But I brushed it off and trudged up to the front door, frowning at the fact that it was broken. The splintered wood burned my eyes because had I broken my family in the same way or had someone come to break them because I was absent?
“What the hell happened?”
All types of scenarios played out in my head about what could have happened to the door. I raised my hand to ring the buzzer until I remembered that I still had keys to this house that I hadn’t used in years.
My eyes fell down to them still resting in my hand, and I sighed.
I wonder if my key still works.
I got my answer when I pushed my key into the door and unlocked it. My body froze, and I held my breath before I stepped into the house. It was quiet—too quiet, as I trekked further into the house, and then I heard their voices coming from the living room.
The house still smelled like Dad’s favorite cologne and whatever fruity candles my sister loved to buy. There was even the faintest hint of my mother’s scent, probably from the clothes my father refused to put away. Three years later, and it was still the same.
I took that moment to reintroduce myself to those scents I had almost forgotten.
Taking one more deep breath, I stepped into the room, immediately silencing them both. My little sister gasped loudly. Her eyes widened with surprise and uncertainty. Even my dad just sat there looking at me as if he couldn’t believe his own eyes. The room stilled, silence wrapping around us and nipping at my throat that started to tighten all of a sudden.
It was complete stillness before Kairi shot up out of her seat.
I closed my eyes, recoiling a little as I waited for the first of many slaps, which I undoubtedly deserved, but my eyes opened when I felt her body collide with mine and her arms wrap around me.
“Shakur!” she screamed, hugging me so tight I couldn’t even lift my arms to embrace her back.
“I missed you so much!” She continued to squeeze me. I smiled and looked down at my little heartbeat that I missed every damn day for the past three years.
“I missed you too,” I let her know. I managed to pull my arms free and held them up in the air, unsure. I hesitated for a few seconds before I eventually wrapped them around her, basking in the feeling of familiarity she was giving me.
My father just stood there, looking at me in complete shock before he too hugged me when Kairi let me go.
“Welcome back, son. Welcome back,” Pops said, tapping my back.
I take it back,thiswas probably how the Prodigal Son felt!Reconciled.
After our embrace, my father took a step back from me, and that was when I noticed he had bruises.
“What happened to your face?”
His eyes widened, as if he’d forgotten, and he looked at my sister.
“Uh—” Kairi stuttered, and that further pissed me off because I knew then it had to be something bad.
“Now, don’t overreact,” Pops said, as if that was supposed to help. If anything, that was exactly what I was going to do, knowing I wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Someone broke in and I had to fight them,” Pops said. I looked to Kairi, and she was looking down at the carpet for some reason.
“Who?” I asked. That was all I needed to fucking know.
“We don’t know. They were covered, but it was some young niggas. You know how they can be sometimes. Probably thought there was something in here to steal,” Pops chuckled. Kairi nodded and continued to look down at the floor.
“But your sister saved me. They ran away after she got her pistol.”
I felt a sense of relief to know that my sister didn’t forget what I’d taught her and still had the pistol I bought her, but I was still pissed, nonetheless.
“At least I know what happened to the door,” I said. Dad chuckled again and nodded.
“You didn’t see their faces?” I questioned. For some reason, I just couldn’t let it go.
“No, but don’t worry about that. How have you been?” Dad asked, smiling at me.
