Chapter Twenty-Four Torn Between Bloodlines
“I miss her. But I don’t want them.”
The house had gone still again.
Dishes were washed. TV was off. Bunny had finally stopped pacing. Natty was curled up asleep with her thumb near her mouth, the same way she used to when Marcus tucked her in.
Sunni sat at the kitchen table with a mug of tea in her hands, steam curling in front of her face.
Kane and Prince sat on either side of her—quiet, their expressions unreadable.
No one spoke for a while.
Just the hum of the fridge.
And then Kane broke it.
“I miss her,” she said softly.
Sunni looked up.
Prince looked over.
“Minnie Girl,” Kane added. “I miss her.”
Sunni nodded, letting her speak.
“She was real cool,” Kane went on. “Like… normal. Like I could breathe around her. I didn’t have to pretend. She didn’t talk down to me or act like she was better.”
Prince sighed. “Yeah. I could tell you liked her.”
Kane’s voice cracked. “But I don’t want nothing to do with those kids. Marcus and Keisha’s kids.”
Sunni didn’t flinch.
“You don’t have to,” she said gently. “Loving one person don’t mean you owe love to everything they connected to.”
Kane rubbed her temple. “It’s not they fault. I know that. But… I just don’t want them in our space. I don’t want to share us with them. Not yet.”
Prince chimed in. “Not ever, if I’m bein’ honest.”
Sunni looked at him.
“I’m not mad,” she said.
“I know they’re innocent,” Prince said. “But it don’t matter. We were innocent too. And he left us. So why should we make room for the part of him he chose to stay with?”
Kane looked at him. “Exactly.”
Sunni stirred her tea slowly.
“You’re allowed to feel that way,” she said. “Both of you.”
She set the spoon down.
“But I’ll tell y’all this. At some point, healing ain’t about them. Or him. Or what he did. It’s about us choosing not to let bitterness sit where peace could grow.”
Kane leaned her head on her hand. “So… you think we should forgive them?”
“I think forgiveness is a process,” Sunni said. “And I think that process starts with honesty. And y’all just gave me that.”
She reached across the table and took both their hands.
“Whatever y’all decide—now, later, or never—I’m with you. All the way.”
Prince squeezed her hand back.
Kane nodded slowly.
And for the first time that day, they let the silence feel like safety, not pressure.