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I needed to talk to Rita. What the fuck was going on?

“Where is Skye?” Dream asked.

“Skye had a family emergency and won’t be with us anymore. She had to go take care of one of her sick family members,” I announced.

“SHE’S GONE?!” Dream’s bottom lip trembled as tears started to form in her eyes.

“Yeah. Baby girl, don’t cry.”

I glanced around Storie’s pristine room. Everything was put away neatly. Was there really a letter? Something in Skye’s voice made me believe she was telling the truth. I’d search later.

While Dream was crying, Storie was completely unbothered. I knew she didn’t care for Skye, but this was a strange reaction.

“I want her back! She didn’t even say goodbye. Does she hate us? She doesn’t like me? Did I talk too much?” Dream whimpered.

“No. It’s not you. She had to leave in a hurry. She needed to see her aunt ASAP,” I lied.

“That sucks,” Storie said as she finally put her book away, sliding it underneath her pillow. “I was just starting to like her. Are you going to miss her, Daddy?”

I sat on the edge of her bed to take it all in.

“Um, yeah. She was really great with all of you and Rita. But we’ll find someone just as good, if not better.”

Rita was going to be mad at me, but Skye was obviously insane.

Dream got up and sat beside me, resting her head on my shoulder while she sobbed. Skye had been a bit of a surrogate mother to her, giving her the maternal touch she’d been missing. My heart broke for her, but Skye was dangerous. I couldn’t have her around my kid. She was the reason her daughter was dead. She left a loaded gun out. I shuddered to think about what could’ve happened to Dream had she stayed around.

“Don’t cry, Dream. It’s for the best that she’s gone.” Storie cuddled up to me, but something felt wrong about it. She rested her hand in my lap and nestled her face against my neck. Playing it off, I stood up.

“I’m going to talk to Rita, but why don’t y’all get dressed? We’ll go out to Dave & Buster’s to blow off some steam. Eat some pizza and play some games. How about that?”

Dream swiped the tears away from her eyes. “Okay,” she replied with as little enthusiasm as possible.

“I can go? You know I’m still on punishment.” Storie jumped up, looking way too excited.

“Yeah, even you can go.” I looked at her reluctantly. I needed to get to the bottom of what I was feeling because something was off.

I left the girls in Storie’s room and went looking for Rita. I found her sitting up in bed with her reading glasses resting near the end of her nose.

“Why you standing in my doorway looking guilty?” she asked. “Come in or go away. You’re letting my good air out.”

“I need to talk to you about Skye.”

“Then close the door. Storie got ears like satellite dishes.”

I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. I let out a laugh because why did she care whether Storie heard us.

“Skye had to leave.”

Rita lowered her glasses. “Had to leave, or you put her out?”

“I put her out.”

“Why boy? What did that girl do to you?”

“This shit isn’t funny, Grandma.”

“She lied about her identity.”