Ethan Whitmore
“Hold the fuck up. Before we get down to the nitty gritty. What's really going on with you and my sister?” Ace questioned me.
If he wasn’t my boy, I probably would’ve put my hands on him for questioning me like I owed him answers. Instead, I stood with my hands clasped in front of me with a smirk on my face.
“What you mean? That’s my little shorty.”
“Since when, nigga?”
“Since when?” I laughed. “Since we started fuckin, which was about thirty minutes before y’all popped up unannounced.”
Duke damn near choked as he tried not to laugh.
“Any more questions?”
“Nigga, I got plenty of questions.”
“Alright, the floor is yours. Go ahead and get it off ya chest.” I shrugged.
“She told you she’s married, right?”
“Yeah, and?” I shrugged. “She’s married to a bitch that’s on borrowed time.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Duke rub his face. He must’ve felt the energy radiating off of me.
“Since we’re asking twenty one questions. My turn, muthafucka.”
Ace folded his arms as if he was waiting for the challenge.
“What?”
“Did you know that muthafucka was beatin’ on her?”
Bruh's neck snapped back, and the fire in his eyes told me he didn’t know.
“Nigga, what?” He snapped.
He shot out of the seat, but I stopped him.
“Nigga, move.” He pushed my hands away as I blocked him from going back inside.
“No.”
We stood toe to toe, glaring into each other’s eyes.
We were all quiet for a moment. The tone I used, they both knew what type of time I was on.
I only used it when I wasn’t asking. I watched his nostrils flare and the muscles in his neck jump.
I knew my boy was ready to put in some work and murk a muthafucka.
As I looked into his eyes, I could see him imagining all the ways he wanted that muthafucka to die.
Truthfully, I wasn’t mad at it. However, at this moment, I wasn’t about to let my boy run off emotions. It was all about timing.
“Chill, bruh. No need to say anything to her. It’s going to be handled,” I assured him.
I was a crazy son of a bitch, but Ace? Nah, my boy was a different breed.
“Handled?” He chuckled bitterly. “Nigga, that’s my sister.” Spit flew from his mouth.
“I know and I get it. That’s my shorty and best believe I’ma make sure that muthafucka gets what he deserves.”
Duke and I watched him pace as he tried his best to get his anger under control. The bruise on Ava’s face flashed through my mind. Apparently, she’d been convincing everyone she was okay.
“Aight,” Duke finally sighed.
Both me and Ace looked at him.
“What?”
“This conversation is making me want to kill somebody.”
“Nigga, just get in line.” Ace muttered.
I thought it was best to go ahead and change the topic of conversation.
They had no specific reason for popping up, so there wasn’t much more to discuss.
I had to get back inside to my shorty because I knew she was in the house bored as fuck.
We chopped it up for a few more minutes before Duke decided to slide out.
Ace let him know he was right behind him but had to holla at me in private first. Once we were standing alone, the silence was heavy as fuck.
We both knew the previous conversation wasn’t finished.
Ace stared out at the distance, then finally turned his attention to me.
“You serious about my sister?”
I studied him for a moment, trying to determine how honest I wanted to be.
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“Yeah? Nigga, I’ve been knowing you for years. You’ve never been serious about a bitch.”
“Ava might be your sister, but don’t call her a bitch again.” I got serious.
He smacked his lips with his face twisted up.
“I’m not callin her a bitch. Even if I was, nigga, that’s my fuckin sister. I’ll call her whatever the fuck I want. I better not hear anybody else call her out her name though.” He sparked a blunt.
“So, you care about her? Is that what you're telling me?” he pulled then blew smoke.
“Man, you askin’ a lot of questions.”
“I’m her brother, that’s what I’m supposed to do.” He said, passing me the blunt.
I took a few pulls while thinking about Ava. I thought about her smile, and the way she looked at my mother while talking to her. I’d never brought a female around my mom except my baby momma. That meant something. Shit, it meant a lot actually.
“Yeah, I care about her.” I admitted.
I watched the tension in his shoulders ease. Not completely but enough.
“Aight, cool.”
“That’s it?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Nah, nigga. If you hurt her and I find out, you know I’ma have to kick yo ass.” He pointed at me.
I laughed, Ace was a funny dude.
“Yeah, you got it.” I nodded, still laughing as we dapped each other up.
“I ain’t gon say nothin to her, but eventually we’re having that conversation.”
“As y'all should.” I agreed.
When we came back inside, Ava wasn’t anywhere in sight.
I walked Ace to the door while he talked shit about Ava being too comfortable in my spot.
Of course, I was cool with it. I wanted her to be as comfortable as possible.
Instead of walking around the house in search of her, I went straight to my room, which was exactly where she was.
My eyes immediately landed on her curled up in my bed, scrolling through her phone.
The moment she caught a glimpse of me standing in the doorway, she sat up with a smile.
“Is the coast clear now?”
“Yeah,” I chuckled, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“That was…a little embarrassing.” She covered her face.
“Really? Why?”
“You’re friends with my brother, let's start there.” She giggled.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a twin?”
“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “We’re still getting to know each other. I would’ve told you eventually. And we’re not just twins, it’s actually three of us.”
“Triplets?” I raised my eyebrow.
“Yeah,” she giggled. “We have another sister. Ace is the oldest and I’m the youngest.”
“Damn, that’s what’s up. Ace a cool dude.” I nodded.
“Ace is a hot head, but I used to tear his ass up when we were younger. I bet he’ll never tell you that though.” She laughed.
She continued telling me about their upbringing. For them to be so close, I should've crossed paths with her at least once. She seemed to be in a happy head space as she talked about her family. Then, her phone rang and I noticed her body stiffened as she silenced the call.
“That’s ol boy?”
She glanced at me for a quick second before shifting her focus away.
“Yeah,”
Again, her phone rang and she quickly silenced it.
“Let me answer it.”
“No.”
There was a flicker of fear in her eyes. She even slid away from me a little bit.
“I don’t want to add anymore fuel to the fire. The night of the gala, he found the card you sent. I also forgot to take off that necklace before I went in the house. That’s why he crashed out.”
“Was that his first time crashing out?”
She sat quietly for a moment without looking at me.
“No,” she finally said.
“Have you ever mentioned that shit to Ace?”
“Hell no,” she shook her head. “I don’t like involving my family in my personal business. Rob is crazy, but we both know my brother is crazier. I don’t ever want to put Ace in a situation that would get him hurt or locked up. I'd rather deal with my bullshit behind closed doors.”
“Are you scared of him?”
“He tried to kill me, Ethan.”
Her eyes began to water. I didn’t want her to get upset, then I’d become even more pissed than I already was.
“I’m scared he’s going to try to take Savannah.” She shook her head. “That’s something I know he’d try to do only to hurt me.”
For several seconds, neither of us spoke. The silence was a little uncomfortable, to be honest.
“I’m glad you decided to leave. A move like that takes a lot of courage.” I gently squeezed her thigh.
“Yeah…I should’ve left a long time ago.” She sighed.
“Shit happens,” I shrugged. “You walked away, just don’t turn back.” I stared at her.
“I don’t plan to.” She whispered.
I closed my eyes briefly, trying to calm down.
All I could think about was my mother’s past. I could still remember being a kid.
I would watch and listen, pretending not to hear the fights my mom had with the piece of shit she referred to as her boyfriend.
I used to think she was weak for not leaving him.
I never realized how hard it was for a woman to up and leave an abusive situation, especially when kids were involved.
There were plenty of times I fought that muthafucka, and damn near tried to kill him myself.
One time, I had a gun pointed to his face and my mom cried, begging me not to shoot.
I spared him and not even six months later he left her clinging to life.
He disappeared after that. Until this day, no one knew where he went.
Well, let’s just say, the police found no trace of him.
When I opened my eyes, Ava was watching me carefully.
“You don’t believe me, do you?”
Her question caught me off guard.
“Nah, I do. I just know that shit wasn’t easy.” I moved a piece of hair from her face.
“It wasn’t, but I don’t want to talk about it anymore. The vibe was great before my brother popped up. Now it’s all sad and uncomfortable.” She rolled her eyes.
“You know, my mind is still blown from hearing my mom say your name. That shit was crazy. You’re like my little lucky charm.” I smiled.
Shit, I’ve never even heard my mom say a word to her own granddaughter during visits. The fact she chose to interact with Ava, let me know that she was meant for me. That was my sign sent from heaven.
“I can’t believe it either,” she giggled. “I’m glad I got to share that moment with you. I wish you could’ve recorded it.”
“Me too.” I stared at her.
I didn’t mean to but I couldn’t help myself.
Images of a promising future flashed through my mind, and I approved every detail of it.
That spark between the two of us had love at first sight written all over it.
I wasn’t ashamed to admit it. After feeling her super soaka pussy wrapped around my dick, I had already told myself, Ava was going to be the woman I settled down with and marry.
Before we even crossed that line, I knew she would need time to heal from the last muthafucka.
I was a patient dude, and the deed was already done.
The seal was stamped the very moment she opened up and gave herself to me.