “No one. She didn’t have to put me on blast like that, though.”
“Maybe, maybe not. She got you thinking, doesn’t she?”
“About a man?” Nhuri questioned with hiked brows. Natalia nodded. “Not necessarily. She did bring up wishing Raheem still lived with y’all, though.”
Sighing, Natalia leaned against the counter. This wasn’t the first time Raniya had brought up her dad’s absence in their once-shared home. It more than likely wouldn’t be the last, either.
“We’ve talked about this a few times, but—”
“Mommy! I’m done!” Raniya called out, cutting her sentence short.
Nhuri smirked. “Saved by the bell. You want me to get her?”
“You can. Thank you.”
“Stop thanking me. That’s what big-little sisters are for,” Nhuri grinned.
She headed out of the kitchen and was going down the hall when the doorbell rang. With squinted eyes, she sauntered to it, wondering who was stopping by to visit. Knowing her sister, it was probably one of Natalia’s best friends.
“Who is it?” she called out.
To her surprise, a deep man’s voice answered.
“Mr. Hendrix.”
Natalia entered the foyer. “What’d they say?”
“It’s someone named Mr. Hendrix. Do you know who that is?”
By her widened eyes, Nhuri was almost positive she did. She stepped out of the way as Natalia unlocked and opened the door.
“Mr. Hendrix, hi! What a pleasant surprise. Come in,” Natalia said, stepping to the side so he could enter.
The man entering the home was just as fine, if not finer, than Nhuri remembered him to be.
During her bartending shift, she couldn’t take her eyes off him all night.
On a few occasions, she also caught him staring in her direction.
So, to see him pop up at her sister’s home on a Friday evening wearing a suit perfectly tailored to his stocky frame had Nhuri wanting to ask more than a few questions.
“Good evening,” Shyriq spoke in an even, pleasant tone. “How are you feeling?”