A knot formed in Aasia’s stomach. “Good luck. At some point Bentley will rebel from living out your dreams for you.” She no longer cared if she upset the matriarch.
Francine smiled, but it radiated cold and disgust, and it twisted her aristocratic features. “Poor, girl. You wouldn’t understand family because, well, you never had one.” She leaned in like she meant to touch Aasia but instead she plucked a piece of lint of her shirt. “I protect what is mine. I’ll do whatever it takes to see that no one, not even some cute country bumpkin with doe-eyes causes a rift for him.”
“I feel sorry for you, Francine,” Aasia said her name laced with hatred. “You call what you have a family? You say you love Bentley, but you treat him like your puppet. Have you thought that maybe he doesn’t want to be senator? Maybe he has his dreams of his own?”
Reaching into her purse, Francine took out a folded slip of paper and handed it to Aasia. It was a check made out for ten thousand dollars. “I’m willing to compensate you for your troubles.”
Aasia laughed. “Are you kidding me?”
“Fine, dear.” Francine took out another check. This one was for ten thousand too. “That money could help you tremendously, and I promise you there are no other checks in my purse.”
Aasia stared, frozen. What could she say?
“You can take the money and fade into the woodwork, or you will be facing danger like you have never known before. It’llmake your poor, poor childhood seem like a fairytale when I’m finished with you—”
“Excuse me?” Pedora burst into the room. At sixty-four, she was still as spry as a woman twenty years younger. Her eyes were ablaze with fury.
Francine turned, unaffected. “Hello, Pedora,” she practically slurred. “Long time no see.” The temperature in the room dropped by ten degrees.
“Who let the riffraff into my house?” Pedora stated, her head held high. The two women had a history, and it was as icy as Francine’s gaze.
“I was having a conversation with your niece. This doesn’t concern you.” Francine oozed superiority.
“Like hell it doesn’t. If you pick a fight with Aasia you’re picking a fight with me.” Pedora clenched her weathered hands into fists. Her denim overalls hung on her thin frame. Her short silver hair framed her wrinkled, tanned skin, making her deep blue eyes a stark contrast.
Francine smirked then faced Aasia again. “Now I see where you get your energy from. It’s very amusing. Have we made a deal, dear? Think hard.” The patronizing tone ripped through Aasia.
She didn’t have any reason, not even one, to be kind to the woman who’d enjoyed demeaning Aasia every chance she got. “The only deal we’re making is that you’re leaving. Now.” Crumbling the checks in her palm, Aasia handed the ball back to a flabbergasted Francine.
Even in her shocked state, it didn’t take long for her to bounce back. “You have only been a footnote in my son’s life. If you dare try and come back into his world, at any point, I’ll see that you pay dearly. Choose wisely, Aasia. Some fires don’t warm you. They just burn you down.” Francine stiffened her shoulders then walked toward the door.
Pedora blew by Aasia. “How dare you threaten my niece!” She started to go after Francine, but Aasia stepped in to block her aunt’s path.
“She’s not worth it,” Aasia whispered.
Some of Pedora’s rage disappeared. “Don’t come back here. If you do, I’ll show you fire.” Her voice was actually much calmer than Aasia would have expected from her aunt.
Francine laughed as she closed the door behind her.
Aasia felt tears burning the backs of her eyes, but she refused to falter to such a mean woman. “That woman…she’s a witch!”
“Don’t allow that soulless bitch to bring you down, honey. Women like her are the devil in heels,” Pedora grumbled. She flipped off the door and said a few unsavory words under her breath.
“I never want to see her, or Bentley again. I’m done with being ridiculed. Done with the circus show.”
“I knew this day would come.” Pedora’s eyes glistened.
“How long were you listening?”
“Long enough that if you didn’t give that check back, I was going to ram it up her high-falutin’ carcass.”
“Pedora! I’ve never seen you so fiery before.”
“Put that woman in my vicinity and I forget the commandmentLove thy neighbor. From the first time she and I met she’s looked down her thin nose at me. Well, she won’t get by with that when it comes to you!”
In that moment, Aasia couldn’t describe how grateful she was to have Pedora. She wasn’t Aasia’s blood aunt, but DNA didn’t make someone a parent. She’d been the mother figure that Aasia had always wanted.
“Thank you for always coming to my rescue,” Aasia said, sniffing back tears—not because of the altercation withFrancine, but because Aasia appreciated Pedora having her back.
