“But, Ma—”
“Alayah! You listen, and you listen good. Rodney looksat you like a daughter. That’s it, and that’s all. He does more than your stupid-ass daddyhas ever done for you. When is the last timeyou saw him? Exactly. Never. While he’s off livinghis best life, I’m stuck with you. You shouldbe grateful that somebody wants to take care of you. Now, I don’t wanna hear another word about this, do you understand me? Get out of my face andgo to bed.”
She’d turned me around and shoved me away before going back to making her sandwich. I’d gone upstairs and cried my eyes out. There had rarely been a time where I felt like she cared about me, but that night solidified it. To be dismissed like that when I was crying out for help broke my heart.
I knew she said something to him because I woke up to him covering my mouth with his hand. I tried to scream, but he clamped it tighter.
“Shut up,” he seethed. “You tried to tell yourmama our little secret, pretty girl? Why would you dothat?”
He removed his hand, waiting for me to respond.
“You–You hurt me. You won’t stop hurting me.”
“So you were just gonna tell your mama, huh? Youthink she would believe you over me? Kennedy loves me.She’s never gonna find another nigga like me thatwill do what I do for her with three kidsby three different men.”
“Then I’ll tell somebody whowill believe me.”
“No, you won’t. You know why?Because you’re gonna act like we’re one bighappy family. If you tell anybody, I’ll make goodon my promise. You remember that promise, Alayah?”
I remembered the promise well. He reminded me of it often. He didn’t have to say it again for me to know to keep my mouth shut. I never uttered a word about it to my mother or anyone else again.
I shook those dreadful thoughts from my head. I already wasn’t in the best headspace. I hadn’t had a nightmare in a while, and I didn’t want to start them up again by allowing thoughts of him to invade my mind.
I arrived at work about twenty minutes later. Sitting pretty on my desk was a bouquet of white roses with a card sticking out the top. The corners of my mouth turned up for the first time in days as I walked over to them. Plucking the card from the insert, I pulled it from the envelope and read it. The message was simple, yet sweet.
Just because, Killian.
I leaned in and sniffed the roses. It was very thoughtful of him to send them. There had been a shift between us the last couple of days. Since our kiss, things took on a more intimate feeling. Every night this week, he’d stopped by to check on me. While he was free to come inside, we would sit in his car in front of the house for hours.
Sometimes we talked. Other times we sat listening to music. Each time, however, the first thing out of his mouth wasHow is your mental?Sometimes that opened the floodgates for tears; other times, it led to a cleansing conversation. I could purge my feelings to him and not feel like a burden. Sometimes people only wanted you to listen to their problems, but they weren’t willing to listen to yours in return.
Killian had always been easy to talk to. He’d always have an encouraging word or do something to make me smile. He’d never known that seeing him was the highlight of many of my low days. Without even meaning to, his friendship kept me afloat in times where I was about to tip over the edge.
In my world full of pain and dark, gloomy days, he’d been sunshine.
Chapter 20
Killian
“Come in!”
I looked up from my computer to see Erica stepping into my office with a solemn look. As someone who was usually smiling, I knew that meant she wasn’t coming to tell me good news. I turned away from the computer as she closed the door and took a seat in front of my desk.
“Bad news?” I asked.
“If bad news could be good, that’s what this is.”
My brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“So, the wellness check was completed.”
“And? What did they find?”
She sighed. “Well, when Malcolm got there this morning, a neighbor was outside—you know, one of those nosy old ladies that sees a lot but says nothing. This time, she had a lot to say. My husband asked her if she’d seen or heard anything out of the ordinary lately. She said the same day Kennedy pulled up to the Easton home, she came home in a fit. She could hear her yelling at the girls, and they were arguing. She said she didn’t think anything of it because she was always arguing with Adrienne.”
I nodded. “Alayah told me her aunt says she’s the defiant one.”
“Well, apparently, this wasn’t just an argument or her not listening. When Malcolm knocked on the door, he found the girls were home by themselves. Nothing wrong with that. They are old enough to be home alone. The unsettling thing were the bruises.”
