She nodded in agreement. We headed back outside where she spoke to the family for a few minutes before heading to her car. Everyone made their way inside the house. Mrs. Easton had prepared a quick dinner of chicken alfredo, garlic bread, and corn on the cob. We all gathered around the table to eat. Alayah sat next to me, smiling as she looked at her sisters who sat across from us.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” she said, clasping her hands over her heart.
“We’re happy we get to be with you,” Amiyah admitted.
The smile on Alayah’s face slowly receded. “Ms. Proctor didn’t tell you?” she asked.
“Tell us what?”
“The condition of you staying here is me leaving.”
Amiyah’s eyes widened. “But…But why? Why do you have to leave?”
“There were concerns of my influence over you. I’ll be staying with Killian and visiting you on the weekends.”
“That’s bullshit!” Adrienne exclaimed.
Alayah’s head snapped in her direction. “Watch your mouth, Adrienne.”
She hung her head. “I’m sorry. I’m just upset.”
“I know this isn’t what we pictured, but it’s better than nothing. Baby steps. It won’t always be like this.”
Adrienne nodded. “When do you have to leave?”
“My things are in the car.”
Adrienne and Amiyah’s gazes drifted over to me.
“Promise us you’re gonna take care of my sister,” Adrienne said. “Promise you won’t hurt her or take advantage of her. And don’t be one of those controlling men that keeps her away from us.”
I extended my hand to her. “I promise. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure the three of you never have to go through that again.”
She looked at my hand then back up at me. Slowly she reached out to shake it with Amiyah doing the same. That seemed to be good enough for them—at least for now.
After eating dinner, Alayah and I had to leave since it was getting close to her curfew. Her goodbyes with her sisters were sad, but I promised I’d make sure she came over this weekend. The drive to my house took about twenty minutes. Once we got there, we unloaded her belongings, and I showed her around the house.
I’d purchased a one-story, four-bedroom, three-bath home three years ago in a neighborhood not too far from my parents. My sister actually lived three houses down. It was safe to say we never strayed too far away from home or each other.
“You have a nice home,” Alayah said as we turned down the hall to the bedrooms.
“Thank you.”
“Why so big when it’s just you?”
“I bought it with a family in mind. I wanna get married one day. Of course, I’d have to actually be dating to do that,” I added with a chuckle. “For now, I use one of the extra rooms as my office. Then there’s the official guest room and Ellie’s room.”
“She has a room here?”
“She insisted on it. She was only two when I bought the house, but when I gave my family a tour, she walked in that room and said‘Mine’. I think it was the pink walls.”
“That’s cute. You must have her often.”
“As often as I can. They actually live three houses down. Sometimes my sister will stand in the driveway and let her walk down here. It’s nothing to hear her little taps on the door at any given time. I’m sure she’ll make her way over sometime this week. At least you’ll have another friend.”
She giggled. “She’s adorable, so I don’t mind having a little friend. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
