Chapter Twenty-Three We Need to Talk
“I want my kids to know their siblings.”
They had been home from Gatlinburg less than forty-eight hours when Keisha finally did what she had talked herself out of doing for weeks.
The night before, Zora had asked why she had brothers and sisters she was not allowed to know. KJ had followed with a smaller question that hurt worse: “Did we do something bad?” Keisha had told them no. Then she realized she could not keep letting Marcus’s lie answer for everybody.
The knock came soft—not urgent, not aggressive—but it still stopped Sunni in the middle of the living room.
Her whole body froze.
Keisha.
And standing beside her, holding her hand?
Minnie Girl.
And behind them, two small kids with wide eyes—Zora and KJ. Marcus’s other children.
Sunni didn’t open the door right away.
She looked back at her kids scattered across the living room. Bunny and Dexter were finishing homework. Kane was mid-scroll on her phone. Prince sat on the arm of the couch, earbuds dangling.
She turned back and opened the door.
Keisha straightened her spine.
“I know I should’ve called,” she started. “I almost did. Truth is, I’ve been scared to ask. But Zora asked me last night if she did something wrong because her brothers and sisters don’t know her. I couldn’t answer that with another lie.”
Sunni’s eyes narrowed. “Say no to what, Keisha?”
Keisha looked down at the kids. “To this.”
She gestured toward Zora and KJ, then looked Sunni straight in the face.
“I would like my kids to know their siblings.”
The words dropped like bricks.
Sunni’s mouth parted—part disbelief, part disgust. “You want—”
“Not for me,” Keisha said gently. “For them. They’re innocent in this, same as your babies were. I’m not asking you to forget what happened or open your home today. I’m asking whether, when everybody is ready, the children might be allowed to know each other.”
She looked over her shoulder at Minnie Girl, who wouldn’t meet Kane’s eyes.
“They share blood,” Keisha continued, “but I know blood does not automatically make a family. I just don’t want Marcus’s lies deciding forever who these children are allowed to love.”
Sunni stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind her just slightly.
“This is a lot, Keisha. After everything—”
“I know,” Keisha said quickly. “And I’m not defending Marcus. I didn’t know I was the other woman, Sunni. The moment I learned the truth, I came to you. But the kids didn’t ask for any of this. Neither did yours. Neither did I.”
Minnie Girl finally looked up.
“I didn’t know,” she said to Kane. “About all of it. Not until recently. And when I did… I didn’t know how to tell you.”
Kane’s voice came sharp from behind the door—she’d followed her mama out.
“You still should’ve told me.”
Minnie Girl nodded. “I know. And I’m sorry.”
The silence was ugly.
Thick.
Then Bunny flung open the door.
“Wait—those are his kids?” she asked, looking directly at Zora and KJ.
Zora ducked behind her mother.
Prince appeared behind Kane, arms folded tight.
“I don’t want no part of this,” he said flatly.
Dexter leaned out. “Y’all bold to show up here like it’s a family reunion.”
Sunni put her hand up. “Everybody. Chill.”
She turned to Keisha.
“You came here to ask me to open that door?”
“I came here to ask—not force,” Keisha said. “You can say no. You can say not now. I owed it to my kids to ask if there might ever be room for them to know their siblings.”
She hesitated.
“And I owed you enough respect to hear the answer from your mouth, not through Marcus.”
Sunni closed her eyes for a moment. That part… she could at least acknowledge.
Then she opened them and said clearly:
“We’re not ready. Not yet. Maybe not ever.”
Keisha nodded slowly.
“I understand.”
She turned and walked her kids back to the car.
Minnie Girl stayed a moment longer. “Kane…”
Kane didn’t say a word.
Didn’t blink.
Didn’t flinch.
Just turned and walked inside.
And Minnie followed her sister to the car in silence.