Chapter 16 #2
“Oh, please!” Von waved her off. “Now that somebody finally matched your nasty-ass energy, suddenly you want law enforcement involved.”
He pulled his phone from his pocket and held it out toward her.
“Go ahead. Call them. Tell dispatch a well-dressed homosexual is standing on your porch with fair credit, no warrants, and returning years of emotional abuse to sender. And make sure you tell ‘em the whole story. Don’t leave out the part where you called an innocent baby a bastard and then got offended because somebody called you a bitch with good credit.”
Quincy stepped forward, but Von held up one finger.
“No, sir! Save it! Your wife started this, and now she wants the police to come referee because she’s losing!
Like I said, call them! Just make sure they send somebody patient, because once I start giving statements, this might turn into a documentary!
Actually, tell them to bring two cars! One for me and one for all this emotional baggage y’all been dumping on Kyns! ”
“Von,” I murmured, caught somewhere between horror and laughter.
“No, Kyns. I’m tired of this!” His gaze softened briefly when it landed on me before turning cold again. “They keep treating you like you should be grateful for scraps just because the scraps came from a wealthy table.”
As the tension thickened, Mysun stirred against my chest, a tiny fussy sound breaking through the escalating conflict. In that moment, a calm, cold resolve settled over my heart.
I slowly turned toward Von, carefully handing Mysun over. “Hold him. I got this.”
Von hesitated for a brief moment, the fire still burning in him, but he took Mysun against his chest, cradling him with a tenderness that contrasted sharply with the chaos around us.
Once my hands were free, I stepped forward slowly.
Elaine folded her arms defensively, like she expected to see tears, hear an apology, or for me to bow to her with the kind of submission she was so used to extracting from me.
Instead, I looked at her dead in the eyes and pointed my finger directly at her face.
“The first thing you need to understand, is that if you ever call my son a bastard again, I promise you this conversation is gonna go a whole different direction.”
Elaine rolled her eyes, but I pressed on, refusing to back down.
“You got a lot of nerve talking reckless about a baby who hasn't done anything to you but exist.” My voice remained calm, but there was nothing gentle about it. “So, before I say what I really came here to say, let me make one thing very clear. You can disrespect me all day if that helps you sleep at night, call me ungrateful, call me every disappointment you believe I am. But say one more negative thing about my child, and you’re gonna learn exactly how little your opinion, your money, and this house means to me now.”
Her expression tightened.
“Motherhood softened a lot of things in me,” I continued, tilting my head slightly. “But it also introduced me to a version of myself that you probably wouldn’t recognize if pushed too far.”
The porch had gone completely silent, even Quincy looked stunned by the tone in my voice.
Elaine scoffed dismissively, attempting to regain her footing. “You don’t get to threaten me in my own—”
“And you don’t get to disrespect my child because you’re angry that I stopped living the version of life you planned for me.
For years, I blamed myself for never feeling fully loved here, always thinking maybe I was too emotional…
too difficult… too ungrateful. But the older I got, the more I realized something. ”
My voice trailed off, holding the weight of years of suppressed truth, ready to be unleashed.
“Providing for somebody and loving them are not always the same thing. Y’all provided me with beautiful things,” I admitted, nodding slowly. “And I’m forever appreciative of that.” Then my voice hardened. “But you also taught me how lonely a person can feel while living comfortably.”
Quincy looked away immediately and Elaine’s expression cracked slightly.
My eyes stayed locked on hers.
“Y’all cared more about how I represented this family than whether I was actually happy inside it,” I finished.
“That’s not true, and you know it!” Elaine hissed, in denial.
“Really?” I sniggered softly. “Because standing here right now, after not seeing me for damn near a year, your first concern wasn’t whether I was safe, if I’d survived on my own or if I needed anything.” I pointed toward Mysun. “It was embarrassment.”
Crickets.
And somehow, that silence said enough.
Von stood nearby quietly bouncing Mysun gently while looking one insult away from crashing out himself.
“I spent years trying to become somebody lovable enough for this house. I strived to be pretty enough, smart enough, polished enough, and above all, quiet enough,” I confessed, shaking my head slowly as those memories flooded back.
Elaine crossed her arms tighter.
“And do you know what finally healed me?”
I paused, taking a moment to look over at Mysun, who was smiling innocently, as I was teetering close to tears.
“Having my son,” I continued, the words tumbling out with a sincerity that ignited something deep within me.
“That little boy made me realize I never want anyone growing up around me questioning whether love is conditional. You don’t discard people just because they no longer fit into your neat ‘little’ fantasy, and you certainly don’t raise a child solely for the sake of image, only to abandon them for their imperfections!
That’s not love; that’s nothing but performance! ”
As I spoke, I could see something in Elaine's expression shatter at my assertion.
“Kynsleigh—” she started, but I rushed to interrupt her.
“No! Let me finish! Please!” I pleaded, my voice catching as the emotions threatened to overwhelm me.
Surprisingly, she respected my wish to continue.
“I came here today thinking maybe I needed closure, but I’ve realized that closure doesn’t always come in the form of apologies or reconciliations; sometimes it’s about fully accepting the reality of who people are. So, thank you.”
Elaine blinked in surprise, her rigid stance beginning to falter.
“Yes. Thank you for the education, the beautiful home, the myriads of opportunities, and every resource you all provided me while I was growing up,” I continued, emphasizing every word with intention.
Taking a decisive step back, I added, “But the emotional part?” I smiled faintly. “I’ll build that with my own family instead.”
Quincy finally spoke again, his voice thick with emotion. “Kynsleigh… please don’t do this.”
Looking into his eyes hurt the worst. Unlike Elaine, he actually looked burdened by all of that, like regret had finally settled into his bones.
But regret without action is still cowardice.
“Don’t do what?” I fired back. “Finally stop forcing a relationship that has been emotionally draining me for years? Stop pretending expensive gifts and private schools somehow erased the way y’all made me feel in this house?”
I scoffed softly.
“Nah. I’m doing what I should’ve did a long time ago: I’m finally walking away from people who made love feel like something I had to qualify for.
Kids grow up and eventually compare how they felt around you versus how they feel away from you.
And I have to say, it felt mighty damn good to be away from y’all this last year. "
I turned like I was finally done, but then I stopped because there was one more thing sitting heavy on my chest.
“Oh, I also know it was y’all keeping me from getting jobs too, because ain’t no way I went from being ‘so intelligent’ and ‘full of potential’ to suddenly becoming unemployable everywhere I turned.”
Neither of them denied it. That silence told me enough.
“But let me tell y’all something about my God...
he doesn’t play about his children. And believe it or not, I’m one of his favorites.
Yeah, I might not be where I wanna be right now, and maybe God didn’t allow certain doors to open when I wanted them to because he needed to show me exactly who people were before elevating me around them. ”
Elaine folded her arms tightly.
“That being said, you never have to worry about seeing me standing at this doorstep again begging for acceptance that should’ve came naturally.”
That finally made Elaine’s expression flicker, because suddenly, the permanence of that sounded real.
I turned toward Von. “Let’s go.”
He handed Mysun back, before stepping forward to confront Elaine directly.