Chapter 5 #4
Before I could acknowledge Min, Mona’s back sank in as the most unruly, hurtful scream rushed out of my mouth. Min shook. I jerked as my head became heavy. Curiosity and anguish cradled me. Sadness damned near tore me open like a ship slamming into an iceberg.
Kingsley grabbed her mouth and looked at us with teary eyes.
Ryan covered his mouth and dropped his shaking head.
Sad, Aleana faced my yelling woman while rubbing her stomach.
Kingdon was to my right, looking at me. His jaws were tight.
He was angry and hurt. King was calm when he stepped to my left with a blunt to his lips.
Looking at me, he said, “I know that scream well, August. It came out of my mouth. She’s aching.
She’s scared. She’s battling between the past, present, and future.
She probably feels as if she isn’t good enough for you and the life you are giving her.
Kingdon, Ryan, and I will go get Auntie.
Three months ago, I had to sit and watch your fiancée scream in that hallway before she slid underneath our high-rise table and cried until her throat ached.
You will do the same. Don’t fuck with her. Just watch her.”
My mouth moved, but nothing came out. As I stared at my cousin, who was good at keeping shit from me when someone made him promise not to tell, I wondered what caused my woman to purge her soul until her throat lining burned.
“Get the chair and sit in it, August,” King ordered, pointing ahead of us.
I nodded and walked off. I didn’t know how to take Mona screaming in agony. I didn’t know how to fix what was wrong because I didn’t know exactly what plagued her soul.
Grabbing the chair from the bar, I was in unfamiliar territory. My family knew it. They didn’t budge until one of the twins spoke.
“King, Ryan and I will get Auntie. He can’t do this by himself. He needs you, not me. You,” Kingdon admitted confidently as Kingsley and Ryan agreed.
“A’ight,” he replied as I sat in the chair, wondering what to say to Mona when she stopped the last stage of purging her soul.
Stepping next to me, King said, “August, if you are thinking about what to say to her when she’s done crying, don’t think about it. There’s nothing to say. Just hold her and then take her to y’all’s room. Got it?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, tears skating down my face because my guh was in pain and no type of medication would stop her from hurting.
“Kingsley, Aleana, and Min, handle y’all’s job. Kingsley, make sure the older churren are checking on the younger churren. Ryan and Kingdon, be careful. Leave now,” King ordered as we sat.
“On it.” Min nodded as King passed the blunt to me.
“I don’t want that. I need to know what hurts my guh,” I told him as she stopped screaming.
Zoned out, Mona turned around and slowly walked toward us.
Not once did she look at King and me. It was as if we were ghosts.
My heart ached from seeing her eyes lifeless.
Her shoulders sagged as tears soaked her face.
Her slender fingers twitched faster than her wobbling head. My heart grew heavy and dark.
Patting my shoulder, King said, “In due time, you will know what hurts her.”
“Do you know? An’ don’t lie to me,” I asked, looking into his eyes.
As sincerity swam through them, he replied, “No, I don’t know what hurts her.
I couldn’t bring myself to ask for fear of what it would do to me.
Shid, I’m a strong dumb ass nigga, but I’m human, August. Some shit I still can’t do.
That’s when I rely on Min, you, Kingdon, Kingsley, and Ryan.
Sitting here in this chair with you is as far as I can go with you.
Her hurt is on the same scale as when Tree stopped breathing while looking at me.
Her hurt on the same scale of me thinking about waking up in the middle of the night to take a piss and realize Min and our kids aren’t breathing. ”
As the front door closed, I focused on my woman and sighed. “My God.”
When she slid underneath the high-rise table, my madness increased. I shot up from the chair, causing King to grab my arm.
Sternly, he said, “Sit. Observe. Form your theories. Breathe in, breathe out. Later, we will discuss our theories and help her.”
Sitting back in the chair, never removing my eyes from my girl underneath the table, crying in her hands, I asked, “What happened to you, Mona Averhart? I don’t see a grown woman.
I see a lil guh, runnin’ away from meanness.
I see the lil guh who want mo’ but afraid to seek help to get it.
I see a lil guh ashamed of who she is an’ where she come from ‘cause of how she an’ her siblings was raised. ”
“Mm,” King held out intrigued as Mona drew in her legs. The more she cried, the tougher my theories became.
“I need her brothers in my face, King. I’on give a fuck what you gotta say or do to get them here befo’ the sun break through the sky.” I demanded through gritted teeth, taking the blunt out of his mouth and handing him my woman’s unlocked phone.
“Say less,” he voiced, accepting Mona’s device.