19. Ronnie
Ronnie
I was drinking my soda when we pulled up to Reese’s house. Seeing two girls going at it on the porch made it go down the wrong pipe.
“You good?” I coughed multiple times, waving to let him know I was okay.
“Yeah, go.”
After I got myself together, I hopped out too. Reese had his arms wrapped around one of ‘em tryna break them apart. Another girl was standing in the doorway, shaking her head.
“Let my hair go Rayna!” the girl shouted, so I’m guessing Rayna was the person Reese is holding.
“Bitch, I should’ve fired you a long time ago!” She reached out, and her fist went across the girl’s face as Reese lifted her up in the air.
“Fuck going on around here?” Reese barked.
“I caught her tryna steal from you. You thieving hoe!” Rayna struggled to get out of her brother’s hold. I scanned the area to make sure no one was around. Paparazzi be ready to jump outta the bushes, quick, fast and in a hurry.
“Rayna, stop.” The girl from the porch shouted.
“No.” She managed to get free and chased the girl around the yard.
“Rayna Jade, quit running after that damn girl!” Reese looked crazy tryna break them up and this was clearly beyond his expertise. “Danielle, what the fuck you stole from me?”
“She’s crazy! Your sister needs to be in a mental institution!” Danielle shouted, still tryna dodge Rayna’s hits.
“Hoe, I’mma institute on that ass. Get out of my brother’s house!” Rayna retorted and she stopped, putting her hands on her knees to catch her breath.
“Reese. I didn’t take anything,” Danielle muttered, walking up to him. The one on the porch started walking down the steps.
“You lying. I saw her. She took mama’s ring and put it in her pocket.”
“Where it’s at?” he asked her.
She averted her eyes, avoiding his gaze. “Quit playing with me, Danielle. I think I’m being patient as fuck,” Reese warned her.
She huffed out a breath, pulling something from her back pocket. It definitely looked like a ring.
“A’ight. Get your shit and go.” He tilted his head toward the house. To keep them apart, Reese made everybody stay outside while she went in to get whatever she needed.
Danielle came back out a few minutes later with two bags. Shoulders sagged, she walked to the car parked near the sidewalk and got in. The entire time this was going on, I didn’t move from my spot by the car. As the girl drove away, all eyes were on me.
“Hey.” I gave a timid wave.
“My name is...”
“Ronnie Russell!” The girl who was fighting, Rayna, ran up to me. She narrowed her eyes at Reese.
“Why you let me fight in front of her?” Reese snickered, locking his eyes with mine.
“Rayna’s in law school.”
“Oh!” I smiled sweetly. “Nice to meet you, Rayna.”
“Girl, I love you!” Rayna linked our arms together, leading me inside the house. Once we sat on the couch, she talked my head off. She told me all about her classes, wanted advice on the heavy workload, and she even asked how to balance a relationship.
I wouldn’t know about the last one. I didn’t date at all once I got to law school.
I only had one boyfriend in undergrad. Speaking of boyfriends, I saw a missed call from Sin when we were in the parking lot at McDonald’s.
I didn’t bother calling him back. I’m serious about ending whatever this is, and I can’t believe I was so stupid for him in the first place.
Rayna finally took a break from her interrogation to grab something to drink. Reese had disappeared somewhere an hour ago, so I focused my attention on the other sister, Raine, who was sitting on the loveseat next to me watching TV.
“Hi.” I waved. She looked over at me.
“Hey.” She seemed standoffish. Since I got here, she barely said anything to her sister or me.
“Congratulations on the baby. You must be real excited.” I tried to make simple conversation.
“Yeah.” She looked down to touch her stomach. I could be wrong, but she doesn’t look all that happy about being a mama.
“You know what gender you want?”
“I haven’t thought about it to be honest,” she admitted, just as Rayna came back around the corner with the phone to her ear.
“Yes, Rylee. We’re making sure she eats.” She made a face.
I didn’t think it was possible, but Raine shut down even more after hearing this. She leaned against the couch, pulling her knees up to wrap her arms around ‘em.
“Okay, I’ll tell her.” She hung up.
“Rylee said she loves you. she’ll see you soon.” Raine gave her a small smile but nothing more. Rayna then turned to me.
“Rylee is our other sister. She a sophomore at FAMU.”
I nodded.
“What about Rylee?” Reese’s voice echoed as he came into the room. He grinned at me, and sat on the edge of the couch where I was.
“She coming home next week,” Raina answered.
“Okay, okay.” Reese tapped my arm. “You good?”
I nodded with a smile. I was actually enjoying myself with his family. When I said it was lonely, I wasn’t lying about that. A lady who looked to be in her mid-fifties staggered in, holding onto the wall.
“Why nobody told me we had company?” she questioned, her voice sounded weak as she spoke.
“Let me help you, ma.” Reese ran over to hold her hand as she walked.
I couldn’t help the smile on my face seeing how gentle Reese is with her. I felt kind of bad for the way I misjudged him when we first met. I thought he was this big player with lots of hoes and an attitude, but the way he takes care of his family is admirable. Any woman would be lucky to have him.
“Hi,” I greeted her once she got comfortable in a chair. “I’m Ronnie. It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.”
I stretched my hand out to shake her fragile ones.
Their mother was beautiful. I can see where Reese gets his looks from, although I noticed their eyes aren’t the same color as her children. They must’ve got the hazel from their dad’s side of the family.
“Likewise, honey. You are stunning.” She lifted her head to peek at Reese. “You did a good job.”
“Oh, no,” I muttered out, waving my hand.
“We’re just friends, ma’am.” I glanced shyly at Reese.
“Well, that’s a shame. I would’ve loved some pretty grandbabies.” Reese laughed while I hid my face to hide my smile. She readjusted herself in the seat.
“While I’m able to sit here and chat, tell me about yourself.” Her soft eyes reminded me of my mama.
I spent the next few hours telling her all about my life. I didn’t miss how Reese never strayed too far and seemed just as interested as she was in getting to know me. Time went by fast, and Reese was driving me back to my car at the office before I knew it.
“I had fun with your family. Thank you for letting me meet them.” He had pulled up five minutes ago, and now we were parked in front of my car in the garage.
“They liked you, especially Rayna.” He chuckled, licking his lips. That girl’s a handful. She made me give her my number.
“Rayna’s real sweet, and so is your mama.”
“She cool.” We shared a laugh.
I sat there for a few minutes longer, not really wanting to leave.
“So, I’ll see you soon.” I sighed, turning in his direction.
“Yeah, be careful. Call Rayna to let her know you made it.” He swallowed deeply, watching my mouth.
“Okay.” I opened the door to get out.
Now I see what it’s like to have a real family. The fact that I have to go home to an empty house and empty bed is saddening.
Buckling myself in my own car, he backed his truck up to let me out. Reading the time on the dash, it’s a little past six p.m.
I’m not going home just yet. I wanna go by Sin’s to end whatever this is. It’s not healthy.
Seeing the way I was treated today by Reese made me realize I deserved more. I wanted to feel like this every day, and I know Sin isn’t the one to provide it for me. Now that I know I was wrong, I owed Monae and my daddy an apology.