I gracefully walked over and reached out to grab Braylen’s hand when I heard Cynthia. “How old is he?”
I froze because why did she care how old he was? What did it even matter that I had a child in my home? It wasn’t like he would be the one sitting at the damn table with them or investing his money into whatever projects they were doing. However, my foot wasn’t in the door yet to reject or ignore the question. “Eight,” I muttered.
Cynthia gave this look that sent a chill down my spine. It was as if she were connecting with Braylen mentally or understanding the situation. I grabbed Braylen’s hand and led him down the hall. I opened the door to the basement. “In there and do not come out until I come and get you. My house, my game, my rules. Do you understand?”
His head slowly nodded up and down. He walked into the dark and went down the steps. When I closed the door and turned to head back down the hall, I saw the Mercier at the front door. “You guys are leaving so soon?” I asked.
Clark nodded. “You will be hearing from us soon. Mrs. Laureaux, I don’t know the story behind what I just saw, but if I had to guess, the money is tied to that little boy, not to you. Have a great day.”
I didn’t know what that meant, but if seeing Braylen messed this up for me, I would never forgive him. The sound of my alarm going off alerted me that Bobbie would be home in the next couple of minutes. I backed up to the basement door and swung it open. “Braylen!” I called out.
I waited for him to respond, but he said nothing. I flicked the light on as I glanced down the steps. “Braylen, I’m not calling you again. Get up here, damnit!”
I waited a few more seconds before going down the steps. When I reached the bottom, I turned to see him standing in front of a wall covered with chalk drawings. “What the hell did you do?”
He hadn’t said anything, and it only pissed me off more. I moved quickly as I grabbed a hanger and swung him, lifting him by his shirt. I drew my hand back to give him a lashing when the sound of Bobbie’s voice startled me. “Fiona! Braylen!”
I quickly released his shirt and looked at Braylen. Leaning forward at eye level with him, I whispered, “Let’s play our game. Everything we do is our what?”
His eyes slowly rose to me. “Is the game we play,” he mumbled.
A smirk eased on my face, “Good, now go to your father.”
Braylen dropped the chalk as he rushed past me and went upstairs. I stood and glanced at the mural he had created on the wall. Every time I had sent him down here as punishment, he had been drawing. I couldn’t believe how good and detailed it looked. However, what caught my attention was the dark cave with a beast-like creature in front of it.Was that me?I thought to myself. I moved closer as my eyes became fixated on it. “Fiona, come up here, please,” Bobbie called out.
I slowly backed away and headed up the steps to Braylen and Bobbie, who were standing there. My eyes immediately went to Braylen, then to Bobbie. “You’re home. How was your day?” I asked.
Bobbie leaned down and kissed my forehead. “It was interesting. However, I did get a callback, and Braylen was accepted into the private school for the gifted. We have a little genius on our hands.”
I sighed. “Can’t be too much of a genius if it takes him more than twenty minutes to solve a problem,” I muttered.
Bobbie turned to Braylen and sent him upstairs. Once he disappeared, Bobbie turned to me. “Fiona, please. The boy is probably scared to get the problem wrong. Braylen is smarterthan you think. Be easy on him; besides, you may need him one day.”
Tuh, I didn’t need him. What I needed was to be a part of a community that accepted me. I wanted to be the highlight of Lake Hill, the wife of wealth. Bobbie said nothing more as he headed toward his office. I already had resentment toward both him and Braylen; I didn’t need anything else adding to the list because an unhappy Fiona was a deadly one. I was going to play whatever game Bobbie wanted for now, but in the end, it would be my game, and I would be the one reigning supreme.
The crowd circled around as each fraternity and sorority strolled through the yard. This was our way of showing the freshman class what the campus had to offer. The busy campus and all its Black excellence were among the highlights of Toussaint State University. Although I had already graduated, I was still the advisor for Chi Kappa Chi and taught a music course.
I stood in front of the crowd as I watched the incoming freshman class enjoy the hype around the Greeks. Normally, I wouldn’t be the one to start the stroll, but when I spotted her dark, melanated, goddess-like skin glowing, I knew I needed to catch her eye. I had been pretty good at reading people, and her pure aura called out to me.
Her head bobbed as her bright white smile beamed. I stepped into the circle, squatted down slightly, and clapped really hard, howling. My body jumped up and down while my hands clapped under my leg. I rocked back and forth as my line formed with my bruhs behind me. I shook my locs as my body rolled slightly. We did our call as our hands clapped again. The girls swooned as we made our rounds. As I came up on her, I leaned in close enough to kiss her, shook my locs, then winked. The grin she gave me was like me taking in a breath of fresh air. She chewed on her bottom lip as her eyes had now become fixated on me. We continued until the crowd simmered off.
When I noticed her walking away, I stepped away from what was left of the crowd and followed her. I wasn’t surehow to approach her because I knew she was much younger than me, but it was something about her that my inner demon wanted, and when that nigga made demands, I listened. I stopped following her as I stood next to the tree and watched as she headed toward Livingston Hall. I ran my hand through my beard as my mind got to racing.
My tongue ran across my lips as the idea of me making her mine played in my head. I knew of her but didn’t know much about her yet. Something in me said that once I got to know her, she would be mine forever. She had stepped into my forest, and now that she was here, there was no way out.
The moment her hand connected with my face, it released something inside me that had been concealed for years. It was a persistent feeling, scratching, shouting, and crying out, that was finally allowed to surface. Piggy had given it permission to emerge. I hurried out of the studio to chase after her, leaving Dio behind. I knew I should have stayed in the room with Dio and Scooter, but I was upset -- not only because she put her fucking hands on me, but also because she did the shit while I had company in the room.
I knew she was upset because we hadn’t had any physical interactions since the night I allowed my fingers to explore her body. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way, but it did. It was something about her showing up at the right time when that part of me needed to exert some energy. It took everything in me to keep it at that level because, truthfully, my appetite was at an all-time high. I thought that moment we shared would be enough to satisfy both of our cravings, but it’s obvious she wanted more.After that, I thought we could try to be something more, so I asked her to meet me at the skating rink, but I never showed up.
I intended to apologize, but then that shit happened with Mali, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The thought of my nigga not being able to walk again because some bitch nigga decided to play God and hit him consumed me. My mind couldn’t focus on any lovey-dovey shit. All I could do was try to figure out what the fuck happened.
Now she was mad because I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of saying I was wrong. By the time I got outside, she was sitting in the car. I rushed over and swung her door open, nearly ripping her car apart. “Fuck is your problem!” I barked.
“Braylen, close my fucking door, now!” she shouted.
“Piggy, stop fucking playing with me. I’m not that nigga,” I gritted.
I had a lot going on, and having to give her all of me wasn’t an option. What little she knew about me was nothing compared to who I really was. I was fighting demons, trying to tame a darkness that was hard for me to control. The dark side of me that, unbeknownst to her, she just unleashed.
