“You don’t like him? You were the main one pushing for me to take the nanny position.”
“Yeah, that was before I knew he was a predator.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Let’s not go there because if Mr. Branson is a predator, then what does that make Dad?”
“A predator,” Nori reiterated. “He took advantage of a grieving single mother.”
“Fuck you,” Daisy spat.
“Truth hurts,” Nori commented.
“Okay, since we’re talking truths, let’s bring up your father.”
My eyes widened, and I shoved food in my mouth, anxious to see how everything would play out because Daisy was right, Nori had no room to talk.
“What about my father? He’s a saint.”
“That level of delusion you mentioned? You’re there. Your predator father paid your mother pennies on the dollar to carry you, wasn’t there for the first year of your life—”
“He was in a coma!” Nori argued.
“And you want to know thefirstthing he did when he recovered? Snatched you from your mama.”
Oop!
“Mhm. He went to the courts like a Karen and abducted you,thenmade your own mother your mammy. So whose father is the predator now?”
I gasped, and the bagel I held dropped to my plate. Nori’s mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish. For once, she was too stunned to speak. I rolled my eyes when the tears came out of nowhere. Neither of us was fazed when Nori excused herself to her study.
“You see that shit, Ki? Where the hell does she get off calling our father a predator?”
“It’s that Powell Audacity, but you picked her.”
“I wish I could go back in time and tell ten-year-old me that was a bad fucking idea.”
“Stop. You know you love her.”
“Duh. She’s my entire world. This whole dog-and-pony show she’s got going on is getting boring, though. She’s gonna stay in her office for the next thirty minutes and return sans hearing aids so that I’ll be forced to use sign language because she claims using ASL is a labor of love or some bullshit like that.”
“It takes more effort to use ASL than speaking.”
“No, she’s trying to control me and get sympathy out of me.”
“Be nice,” I encouraged.
“Be nice? She’s been deaf for over two decades. Her sympathy expiration date has passed. But anyway, enough about her. What’s going on with you?”
I gave Daisy the rundown on how life had been since I began working for Todd, and the conversation somehow segued to Grant.
“Nori and I are visiting him tomorrow for an early Sunday dinner.”
“That’s nice. I’m sure he’ll enjoy the visit.”
Daisy fell quiet before asking, “Is there anything you want me to pass along to him?”
“No, he called early this morning, but I couldn’t talk because the Wi-Fi on the plane had gone out. I plan to call him back thisevening to check on him after purchasing a new phone. Mine has been acting crazy lately.”
“I’ve been getting your voicemail a lot. I leave messages but never get a callback. I even texted you a few times.”
